Two Continents and Hours Apart

I made a poem early this month. I was inspired by someone far from where I live. It's just that I was not able to post it here. I thought I'd let that person read it first.

However, in a span of weeks, life changed. People come, but so few come and don't go. Suffice it to say that this person is not one of them.

Well, that is life; but hey, it goes on. At least, I was able to create something :) Hope you like it.

On Portraiture

Recently, I have taken interest in charcoal painting seeing my colleague who does awesome charcoal portraits. I know this is a totally different genre from my usual chibi and manga drawings but I really wanted to learn how to make a charcoal portrait. 

I asked the help of my colleague Sian Sajise, and fortunately she taught me the basics.

She made some comments on how I should hold the brush. (Definitely not the way I hold a pen). The brush should be slanted. 

I don’t know about other artists but so far these are the basics I have learned about charcoal painting based on my observation:

1. Draw your very light outline.

2. Outline your drawing with charcoal.

3. Do the basic tones. Remember all space must be filled. (Even “white” space, we’ll get to the erasing part later.)

4. Define the details by adding more charcoal or erasing charcoal on paper. Simply put, paint-erase-paint-erase to form shadows and highlights.

Sian said, being a novice, I am not bad at it and I actually have hope lol! I definitely hope to improve my charcoal painting skills as time goes by. For now, let me share the pieces I have done.

This is Arya Stark from The Game of Thrones. Sian made the outline. She let me have the feel of outlining and shading and helped me with the final shading.

First ever attempt on my own: I drew Actress Anna Torv as Agent Olivia Dunham (Fringe) because I like her character.

Second attempt at charcoal painting: I drew this beautiful model of Freywille. Hopefully my next post about this will be much better.

Book Challenge again

I haven't had a chance to fill this blog meaningfully, but now I know what to do. It's about time I read books again and share some things about them.

The last time, I mostly read fiction. Now, I'm going to read or reread these motivational books. As always, one book per month. I hope I have enough books for the next 11 months.

For now, here's what I have: 

*The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People- Stephen Covey

*Failing Forward- John Maxwell

*Think on These Things- John Maxwell

Poem to a crush

Sometimes, laying it down on paper  is just what I need to let it out, so here goes the outpouring of my temporary madness, lol.

It's hard to say just how I feel

Whenever you are near

I can't help but glance at you

And you don't even have a clue

I don't know how it came to this

Somehow having you around is what I miss

I know it might be wrong to feel this way

'Coz we haven't even been acquainted until this day

I wish one day we'd be introduced

 And in knowing me, you'd also be amused

But if you'd feel otherwise then it'll be okay

I guess I'll just let this feeling fade away

For now I'll try to put you out of my mind

And just do other things that my hands can find

I want to keep my sanity

And stop thinking about this far-fetched fantasy

Origami Flower Bouquets

In pursuit of my new found interest, I made this origami flower basket for my friend's mom, though it is much smaller in real life.

I also made some flower bouquets, which now prettify my desk.

Origami Flowers

My sister fancy making origami nowadays. She just gave me a lil,y.

I can fold up basic patterns like a t-shirt, or a heart. But I never really thought about origami seriously,  unlike my friend and  my sister. 

So today, I had free time I thought, why not try making a paper flower too. Thanks to the power of internet and Youtube, I was able to find easy tutorials. I never thought it was so fun. And come to think of it, this is one of the most cost-efficient, enjoyable hobbies out there.

 I spent some time memorizing or rather folding by heart a paper lily, and an accessory leaf. So here are my first flowers. Decent enough I think.

Lily Origami

For the next level, maybe a small flower ball. :D
Here are the tutorial videos: one & two.

done coloring

After a long break from my digital coloring hobby, I finally decided to get back to it. I feel like I've been neglecting it for far too long.

So, here goes my finished drawing. I'm glad I've finally finished coloring it.

Medium: Easy paint tool SAI, wacom pen and touch

Haiku-Juu San

Ber months
Cold breeze welcome us
Days fly fast 'cause ber is here
Soon Christmas will come.

Blonde girl

With the rain, there's not much to do today so might as well be productive. Thank God I was finally able coloring this drawing. 

Ran Mouri

Ran Mouri of Detective Conan is one of my favorite characters. I found this very beautiful picture of her, but the size was very small, look at how pixelated it is when resized.

