Angry Teddy Bear

Nom nom nom!

2012-01-21T22:29:00.002+13:00

After viewing the last entry I decided to post a few more shots of food. I don't normally take pictures of every meal I eat but every now and then, if the plate has a nice presentation, I will try to take a nice shot. All of these pictures have been taken on the fly, meaning that there has been no special lighting nor any special preparation. Most of the times, when I take pictures of food, it will be because I'm covering some special event and there's some catering service involved. I've been asked if I get to enjoy the delicacies presented before me and normally I don't have time to savour them. Either I'm too busy trying to get a nice action shot of people in a candid atmosphere and I don't notice the food disappearing or I just scoop it in so I can continue with the shoot. My bad!

Yum!

2012-01-13T18:36:00.000+13:00

Girls!

2012-01-02T16:31:00.001+13:00

This Christmas break I don't have pictures of my travels around New Zealand or any other parts of the world that I can upload. Instead, I stayed at home this time and decided I should do something to cover some of the bare walls. My solution was to gather some of my girl illustrations I've created over the years, print them and create squares which can be hung on walls or placed around the house. So far, I've made 22 of these squares and they encompass sketches, pin ups, vector based illustrations, hand drawn and mixed techniques. The result is quite colorful but I think I should make even more.

In the future, it would be great to have at least one illustration per week so that by the end of the year I would have 52 new illos! Let's see how many I end up with.

Happy New Year guys!!

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

2011-12-24T15:29:00.000+13:00

Wishing the best to all!

Blue Dreams

2011-11-07T01:04:00.000+13:00

This sketch was made on my iPad some time ago, on the 12th of September at 2:19am to be exact. I was trying out the free Sketchbook Pro app but I finished it in Photoshop. The only thing that was tweaked in Photoshop was the change of font for the title of the drawing.

Sassy

2011-11-06T20:22:00.000+13:00

This last illustration had been in the works for quite a while. I first drew the sketch about a month ago and it's only until now that I've finished it. If I were to be really critical about this piece, I'd have to point out that the neck is extremely long and that the alignment of the head is pulled too much to the right side of the body. However, since I'm not being too critical, I like the final result.

Originally, the magenta top had no texture and it really jumped against the background. Adding that dirty texture helped ti subdue the effect and I believe there's a better balance overall.

Needless to say, I always have the help of a special person that inspires me to draw these illustrations. Even though it is not a close representation of the actual person, it is based on her.

Spring Festival 2011

2011-10-07T17:36:00.000+13:00

Our clocks have been move forward and the tulips have been blooming for a couple of weeks now, so I guess it's safe to say that Spring has finally arrived. This year's end of winter was pretty crazy, we saw snow in Wellington and not only around the tops of the hills, but even at sea level! The last time a thing like this happened was 50 years ago. Really looking forward to warmer and more stable seasons.

As usual, the Wellington Botanical Gardens have a variety of tulips on display to mark the arrival of spring.

Steampunk sketch

2011-10-06T20:34:00.000+13:00

It's been a while since the last post and many things have occurred. I'll put a few things up in order to catch up with what's been going on but in the meantime, here's a sketch I just finished today. I originally penciled it in the 16th of September but only colored it until now. Wasn't too sure about the color of the pants but I settled for this brownish grape tone in the end. The other possibility would've been a dark grayish olive green. Hahaha, I guess it would be easier if I told you the Pantone values.

Enjoy!

Midnight sketch

2011-09-08T12:02:00.000+12:00

Last night I finally decided to try out the free Sketchbook Pro app on my iPad and I must say I was quite pleased with the way it performs. It takes a bit of practice to control your finger at first, even though this is the first tool we use as kids to paint. Back then we're not too fussy about the turnout of our painting, we're just pleased we can get our fingers grubby AND make something with all that gooey paint.

Since you get no real feedback from the smooth glassy surface of the iPad, and your finger tip can be wider than the brush you select, you sometimes end up guessing where your line is going. To be fair though, this is not a precise application, it's designed to make rough sketches and it works perfectly for that purpose. The free version comes with the option of creating 3 layers and that helps up to certain extent but it does take us back to the days of Photoshop 3 where you would save your file every step of the way because it was lacking this feature. The complete version may have the option of having more layers though, I don't know. You can also control the opacity of each layer and you can order them depending of your needs.

