STGCC 2016: Booth Highlight - Meet Newcomers Allena & Samuel Lee

While scrolling through this year's STGCC exhibitors list, Red Dot Diva noticed several newcomers who will be setting up their own booths.

One of them has a simple booth name called Allena and Samuel Lee. This straightforward branding may not have caught your attention right away but the two young and talented illustrators are motivated and eager to showcase their art to the world.

Red Dot Diva delighted to introduce Melissa (aka Allena) and Samuel to art fans out there:

Red Dot Diva: Please introduce yourselves, and tell us how you got into the career of illustration and graphic design. 
Melissa: Hi! My name's Melissa aka Allena, currently a Designer/Illustrator at O&M. I got into illustration after realizing that maybe animation wasn't really a route I wanted to go down, nor into 3D. I enjoyed drawing people and sceneries in a single image that told a story, and came to realize that it was something that I wanted to improve and work on.
Samuel: Hello, I'm Sam and I'm currently an illustrator at Comicave Studios. I wanted to tell stories through my drawings so I studied animation in school. Melissa and I were classmates! 

Sam's "Beneath The Stars"

Red Dot Diva: What have been your favourite or most interesting creative/ art projects to-date?
Melissa: I've been working on a comic for the last year or so, something that I thought of while studying in Nanyang Polytechnic, about a girl and her (mis)adventures in life, love etc. Other than that I've been exploring with styles and mediums I could play around with for it!
Samuel: My favourite project to date would be the postcards commissioned by Noise Singapore. I was really pleased with how both designs turned out, even though only one would be selected. I was also recently commissioned to customize a pair of sneakers for Converse for an exhibition so that was pretty interesting.

Mel's "Here Comes A Thought"

Red Dot Diva: Do you think local artists have something unique to offer to the world?
Melissa: There's a lot of stigma around local talent and how 'local talent isn't good enough' but I've seen a lot of very, very talented artists and I do think that we have something unique to offer to the world! Singapore is such a small and new country but we still do have quite a bit of history and culture and I believe that a lot of Singaporean artists do take inspiration from the little things in our small red dot to add to their works.
Samuel: Yes, definitely. There are plenty of talented artists in Singapore that I look up to, like Drewscape, Gary Choo and Teressa Ong, just to name a few. Sonny Liew's 'The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye' is a great example of what Singaporean artists are able to do.

Red Dot Diva: What is your all-time most favourite piece of art? And why?
Melissa: John Singer Sargent's "Portrait of Madame X" is probably my favourite piece- It's so striking and elegant but yet the pose and little details say so much more.
Samuel: It would have to be all the Studio Ghibli movies! I first watched Whisper of the Heart, Ocean Waves, and The Cat Returns when I was younger and they took me places no animated film had been able to before.

Sam's "In The Making"

Red Dot Diva: Have you exhibited your artwork before? Which were they and what have your experiences been like at those shows?
Melissa: It's actually my first time exhibiting! So I'm really nervous this year but excited as well.
Samuel: I have had my works exhibited at the Noise Festival, Pameran Poskad and Light Grey Art Lab. It was inspiring to see so many beautiful pieces by the talented artists exhibiting there!

Mel's "Death of Liberty"

Red Dot Diva: What made you decide to exhibit at this year's STGCC? And what will you be showcasing at your booth?
Melissa: Sam actually asked me if I wanted to booth with him earlier this year- if it wasn't for him I don't think I'd have the courage to do it by myself! But I'll be exhibiting a couple of fanworks, namely Star Wars, Steven Universe and Overwatch!
Samuel: STGCC seems like a great place to meet new people. I'll be having a few original works as well as fan art prints and stickers from Pokémon and Star Wars.

You can see more of my work on:

Instagram: samflowerpants
and Tumblr: samflowerpants.tumblr.com

To check out more art by Melissa and Samuel, do head on to Booth AA21 at this weekend's convention. You might find an artwork or two by the duo which may call out to you!