PALE - An art blog by Dominique Fam

rattan chair

2012-02-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

Adam & Eve

2012-02-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Illustration for Changi Airport

2012-01-17T22:37:00.001-08:00

An illustration I did a while back based on a Nesting egg theme, highlighting several destinations of interest in Asia from Changi Airport Singapore. Done in photoshop.

Testing out a brush

2012-01-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

Angry faces from Spartacs

2012-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

Some quick sketches I did based on characters from Spartacus

pen sketches

2012-01-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

recent sketches

2011-12-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

Sunday sketches

2011-11-17T07:47:00.001-08:00

Some sketches I did on Sunday. Trying to evoke a vintage feel.

sketches in between

2011-11-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

Some sketches I did in between projects. Mostly done at cafes over coffee.

Figures

2011-10-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

Some recent sketches I did recently. I realize I don't draw the back view very often, perhaps that is something I need to practice more.

background illustration for Mandarin Gallery

2011-10-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

Something I did some months back. I almost forgot about it until I passed by Mandarin Gallery last week.

3 portraits

2011-09-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

Some portraits I did recently. Done in pen and then treated using photoshop.

random portraits

2011-09-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Super confidence for the future

2011-08-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

A play on a recent election poster. The new president of Singapore has the same glasses and hairstyle as the John Byrne Man of Steel era Clark Kent. His logo was the glasses.

expressions

2011-08-24T01:10:00.000-07:00

Some sketches / drawings I did recently.

Batman (2)

2011-08-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to revisit a poster I did based on artwork by Neal Adams from Batman #251 (1973): "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge". I've added new elements this time, like the bat signal and turned it into a rain scene.

Captain America sketch

2011-07-30T09:39:00.001-07:00

Somewhat inspired by the WWII posters I saw in the Captain America movie.

enigma

2011-07-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

outlook

2011-07-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

Optimus Prime

2011-07-08T23:53:00.000-07:00

I recently built a scale model of Optimus Prime, and it gave me an appreciation of just how complex the character's design is. This is a sketch of the model I built.

hindsight

2011-07-06T11:48:00.001-07:00

Sunshine

2011-06-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Brood

2011-06-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

Merlion illustration

2011-06-13T20:53:00.001-07:00

An illustration I did recently for Singapore Theatre Festival. The ringmaster was photographed first, then I did the merlion to match the lighting, and finally the flames we DI-ed and overall lighting re-adjusted.

Fall

2011-06-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Gollum

2011-06-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Davy Jones

2011-06-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

blonde

2011-06-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

Some random sketches

2011-05-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Some random sketches I did recently.

Into the Woods illustration

2011-05-05T12:34:00.001-07:00

A fairy tale-themed illustration I did for the theatre production "Into the Woods". The people were photographed first, then I did the background forest illustration according to the lighting of each character. The details had to be quite specific as there are elements (like branches, tree trunks, twisted roots etc) that the characters would need to "interact" with. I spent the bulk of the time creating textures for the leaves, bark(s), grass and animal surfaces, and the final working file was about 4.5 GB. It was a massive effort, but it was the kind of project that allowed me to go nuts with all the crazy details I like to get into. This flyer is out now at Sistic outlets.

Hulk Hogan

2011-05-02T01:06:00.001-07:00

‎"When it comes crashing down, and it hurts inside,
ya' gotta take a stand, it don't help to hide,
Well, you hurt my friends, and you hurt my pride,
I gotta be a man; I can't let it slide."
~from Hulk Hogan's theme song

Like the other kids around me, I knew those words well when I was a kid growing up in the 80's watching WWF wrestling.

‎

betrayed

2011-04-29T12:50:00.001-07:00

It doesn't matter!

2011-04-26T12:10:00.001-07:00

Drawn over a sketch I did while watching an episode of Raw, during which the Rock returned and said his signature catchphrase.

Superman and Supergirl

2011-04-15T01:37:00.001-07:00

I've been watching the old Superman movies recently starring Christopher Reeve and decided to do this sketch. Reeve is not only the best on-screen Superman and Clark Kent, but also probably the most convincing actor in a Superhero role ever.

(I added Supergirl cos I always thought Helen Slater was cute.)

Some book covers I did

2011-03-03T20:04:00.001-08:00

Some book covers I did for a modern fantasy series. The first pic shows the initial cover design, with a herd of flying horses and horsemen. It was later modified to the second pic, a night scene, and the horsemen were replaced in favor of having the Toronto skyline.

The next book was for the second print of a book that was released earlier. These were rather interesting projects to work on, and I got to read parts of the book in order to get a feel of each scene. But I'm disappointed in the way the final cover design, layout and text was executed. Even the first print of the first book I worked on (last pic) had a better look and feel.

Christmas elves for G2000

2011-02-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of Christmas elves I did for G2000 for their Christmas promotion last year. The elves were to be inserted into photos of models. However, the female elf ended being used on her own as part of in-store materials.

new glasses

2011-02-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

at the balcony

2011-02-06T10:06:00.001-08:00

Something I worked on over the Chinese New Year holidays.

daydreaming

2011-01-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

The 3rd in my series.

Waiting

2011-01-18T09:38:00.001-08:00

never keep the Ice Queen waiting...

