IF: Sink

This little dude was just looking for his toy boat that sank.

I don't like this piece so much.. I was experimenting with a new style and it didn't work for me.  But that's how it goes.  It's just frustrating when you have a good vision but lack the skill to execute it.  Practice practice!

Someday I'll redo this.

IF: Brigade

click to view bigger image :)

A bit late for this week but still I made it! yay! And thanks to this week's topic, these characters were born and they make me happy.  I feel like a child again :) I remembered me and my cousins back then.  We also had a sort of hideout and it felt cool.

This still feels a unfinished, something bugs me.  But I have to do some work now..

Fly

I decided to join The Sketchbook Project!  It has been two weeks and the sketchbook's not here yet :S I hope I get it next week and in good condition. But I couldn't wait for it and got to work on my first drawing. I'm also learning to use traditional media so it was a good practice.

You had to choose a theme for the sketchbook and I went with "The Last Word Ever Spoken".  It was tragic and dramatic and can be taken literally.  I don't think a lot :)

This is the final. It didn't go as planned because I couldn't control the watercolor! :S

I like seeing how other artists work, so I thought I'd take pictures while making it:

Annoying masking fluid :(  I let it completely dry before rubbing it out but it still ruined the paper.  Maybe I put too much? I'll try to stay away from masking fluid..

Finally, I outlined with colored pencils.  I thought it lacked movement so I used white acrylic for the vertical lines.  I couldn't find any white gel pen, that would have been better.

With the box bear ;)

IF: Round

For all would-be moms :)

You can now buy it at my shop!

IF: Vanity

Little Sharpay just can't tear herself away from the cameras. :)  That's Amy enjoying the dance and Bridget getting frustrated with Sharpay.

IF: Silent

This is inspired by our very hot November weather.

very hot Sunday afternoon + cold soda + pail of water = not bad

And here's our turtle, sleeping on a Sunday afternoon.  (it can get really boring in an aquarium, I guess)

EDIT:  I've been making a bunch of illustrations to update my portfolio and I think this one fits Silent too.

EDIT:  Thank you for all the comments! Really appreciate it!

Theses prints are already in the shop.  Please check them out --> http://society6.com/ninyanernel

IF: Stripes

I love drawing these feel good pictures.  Coffee while raining = ♥ 


This one was inspired when me and my husband had breakfast at this cute cafe near the hotel when we were in Bangkok. 


I have drawn a lot of striped scarves but I don't own one. :S  I think they look awesome in pictures.  I have another idea for stripes, I hope I can pull it off in time for friday!


EDIT:  Thank you for all the wonderful comments!


If you want to own this illustration, please buy it from my shop: society6


Thanks!

Going Traditional: Lord Snow

Another pencil drawing, this time of Jon Snow. For the background, I scraped a black chalk pastel and then scrubbed the dust using cotton. I then erased parts of it to make the trees and snow. The result is messy! You can't control the powder so much.  I think I have to stick with just shading+smudging for now.

I had to edit the cloak in Photoshop because it was awful. I also did some adjustments using levels and curves and I placed a Color layer on top to change the colors to a bluish hue.

Going Traditional: Pencil

I did a realistic Daenerys with her little dragon but halfway I thought it would be more fun and more me to do a cartoonish one. I haven't rendered anything with pencils except for sloppy sketches so this is not as awesome as I wanted it to be. Even with an eraser, I found myself to be timidly applying strokes. I guess with practice, I'll get more confident. :)

See the full gallery on Posterous

(I still used photoshop, to edit the colors and the lighting.)

Going Traditional

So I am trying to train myself with traditional medium. Last weekend I went to an artstore, a very rare place in Manila, and bought new watercolors and a masking fluid.  (We also bought turtles that day, weee!)  I started playing around with it, and this is the most decent thing I got. This is very small, about 3R i think.

1. Don't use too much water, don't leave a puddle in your paper.

2. Paint OVER the masking fluid (duh).

3. For very small details/shadows, use a colored pencil instead.

4. Don't be impatient and let the paint dry first or else, it'll be very messy.

 

Lesson I stil have to learn: mixing colors

 

IF: Hibernate

A very literal take on hibernate.  I learned that pandas don't hibernate because there's bamboo all year long.   This panda has to find another friend to tag along with this winter.

I want to have more effortless-looking art so this is me doing that. I find it more charming. I tend to over-render my work, must be because a digital canvas can take more abuse.  I should really try doing traditional media, my paints are drying up.

Octo Girl

The octopus is done! Part two of a set, the other's a mermaid. I'm still thinking what to do next..

Some details:

Check her out at the shop too.  (Available as print, iphone/ipad/laptop case/skin)

IF: Obsession

Pretty little octopus obsessing over her hair.

This is not yet done, I just wanted to submit on time.. I'll update it when it's finished (I hope tomorrow I'll get it done).  I had lots of time to finish it this week and it started out good, I had the concept and the colors in mind.  But as I was painting it, I got tired of it so easily.  I kept standing up and doing something else.  So unproductive :(  I think I'm just distracted this week.

