Music Cover Illustration from a Missing Client

A few years ago, I had a string of projects from someone who claimed to be a newbie artist/rapper as for the new beginning of his career after he left his old work related to martial art or sport (I forgot which one). 

 

He continuously gave me new order for each song he wrote and recorded. He even gave me the lyric and song to understand better about the specific concept he wanted for it. And so I did as he requested for all the songs with various illustrations. He even started his own channel on one big social media to share his music and also showing those illustrations for each of them. We worked together for almost a year for it and I tried to support him on his channel. Until one day the project came to an end. He said he would contact me one day if he ever need my design service again. He was good as a client and I had no problem working for him that time.

 

Time went by and after around a few years later and many other projects that came after him, I got curious to see how he's doing with his new career and I checked his channel only to see all of his songs had been gone as if those weren't there since the beginning. I googled him by his real name that he'd once mentioned to me but to no avail. I wonder what had happened to him because it seemed like everything related to him were erased. Until now, there was no clear news about him or rather, I found out something but couldn't be confirmed that it was him related to it. Something that definitely would made it understandable as to why he disappeared. Only God knows.

 

The picture I attached in this post was the initial illustration for one of the song in which the final one was way different than this.  

 

Annual Girl's Scout Event in T-shirt Design

I got a special project back then from one girl scout organization from U.S back then a few years ago.  

It was a project with specific brief of how they want it to show to their young members. It supposed to also show the spirit and youth with cheerful vibe and most of all, the relationship with nature as girl scout.

I came up with this idea after reading their brief and they instantly approved within a day after I showed them the concept. The picture in this post was the one their agreed on which showing a little girl scout with her backpack facing the mountain scenery, bird and sunrise with tent. They only want the design with minimal colors used on the t-shirt which was only 3 colors.

In the end, this was one of the most satisfying projects which finished within less than 3 days and the client was happy with it. 

Feel free to contact me for any design or illustration commission/inquiry/project without AI through e-mail: thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com or DM through Instagram: @noodlemie  

An Unfinished Music Cover Concept for An Abandoned Contest

I got invited into one contest for music cover with quite high price back then a few years ago. They specifically described the elements that should be included in the illustration and I came up with the concept as the picture attached in this post.

It was a rather unfinished contest since the contest holder in the end abandoned the contest without explaining the reason why. I left it unfinished although it crossed my mind several time the urge to finish the concept but still I finally decided just to let it be as it is. 

This kind of things happened a couple of times whether due to the client being busy or lost interest in continuing because they didn't find what they wanted or simply changed their mind about it. Of course the curiosity arose in our mind as people who participated in the contest but we could do nothing about it but only to let it go.

Anyway, in this art business, things happened and not all process are smooth as we want it to. Once again another lesson learned. It may seem like I've been sharing many bad moments in life in several post I've written here in my blog, but believe me, these things were only 20 to max 30 percents compared to the good things that happened in it. Life is never flat and it never will. Because at the end of the day, another day another chance to take and another new door to open.   

 

Mural Design For a Contest that did not finished in time

A few years ago, there was a competition for one famous beverage cola brand to create a mural design based on their commercial advertisement at that time. This mural will be painted directly on a wall in one European country. 

After I've watched the ads over and over again, I came up with this idea. I wanted to combined all the elements from the ads in one picture. Due to contest's short time, I didn't manage to finish coloring the concept in time because apparently it took quite long time to finish this concept. So, in the end, I just submitted the outline without colors to show them thinking who knows they would consider my initial concept as a good one. Unfortunately, my concept was not convincing enough and failed to go through to the next round. 

A couple of months later, in between my free time after finishing some projects, I came across this unfinished concept and then finished it until the concept completed and I kinda wonder what if I finished it on contest time. Anyway, I posted in my social media as my portfolio. Here is the result as on the picture attached. 

Feel free to contact me for any design/ illustration service through e-mail: thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com or DM me on Insta: @noodlemie 

 

A Tribute for Late Friend in Custom illustration/Design

This would be the last post in the last day of year 2025. A throwback of a heartfelt experience I had back then. 

A couple of years ago, I got an inquiry from someone for a personal custom design/ illustration as a tribute for his late friend.

He specifically described the details that he wanted me to include in the design and he also provided me the references of his late friend in photos. His late friend was a quite young man, a gym enthusiast and a happy friendly person with so much energy and spirit to dedicate, live and share his life for his loved ones, his friends and his work. Not to mention, his healthy life style that he tried to maintain until one day he suddenly passed away.

The client didn't disclose further why he passed away and I didn't want to ask since it was a private matter. He wanted him to be remembered as the best person he was and that gave me the motivation to do the best I could at that time.

So, this was the illustration I did for him with some details such as wording small front part design were left out here to emphasize the person and the background only for this blog post. He was satisfied and thankful for the result. He will print it on t-shirts that will be worn on his late friend's memorial day with the rest of friends and family.  In the end, we all wanted to be remembered and loved by people around us. 