Moment of clarity

2011-01-13T00:49:00.001-08:00

I'm starting on a new series of portraits, done on a larger size. I'll eventually make them into prints. Here are the first ones.

nude #2

2011-01-07T23:32:00.001-08:00

The Christmas and new year holidays have kept me away so it's been a while since my last post. Here's something I did over the weekend.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T11:04:00.001-08:00

A gif file I made for the season:) The animation doesn't seem to work though. Click here for animated version.

violet

2010-11-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

faraway look

2010-11-23T23:43:00.001-08:00

morning light

2010-11-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

coy

2010-11-19T09:12:00.001-08:00

black & white 1

2010-11-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

illustration for x-mini II speakers

2010-11-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

A series of illustrations I did for x-mini II speakers, highlighting its "compact power".

dead end

2010-11-13T08:58:00.001-08:00

Lady in the White Garden

2010-11-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

An illustration I did that was based on a short story. This one took a little longer than usual to complete due to the size as well as details (the hair especially). But I was quite satisfied with the end result.

Mood swing

2010-11-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

sketch

2010-10-30T08:43:00.001-07:00

Annoyed, frustrated and disturbed

2010-10-17T09:04:00.001-07:00

Double Standards

2010-10-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Distraction

2010-10-13T12:33:00.001-07:00

Another idea that came to me while sketching over coffee.

Batman

2010-09-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

A poster I did based on artwork by Neal Adams from Batman #251 (1973): "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge". I did this as a sort of mock movie poster for perhaps the next Batman movie. Since the previous movies used yellow/brown (Batman Begins) and blue (The Dark Knight) hues, I used reds here. I thought it produced a slightly ominous and hellish look, which might be quite apt considering how the last movie ended.

random sketches, faces, people & figure drawing

2010-08-30T00:30:00.001-07:00

More sketches

2010-08-26T09:52:00.001-07:00

Sketches that I've done from time to time.

Sketch

2010-08-24T22:04:00.001-07:00

A sketch I did while waiting for an appointment. Then I filled in the blacks with Photoshop.

Elektra

2010-08-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Garner as Elektra, comics version.

Sketches I did during STGCC

2009-08-19T01:45:00.001-07:00

Samuel L Jackson

2009-06-15T09:06:00.001-07:00

Zhang Ziyi

2009-06-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

I try to capture the look or expression that most defines the person when doing a portrait. I gave her wind swept hair to contrast with her still pose.

Figure drawing

2009-06-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

The end

2009-06-08T09:24:00.001-07:00

People on the train

2009-06-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

So many people are absorbed with their phones during transit...

Dark Fairy

2009-06-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Concept art

2009-06-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

Concept art for some of the displays in a haunted house theme park that i did some time back. The asylum scene was loosely based on the story of Mr. Renfield in Dracula.

Timeout GSS cover

2009-06-02T04:47:00.000-07:00

Screen shots of the production of TimeOut Singapore's GSS cover for June.

Figure drawing

2009-06-02T00:33:00.000-07:00

There are two kinds of people in this world...

2009-06-02T00:23:00.001-07:00

Sketched this while watching the DVD a couple of nights ago.

Sketches

2009-06-02T00:17:00.000-07:00

Some sketches done using a scribbling method.

Futuristic Cars

2009-04-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

Illustration for CNN's Future Summit. Futuristic driver-less cars bringing kids to school.

Futuristic Plane

2009-04-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Illustration for CNN's Future Summit. A space plane that travels across the world in 2 hours.

Space travel

2009-04-07T08:56:00.001-07:00

Illustration for CNN's Future Summit. A futuristic scene of an executive looking through a space travel brochure.

Cab driver

2009-04-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

Illustration for CNN's Future Summit. A future where cabs are driven by robots. This ad was run on the side of cabs.

Athlete's leg

2009-04-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

Illustration for CNN's future Summit. This x-ray depicts a situation whereby an athlete with a robotic leg will actually be able to perform better and more efficiently than a normal human.

Generations

2009-04-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

Illustration for CNN's future Summit. A possible family portrait of the future, where healthcare and life expectancy has improved to a point such that a family gets bigger and bigger, with some members not even recognizing each other or knowing they are related.

Robots

2009-04-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

Illustration for CNN's "Future Summit". A futuristic scenario depicting robots having taking over all manual labor from humans.

Red Biker Girl

2009-03-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

A splash page for a comic that I'm working on. I wanted the girl to have a daredevil, bring -it-on type of attitude. The details on the bike were a pain to do, especially from such an angle, but I wanted the perspective such that it looks like a giant wheel was coming towards us. The debris, on the other hand, was fun to work on.

Wonder Woman

2009-03-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Wonder Woman at war with the parademons on Apokolips. Perhaps inspired by fantasy art, I wanted to do a mythical homage to Wonder Woman #1 (1941). My original idea was to have her fight Nazis and using a sword, but I ended up going with the modern incarnation of Wonder Woman. I also went with a spear instead. I used a muted red palette to make the environment look more "hellish".

Magician poster

2009-03-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

Because this is a poster for an old-school magic performance, I wanted to create a vintage-photo feel for this illustration.

Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler

2009-03-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

Jessica Alba

2009-03-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

A fairy tale, doll-like portrayal of a movie star at a typical publicity event, with the usual glamor, glitz and lights. A portrait exercise using Photoshop.

Spider-woman

2009-03-19T22:06:00.001-07:00

Spider-woman climbing a skyscraper. I put clouds in the reflection to give a sense of height.

Modern-age Supergirl

2009-03-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

My interpretation of the modern-age Supergirl flying as the sun sets.

Batgirl

2009-03-19T21:57:00.001-07:00

There was a buzz at one point on some forums that Barbara Gordon would be Batgirl again. I thought one of the first things I'd like to see her do is beat up on the Joker. I decided to add Harley as well.

Shi

2009-03-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

A mock movie poster I did for fun. Fully rendered in Photoshop.