IF: Perennial: Mermaid

Humans have been amazed with mermaids for a very long time.  Now we know what mermaids are fascinated with :)

See the full gallery on Posterous

Candy land!

See the full gallery on Posterous

I've been working on a children's book project for iPad these past two weeks.  I'm still not done, I have 5 pages to go.. But I can't resist not sharing anything, here's a sneak peek of the book!  I've never drawn this much candy!

*Don't use the images for any purpose.

IF: Soaked and Asleep

I almost forgot about this!  This was supposed to be for last week's topic but I didn't finish it in time (again).  It's also applicable to this week's topic and I didn't have time to make a new one ^^

Also, introducing Pedro, the lazy fat bird.  The idea for the tub shower was from a magazine pic I saw, couldn't remember where..

This image is a part of an ongoing series made from IF topics.  Check out the other illustrations here in my blog. :)

I found some nifty lomo effects online and thought I'll give it a try to give the piece more drama.

me likey!

I hope I get this!

*crosses fingers* They can even pay me with clothes!

IF: Beginner and Safari

I was in wonderful boracay last week so I wasn't able to do last week's topic.  I had to cram both illustrations this week.  Add to that I'm in the middle of a project.  I must be crazy.. Well I'm just gonna have to cut my sleeping time (or my tv time).  :)

So continuing with the story:

 Beginner

Safari

I would have wanted to paint Safari like the rest but I don't have enough time so I did a minimalist take on it.  I still like how it turned out but I know I could have done better.

First: bicycle
Second: lesson

IF: Lesson

I was inspired by one of the comments for last week's IF topic (bicycle) so I thought I'd continue on with the story.   And I'll be building it up with each IF topic.. This should be interesting :)

But since I'm no author (I do try sometimes, but I suck..),  I'll leave it up to you to interpret the images yourself.  Stay tuned :D

Check out last week: bicycle

IF: Bicycle

This piece and me, we did not click.  At first I was excited to do it, to explore a new style but then I immediately got tired of it, maybe I didn't like the palette (?), I don't know.  OR most probably because it is scorching here in the Philippines, so so so hot.  But I stayed with it like a patient mom, and here it is.  Not as bad as I thought it would be.   I just might do more pieces along this style.


EDIT:  I was inspired with the comments so I'll be making this into a series.  I'm not good with words though so I'll leave it up to you to interpret the pictures. :)  To make it more interesting (for me, I guess) I'll be using the weekly IF topics to build the story.

IF: Toy

It's been a while since I've done a piece for IF, so here's my comeback piece :D This week's word is toy!  Fun memories of childhood come to mind :D  We had lots of toys when I was a kid and most (or all) were gifts.  I knew I had this one barbie, just one and I would sew clothes for her (out of socks and stockings!) and our toys all had birthdays and we'd celebrate them with cupcakes.  We even took pictures of it. So fun :) I'd love to be a kid again!

Fun Fact: This mother and daughter tandem is also the same one from this illustration. :)

Freelance

Last year I quit my job and around February I started freelancing.  I got the sense of accomplishment that I never felt doing programming.  Not so much satisfaction financially and although it is unstable and nerve-wracking I still feel it is the best decision I've made.  Gone are the days when I hated waking up to go to work.  The only trouble is, I have to actively look for projects and balance my time wisely.  To other freelancers out there, how do you keep the projects coming? Any tips for a newbie like me?

Okay enough rambling, here are some of the projects I've been up to since Feb :)

This is a set of  around 50 images commissioned by Edventure Books (Singapore).

 This is also commissioned by Edventure Books.  It's a 7-page book for early readers, written in Mandarin.

Sneak peak of an ongoing project.  This one is the hardest yet just because I'm not used to Illustrator and because the files are huge! Backdrops, banners and flags for a project launch event.

That's it :) Here's to more projects to come! :D

Le Petit Chaperon Rouge

A personal piece done for childrensillustrator.deviantart.com, a group at deviantart.  This month's topic was Little Red Riding Hood.  Good thing I had some free time to finish this piece.  I learn a lot from doing personal pieces because I get to experiment and explore without limits and fear.

It's still missing something though..

Done with Photoshop + Wacom

IF: Layer

Having fun under layers and layers of bubbles

I think this is the first time I've re-used something for IF.  This one's for a book I'm currently doing.  I'm loving the palette I chose :) Thanks to design-seeds, that very cute site with color palette suggestions.

IF: Reverse

woah..  You must feel super awesome when you know how to do a flip.

Speed paint done in photoshop, ref pic was used for the flipping dude (@ flickr).

First Pattern Ever

I spend a huge amount of my day browsing other artist's sites and works.  Last week I came across the wonderful art of Meg Hunt (via twitter).  She had the cutest twitter background.  So naturally I was envious and that made me do my first pattern ever! Woot! It was loads of fun and I'm thinking of doing another one, with easier subjects.. This did damage to my already damaged thumb.  Making it seamless was hard, because I probably did it wrong. hehe That's what you get when you don't read tutorials first.  Well, here's to my first pattern ever!

See it in action: twitter