Johararific

Express in Art

[johararific]

Happy Tiger New Year! Shanghai Grand era-inspired Swing/Jazz tunes, probably watching too much Ip Man :P. Keeping it simple with CNY drawing this year... Just some markers and paper :D Wishing you Pink of Health and an abundance of wealth all year round

[johararific]

I didn’t manage to make a sugar plum song this year :/ Hopefully, this darker theme song can make it up to the missed Christmas song. As we step into a new year, many things are still uncertain. Where will it take us? It’s a strange place.

[johararific]

I hope you had a sweet and magical Christmas this year! Things are getting better again :D *Fingers crossed* My Christmas painting this year came a bit late... Oopsie. We went for a mini holiday over the Christmas. It was to break away from the monotonous routine that we had slowly accumulated over the past 2 years. It was good to see other human beings other than those in your own community, or your own social bubbles. I have always enjoyed travelling, to mingle with new cultures and drink in new sceneries. It was hard to be looking at the same line of trees and houses everyday. Enjoying a cuppa in a coffee shop for the first time again was so surreal...

[johararific]

[johararific]

Jacky, the Jack-O-Lantern. Very original choice, I know. Hah... I’m starting to feel a bit of inertia since the days are getting shorter, colder and more gloomy. I suspect that I might have Seasonal Affective Disorder, SAD indeed. Hehe. I force myself to exercise for about 20 - 30 minutes every day to combat this thing! I can assure you it is nowhere near the HIIT regime. I hope I can keep it up *fingers crossed* If I really don’t feel like it... Maybe 10 minutes of stretching, maybe. Hmm...

I hope you enjoy this painting. It was a stormy and misty night. Leaves were falling hard and gushing in swirls from the strong wind. Instead of aeroplanes, we saw witches were busy jetting around the sky. Meanwhile, Jacky was on the way to trick some naughty kids... No treats, just tricks from Jacky. Hehehe 

[johararific]

Happy Mid Autumn Festival! I painted this having my childhood memories running through my head like a film. I remember being enchanted by the beauty of lanterns under the bright, glowing moonlight. The soft glow from lanterns and the moon really made the night magical. I enjoyed lighting candles along the patio whilst listening to the adults chit-chatting in the background. Simple things in life that gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling. Cool night, hot tea and velvety mooncakes were part of the experience too :)

[johararific]

I recently watched the latest Mortal Kombat movie and my creative buds were tingling to show some love and geek out on a fanart.  The painting was inspired by the Belladonna costume from MK 11. I didn't follow it to the tee because it had a crazy amount of details. @.@

[johararific]

On a cold wintry night, with a pencil, a blank page, I let my wrist danced away to my imagination while listening to Parcast's Mythical Monsters series. It was Huldra, a beautiful creature that lives in the Scandinavian forest. In a gist, she is a temptress to men who wandered deep into the forest. She wears a white dress with a long blonde lock and she sings like an angel. On her back, she has a fox tail and a nightmarish hole similar to a tree hole. She appreciates well-mannered encounters and grants them the abundance of forest wealth. However, a nightmare ending will be cast upon those rude enough to mention her tail, one of her biggest insecurities. Those that do not satisfy her lust will also face the same bad fortune.

[johararific]

Just watched 2046 the movie and the mood and the artworks were fantastic. It set in the past but telling a story in the future? Gosh... the movie put me in a weird time-warped feeling that I find hard to describe. Nonetheless, the movie was very well done.

With a bag full of inspiration, I started to paint my vision. Since it's close to the Lunar New Year, I tied the themes together with the movie. There were no references used for this painting, just fuelled by a lot of inspiration and pure imagination. My main goals are to intrigue emotions and mood and tell a story. The details are left to your own imagination.

