LIMELIGHT'S PROFILE

He is a multiple-award winner of The One Academy's creative competitions even before he joined the college. Meet Chang Woon Bing, the illustration major who-despite his outstanding talents-believes that at work and in life, strengths of a person's character is more important than skills.

Trustworthy, it's worth it

Woon Bing believes that it is a pity that many do not uphold the qualities of trustworthiness such as keeping promises and punctuality. For example, keeping to agreed deadlines.

"I believe dependability is the prerequisite of success. The habit of not following deadlines is detrimental to the work, notwithstanding the efforts you have put in. On the other hand, if you are consistently dependable, people will ultimately have confidence and trust in you. This allows us to move further in life and enjoy better working relationships and closer friendships. "

Make things happen

He also emphasised the importance of self-initiative and passion: "Many things that you want in life will not materialise unless you make it happen. Taking the initiative to go the extra mile makes the process more enjoyable. It helps you grow and get greater satisfaction out of it."

"Passion is what drives you. When I pursue something passionately, it is always rewarding. It helps you enjoy the journey long before you reach the destination," he said.

"Be a sponge for knowledge," he advised, "be hungry to learn, be humble, teachable and make full use of your time here at TOA. Make use of the provided facilities such as the gallery and library often."

Artwork sharing: "The Barrel Maker"

This assigned work required us to illustrate something about the Malaysian culture, which is a broad topic. I picked this subject because of its poignancy - the loneliness of an old man and a dying craft. It is something unassuming yet integral part of local life. The medium is acryllic on gesso. To make the painting more "rich" effect, paper strips on canvas and usage of spoiled brush are also applied in the process. The making of this painting helped me realise the importance of having a point of reference as target. It is very important to have some established masters' work as source of inspiration. Their work can be a yardstick for you to benchmark against. For me, I used Michael Dudash?s work as inspiration, particularly ones in the children storybook "Good News, Great Joy ? Christmas Stories". In hindsight, if I could improve this work, I would improve on the colour variations because now the intermediary between the lightest and darker tone seems to be lacking. And if I could redo it, I would place more emphasis on the positive/negative space of the painting and more daring in my execution. I would also improve the depth-of-field and the "glow" of the main subject.