For portfolio purpose only. Any use/copy/share/re-post is not allowed. Feel free to contact me for any illustration/design service through e-mail: the dreamernoodlemie@gmail.com or DM on Insta @ noodlemie.  
 

All about Cat's demeanor in Different Illustration or Graphic Design For Apparel Products

This was one of my initial concept for a custom project with several tasks to do cat's demeanor in illustration for their apparel/ clothing products. The final design was different than this but still share the same theme along with other illustration to depict cat in different ideas and concepts.

 They gave me detail instructions for each illustration but gave me the freedom to interpret it into the illustration itself. I can't disclose everything related to it but it was certainly fun and something that I would proud of as part of my portfolios. 

This concept depicted a cat in its daily naughty habit which love to touch, break, drop anything on the table just to annoy us. They're proud and seemed to know that no matter what they do, there will not be any consequence for them because we're simply their 'slaves' and obey them as our master. 

So, if any of you are interested in something like this or any other custom illustration, feel free to contact me through e-mail: thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com or DM on Instagram: noodlemie. 

 

An Idea for Game's Character Concept

A few years ago, I participated in a competition to create new game characters and I came up with this illustration concept based on their brief. However, maybe mine was not suitable enough for them and I lost in it. I took it as another experience to learn and a stepping stone to another chapter in life. I was glad that I took the chance anyway and tried to sharpen my skill for it.

Feel free to contact me for any design or illustration service through e-mail: thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com or DM on my insta: @noodlemie 

Sticker collection for Supplement Product

 A few years ago, I got an order to do a set of sticker collection for one supplement company. They wanted to be specific in each sticker with details and such, related to nature, animals and disasters. The underlying meaning was to show that we can overcome all of it with our strength by the power of nature itself. This was only one example out of 10 designs/ illustration for the sticker in different custom cutout shapes. 

Feel free to contact me for any hand made digital design service with original creativity and without AI through my e-mail : thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com or my Instagram DM: @noodlemie

From Sketch to Digital Drawing for a School Task

One day, a few years ago, I got a special request from a dad. He wanted me to make digital drawing versions of his daughter's 2 sketches. And so I did and these were the results.

He told me that these were for her school task which she would presented in front of her classmates. He was so happy after seeing the results and he said he can't wait to show it to her. 

These were actually truly fun and special for me, especially the part of helping a dad to make his daughter happy and helped her in anyway he can.   

Feel free to contact me for any special commission or project of any custom illustration you need through my e-mail: thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com 

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS illustration concept

Mental health awareness themed illustration. 

This was an initial concept for an illustration related to mental health (depression, anxiety, heartbroken and imprisoned in our own mind). I was thinking what would it look like, and then, this idea showed up in my mind. They said it should have been much simpler but I thought it was all about taste and preference.

Feel free to contact me for any illustration project through my email: thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com 

Any use/copy/share/repost is not allowed. Full video in my instagram: noodlemie 

SQUID GAME 3: CONCLUSION

I know this is far late for an opinion about this series, however, I think I still need to write it down anyway. What can I say? To be honest I just read the review and short explanation of each episodes without watching it. 

Since I also dropped it at season 2 after a few episodes. I knew it when I watched the beginning of season 2, it won't be as great as the original season 1. The new characters somehow were not memorable enough, the main character stayed stupid, the police guy stayed naive, all other things were pretty much similar to previous season but maybe only the games were different. With all that mentioned above, which meant, element of surprise was close to nothing. 

The villain stayed the smartest of them all. And I could predicted that season 2 and 3 were only continuation to each other and not a whole new season of their own. The mission to let the world know of traditional Korean games is succeeded but the whole point of story did not inspire people of goodness, but only showing the bad still win although there might be a little hope. 

I think in the end, my expectation is not to see the villain win, why? In real world there are already too much of it. At least in fiction we can count on the good guy but my wish was not come true in this one. Based on reality? Yes, almost all of it and too much. Therefore, if you look for a warmhearted entertainment? I don't think it is worth your time. 

The point which related to fashion is maybe about the uniform of the contestants in the drama and also the notable pink soldiers. Other than that, I don't see anything worth to notice. 

Book Cover design Concepts - Between illustration or Photo editing

These were a throwback of some of my book cover concepts throughout the years for different purposes and themes.

Most of them were illustrations and the rest were mixed of photo editing. However, no matter how good I did it or put the best effort on it, in the end, it was all based on the client's taste. 

