Tuesday, December 21, 2010

New Faerie Portrait, In Progress




Right now I am working on five faerie portraits for children.  I have finished doing the pencil drawings for the rest of the portraits but this is the first image that I am working on with watercolor. She's a baby flower fay :)  Well I need to finish everything by January, I don't want these materials sitting too long on my table.  Because my mind has been wandering for a few days now about painting teddy bears! It's kinda' different from what I have been doing, but I don't know I have been thinking of teddy bears and it's going to drive me nuts if I don't paint them too.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Inspirations

For this post, I want to share with you some of my inspirations and heroes in illustration.

The first artist is Beatrix Potter. Her illustrations for me are a breath of fresh air.  It's simple and yet complicated; the colors, washes, and lines she used in her drawings were so alive and real.  Though I am fascinated with Peter Rabbit, I instantly fell in love with her illustrations in The Tale of Jeremy Fisher, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.



The next artist that fascinates me is Arthur Rackham. I know a lot of you love his works and his influence in illustration / fairy tales is huge.  I love how he used muted earth colors in his paintings and the line works are so distinct.  His illustrations are so alive and full of magic.




The third one is very popular indeed, he is the reason why I love faeries so much! He is Brian Froud. I was a six year old kid when I was in awe with Labyrinth, and little did I know that I would rediscover the artist behind that film when I was studying Fine Arts in college.  My favorite faerie illustrations are of course the ones in his Fairies book.




And last but not the least is...Tony Diterlizzi.  Tony's story of success as a children's book author and illustrator is not just an inspiration for me but also my driving force to keep doing what I love to do and if you believe in your work, well you will eventually succeed.  His art is beyond awesome and his creativity is really really inspiring.



Thursday, December 9, 2010

I Love Patrick!!!

This is Patrick, he was created by Ms. Irma Papeikaite  (http://pudra-studio.blogspot.com).  She makes adorable Teddy Bears which are to die for.  So for this New Year, I wish for Patrick!  I pray Santa could extend his gift giving till the New Year... :)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Faerie Portrait - Mother & Child



I nearly forgot about this Faerie Portrait which I did around last year.  I made it for a friend and her baby as sort of a surprise 'gift'.  She saw it online when I shared it in our Facebook walls and was very happy about it but I never got the chance to give the original piece to her when I went home to the Philippines for a vacation last August.   Nevertheless, there's always a next time and I might bring it home for this coming holidays! :)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Engkanto: The Old Man in the Mound


This is my visual interpretation of one of the most popular Faerie denizen in Philippine folklore and myth. This dwarf is fondly called 'Nuno sa Punso' or the Old Man in the Ant Hill or Mound.  This being could cause harm and injury to anyone who mistakenly kicks or destroys the ant hill, which people believes to be the home of the old dwarf.  That is why people walking in forests or unknown territory asks permission by saying "Excuse us old man of the mound", before passing by a mound or ant hill.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Engkanto: Going Back To My Roots


This is just a quick exercise for me in sketching an 'Engkanto' or Faerie based on my own heritage. The Philippine Faeries are quite similar to the English faeries but I feel they are darker, stranger, and more dangerous!

Well I'm still researching and hopefully I could get more ideas and later on put that to paper as well.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

"Instructions"


To begin with, this illustration is my interpretation of Neil Gaiman's poem "Instructions".  I did the drawings and inked it out with a Winsor and Newton Black ink and started working with watercolor.  But luckily, before I painted the piece I took a high resolution photo of  it and my friend Mik Z. asked my permission if he could use the raw file and have it painted digitally. So I said why not and this is the final artwork!

I love it! I love the colors he used and gave the illustration a mysterious and magical effect.  As for my watercolor version I'm not yet done with it, it's still in my list of things to finish :)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Finished Boletus Portrait


Finally, I was able to prod myself in finishing my Boletus portrait! So it's done and signed by yours truly.  Hope it finds a new home soon :)

Monday, September 27, 2010

Boletus species (Mushrooms)




To begin with I would just like to say that I'm guilty! Guilty of posting several works in progress... can't help it! I'm doing this piece for 2 days now, but only after when I get home from work.  I would allot some time to paint it and would just stop and leave it for the next day. It's kinda' hard painting after work, you're all drained up and tired (excuses excuses).