I guess the painting portrays how most of us would celebrate the Lunar New Year this year. We can only watch colourful lights and lanterns from behind the windows whilst longing to celebrate with our loved ones. Laughter, jokes, noisy fireworks, reunions and all will be happening behind the screen this year but hopefully not next year! :D 

[johararific]

I was flipping through my sketch book and I found this ink drawing. It was drawn during the small gap between continuous lockdowns in the summer last year. It was a day trip down to St Audries Bay, England. It was much needed to keep myself sane! 

The morning breeze and the gentle waves on a summer morning was slightly chilly but so... therapeutic :) I whipped out a black, skinny felt pen and brown brush pen and etched away on a million, thousand years old rock. Before I knew it my fingers were numb from the cold. I decided to pack up enjoy walking along the pebbly coast. 

[johararific]

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully, this year we'll see reach the other end of the tunnel and see the ray of hope and happiness again. I started a painting entirely from my imagination with no references. It was a challenge for me. Managed to finish it in a day. I ended up with 2 results...The first one was intentional and the second one was a by-product. *Smirk* Not a very charming way to put it but I really liked the zoomed-in version when I painted her face. So, I decided to do a cropped version as well. The story goes that she was enchanted by this sweet scent that she could not make up what it was. The scent reminded her of cherry blossom...or apple blossom, it could be cotton candy...or sugar plum? Honey? Maybe... She closed her eyes and the scent intensified. She let her sense guided her to uncover the truth... In the second painting, it portrays that she was attentively listening to a story being told and let her imagination runs wild. It unlocked many windows and doors that led her to a mysterious but creative sphere that the eyes would restrain her to the reality and tangible world.

[johararific]

A little Christmas tune to make things more magical :P

[johararific]

The year has been really tough and I wanted to end it with some positivity and warmth. The only escapism is through imagination and I'd like to portray it in my painting by using warmer colours instead usual blue and grey which are commonly used to portray the winter season. Magic and magical creatures ignite hope and joy in me as a stark difference to the reality. I thought to include Yeo Jin Goo, a Korean actor in the painting since I enjoy his acting very much and kept me company during the lockdown. :P

[johararific]

Today, as I was home bound from a very mundane grocery shopping (though I do enjoy shopping for food a lot, but I do it every week, kinda samey samey...anyway let’s get back to the main story). Like I said earlier, I was on the way home, I saw a very awe-inspiring scenery as the car was descending from a hill on the motorway. in distance, the Llandaff Cathedral caught the warm ray of light peeking through the dense clouds and misty rain. Rather than, clambering for my phone to capture the heaven like view... I took a mental picture and created this painting from memory alone. Added a touch of fantasy with the little guardian dragon ^_^

[johararific]

On Halloween night, you plan to go for a walk, alone. You thought it would be adventurous since trick or treat is out of the question this year...You wrap up warm with a knitted fluffy scarf and off you go with your proudly carved Jack-O-Lantern. Brr... it's especially cold and misty tonight. You thought, "It must be the rain earlier."You kept sludging through the wet leaves and mud. Enjoying yourself, you walked into a path that you never took. It's spooky... fit the mood well, you thought.It was dark and misty, you tripped on a tree root and realised you were lost. You tried to trace back your track, but it was impossible with the heavy fog. You ran and ran in circles...You were getting really thirsty and cold. You couldn't feel your nose and fingers... you gave up and sat under a tree. You thought the crows nesting on the tree would keep you company.Then, a lady dressed in white appeared. she was subtly glowing under the moonlight. She said you look lost and tired. So, she offered you an apple and show you the way out.What would you do? Take the apple and follow her? Or...is she a fiend?

[johararific]

Oops... forgot to share here for the last Halloween :P I did do something for the most artistic time of the year. And here it is! The music has been made for a while... but I thought it kinda suits the mood for this year’s painting. Hee :D

[johararific]

Warrior Cats Fan Art for a Die-Hard Tween Girl Fan :)  Do you know Erin Hunter is made out of a team of writer instead of a single writer? It's an interesting way of telling children the harshness of the reality. Haha, just my personal opinion.