Feel free to contact me for any illustration project because I prefer illustration for its originality and creativity over photo editing.

e-mail: thedreamernoodlemie@gmail.com 
 

When Your Idea was Stolen In front Of your Eyes But You Can't Do Anything

There was a contest with Xmas reindeer theme a couple of months ago and some people participated in it including myself. However, it felt like I gave away my idea for free without proper recognition when the contest holder told other contestants to copy it or rather, "steal" it by making it similar and they got away with the award. I can't do pretty much anything but just wish somehow people like them will not be living in peace as long as doing what they are doing towards other.

Hopefully, I get a good karma afterwards because of this. After AI has made a massive destructive impact in threatening our job, these so called copycats have been there like forever doing much worst. 

 

#illustration #noodlemie #art #design #fyp #digitalart #life #drawing #rant #tshirt #graphicdesign #designer

 

Artist VS AI: A Rant of Trying to Survive

 

With emerging AI technology spreads faster than wildfire, the struggles become tougher and more challenging for artists to keep on their feet or simply stay afloat. 

All artworks are savagely and without mercy being copied, used, refurbished, manipulated, recreated and reformed as needed by some people with simply writing a mere prompt. 

There is less and less appreciation for real talents, creativity, originality, authenticity and real human-made creations. It has not been easy lately even for me to deal with it for these past few years. 

Nonetheless, I still believe there are some people who would still seek and appreciate the real art. No matter how advanced it is, AI will not defeat the human brain. 

*3.5 hours drawing

#noodlemie #illustration #art #design #graphicdesign

#designer #illustrator #artist #artwork #selfrant #random #fyp #noaiart #artistvsai #digitalart #samsunggalaxytabs6lite #ibispaintx #selfthought

One of those days in a Designer's life

 

With more than enough experiences working in graphic design, there are always some days during those times when I often dealt with some challenges and struggled in fulfilling the requests related to a custom design/illustration which in the end, no matter what, should be able to meet with customer's expectation and satisfaction for the final result. It was not always easy and sometimes it felt like forever but the efforts must be made all the time with positivity in mind. 

 

These cases were perhaps 20 to 30% out of total order I've received throughout the years. In some cases, I might as well gave up when the customer didn't exactly like the result after several attempts for options. After all, we, as designers are not super magician who could always guess correctly what they truly want. However, I have in mind that patience is a virtue to work things out as long as they would explained exactly what they're looking for.

     

 *Human's true handmade art will forever be the real from the heart genuine art compared to those copycat-generated AI images which the source came from millions of human handmade arts itself. 

PSYCHEDELIC MUSHROOM: The trouble with communication in design

I've been in this field for more than a decade and dealt with many different types of clients. Graphic design and illustration, especially in custom order is always a challenge when it comes to providing the best result and fulfilling the client's expectation. The good part would be when I can achieve the goal smoothly after providing and presenting my idea to them. However, that's not always the case with the happy ending. I sometimes bump into a tricky part in doing the work and the end would be less than expected.

This was one of the rare case. The psychedelic mushroom theme for a product. The communication played a crucial part in learning and moving in steps to finish the work but it was not as easy as it seemed. Whether it was out of hesitation to comment or rather gave a silent treatment or they just chose to do whatever they want without considering the time and the effort on the design itself. Sometimes I wonder what was so hard to just honestly tell what they had in mind and I will accept it fairly. In the end I preferred to stop rather than torturing myself with providing several options and overthinking everything about it after some times and considered it as a lesson that life is not always going my way. 

Who knows one day I would find a suitable person who can accept my idea the way it is, since it luckily happened a few times before. The AI also has become the bigger threat lately with how easy and accessible it is for anyone to 'make' something. 

TIKTOK logo in SURREALISM art

Social media + art. This was a concept of social media logo in surrealism themed illustration which heavily inspired by Joan Miro style. No AI used in it. I drew it for a surrealism art appreciation event last year.

As any other social medias I've been into, the use of it (Tiktok) is merely as a hobby or showcasing some portfolios without delving too deep by scrolling the mixed contents in it and spending too much time without any beneficial gain. This illustration was for portfolio purpose only. Any use/copy/share/re-post of this illustration is not allowed.

SQUID GAME 2 (2024): Short Review, Actors' Controversy & Was it Inspired by True Story?

 

SQUID GAME 2 is South Korean dystopian survival thriller television series Squid Game season2, created by Korean television producer and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk. It was released on Netflix on December 26, 2024 with a total 7 episodes. It is a sequel from its original series in 2021.

It is set three years after Seong Gi-hun won the Squid Game in season 1. A little flashback to season 1, squid game or ojingeo game which was released on September 2021 with total 9 episodes, tells a story about Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-Jae) gets fired from his job. His life is miserable. Seong Gi-Hun was offered by a stranger in a train station about a secret survival game, with a 45.6 billion won prize for the winner. He decides to take part in the game. Meanwhile, Cho Sang-Woo (Park Hae-Soo) is Gi hun's best friend which is like a brother to Seong Gi-Hun and vice versa. They grew up in the same neighborhood. Despite his poor family background, Cho Sang-Woo graduated from a prestigious university and found a good job. He now faces a crisis, due to embezzlement of company funds that he did. He decides to join the secret survival game with Seong Gi-Hun. The ending is tragic when you have to sacrifice everything just for money. 