 I love illustrating mushrooms and these two guys belong to the Boletus species. The bigger dude is called Boletus Erythropus and he is edible, while the smaller and innocent-looking guy at the front is called the Devil's Boletus because they are poisonous, thus non-edible.

I still need to add more details on the Devil's Boletus and color the twigs and leaves on the foreground.  I just need one more night ,,probably tomorrow when I get home I would be able to finish it.  I will post it tomorrow..promise! :)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Eryngium yuccifolium



This is my new work in progress which i call "Eryngium yuccifolium" (Sea Holly). I bought a stalk of this plant which I think is very lovely. It's kinda' complicated to paint it but what the heck!  As you can see my Eryngium is already wilting, I need to work faster if I'm going to use fresh references for my illustration.


I have so much stuff in my hands at the moment and there's just so little time to accomplish everything.  I haven't even started with the toadstool drawings which I need to show a client at the end of the month...oh just great! :S

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Watercoloring on Clay








I did this clay sculpture like a year ago and it's just today that I decided to paint it using watercolor. Her name is Lily and I think she's glad that finally she's got some color on her! 

I am using DAS self-drying clay and its fun to do this stuff when I need time out from illustrating :)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Botanic Art



It's 1 in the morning and I'm still sat in front of my drawing table working on this dried twig...or branch.  I have kept this branch for more than a year now, I took it from a tree when I was walking home from work.  I'm here in Dubai and there's not much of nature to see around so I thought why not collect this small stuff. I'm still searching for the dried cones I collected from the park!

Anyway, I have decided to push my skills in improving my illustration when it comes to plants, flowers and trees.  I think  it would give more credibility to my faerie works if I could come up with illustrations of plants that are properly drawn.  Botanic Art is something I want to study.  There are online courses available and a bit expensive but if I could learn more, then why not?  But for now, while I'm saving for it might as well practice with some of the things I could find at home like an onion, lemon, leaf and vegetables perhaps!

Jemima Puddle-Duck

Can't help it! I saw this wonderful Jemima Puddle-Duck music box last night. It was such an adorable piece and I can't put her back on the shelf, I have to buy her. So I did! That was the last piece in the shop and really am glad I bought it.  This Jemima Puddle - duck musical figurine is fitted with a clockwork wound musical movement, which is fitted into the base. Once wound, the music plays and the figure revolves to the music.  Jemima dances along with the tune of  Schubert's Lullaby :)




My cramped work place :) the top shelf of my table is home to several faerie friends ....


So here's Jemima in her new home :) 

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Toadstool Fay



This was the last piece I was working on before going on vacation and I haven't finished it for some reason.... hope to post the finished work soon!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Toadstool & Brush

Just want to share an old sketch of a toadstool and his brush...

I'm still having one of those "lazy days" after you had a long vacation.  Time to push myself to start drawing!  

Anyhow, I need to start working because the other day I received an unexpected call from someone who had bought a few toadstool drawings from me in the flea market last year and he wants to buy new "mushroom drawings" again :) So I guess that's the significance of why I posted this old sketch teeheee.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Still Here!

I just came back from vacation and had a real nice time with my family and friends in the Philippines.  The two weeks just quickly sped by and now it's time to face work again, darn!  I sorely miss my parents and brothers :( .. the only good thing that inspires me at the moment is the next illustration that I have to come up and finish and that would be Peaseblossom...i think.


Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Fairy Gathering

I just want to share with everybody that my faerie art are also featured in The Fairy Gathering website. Please visit the site www.thefairygathering.com and see also some of the well-loved and familiar faerie artists of today!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Ode to Mustard Seed





A week has passed since I last posted here and now I'm back! :)  This is the newest work I did the other day, took me less than one day to finish it. I was able to buy a Winsor & Newton Ink - Nut Brown color and I really love it!  I love the old or classic effect it gives on the illustration.    