I really wanted to re-draw this one, so I tried it, and with the use of my Wacom tablet I retraced the drawing. I think result is close enough. :P

Ran waiting for Conan

My first finished drawing in SAI

Finally, after days of tracing and coloring, I've finished a drawing using my Wacom tablet and the application SAI. I'm pretty proud of the result, considering I'm new to this thing.

Now take a good look at the characters, Do they look familiar? These characters are my chibi version of Peeta and Katniss in a happier lifetime.

10th Book: Howliday Inn

Well, here's another animal story. A children's book, with good wit and humor to keep me going page after page, and after a couple of hours I've finished reading it. Since I've been reading children's books for a while, I'm starting to get more convinced that these books aren't just plain.

If you read it in an adult's point of view, you would see that these genre has more to offer. They have their own metaphor and meanings, often hidden in the unassuming characters. 

Anyway, here's a peek to the story:

Howliday inn is set in the viewpoint of Harold, the family dog.

The adventure starts when his persons, the Monroe family, took a vacation and couldn't bring the pets with them. So together with the family's brainy cat, Chester, the two were boarded in the Chateau bow-wow for a week. It's supposed to give them their own smooth holiday for a week.

'Abandon all hope ye who enters here' as Chester said. Harold wouldn't have taken it seriously if it hadn't been for the creepy howling they heard in their first night there, coupled with strange disappearance and a hint of crime. Now, it's up to Harold and Chester to uncover the truth about the strange happenings in Howliday inn before it's too late for both of them.

6th Book: The Egypt Game

When I saw this book on sale in a bookstore, I didn't miss the opportunity to buy it. After all, it's a must-read according to the 2008 almanac. I have actually imagined a Jumanji like theme, where the players would be transported into the game, and would face the dangers of hidden traps and mummies in the pyramids of Egypt.

Boy, I was wrong. I should have read the blurb before anything else. It's nothing like that. But, I'm not disappointed either.

The Egypt game is not a story of magic, in fact it offers a normal story of kids who play with that 'role-play' type of thing.The ones we used to do when we were young - dress up and pretend to be the mother, cook, princess, or anything that our imagination requires of us; use scrap materials from the house, from the neighborhood, from the plants, anything that can be props for our story.  As for this story, it started when the kids saw Nefertiti inviting them into the land of Egpyt, and so they let their imagination run, do as Egyptians do, make props for their costumes, perform rituals and all.

But I must admit, I admire how Synger was able to organize the thoughts and come up with a detailed story. You know, it's not always easy to describe an ordinary thing in an extraordinary way. But she was able to pull it of, "Neat!" like one of the characters say. The story also just doesn't offer you an ordinary one, it has enough twist to keep you wondering. But the part I like the most if the totality of the story. It is told from a child/ and pre-teen's point of view, and looking at things from their perspective is something that reminds me of my own childhood. Reading this story has somehow made me remember how I looked at things, and what priorities, worries or dreams I had when I was a child. Now I think I know why it became a must- read.

I really think it's quite interesting to read a children's book when you are an adult. It takes the story into a new light. You'd see it differently as an adult, than the way you would see it if you are young.

Next in Line: The Howliday Inn  [I guess it's time to finally open this book, 3 years after I bought it.]

5th Book: Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin

Sa librong 'to ni Bob Ong, para kang nagbasa ng movie script.

1st: Bala sa bala, kamao sa kamao, satsat sa satsat!
*Tungkol sa tipikal na action movie, kung saan mayroon action star, kasalan, barilan sa kasalan, goons, at kung anu-ano pang makikita sa pinoy action movie.

2nd: Shake, shaker, shakest
*Tungkol sa kwento ng pamilya na na-trap sa haunted house. Over the course of conversations, mapapag-usapan din ang mga libro at kung paano pinapaikot ng mga bookstores ang pagdedesisyon kung alin ang bestsellers, at kung paano nila naiimpluwensyahan ang mga tao. Nabanggit din ang impluwensya ng telebisyon sa buhay ng mga ordinaryong mamayan.

3rd: Asawa ni Marie
*Tungkol naman sa drama movie, at mga  cliches sa pinoy teleserye. Mapag-uusapan dito ang impluwensya ng hollywood sa paggawa ng pinoy movies, kung saan sa halos lahat ng pelikula ay kasama ang mga bed scenes, pero basura naman ang plot.

