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.

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.

"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 :)

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 :)