The app also allows you to play with text and gives you several fonts to choose from. The only problem I found, was that when I wanted to place the text at the bottom of the sketch, the keyboard would block this area. I'd have to type the text on the upper part of the sketch and the drag down to the position that I desired. You are not able to hit the return key and get a second line. You must type this one as a separate element and if you want to place it underneath the previous line of text, you'll find once again that the keyboard obstructs the view. As I said before, this app was not intended to be precise so it's forgivable.

Overall, I was really impressed with Sketchbook Pro and as you can see by the date on the sketch, it kept me up until basically 2am. I think it's a great tool to improve your speed painting skills. I highly recommend it!!

Latest victim

2011-07-06T15:22:00.000+12:00

One more to the ever growing collection of fallen umbrellas. Windy Wellington Winter scores again.

Painting

2011-07-04T22:22:00.001+12:00

Eating Dirt, Sweating Mud

2011-06-30T00:24:00.003+12:00

I was approached by a group of Theater students from Victoria University to help them out with the design of a poster and a flyer for a series of plays that they will be performing. The title that encompasses these plays is quite clever for it reflects all of the knowledge that they have been digesting and assimilating over the years and that they now have to reflect in the plays that they are presenting.

Regarding the design, the chosen colors relate to earthy tones which one can associate with dirt and mud. Dirt being dry has a lighter tone than that of mud which becomes darker when mixed with water. The stressed grungy font helps to convey this feeling of hard work. The torn paper are elements that give us the feeling of something that has been put together in a very hands-on kind of way. Nothing is clean and precise which transmits the sense that people have actually been working on this project; blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this showcase.

The best of luck to all of them!

Student Symposium 2011

2011-06-23T23:25:00.001+12:00

The illustration for this year's Student Symposium organized by the MacDiarmid Institute is finished! It seemed that every time I felt it was completed, I wound find a little detail that needed a bit more of work. There might be a few flaws still but I'm quite satisfied with the end result. If I keep working on this I'm sure that I'll keep finding other things that need to be touched up.

I wonder what next year has in store for me. What will the theme be and how will I be able to incorporate these characters. I think that MESA (The MacDiarmid Emerging Scientists Association) will be in charge of future Symposiums.

Asleep

2011-06-08T22:56:00.000+12:00

Another sketch made possible thanks to my ever patient and inspiring model, hahaha. The face needs to be tweaked a bit more so you can count on seeing an updated version of this sketch some time soon. Overall though, the colors, the lighting and the shadows turned out to be quite acceptable. Having a great time making these sketches!

Unexpected: Updated

2011-06-08T22:42:00.000+12:00

After a few changes to the previous version I think I have found a result that keeps me happy, for now. In the previous version, the lower part of the body got lost due to such dark colors. With the change of color to a burgundy tone, the body actually stands out more and you have a lighter feel to the illustration. It doesn't feel so cramped in a sense.

Regarding the background, I'm still not quite sure which option is the best. I can't decide which one to pick. I might need to come back to this in a few days to get a fresher perspective. These are the other ones I had in mind anyway.

Sleep

2011-05-31T23:45:00.003+12:00

Lately I've been having the help of a fantastic model who not only is extremely patient but also pushes me to do these sketches more regularly. I've been spending so much time designing with the computer on a specific project that sometimes it's really refreshing to sketch something just for the fun of it. It doesn't really matter how rough the result is, it's just practice and a way to get back to basics.

Unexpected

2011-05-29T18:35:00.001+12:00

This is a rough version of something I'd like to spend more time on. However, the hours I spent on this sketch has been more than you could expect. It actually took me several days to get to this result. I'd advance a lot on some days but on others it felt like I was hardly accomplishing anything. I'm still not sure about the background though, I'll have to play around a bit more and see if this will stay. It seems like the lines in the back are giving the illustration a confined feel to it. I'm looking for a more relaxed atmosphere. Love the textures though!

