Phil Yeh's drawing of Emily and Rocket

Phil Yeh is without doubt one of the masters (perhaps the best in this field) when it comes to character creation and inking. If you ever see his inked art work for his comics, your brain will be BLOWN AWAY! You will keep looking at his line work and subconsciously admiring the execution of thick lines. The details in his drawing are amazingly detailed. Only three words to describe his style: Bold, Free and only he know how to do it! It is an honor for me to have Emily and Rocket inked by Phil.

Emily and Rocket sketches

Emily was created in 1996-7, the year when I was still an art student in NAFA. The truth... this was the drawing style I discovered when I drew Emily, before that she looks more like a "manga style" girl. This drawing style has evolved over the years, from a wobbly scribble to what she is now. Rocket was created after the year 2000. I don't mind having a dog that looks like Rocket, but too bad my wife has a phobia on little animal. How I envy Geoff Bevington who in real life has a pet dog that look exactly like Dot (the white dog with a black patch in our story).

The Winged Tiger in Singapore: It begins from here

The Winged Tiger in Singapore is supposed to be a funded project from Scape, and the proposed launching venue is at the opening of the new Scape during the month of June 2010. However the plan wasn't materialised and we decided to carry on with our ideas by going self-publication. It's all or nothing! That's the birth of The Winged Tiger in Singapore!

Drawings of The Winged Tiger in Singapore 7

This is the drawing I have the most satisfaction. I enjoyed drawing and inking curve lines. Compared to the ruled lines in those museum drawings, curved lines are more expressive and free. If you make a mistake, it won't be seen as clearly as a straight line or a circle. Curve line is the best, you can't go wrong with it provided that you don't hesitate when inking. Orchard ION is one of the best subject for inking in my point of view.

Drawings of The Winged Tiger in Singapore 6

This is one art work which I enjoyed working on. When Phil Yeh asked me to do a drawing on living a healthy and sporty life, I was wondering how to compose a picture with all the sports in it. I did a few drafts but wasn't satisfied with the content and composition of the drawing. In the end, my wife suggested a beach scene. Problems solved!

Drawings of The Winged Tiger in Singapore 5

This drawing shows Emily teaching Rocket to paint at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). This building is the former Saint Joseph Institution, the same school which my dad studied in when he is a teenager. I loved the colours Lieve Jerger breath into this piece of art work. Otherwise my drawing will look very dull if not for the heavenly sky!

Drawings of The Winged Tiger in Singapore 4

Try spending some times in our National Museum of Singapore. I mean you really buy the ticket and view the exhibits. It seems to me that Singapore history is surrounded with this few categories: food culture, fashion, cinema, photography and the nation history. The items that I drew for this picture is not from my imagination. They are really the exact exhibits from the museum (forget about the cars and the singing hippo).

Drawings of The Winged Tiger in Singapore 3

Phil Yeh suggested that we have a page that shows Rocket thinking about his career. So Rocket finally spending less time on gaming, and seriously thinking about upgrading himself. Well do you find this scene familiar in our selection of career?

Drawings of The Winged Tiger in Singapore 2

This drawing shows Rocket engaged in a very high tech 3-D gaming. You know what, teenagers nowadays are very into computer gaming and most have played very violent game. Holding guns, slashing 'bad guys' with daggers and arming with the so call mass weapon of destruction are in fact very common to them. Their reality are rooted in the virtual world. In the virtual world, they become the Hero that can save the universe. And the way they can do so is to kill as many bad guys as possible. Only one sentence that can describe them," So young yet so violence."

Drawings of The Winged Tiger in Singapore 1

The first drawing I did for the book is a wet market scene. The inspiration for this drawing came from the Chinatown wet market. However I did not draw exactly what I have seen, but added a bit of my idea to make this wet market looks more interesting in terms of the composition. The first drawing is done in pencil, follow by an inked study (using fountain pen) before I inked the actual drawing with dip pen and Indian ink. Can you spot the differences?