For the Children

In May 2010, 'fresh off the boat' as the Australians put it, I began volunteering with the Starlight Children's Foundation for their biggest fundraising event of the year - Starlight Day. Ever since, I have signed up to volunteer every year, this year being my third year.

Thanks so much for registering to volunteer this Starlight Day!
~ 2012 (sign up HERE)

This was my booth in Chadstone in 2010.

Also in 2010.
I know the shirt is hideously ugly but the experience was worth it. Really. 0:)
This brings back memories of the chubby, brace-faced me that I was in 2010. *shivers*

What?

The foundation:
The Starlight Children's Foundation is a foundation dedicated to making the lives of seriously ill children and their families just a little bit better. We all know/can imagine how terrible life in a hospital is/must be. Now try flashing back to when you were 6 or 7 and imagine being cooped  up in one all day, everyday, instead of being at school with your friends and not being able to do things other kids do. Scary and lonely are possibly the best two words to describe it although I do not pretend to be able to comprehend the true degree of their pain which we as bystanders never can. With this in mind, the foundation's sole aim is to lift the spirits of the children by allowing them to laugh, play and be children. I cannot think of a better cause to contribute to.

Image depicts Captain Starlight playing some sort of electronic game with a child.

The task as a volunteer:
Your task is basically to turn up for your shift (you will be able to choose from a very large list of shifts and the number of hours you contribute is purely up to you), don the ugly yellow and purple shirt and try to sell as much of the provided merchandise as possible while having loads of fun in the process. Piece of cake!

In 2010, all I did was stand in front of Target and play with children. We were strategically located right beside one of those ride machines that move and shake when you feed it some coins and as a result, attracted hoards of children. Our marketing strategy was therefore to entice them with our shiny, blinky, squishy etc goodies by playing with them. The children, eyes transfixed on our goodies and acting as our 'middleman' would beg their parents to buy the products and they almost always eventually do thereby benefiting both us, and the children. Win-win!

In 2011, I was stationed in Melbourne Central station. As you can imagine, there were hardly any kids to play around with and if there were any, they were fiercely clinging onto their parents like their lives depended on it. Which I guess is kind of true in a train station. But nevertheless, it was still a good experience and a different kind of fun. All I did was walk around with a collection cup and beg for money from people rushing in and out of the turnstiles. Fun! Ok, not really. I mean, that's not all I did (the begging was fun). I also did a lot of talking. Sometimes it's just chit-chat with potential donors, sometimes it's to explain our cause etc. Like I said, a different kind of fun than in 2010.

When?

4-6 May 2012

Why?

I can't really explain why I do it so I'm not sure how to explain to you why you should do it. You'd think this would be easier to answer but for a person like me who philosophises too much and has read too much about psychology, it really isn't. But anyway, the idealistic answer is, whether it is just to gain experience or simply to have fun, one cannot help going home at the end of the day feeling fulfilled for having played a part in making some unknown yet very real children smile, even if just for a little bit. You may see it as self gratification or you may believe it genuine kindness and love for humanity; whatever your motivation may be, or what you believe the rest of our motivations are, come and join us. Either way, the children end up happy which is really all that matters at the end of the day.

How?

You simply sign up HERE. If you can't find a date/time that suits your schedule, you can always just donate to the foundation HERE or opt to take up the individual Starlight Day Challenge whereby you run your own fundraising schedule and do things your own way. More details on the latter HERE.

Who?

Anyone can sign up! Provided you live in Australia, that is. They have booths set up all across the country so it doesn't matter which state you're in.

My guarantee: I promise, you will not regret it!

So come on down and join in on the fun. :)

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Giving you a hand with your hands

I look out my window and I see gray skies releasing streaks of tears that splatter into massive puddles on the pavement and that turn the orange brick wall of my neighbours house into a darker shade of orange. In other words, it's a cold and gloomy morning here in Melbourne.

However, instead of snuggling under my covers like most people probably are right now, I decided to make better use of my time before work by practicing drawing hands.

Yeap, hands. I practiced using different pencils and pens which accounts for why the darkness of the lines for each hand is different.

Ever since I started drawing (which is a really, REALLY long time ago), hands have been one of my biggest weaknesses. In my opinion, hands and toes are the hardest parts of the body to get right. I'm sure most would concur with me on this. However, when drawn right, hands can play a major role; they could make or break your drawing.

One thing I always struggle with when drawing hands is the lack of reference. Sure you can lift up your own hand and try to draw it but, as a result, you only get a left/right hand model and holding your hand in position while you get the drawing right is tiresome and inconvenient. You could also google but this is time consuming and not always fruitful. A lot of the time, I would take a snapshot of my hands in whatever position I want them in (sometimes with the help of a mirror) and then draw based on that reference. This is a simple and handy trick. However, for those of you who also find this tedious, I have discovered an iPhone app which you could give a go (I used this app for this round of practice and found it rather useful).

For only $0.99, you can get yourself an app called Art Model 3. Although it is officially an iPhone app, I found that it works just as well (if not better) on iPads.

Their database is pretty limited albeit having over 300 photos to choose from. Nonetheless, they have pretty much covered the basics and therefore I believe this to be a useful tool for artists who are looking to get a firm grasp of the foundation of hand drawing. Though I must note that ultimately, this app is for people who are looking to excel in comic styles. For realistic hands, it is better to make reference of your own hand as computer generated hands only go so far.

Other apps by the same creator include Art Model 1 and 2 which contains some pretty handy pose models.

& to end this post without having to write a proper conclusion,

I shall note that I am off to snuggle under my covers.

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