STORK

2011-05-24T00:15:00.003+12:00

This is a logo I created a few weeks back for an entity within Stanford University that focuses their research in kids. Unfortunately I can't remember exactly which Department was in charge of this project but it might be the Neonatal and Developmental Medicine within the School of Medicine if I'm not mistaken. In any case, the idea was to develop a logo that fell in line with the Stanford seal.

The color used isn't the official Cardinal (Pantone 201) but that can be fixed at the time of printing. I'm really impressed that you can easily find the Design Guidelines within the Stanford website. It can be a nightmare trying to find official emblems or logos for presentations, posters, etc within some universities.

Syudent Symposium 2011

2011-05-23T00:30:00.002+12:00

W.I.P. Here's the illustration I've been working on these past few weeks, it will be used to identify the Student Symposium that the MacDiarmid Institute organizes each year. On this occasion, the theme of the Symposium focuses on the options that Alumni encounter after focusing on their studies.

The characters depicted here are the same that have been used for the previous Symposiums although there has been an evolution. You can notice that the characters seem more mature, the style of drawing although far from being realistic, is less caricature than previous versions. Elements from the previous years have been used and incorporated in order to have a sense of continuity.

There are a lot of details that still have to worked on before I can consider this illustration as completed, however, I'm really stoked with the result so far. It's quite fun to see how everything begins to fall into place, especially when you only have a rough idea of what you want to accomplish.

Previous Student Symposium illustrations:

The Cutting Edge

$cience

Treasure

2011-04-26T21:23:00.000+12:00

Playing around with the Wacom tablet, I was able to create the final look to this sketch which originally was drawn with pencil. One can undoubtedly spend hours and hours in Photoshop applying filters and what not but I find that keeping thisngs simple has a lot more appeal than something too complicated. The trick is finding a balance and not going overboard with technology.

I have a second version of this final image. I'm not sure which one I like the best. Once again though, having a model that can truly inspire you, helps to get those creative juices flowing.

Allegro

2011-04-24T16:48:00.002+12:00

Slight modification to a previous entry entitled Reflectere. Even though I was really pleased with the results obtained then, the feeling it portrayed was that of emptiness. This second version has a totally different feeling, needless to say, a feeling of warmth, presence and happiness can be perceived. Not only is this shown through the facial expression but can also be seen through the warmer color pallet that has been used. Also, this looks more like the true nature of the one who has inspired me.

Here's the previous image:

Fantastic smile

2011-03-14T02:31:00.002+13:00

There are some people that have the ability to transmit positive energy with just a smile. One feels charged in such a way that it's impossible to not smile back. For those brief seconds, everything else around you vanishes and you feel a certain peace... although sometimes, if you like the girl who's smiling at you, peace is definitely not the right word. It's more like the urge to run towards her... or away from her depending on the situation between you two, hahahahaha.

Firetree

2011-03-07T23:18:00.004+13:00

This image came to me after having a conversation with somebody I hold very dear to me. There are a few relationships in which there is so much passion that the intensity can only be compared to fire. If one takes care of the relationship and nurtures it, then it keeps growing, it gets stronger and the fire doesn't consume it. Hmmm.... poetic. ;-)

Hot chocolate

2011-02-28T18:51:00.000+13:00

Productive day today! Learned a few tricks in photoshop today and this is the result. This image was created from scratch. Really happy with the results although there are a few things that need some tweaking in order to get it just right.

Reflection

2011-02-20T00:20:00.000+13:00

Hot Chocolate!

2011-02-19T15:39:00.000+13:00

12:33 AM

2011-02-19T01:48:00.000+13:00

Further North Trip

2011-02-15T00:09:00.001+13:00

Wacky Races?

2011-02-14T22:45:00.002+13:00

As I was heading down to cover the AMN5 Conference, I noticed this guy on his scooter waiting for the traffic light ti change. There was something familiar about him although I was sure I had never seen him before. Regardless, I just had to take a picture of him. That mustache is something you don't get to see every day (unless you are growing one yourself). I should have taken a wider shot as well but the lens I had at that moment didn't allow me to do it.

