Tulips by the Mill

What I love about Van Gogh's technique is its imperfection. If you look closely, specially his early works like the ‘Potato Eaters’ aside from using dark colors, the perspective is somehow distorted. I am also specifically impressed with the shading effect of his artworks and the intricate brush strokes. Totally amazing. His brush stroke method is really hard to follow and from the looks of it, very exhausting as well.

Anyway, enjoy my fourth masterpiece ‘Tulips by the Mill’.

Oil Pastel on Canson
Thanks for leaving comments! ^_^

Country Bellflower

I just finished another flower artwork. Anyway, maybe you're wondering how I start with my painting. I don't use pencil anymore. I am directly using oil pastel to draw...

Firstly, I browse good pictures for reference and then print it out. After printing my subject out, I am just directly putting the exact object to the blank canson paper I am using. I use base color to draw the figure, depending on what dominant color of the subject is (for example, if I am painting sunflower I would be using yellow as my base color). After forming the object I create the shading to bring the object to life and then furnishing it by outlining my subject with a much brighter shade of the base color (for the sunflower case, I used orange as its outline). Then finishing it with the third layer of shading...

Oil Pastel on Canson
Well, enjoy my third master piece.

Thanks for leaving comments... ^_^

Reunited Once Again...

I went visiting an old friend with her cute two-and-a-half yearold daughter, my goddaughter (ohhh I feel like I’m getting older hearing that word…) yesterday with my best pals. Our group sure is strong, even after three years none of us changed at all. I was so tired because of what happened back in the office that in the middle of our loud conversation I fell asleep. Sorry about that guys… I was just tremendously exhausted. Anyway, time really flies. We could not believe ourselves that it has already been three years and felt time already left us behind. Although it’s not that hard to catch up, there’s always an express train available to catch it but the thing is… in those three years a lot could have happened which can weaken our friendship, totally without communcation towards some of them but just seeing their faces we altogether shifted back on how we were in college. Finally, I was simply happy. I have nothing in mind and nothing complex to think about. I was just there updating myself with their experiences and how they lived in those three years without casually hanging out together.

We talked almost everything about ourselves. The pain, the sadness, the happiness, the frustrations, the goals, the dreams, the plans and I can’t ask for more but it was totally refreshing chatting with them again. I just realized, they always hold this special place in my heart that would simply make me smile. They’re one of those groups that I could be what I am without pretending and without careful thinking if I should join their coversation or not. I was just me.

Well, I hope we can do this again some other time, I’m pretty sure we can… ^_^

Yesterday's Sentiments

This has been an exhausting day. I spent a night with my former housemates yesterday because of a close friend’s plea given that this might be our last night together as I already left the office and she already decided to follow me and leave as well. I got home just this morning with few sleep after concluding my exit clearance with the company. I was talking with my former housemates the night before. A lot has happened in those few weeks I’m gone. Although it’s so much better not talk about sensitive topic like this over the net, I just can’t help it. I would just like for us to part ways without chip on our shoulders because I’d never hold grudge to anyone without confronting that person and telling him how I feel before saying goodbye. Though literally, I’m not saying that we’ll never see each other again, the point is… things will never be the way it was when we’re together after we part ways and that is so obvious. We can no longer spent our days casually and have time to reconcile if awful things happen along the way. A text message isn’t enough for reconciliation. Words are innert, they’re dead in the first place so you wouldn’t really understand how a person feel just by reading some text message on your cellphone. Personal communication is still the best way to convey/understand one’s emotions and thoughts. I am also not in the position to arbitrate the persons involved because I do not know the exact scenario how things went upsetting. I want to weigh the sides of each persons involved before I could openly expose my views and opinion. As of now, I’ll be silent.

Another thing that keeps on bothering me for quite sometime now is how some of us (yes including me and I’m feeling guilty about it) make fun of other people’s deficiencies may it be physically or mentally. I just find it so uncivilized and inhumane of us to drastically laugh at things like these. I am not claiming myself to be clean as slate for not doing this sort of thing (God… if someone could only hear my brain outloud I might have already been assassinated) but what I am trying to state is we can avoid even if it is so hard for us to, we can find much more sensical topics to talk about over our social activities. I just remembered, I was not raised by my parents to see the faults of my surroundings and I believe so, I also chose not to. I even wanted to immerse myself to different kinds of personalities from different people. I find it challenging to test myself if I can stand being opinionless of someone. Additionally, I even thought of abandoning my dreams to become a volunteer and aid those people who lacks everything. It’s hurting most of the time hearing just the laughs, even my laugh because I knew the feeling of being terrorized. I would muchly prefer if it’s behind my back but what I experienced way way in the past, they torture me right exactly to my face. I would also prefer if the pain is a result of someone hitting my head with a baseball bat but the pain is inside lurking and had not been healed. However, I do not regret everything I have done and experienced because it formed the person I wanted to become now. Open minded, kind and brilliant. Not that I’m bragging about it, but I don’t brag I show them and they usually get surprised because all the time I was just there, opinionless and quiet. But I am truly observing, always observing until having this mental strain. I don’t know if I am just over analyzing or just too sensitive or worse insensitive but I do find it barbaric and ridiculous if somebody makes fun of someone if he, himself lacks everything in the world, lacks soul and I can’t do anything about it because I am also afraid of getting backfired although I know if anyone read everything I have written here eventually I’ll become a topic of their absurdity…

