Singapore student Ng Jun attends his classes all day, helps to deliver fresh ingredients to his parents’ three food stalls, and then returns home to design and animate video game characters, which is his passion. It didn’t matter to the student that he was forced to manage his time stringently in order to find the minutes and hours to devote to his characters. He first became interested in art after drawing his favorite cartoon characters using a pencil and a pad of paper. Now, Ng is so passionate about designing characters and entering the video gaming industry that he didn’t even let a computer crash — culminating in a loss of a year’s worth of work — stop him from taking top prize at a Singapore art and animation competition, winning out over more than a dozen other competitors to represent Singapore at a similar competition in the United Arab Emirates.
Ng said that he didn’t expect to win the Singapore competition, only that he wanted to take part in it and pit his skill against other illustrators and artists. The format of the competition itself is brutal, taking part in 22 hours over three days. In those 22 hours, participants must complete an entirely new video game character, designing and animating it. They are not allowed to have their cellphones with them, and a moderator even accompanies them to the bathroom to make sure they are in no violation of the rules.
The main difference between the Singapore and the UAE competitions is the hefty monetary prize that comes with winning — $20,000, to be exact. The format of the competition is the same, requiring the design and animation of a character in 22 hours over the three days of participation. Ng said that he would by additional computer hardware and software with the money, if he wins it, explaining that he completes his work on a small drawing tablet and most other professional artists incorporate a large tablet for similar work. One of Ng’s instructors at his school estimates that Ng is only a year’s knowledge and experience away from creating characters like true professionals in the gaming industry, proving that Ng is truly talented.
Art is so broad and all encompassing that there are many different genres that would surely fit most people in the world. From designing and animating characters using computer and 3-D software, to sketching action and dialogue in a 2-D comic strip, art offers people the opportunity to tell their stories in many different ways. Visit SGArtClass.com to see the wide variety of art classes you can enroll in today, from photography art to oil painting, assemblage art to mural painting, and many more. Expert teachers will help you develop the skills and techniques necessary to take your art to the next level, even if you’ve never picked up a paintbrush before.
To learn more about and see Ng Jun’s art, go to http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/computer-crash-did-not-stop-nyp-student-aiming-20k-animation-prize.