Dick Dastardly is the name that comes to mind. Who is he? He was the villain in that old cartoon called Wacky Races and he used to drive his Mean Machine 00 along with Muttley. On a closer inspection, he may not look exactly the same and riding a scooter is definitely a step-down from the rocket powered car.

Far North

2011-01-11T19:57:00.000+13:00

Summer in NZ! It's hard to really celebrate Christmas when the weather is sunny and warm and you have those lazy long days that seem to never end. Everybody just heads down to the beach which generally is only a few minutes away, sets up camp and start firing up the BBQs. Even when the surf isn't just right, you can always take a dip and dry yourself in the sun. Here are just a few pictures from my trip up to the Far North. I tell ya, NZ summer is hard to beat.

Beautiful pink skies at sunset turn into violets and purple. A pod of dolphins were swimming just a few meters off the coast but wasn't able to photograph them. The first time I saw a postcard of New Zealand with pink skies, I thought it had been digitally altered. I thought it was a joke, a very bad one at that... the joke was on me when finally I saw how the colors transformed themselves at dusk, I was in awe.

Lush subtropical forests with pristine rivers and lakes are easy to be found. If only summer holidays could last longer...

Tatooine? Not quite. No giant sand worms either. Just the Sand Dunes up by Cape Reinga which is at the very top of the North Island. Dune surfing is quite popular up here even when you might get a mouthful of sand. Gritty!

Muggy

2010-12-21T17:09:00.000+13:00

GG

2010-11-24T09:20:00.003+13:00

Tararua Southern Crossing

2010-10-26T17:10:00.004+13:00

Wellington Spring

2010-10-19T17:19:00.000+13:00

So you would think that because it's spring and the weather has improved with sunny warm days, the all familiar sight of broken umbrellas around town would have disappeared... well guess again! I must confess I was quite shocked to come across the latest image while walking up to work the other day. Even though we had two rainy days over the weekend, I didn't think the wind would be misbehaving. Will this be the last image of the season?

Pineapple cupcake

2010-10-16T17:00:00.003+13:00

iPhone screen

2010-10-12T00:27:00.000+13:00

Master and Margarita

2010-10-10T13:47:00.000+13:00

Spring 2010

2010-10-10T12:11:00.000+13:00

Cuddle

2010-10-10T12:03:00.000+13:00

Prime Minister's Emerging Scientist of the Year Award

2010-09-17T18:47:00.002+12:00

UPDATE: I had previously posted this entry but I was asked to remove it during the voting process. Unfortunately, Mark wasn't selected to go on to the final round but we're both really happy with the poster anyway.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been helping out my friend Mark Hunter on the design of this scientific poster. He's competing for the Prime Minister's Emerging Scientist of the Year Award... wow! what a mouthful. We didn't have much time in reality since we both were busy with our jobs and what-not and we found ourselves meeting up at lunch time a couple of times to talk about the progress of the poster. We're both quite pleased with the result and hopefully Mark can go on to win the prize.

Working for the MacDiarmid Institute has given me the opportunity to be part of some really cool projects. Even though I'm not really contributing with scientific knowledge, it's quite satisfactory to know that I am contributing in a way through my designs. This poster is aimed at high school students and if at least one of them understands the principle that is being explained, I can say that we did a good job!

By the way, not only is Mark waiting on the result of this competition but he's also waiting to be a dad for a second time any day now. Whilst working on the poster, we were expecting at any moment to get a call from Jillian (his wife), fortunately we were able to finish without any major events getting in the way.

Kudos Mark!

Sketch dump

2010-08-24T19:07:00.002+12:00

Vector Illustration

2010-08-24T09:07:00.001+12:00

Just a quick vector based illustration for a new iPhone 4 wallpaper.

Sketch

2010-08-24T08:57:00.000+12:00

Creattica - Snowboard entry

2010-08-23T09:42:00.000+12:00

The snowboard designs I created a few weeks ago have earned an entry at Creattica, a website that showcases some of the best works of designers and photographers. I'm quite pleased to know that my design has been selected. If you haven't seen the previous post where I show the snowboard designs, you can view my entry here.