I call this new work "Ode to Mustard Seed", he is one of the four faeries in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Forgive me for the quality of the image, I just took a quick snap of the illustration :S


This is the first of four illustrations I am doing which I insist on calling "An Ode to the Four Faeries".  The next one that I am doodling with is Peaseblossom.  Will be posting it very very soon.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Finally! Packed and Delivered.


After a month of painting and mulling constantly over the piece if it's good enough or not,  finally it's finished!  And I am so happy because my client was extremely pleased with the result.  I cannot forget the kind words she told me as she beams while looking at the portraits of her daughters ..."This is more that I expected and they are priceless!" and gave me a warm hug afterwards. 


This made my day because I made somebody happy with my work and I think that is the greatest reward you could ever receive when doing these kind of stuff.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

In Progress!



This is an update of the second portrait, just got a week left before I give it to the client! Jitters!!! I had a bit of a difficulty painting her, I don't know she's a pretty little girl but there are times it's just hard for me to capture that small detail of the eyes or the expression of the lips...so I didn't paint for a couple of days because I might ruin the whole thing.  I gave myself a break from it and just started painting yesterday and so far I love the result. I plan to paint her dress in light shade of orange and with less detail so her face and the little wings would stand out.  Now I would be cramming before the week ends :S

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Commissioned Faerie Portrait II




This is the second of two commissioned portraits that I am doing at the moment, I just finished the first one  a few days back. My apologies with the quality of the photo :S...  Her mom wants the painting with a 'Thumbelina' theme, so I decided to have her sitting on the middle of a flower surrounded with her small friends, plus she gets to have her cute little wings! 


Friday, June 25, 2010

Finished Faerie Portrait 1



Here it is the finished artwork for a commissioned faerie portrait. The little girl's name is Sophia. I can breathe now and confidently face the second portrait for her little sister, Sarah.  I really do hope and pray that their mom and the kids would love this piece....crossing my fingers!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Tree House


This tree house illustration was inspired by the preliminary sketches of one of my favorite artists today, Tony Diterlizzi, for his published book Kenny and the Dragon.  I really admired the pencil  studies he did for the book. I did this piece like last year and I used watercolor and ink, the paper size is 20 x 16 inches.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Faerie Portrait



I have been busy these past few weeks with a commissioned faerie portrait for two children.  Their mother contacted me and was so excited to have her daughter's portrait done with a faerie theme incorporated to it.


Above is my cluttered and messy drawing table :) and below is the first of the two portraits.  The little girl's name is Sophia and she loves horses with wings, you can see the light pencil drawing of the horses flying before her.  The other portrait is sort of a Thumbelina inspired theme, Sophia's little sister gets to sit on the middle of a flower. I will post it once I have worked on the colors as well.  I plan to finish off the paintings with colored pencil for further details.  I have less than a month now to finish all illustrations. 'Gotta work work work!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Oh Dear!


My interpretation of Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme's Oh Dear! ~ Dear, dear! What can the matter be? Two old women up in an apple tree; One came down and the other stayed 'till Saturday.

The colors and style is not my usual work, I've tried using lighter shade of colors on this one.  I think I have to stick with what I've always been doing.  A friend commented that "it's just not you' . Well no harm in trying new ways of illustrating. :)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Free Ride


This is a new one I just finished over the weekend and I call it 'Free Ride".  At this point I am concentrating on how to illustrate children's stories, nursery rhymes and fables.  I've been focused too much on faeries and I think it's about time I try my hands on illustrations that really do tell a story.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Mafus the Brave



I call this little guy Mafus. I did this piece way back 2005 and I know he's not that perfect but I have a soft spot for this fellow. I lost the original illustration but luckily was able to scan it then.  I used watercolor and pastel pencil on this work.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Blue


I started this work just last friday and finished it  within two days. I took the advice of artist Larry Macdougal in one of his blog post -  to use very few colors to achieve a harmonious effect and I just love the result. I love the colors that I used and probably will be using the same palette for future works. 

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Fay in Reflection



This piece is still in progress, got a long way to go before it's done.  I'd probably adding more elements on the background and more flowers scattered before her. And more definition on the figure itself. Hope I could finish it soon though.