Lily by the Window

I just finished another flower artwork this afternoon and I am so happy about it I can't even wait to show it to my dad... and I did a little while ago.

I set-up the webcam and focused the lens onto the canson paper filled with oil pastel, the medium I used to bring to life the blossom I loved before sunflower caught my attention. My dad exaggiratingly asked… “Saan mo naman nabili yan? Art ba ni Salvador Dali yan?” I smiled and said “Akin kaya to!” and wondered why the artist Salvador Dali? I am nothing like him. He’s a surrealist and I don’t have that kind of wild, out of this world imagination to become one. I am more comfortable claiming myself as a post-impressionist or an asbtract/cubism artist. I am not that good to be the next Rembrandt. However, I am also not saying that post-impressionist and abstract artists are intimidated by golden age artists. They belong to two different movements in the first place but I would have to say that Rembrandt art is just too intricate for me plus I don’t have abundant patience to spent perfecting my obra maestra.

Oil Pastel on Canson
I remember someone told me that my talent is rarely given and I should be thankful to have it although I was not sure what he really meant that time. Maybe I was just over analyzing but I don’t know if I could accept it clearly and openly. It’s just too flaterring that I thought I did not deserve such admiration. It is sometimes hard to believe such compliments specially when you know you still have room to grow.

Anyway, please… oh please… if I could just have some teeny weeny bit of your time… I would be grateful if you could leave comments regarding the above artwork done with oil pastel on canson (meduim I personally love). I would appreciate it very much even if it is a condemnation. It would really help me improve my techniques.

Thanks… ^_^

My Artistic Side...

I have been targeting at least 300 artworks for me to be able to host an art exhibit. This has been one of my goals and my dream ever since having consciousness regarding my surroundings.

I remember, I was just about four or five years old when I discovered my love for painting. I was overly fascinated with Van Gogh's Starry Night. Although it was impossible for me to explain the intricacy, the techniques and the brush strokes given that I was very small, as far as I could remember, the thing that kept me staring at the picture of Van Gogh's marvelous artwork in a magazine are the lovely colors he used and the dominant Cyan hues interpreted in his canvas. That was the time when I told myself that I want to be like him when I grow up even though it was not realized obviously...

Oil Pastel on Canson...

I just hope someday I could show everyone what the world is in my eyes personified through my paintings and my artworks.

Anyhow, the above picture was done via Oil Pastel on Canson. It's one of my personal favorite from my flower collection. Please leave your comments for personal artistic development.

Thank you... ^_^

Pizza Eating Day

It was a promise I made them before leaving the office since I left two days before my 25th birthday. “I’ll be back in a jiffy!” I said and what I really meant was that I’ll be back in a few weeks or two. I was supposed to return 1st week of August but my colleague, my housemate and my friend already had the intention of following me by Friday so I was left with neither a choice but to pursue this get together schedule of ours.

with colleagues from SPi getting ready to be fired-up by that super meaty pizza...
It was total fun but quite depressing too never knowing if this time will be passing us again. I always had in mind and had been preparing myself for events alike. This might be our last time together, happy and complete. It always were. No matter where I go… It always were. My grade school pals, my high school friends, my first job comrades… I can’t even remember the last time we’re together except for those in college. I don’t have any idea what the differences are between those people mentioned above but it’s rather melancholic just thinking about those people who have ‘somehow’ touched your life and became part of your chronic adventures pursuing your dream that they will slowly fade away into your memoria and their influences slowly die out. I already accepted these somewhat perplexing facts of life. I comprehend that I will again someday, somewhere meet new people, laugh with these new people, care for these new people which will interchange those people you already left behind due to unexpected circumstances. I can never deny this irony.

shutter playing while waiting to be served at Chef d' Angelo...

Fireworks in action. Hehe got carried away editing those fireworks in the background though... halata ba? XD
I just hope this will not be our last time together and I am positive it is not. Although it’s quite refreshing meeting someone new.