Wellington Winter 3

2010-08-09T16:13:00.000+12:00

Yet another casualty on the ongoing battle between the Wellingtonian winter and the inhabitants of the city. When will this massacre ever end? The umbrellas have no way of surviving this war, this one didn't even make it to a rubbish bin. At least we've been having good days too and this type of incident isn't an everyday thing.

Bent Eyewear

2010-08-06T20:51:00.000+12:00

Talk about kiwi ingenuity! New Zealanders are always proud about the fact that they can come up with any solution to a problem by just using number 8 wire. Well, this case is not far from this same statement. When a pal of mine became bored with the fact that he could only find the same old boring sunglasses, he decided to make his own. He won't be sporting the same pair as other thousands of people are wearing, his will be unique.

Correy Wyatt actually makes each pair of sunglasses by hand, painstakingly bending the wire precisely into the shape that he has previously envisioned. The results are amazing! Not only are they a piece of art, but they are functional art and they are unique. No pair is exactly the same to any other. I'm quite happy to say that Correy asked for my help to come up with a logo for his new brand of eyewear. He'll be sending some designs to the United States in an attempt to position them in the US market.

I believe that the name of the brand really says everything, Bent eyewear, just simple and to the point!

Nanocamp 2011

2010-08-06T14:05:00.001+12:00

This is the latest illustration I have been working on, it will be used as a postcard in order to get high school students to attend the Nanocamp event. Events like these are really great since they give kids the opportunity to have an up-front hands-on experience with science. It goes on for a week and it's completely free! There's a selection process of course but being able to see what science can offer you as a career or simply having the chance to actually go into a lab and learn about nanotechnology is just awesome!

The MacDiarmid Institute is really making an effort to reach young people and to promote science in New Zealand. This is just another of their programs that has been very successful.

Jennifer Eccles

2010-08-06T04:12:00.001+12:00

This is a picture from a shoot we did quite a while ago. I thought I'd play around with it a bit and noticed that I have forgotten a lot of tricks regarding retouching techniques. Luckily there are a whole bunch of tutorials on youtube that anybody can watch and learn these techniques in no time.

Thanks again to Jennifer Eccles for helping out in this shoot ;)

Snowboards

2010-07-16T20:52:00.003+12:00

The ski fields are open and what better way to go down the slopes with one of these cool designs on your snowboard. I owed Rachel a birthday present and it occurred to me that there was no better present than making her a skin for her old snowboard. She wasn't intending to buy a new one soon so dressing up her snowboard with a cool design was the way to go. She was so stoked that she doesn't want to use it! I'm really glad she liked the design, after all, it's an illustration of her.

Lein saw what I had made and was so impressed that he asked for one. He went for the second design although being a dutch man, I thought he would go for the orange one. My favorite one is definitely the orange one. The design just flows completely with no boundaries what so ever which in my opinion gives if a better sense of freedom.

I wish I could hang snowboards all around the house now! hahahaha

Yummm...

2010-07-08T16:53:00.000+12:00

Almost 5 pm and all I can think of is a tall glass of milk and a couple of these muffins. That's what occurs when you're sorting out pictures and you come across events in which food has been served. As a photographer for the event, you don't get to enjoy much of these pleasantries unfortunately. On the other hand, doing a photo shoot is always fun and it doesn't feel like work.

Wellington Winter 2

2010-07-07T16:53:00.019+12:00

This is the second bin which somebody has kindly adorned with an umbrella. I suspect it might have been a girl but that's just me jumping to conclusions. I'll keep a sharp eye for other possible cosmetically enhanced rubbish bins in the city.

These incidents haven't gone unnoticed and have made the local news. Well... to be honest, they were talking about a new umbrella design which makes it a bit sturdier. Here's the intro to the story. Special appearance by Jennifer Eccles! If you want the full story head on over here.