Back to the 2nd season, Seong Gi Hun is finally canceled his plan on going to the United States  to see his daughter and instead returning to the games with the intention of stopping them once and for all. He once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of ₩45.6 billion. Unknown to him, his plan won't be easy to be done no matter how meticulous his plan was. The third and final season, which was filmed back-to-back with the second season, will be released this year in 2025.

As successful as it is, squid game also has its own Controversies surrounding the actors and story. Some actors are allegedly related to criminal cases such as sexual misconduct, marijuana, prostitution, DUI, etc. and inspiration for its story was said to be the case of Brothers' Home: South Korea's 1980s 'concentration camp'. As quoted from BBC; According to testimonies and evidence gathered from the site, detainees say they were used as slave labor at construction sites, farms, and factories during the 1970s and 80s. They were also allegedly tortured and raped, with hundreds dying under the inhumane conditions.The facility at Hyungje Bokjiwon has been compared to a concentration camp, but its story is not widely known, and nobody - to this day - has been held accountable for the atrocities that reportedly happened within its walls. Although it was not officially confirmed by the producer. 

 

As for personal review, this series is definitely not suitable for minor or below +18 and quite a good watch but somehow made me uncomfortable with gory and adult scenes. And I also have to say that the previous season was far more superior than this 2nd season. The thrill to what's next on the game, how they're going to be eliminated in the game and the prominent characters are not so intriguing as the first one. This is my fan art for the drama based on its poster. The iconic part from this series perhaps related to the simple green with white combination jumpsuit costume for the game participants, the pink soldiers costume and also the simple front man black leather coat. 

 

MOVING - The Superheroes Disguised as Ordinary People (Korean Drama 2023)

 

    Moving is a 2023 Korean drama which aired on August 9 - September 20. The story is about Kim Bong-Seok, Jang Hui-Soo and Lee Gang-Hoon who attend the same high school.    

   They look like ordinary students, but actually they have special abilities that they inherited from their parents. Kim Bong-Seok has the ability to fly with sharp senses. Jang Hui-Soo has excellent athletic abilities and she is able to rapidly recover from injuries, like being shot or stabbed. Lee Gang-Hoon has uncanny power and speed.

    These three students try to hide their special abilities from other people, while their parents struggle to protect them from being used by other and it is related to their past with secret government agency. 

    Based on webcomic "Moving ” by Kang Pool (published from February 2 to September 21, 2015 via Daum). I decided to watch it after I noticed the drama and the actors got a lot of awards in several occasions. I was pretty curious of what it had to offer in the story and It was indeed one of a great and out of the box Korean drama although I can't say if the theme or the idea of super power people is something new or original. It kind of reminded me a lot of marvel X-men mutant superheroes even some of the background story, school and such. The only thing different would be in this drama there is no flashy and colorful superhero costumes. Just special people with normal appearances.

   

    I give it 8.5 to 8.9 out of 10 and highly recommended to watch for adult. Beware the gory and bloody parts that might not be uncomfortable to watch. And the moral value would be: be kind no matter what. This is my fan art drawing based on one of the official poster.

ANAGLYPH ART: 2 Colors with Optic illusion look / 3D effect result with Special Glasses.

A couple of months ago, I participated in one competition to create an Anaglyph art poster for a shop. It was something new for me, or rather unknown at first until I saw the reference picture of what Anaglyph art is looklike. Actually, as I saw it, it was rather familiar but I just did not know the name of the effect. So, this was the final illustration I drew for the competition and managed to reach the final round but not win it in the end. 

What is Anaglyph? Anaglyph art is a 3D effect or optic illusion effect which was created by combining two slightly offset drawings in contrasting colors on a single image. Mostly it uses bright blue (cyan) and red. When  the artwork or picture is viewed through specially colored filters or special 3D glasses with the same colors, the brain fuses the two images together to create a stereoscopic 3D image.The eyes will see the artwork or picture in 2 different pictures separately.

Here are several things to know about Anaglyph art in short:

1. Colors:The colors used in Anaglyph art are typically red and cyan, which are chromatically opposite. 

2. Brief History: Wilhelm Rolan invented the anaglyph in 1853, and Lou Duraron first produced printed anaglyphs in 1891. 

3. Viewing:To view an Anaglyph, you need to wear special "Anaglyph glasses" that filter each image to the correct eye. 

4. Adjusting the image: You can adjust the depth of the image by changing the distance between the red and blue. For example, if you want the image to be in the foreground, move the blue to the left. 

5. Creating Anaglyph art: You can create Anaglyph art using tracing paper, light tables, windows, or transfer paper.