A Window Into History

Aren't  these pics amazing? There's nothing like old photos. They're like a window to the past. There's so much in one pic.

And the feel of them! There's nothing like it. When you hold an old photograph, you can feel the love and work the photo developer put into it to get these pictures. Anyone who has developed their own photos will know how much work goes into it.

These two pics are of my family (top is mom side and bottom is dad side).




The last couple nights I've been having inklings to research my family. Of course, I don't know much about my family. I only know back to my grandparents on one side and a great grandmother on the other. Its kind of sad really. I'm hoping to talk to my family though to get more information... if we have any.. it's hard because my dad doesn't like talking about the past (I didn't even know that he had aunts and uncles!) and my mom doesn't seem to know very much (she's the youngest in the family so it's like she only knows bit sand pieces).

Last names:
辛Sun
張Truong
官Quan
馮Fung

Man... it took so long to find those names. It's also harder since I don't read or write Chinese. It's going to be a difficult ride for me! But, I'm going to start first by taking that Ancestry DNA test... see where that leads me... then I might go looking back for actual people. I'm hoping that I'll be able to contact some of my aunts and uncles for some information. Possibly try and get my parents to help. One of my great aunts is still alive (now she has a crazy story!)... maybe one day I can visit her and maybe she could tell me some things.

Wow. Way past my bed time... Until next time... Wish me luck! Haha.

Wedding Invite!

Woo hoo! So, my cousin got engaged last year and has been planning her wedding for this coming September.

I've been working with her this year to create her wedding invitation, which I just got in the mail last month!! =) I'm so excited. And it turned out pretty well too. Right now, I'm working with her on designing the paper collateral (programs, menus, etc.). Probably will post some drafts soon.

=)

ASun Preview

Still a work in progress. A draft of my new website layout. Still changing things here and there. Just dabbling with some HTML5 coding. I know I really should have been keeping up with the coding stuff but when HTML5 came out and everyone was all into it, I wasn't. I just felt like it was making website coding more complicated than it needed to be. But, after experimenting with a few codes, I kind of like where it's headed. I should really read that HTML book I bought like a year ago. Lol.

I pretty much got the index page coded. The other pages shouldn't be too hard. I really need to re-photograph all my work but I've been slacking on it. Will post a link when it's completed. =)
 

Mom

Here's a sketch of my mother. Definitely messed up that corner of her mouth.. Teeth are really hard to draw. And one of her eyes is slightly out of place. But, after I get past those little details, I can really say that I like this portrait. =)

I miss my mom. Pretty excited. I'm taking a trip back home tomorrow. I get to see her and everyone else next week. =)

Bluejay

Did another drawing last night. Here's the pen and ink sketch of my friend, Bluejay.




=)

I remember hearing in school that it's harder to draw people that you know than people you don't. I think it's a little bit more challenging because there's an added pressure of trying to make it look exactly like them.

Still need to work a bit more on proportions and I think the placement might be just a hair off. I've always had a bit of a problem with those. so I guess it's not too bad.

Practice makes perfect, right?

MySoul Debut

Ok, so, this song was released a little over a month ago and I'm just posting it here now. =) I helped a bit with the lyric video below.

This song is Free Alone and is written, performed, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered all exclusively by MySoul. Yes, I have talented friends =)



I was really excited when they told me that they were releasing one of their songs online so that everyone could hear it. I've had the pleasure of listening to a few of their songs and I just couldn't wait for them to share their music and passion with the world.

There are a few short song teasers you can find on their website, MySoulMusic.Net, right now. Not much out at the moment, but soon....

They are truly gifted and talented musicians. I love hearing what they have to share. Their music, I think, has the ability to really effect people in a positive way. I could really see a few of their songs in certain TV shows and movies. Hopefully, that will become a reality one day... Watch out world! =)

Drawing Practice

I'm a little rusty. It's been a while since I've drawn people. But hey, I can still do it! Haha. Here's a pen and ink sketch I did of Phoebe Tonkin.



I've never really been very confident in my drawing abilities, but I think I did a pretty good job on this one. =) And it's been at least around 3 years since I've attempted drawing (semi-)realistically like this. Haha. Hopefully I'm inspired to do more practicing.

Pen and ink is fun to do. I think it's one of my favorite mediums to use. But it sucks when you mess up.. there's no erasing! Lol. I just used a regular Uni-Ball pen. It took me about two hours to draw this. Well... I was drawing for about that long. Haha. I really should have used some of my drawing pens instead... but hey, it's just a sketch.

I really need to work on nose and mouth areas... and I don't think I'm very good at drawing males. It's weird... but I guess girls are more defined with the hair and make up and stuff.

Phoebe Tonkin is an actress from one of my favorite shows at the moment, The Originals. I first saw Phoebe in The Secret Circle. I also happened to be watching the H2O: Just Add Water series around the same time and she's in that too. She's one of those rare actors/actresses I had a special feeling about... And actually, cast of The Originals is filled with a bunch of talented actors and actresses.

=)

Doodles

Just a couple pen and ink doodles...



I'm also working on a new layout for my portfolio website and trying to update my portfolio. The hard part is always trying to decide what to display on my website and what on my hard copy for interviews and stuff.

If I remember, I'll post when I'm done with the website. But in case, here are links to my websites... AmandaSun.com  & Bunnie Productions (coming soon)

P.S.

1. This whole new Blogger layout thing is totally confusing to me. I don't know how long it's been since they changed it but it's going to take some time to get used to.

2. I'm planning on using this blog more. I thought about starting a Wordpress blog on my domain but I think I might want to just stick with this one since it's already started and I already have things on it. I really hope I start blogging more often and start doing more design/photography worth posting.

One Year Later....

Wow. Have things changed in the last year. Things have changed so much in my life since last November. Honestly, sometimes it feels like everything has changed but at the same time, nothing. Next week, will be exactly one year that my grandma has passed away. It's crazy to think that it's already been a whole year. I still miss her very much. What other big changes in the last year? Well, I finished school in December. What a big accomplishment. I mean, that was the one goal I've had my whole life since I was little and I actually accomplished it. I was in a bit of shock about that. And then, I started wondering.... what's next? What is my next goal in life? Where do I go from here? January was definitely a month of a lot of emotions dealing with the passing of my grandma and figuring out my next move. Which lead me to make the biggest change in the last year.... moving out of state. Yup. Never imagined that I would. But, yet here I am... 800 miles away in Denver!

Design and photography has been at a bit of a standstill. Sometimes Most of the time, I just feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. That and the lack of inspiration.  Not to mention the freelancing work I've been doing in my spare time for my old job back in California. But I'm planning on doing more design and photography work for myself. I also have another freelancing opportunity for my mom's employer for a bottle redesign. Things are looking up... But I just need to figure out how to manage my time better so I can start working on my personal design projects.