Wellington Winter

2010-06-27T13:39:00.004+12:00

Once again we start seeing the familiar broken umbrellas in the public rubbish bins (trash cans). I think this winter has been wetter than previous so I have honestly been trying to stay inside. That well may be the reason why I have only seen only one of these iconic images so far. On a good winter day (bad weather day really), it's not unusual to walk down the street and come across two or three prime examples of what the wind will do in Welly.

2:24 AM

2010-06-18T02:24:00.002+12:00

Just for fun

2010-06-18T02:07:00.002+12:00

Miss Leda Petit

2010-06-18T01:01:00.007+12:00

Sketch inspired on a performance by burlesque artist Miss Leda Petit. I saw her a few months ago in the first Miss New Zealand Burlesque. It was a spectacular show and it was really classy. To the contrary of what one may believe, the show was very well organized and all the girls had stellar numbers.

Even though Miss Leda Petit didn't win the competition, I believe she was the best one of the participants. Her number involved champagne and a bath tub... I know it may sound a bit risque but believe me, it was all nicely done. She looked like a movie star from the 40's or 50's and had all the elegance that came with it.

Pinup heaven!

Marcel Nogueira d' Eurydice

2010-06-13T23:43:00.003+12:00

Oh garoto!

If you ever come across a guy who has a passion for Linux and open source software make sure he doesn't go by the name of Marcel Nogueira d' Eurydice. He won't leave in you in peace and you'll have a monotonous drone in your ear ... "Linux... Linux... Linux" or "python... python... python". Never have I seen such fanaticism and devotion in a person. He beats us applefans!! hahahaha

Despite this little quirkiness in his behavior, he's really a cool guy. It's amazing how many friends he's been able to harvest in these 9 months he's been in NZ. It's as if he actually grows them from out of nowhere. No matter where he may end up, he comes back with great stories of his adventures that will always involve music and staying in really random places.

Wish you the best of luck on your travels and hope to see you again my friend.
Cuidate hermanito. hehehe

MacDiarmid Student Symposium 2010

2010-06-11T06:13:00.008+12:00

Just finished the illustration for the MacDiarmid Student Symposium. This is the third illustration I've made for this series of Symposiums although only the last two have the same characters. The style of the illustration has changed slightly and so have the characters in order to fit the theme of the current symposium.

You can view the previous illustration here.

Ephemera

2010-02-06T12:54:00.003+13:00

Audrey

2010-02-05T13:58:00.000+13:00

Rachel Halfpenny

2009-12-05T00:26:00.003+13:00

Chris Donald / 2

2009-12-05T00:12:00.006+13:00

Photo shoot / Chris Donald

2009-11-18T08:50:00.006+13:00

Stay positive

2009-11-12T19:09:00.001+13:00

Dorky Hats

2009-11-09T11:46:00.002+13:00

Super Dorky Hats to the Rescue!!

Perfect day

2009-11-06T14:30:00.001+13:00

WIP

2009-11-04T21:01:00.003+13:00

Peek-a-Woo!

2009-11-03T22:18:00.003+13:00

MIdnight chatting

2009-11-03T13:55:00.005+13:00

Update: I made a few changes to the backgrouund just to make it more obvious that the conversation is taking place in the wee hours of the night.

Aro Valley - Red Rocks... again

2009-11-01T17:40:00.005+13:00

A few weeks ago Rachel and I walked up from Aro Valley down to Red Rocks. The track takes you to the Wind Turbine, to the Radar and then down to Red Rocks. On that occasion we walked for 9 hours and we were totally spent. It was a good way to start training for the tramping season. The walk is so enjoyable and the views you get from Wellington are so nice that I decided to do it once again.

This time I did the walk with a few new friends and since they haven't seen much of Wellington, I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to see the sights and stretch their legs. Nina, Alex and Caroline all come from the US and I think that what they saw today gives them a better appreciation for Wellington. Lein and Naomi also enjoyed the walk even though they're veteran Wellingtonians, hehhehe.

