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 :)

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! :)

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

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 :)