Jan 19, 2011
Can't believe it's 2011 already.
I've come a long way in my graduate program, and finally completed our first computer artwork!
Title: Motility of Shigella using actin polymerization
Media: Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Illustrator CS5
The program is really not demanding too much of my time yet, but I'm still going to use it as an excuse for not updating my blog too regularly.
More pictures coming up soon =)
Nov 22, 2010
Almost halfway through my first year of graduate school, the traditional art part of the program is finally complete.
The line art component came natually to me, but carbon dust was hell =( Thanks to alot of help from Dave, my classmates and Cheryl unni, I've pulled together this...
One thing I've learned. You give your carbon dust 120% of what you got, because the scanner is gonna reduce its quality to 110%, then illustrator will reduce it to 100%.
Then we had to pull together a final piece using both methods.
...In my defense, we had like four days to do this entire project.
I really should start signing my work, but I don't have a half decent looking signature...will gladly take suggestions :D
Well I'm glad that's done...Now to endless vectorful nights of illustrator and mindless scratching of the tablet in photoshop.
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Sept 29, 2010
The weather has been awfully depressing for the last couple of days in Toronto. 
Rainy & chilly at night, humid & warm during the day.
I wanted to make a special treat to lift up the mood, so I dug up a recipe for "Oven-baked spicy seafood & rice cake in butternut squash." Long name for a rather simple dish =)
Thanks to Halloween, or autumn, there are plenty of assorted pumpkins in any grocery store these days. Some are rather scary looking and inedible, but butternut squash is very sweet and tasty - filled with nutrients too.
Here's what we had for dinner.
Inside, it's filled with seafood, vegetables, rice cakes, and topped with mozzarella cheese.
It takes really long to cook the pumpkin, so I just popped it in the microwave for 10 minutes. Then you can carve the top off really easily, and scoop away the seeds & fillings.
The seafood and veggies (anything you like, really) are cooked separately, with spicy & sweet korean sauce. You could substitute with tomato sauce, and make it a more italian dish. Fill up the pumpkin with the seafood mix and sprinkle lots of mozzarella cheese on top, and broil it in the oven just until the cheese melts.
Not so bad, right?
It's pretty loud outside because of nuit blanche right now, I don't get why people need to get drunk for art exhibits. I'm too old to wait in line in the freezing cold so...staying indoors tonight.
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Aug 20, 2010
Hellooo, it's been so long since my last entry =)
I've been off to Korea for a month and a bit, then I had alot of work relating to a research paper I've been asked to illustrate for.
I have been making alot of new jewellery too; those will be updated shortly =)
I've been craving red velvet cake so dearly for a while, and the only good one around town is the $5 cupcake at Mb & Co. on Yorkville, which is rather pricey =S
So here's my attempt - it was rather good!
tres tres rouge, non?
The rich red colour of red velvet cake originates from the colour created when cocoa powder was mixed with vinegar. These days, its only mimiced by red food colouring...but it's still delicious nontheless!
There's really not that much food colouring that goes in, as you can see from the batch before baking
then it turns bright red after 25 mins in the oven
Yay =) I was a bit worried because the recipe doesn't call for whipped egg whites or baking powder, but it turned out so fluffy! Must be the baking soda + buttermilk combo.
I've mixed and matched several different recipes, but mainly followed along with this one from joyofbaking:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCupcakes.html
The frosting with the mascapone cheese was so yummy, but I think you can substitute with cream cheese...I love mascapone cheese though =) I only frosted half the batch cause I wasn't sure how people would like the sweet cheesy frosting.
It's really not too hard to make as long as you're willing to shop for the ingredients, and I've sent them off to a couple friends and they've all said they were delicious! So try a batch today =)
Yum I'm drooling over the pictures again...Sweet desserts are my weakness. lol
Also, My family got a year old maltese! she's such a cutie, altho not very potty trained =S Sadly I had to leave her in Korea, and now I'm chasing after every single tiny dogs around town..lol beware
Her name is Mandoo, which means dumpling in Korean. It was the name the original owner gave her, and I think it suits her the best lol
Anyway, check back later for more jewellery!