Morning dew

2009-10-26T17:32:00.001+13:00

Labour Weekend

2009-10-25T16:41:00.001+13:00

This Labour Weekend was a great way to start off the first tramp of the season. Rachel and I decided to go to the Wairarapa and do the Mt Holdsworth-Jumbo track in the Tararuas. We left Wellington on Friday night and set up camp around 9pm. The next morning we started our walk "sort of" early since we wanted to make sure we would get a bunk at Powell Hut. It gets really busy since it's a popular track. This was Rachel's first tramp as well so we just wanted to make sure she would have the best experience. Having to sleep under the tables or benches in a crowded hut will put off anybody if it's their first time.

When we got to the hut, we were basically the first to arrive so we had the chance to pick the best bunks in the place. The hut accommodates 30 people supposedly but I think the capacity is much smaller. At least it would seem that way when you get about 45 people all trying to spend the night there. It was packed!!

One of the good things about staying in a crowded hut, is that people start really early in order to get ready since the facilities have to be shared. Even though the hut is equipped with several cookers, you still need to wait your turn if you get up too late. So you get up at the crack of dawn and that's when you're able to see some spectacular sunrises (weather dependent of course).

After having a quick look in the Intentions Book, we saw that we weren't the only ones that were heading toward Jumbo Hut that day. There were at least 15 people heading in the same direction so once again we had to be quick in order to secure some bunks for the next night. Jumbo Hut has capacity for 20 people so we already knew that it was going to be crowded.

As we walked along the ridge, the wind started to pick up and the clouds started to roll in. Fortunately we were equipped for this kind of situation so we didn't have to worry about it, it just made the walk more interesting.

We finally arrived to Jumbo Hut after 3 hours of leaving Powel Hut, we had a nice long rest in the sun since the wind and cloud didn't descend past the peak of Mt Jumbo. It was really nice to have the whole hut to ourselves as well and be able to pick our bunks once again. Around midday, the rest of the trampers from Powel Hut made their appearance and that made us change our mind of staying there for the night.

We decided to press on and make our way back all the wat to the car park and set up the campsite. The day was so nice we just had to enjoy it to the fullest. Going back to Welly would've been a crime. The sun was up and there was just a small breeze to keep you cool. Rachel was able to score some cold beers from some fellow campers hahahha. We also found out that they organize a race each year which actually follows the route we did. The shortest time ever to do the 23km race is 2 hours and 16 minutes! Insane.

Tutorial

2009-10-06T16:51:00.005+13:00

Spring Festival 7

2009-10-06T16:40:00.004+13:00

Spring Festival 6

2009-10-05T17:58:00.002+13:00

Spring Festival 5

2009-10-02T10:18:00.003+13:00

Wellington Winter Breeze

2009-10-01T20:04:00.004+13:00

We can finally say goodbye to Winter... I hope.

I think I like this second version better. The fact that it has more contrast, makes the image pop out quite considerably. Must agree though, since the outline is much thicker, it makes the whole composition a bit heavier. The first image had a better minimalistic effect. Hmmm.....

Anybody interested in a wallpaper? If so, you can download this version. Enjoy!

Spring Festival 4

2009-10-01T12:23:00.004+13:00

Spring Festival 3

2009-09-30T11:05:00.003+13:00

Spring Festival 2

2009-09-29T14:07:00.003+13:00

Spring Festival 1

2009-09-28T15:43:00.002+13:00

The Spring Festival is in bloom. This is the first picture of a series that I shall be putting up. I don;t know the names of most of the flowers but they can be seen in the Botanical Gardens of Wellington, New Zealand.

Spring has sprung...?

2009-09-24T22:59:00.005+12:00

Just two weeks ago we were all basking under the sun. The days were so warm that it almost felt like summer had arrived early. It's unbelievable that for the past two days the temperature has dropped down to 9•C. It's like winter all over again!! I guess I should be used to these crazy temperature changes, after all it is Wellington. They say: "if you don't like the weather, just wait 15 minutes". I so can't wait for the nice hot days.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. I had the intention of going down to the Botanical Gardens to take some pictures of the tulips but it started to rain. will have to postpone until the weather improves a bit.