Actually, medyo natagalan akong tapusin ang librong 'to. Ewan ko lang para sa iba, pero sa'kin medyo na boring-an ako sa takbo ng story eh.

The book was meant to be satirical sa movie and book industry sa Pilipinas, pero meron lang talagang mga parts na dull, or dragging. Siguro ako lang yun, kaya rin siguro di ako naging script writer.. :P

So, ito yung mga feeling ko, may sense na sinabi ng mga characters sa book:

[Diego:
Pero hindi lahat ng inaakala mong korni, e korni. Minsan ikaw lang din talaga ang walang sense of humor at may diperensya, siguro dahil sa pagpipilit mong maging iba.
Ako, ang hinahangaan kong tao na mahilig sa libro eh yung may matutunan ka pag kausap mo,yung makikita mong naging marunong at mabuti syang tao, dahil sa pagbabasa nya ng mga libro.]

[Mar:

Majority ng mga viewers ang hindi nakakaalam na may laging itinuturo sa atin ang TV. Ang tanong ay kung anu-ano ang mga 'yon?

Kinokondisyon tayo ng mga patalastas na hindi tayo masaya. Na laging may kulang sa buhay natin.]

[Samuel: Sige nga magdebate tayo! Patunayan mo sa'kin na may Diyos!
Pundit: Bata, kanya-kanya tayo ng paglalakbay. Huwag kang magpakarga. Katamaran yan.]

[ Samuel na possessed:
Itinda nyo... Pero wag nyong gagamitan ng salitang best seller kung di naman totoo.
Pinapakita nyong mga dayuhang libro pa rin at mga dayuhang libro lang ang tinatangkilik ng mga tao.]

Next in Line: The Egypt Game

Haiku-Juu Ni

Snow
Cold tiny drops fall
And slowly paint this place white
Pure and splendid view

4th Book: The Five People You Meet In Heaven

For starters, I commend Mitch Albom for having the courage to write a book that touches a sensitive topic- death and the concept of heaven. After, "Tuesdays with Morrie"  I felt like this would be a hit or miss business, granted the theme that he chose, but he took his chance anyway and I think it went well.

"Everyone has an idea of heaven as do most religions..." Albom said in his introduction. His was a guess, a wish in some ways that his uncle, and others like him, those people who felt unimportant here on earth realize finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved.

While his idea and mine are different, it's good to get to know his point of view. Why you meet those 'five people'. It's for them to shed light about the sense of your life on earth.

The story of Eddie, a war veteran and a maintenance at the Ruby Pier amusement park somehow made me think about life, experiences, and death. Eddie thought he just wasted his life away, being stuck in the Ruby Pier greasing and maintaining the rides, making sure they are safe for people to ride. He spent his life there, doing that menial work. And eventually he lost his life trying to save a little girl. He wasn't even sure if he did save her. All he know was in his afterlife, he would meet five people who will help him make sense of his life on earth.

These are some of lines that stuck me.

Strangers... are just family you have yet to come to know. -The blue man

No life is a waste...the only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone. - The blue man

Dying? Not the end of everything. We think it is. But what happens on earth is only the beginning. -The captain

Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to. - The captain

Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else. -The captain

But our eyes are different. What you see ain't what I see. - The captain

Silence was his escape, but silence is rarely a refuge. -Ruby

Holding anger is a poison. It east you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves. -Ruby

Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food... but when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner.You nurture it.You hold it.You dance with it. -Marguerite

Life has to end... love doesn't. - Marguerite

(You're ) supposed to be there. You keep people safe. You make good for me. - Tala

Next in line: Lumayo ka nga sa akin  by Bob Ong (This wasn't the original next book but, my future sis-in-law lent it, so I have to read it fast, before she takes it back. lol)

Haiku- Juu Ichi

In the evening sky
Pretty shapes you have
You watch me from up above
Lighting my way home.

I thought of this Haiku as I was walking home watching the stars and the moon in the sky. I usually go home  from work at 11pm. And when you go home late, it's not the most wonderful feeling, but I choose to make it wonderful. I find solace in looking above to see the beauty of the night sky, the moon and the blinking stars, as if telling me, they are there, and I'm not really walking alone.

3rd Book: The Alchemist

How many times have we given up on our dreams and on our aspirations? And how many times have we used the same old excuses for not trying to turn them into reality?  Somewhere in our past we were very sure of what we want to be or do but somewhere along the way we lose it, and just let life or situation win.