Supergirl colored

2009-09-11T19:12:00.001+12:00

Super Girl quicky

2009-09-10T14:00:00.003+12:00

Magenta

2009-09-09T17:35:00.002+12:00

I was getting a bit rusty so I decided to spend some time drawing a bit again, this is the result! I've made it into a wallpaper.

$cience

2009-08-09T17:46:00.003+12:00

Illustration for the Student Symposium that the MacDiarmid Institute in New Zealand organises each year. I was quite pleased with the outcome since I had no clue as to what it would end up looking like. I started to build the illustration around the chemist and then realised that the format required was longer and thinner than what I was first told. The Symposium concentrates mainly on chemistry and physics, hence the lack of biology, math and other disciplines. The theme for this symposium is to show scientists how they can make money from their research. If you want to know more about this Symposium, follow this link: MacDiarmid Institute.

This is a wallpaper version.

Field hockey

2009-05-30T16:59:00.003+12:00

close ups

2009-05-29T17:09:00.000+12:00

Big bad wolf

2009-05-26T12:22:00.005+12:00

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down".
Something quite common here in Wellington but it was quite strong this weekend. You can see how the fence was blown away several meters. It used to be where that passerby is walking. A second piece of the fence lays closer to where it stood before (behind the bushes).

Pretty colors

2009-05-24T14:58:00.001+12:00

I just came across an application for the iPhone which generates random lines which you can control by touching the screen. It may not be really useful but you can create nice wallpapers fro your iPhone. It's called Spawn.

Blast from the past

2009-05-20T12:51:00.001+12:00

Imagine my surprise when I found out that you can now play Wolfenstein on the iPhone! I was first introduced to this game way back in the early 1990's... or was it late 1980's? This was one of the first shoot 'em up games that involved going through a maze whilst picking up things in a 3D environment. Secrets could be found that would give you extra health, extra ammo or better still... better weapons.

I'm not really into shoot 'em up games... at least not the ones were the sole purpose is to kill whatever comes past your way. I prefered araced games where you had to show other kind of skills. Yet, I would find myself waiting with great expectancy the next weekend so that my buddies and I could huddle in front of the monitor and take turns to finish the game. It was a bonding time really which involved cooking macaronee and cheese at 2 am, or having cold pizza at 4 am.

As time progressed, we started playing newer games. Doom, Duke Nukem, Tie Fighter, X Wing Fighter, Rebel Assault... etc. We could hook up 3 computers on the network and play all at the same time. Games were changing quickly and the possibilities of playing with or against unknown people over the net was becoming a reality. The memories!

Anyway, it won't be long until we can start playing more sophisticated games on the iPhone. Don't see myself huddling over the iPhone with my pals whilst the macaronee and cheese gets cooked.

Street art

2009-05-18T20:42:00.002+12:00

close ups

2009-05-07T20:30:00.005+12:00

These are just a few things that were around the house that I decided to take a few pictures of. Rachel and I had a cookie bake off the other night and even though we came out even, we were both happy with our results! We should have a bake off more often. My chocolate chip fudge sandwich cookie didn't last long enough to make it to the photo shoot, hahaha.

Balance

2009-05-05T20:25:00.002+12:00

Fireworks

2009-05-01T20:03:00.001+12:00

"Remember, remember the 5th of November...", thus starts one of the best Graphic Novels of the 80's, I'm talking of course of "V for Vendetta". The first time I read it, I was impressed by the quality of the storytelling. The concept in itself was something new to me. This was no ordinary comic book, it had a deeper meaningful story that seldomly do we see in comic books. I guess that's why it's called a graphic novel after all. The movie was really well done I think as they made a smooth adaptation and the story unfolds at a good pace. Anyway, these pictures were taken from Guy Fawke's Day 2008 and I hadn't really gotten around to posting them. Enjoy!

Death in the Family 2

2009-04-28T19:34:00.001+12:00

Death in the family

2009-04-27T16:10:00.000+12:00

Kapiti Island

2009-04-27T08:21:00.005+12:00

Red Rocks

2009-04-13T22:11:00.002+12:00

Mt Ruapehu trip

2009-04-12T22:02:00.005+12:00

Happy Bday

2009-04-03T22:32:00.001+13:00