"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho has a very good explanation why it happens to us. In the quest of Santiago for his teasure, his 'Personal Legend', we will understand that we, in some point is also like him, searching for our own treasure. This is a must read for those who want to rekindle the fire with their Personal legends.

Let me get you to the book's Introduction by Paulo Coelho:

We need to be aware of our personal calling. what is a personal calling? It is God's blessing; it is the path that God chose for you here on Earth... However, we don't all have the courage to confront our own dream. Why?

There are four obstacles:
1. We are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible.
 
2. Love
     -We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abondoning everything in order to pursue our dream.

3.Fear of the defeats we will meet on the path
    -Necessary or not, defeats happen. The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

4. The fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives.
   -We look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either. We forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the sufferings we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far.
  - But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why your are here.

I believe it's true enough. If we are stuck in a situation and up until now we haven't even tried to realize our dreams, this list sums up the reasons.

I want to believe it's never too late. As long as we live and keep on moving forward, pushing towards our goal, it will happen. God will not frustrate us in our dreams. As Santiago said "If God leads the sheeps so well, he will also lead a man." Remember what the old King said, " If you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

Next in line: The five people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom

Drawings using Ms paint

When I was a kid, the only thing I can do with ms paint was solid block of trees and stick figures. Even though I know how to draw, being left-handed, I could hardly control the mouse, so I haven't really thought of using the computer as a drawing medium.

I think it was two years ago when I saw my sister's artwork using MS paint. It was cute, and you wouldn't think it came from that. With years of using the computer, I also got a steady hand with the mouse. So I tried too. And I'm proud to say that I think I can make decent artworks with that too. Take a look at my pieces.^^

This is my first ever decent art using MS paint.
 This is inspired by a character from 'Queen Seondeok'.
This is Bidam.^^

Good night baby bear!

cutie.

I copied his face from a tumbler

Inspired by Fireflies of Owl city, one of my favorites.

You would recognize I mostly
have bougainvillea in my themes. I just love their color.

Green fields!

It's supposed to be a sunset. This is dedicated to my grandma.

And after years of hiatus, I tried again.

I hope you like them.^^

2nd book: The BFG

Have you ever eaten any human bean or went flushbunking to any part of the globe?

Now, this question almost don't make sense to us, but to a giant, trust me, it does. These are few of the strange vocabulary I picked up while reading "The BFG" (Big Friendly Giant).

I must commend Roald Dahl for his very creative output. He was able to stand the pain of seeing constant grammar typos in his work. Maybe this is where the 'Lord of the Rings' scriptwriter got the idea for Golum's language. lol.

Kidding aside, the story was cleverly written. It is a children's book but if you look closely, you'll see it's more than that. It talks about friendship, freewill, courage, and overcoming fear.

Plot: Sophie just happened to look outside her window at the witching hour, the time at dawn when everything is as still as death, the time when the streets are all empty, or supposed to be empty. But then, she saw it, that black shadowy gigantic figure roaming around the streets. She knows she's supposed to hide, but it saw her and now it's too late. Not letting anyone know its secret, it decided to take her with it for good. The good thing is he's not like any other giant you know.While other giants enjoy flushbunking around the globe guzzling up unfortunate human beans, the nice and jumbly BFG is out there blowing good dreams to little children.

Here are the memorable messages I encountered:

"Just because we happen not to have actually seen something with our own two little winkles, we think it is not existing." - The BFG to Sophie

"Do not forget, that human beans is disappearing everywhere all the time even without the giants is guzzling them up... Human beans is killing each other much quicker than the giants is doing it."  - The BFG to Sophie

"Human beans is the only animals that is killing their own kind."  - The BFG to Sophie

"Everybody is making his own rules to suit himself."  - The BFG to Sophie

"The matter with human beans is that they is absolutely refusing to believe in anything unless they is actually seeing it right in front of their own schnozzles."  - The BFG to Sophie

"Dreams is very mystical things. Human beans is not understanding them at all. Not even their brainiest prossefors is understanding them."  - The BFG to Sophie

"Everything alive needs food of some sort. Even trees and plants." - Sophie to the BFG

"Do something!" - Sophie to the BFG

"What a clever fellow you are. You are not very well educated but you are really nobody's fool, I can see that." -the queen to the BFG

Next in line: The alchemist- I guess it's time to read this again, and refresh the idea about personal legend.