Old fashioned snail mail

When I was younger, I wrote a lot of letters. I wrote to my friends when I'm in Baguio for school. I wrote to my classmates when I'm in Manila or Zambales during vacation. I wrote to my grandparents when they went to the U.S. I wrote to my cousins. I wrote little notes and long letters to my college boyfriend. I wrote to my classmates and left it in the library or bulletin boards. I even had a penpal or two abroad whom I wrote to on a regular basis.

And it wasn't just regular writing, mind you. Oh sure it was often filled with little, inconsequential things about everything and nothing, but it wasn't just words. I drew on the margins, I painted on the envelopes and sometimes wrote with nothing but pictures.

It always gave me a thrill to walk to the post office and drop the letters off. The best thing though would be when I receive a letter in return. The guys I wrote to didn't really write much, but the girls were enthusiastic in writing and were as creative as I was with their letters, maybe more.

Sadly, it seems that the number of letter writers has dwindled over the years, in favor for the faster and more convenient email, online messengers and even social networking sites.

There is nothing wrong with that, but I miss the old fashioned writing method. Hence last year, I asked my friends to send me postcards or letters and I'll send some back to them. I've yet to keep up my end of the bargain *blush* but so far, I have received four letters/postcards. Now that doesn't seem much, considering I used to get four letters in a month, whereas this was over the course of six months.

However, it's still an achievement, and every time I receive one, I feel giddy. The first one was from my college classmate Kat, then a postcard from my best friend's sister when she was in Vienna. I got a birthday card from another classmate Thet (that was a surprise!) and just today, I got a postcard from my cousins who visited New York. The stamps were all from the UN, and one that had my cousins' picture in it.

It may no longer be the chosen way to keep in touch, but I'm sure people would appreciate it if you could send a letter or two every now and then. I know I would.

I'm off now to make some postcards.

LRT Art 2009

Commuters of the MRT and LRT line may have noticed some posters a few months ago calling for entries for the LRT Art contest. Filipino citizens age 18 and above were enjoined to participate in the contest with the theme “LRT at ang Buhay Pinoy”.

I don't know how many entries were there, as I wasn't able to find any press release or news item about the results. However, selected entries may be seen at the LRT Cubao station. I'm not sure if this is the formal exhibit, as there are ropes cordoning off the commuters from the paintings (although you can still see most of them).

Here a few of the entries. I even found one artist on DeviantArt, but I don't know what his work looks like.

I love this one. It's Pinoy superheroes heading home after a busy day.




This one feels like Grand Central Station


This one's really nice too. It looks like a photograph.


There were a lot of beautiful works there, some were very creative and thought provoking; some very avant-garde and imaginative (see the superheroes one), while some were very much traditional and realistic. There were two paintings there though, that looked so similar that it was obvious that both artists used the same reference picture (one that was used as an LRT publicity picture, methinks).

Head on over to the LRT Cubao station to take a look at these works. However, you have to get past the turnstiles for that. If in any case the exhibit would formally open, I suggest you wait for that.

Spotlight: Drawn!

I don't think anyone is a stranger to Drawn! (exclamation point does not denote the end of my sentence hehe), as it is possibly one of the best sources of news, tidbits, tips and whatnot about illustration and cartooning. In fact, as their tagline suggests, it is The illustration and cartooning blog.

Clicking on the "about" link on the site give us this information:

Drawn! is a multi-author blog devoted to illustration, art, cartooning and drawing. Its purpose is to inspire creativity by sharing links and resources.

Further clicking would give us a list of contributors.

What else can I say about Drawn!? It's a simple enough site, where you can read up about various artists who will definitely inspire you. Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed by the sheer talent that this site showcases, it's hard not to be intimidated. It's also a great place to get lost in if you want to be inspired to do some bit of creation and art yourself. With Drawn! you can also see trends in illustration, or see new things that you haven't come across before. Subscribe to Drawn! so you won't miss an update.

P.S. This is not a paid ad, ok? I get nothing from this (except the satisfaction that perhaps you get inspired to draw something too).

Real life Photoshop

Yes, I know this has been shared many times over, but it never fails to amaze me.



The behind the scenes look is even more awe inspiring. I can only imagine the effort (and the fun) that the people behind this did. Wow!

Splurging

I went to the dentist today, but since it was just a follow-up to a major visit I did a month ago, my dentist said I didn't have to pay her. Since I saved some money, I was itching to buy something. Originally I thought about a book, but I didn't find anything interesting, so I headed to the bookstore and browsed through the art supplies.

I wanted to try acrylic and even go back to watercolor. I did some calculations after checking out some equipment and when I found that it was well within my budget, I went ahead and brought them.

This is what I got: two small brushes (a pointed one, size four and a flat one, size four as well), a watercolor paper pad, and a set of acrylic paints. I still have some watercolor at home so I didn't get anything new. Oh yeah, I got a cheap ballpoint pen as well. :)

Now, I should get started on this.

In the beginning... we create

Just recently, I decided to get back to doing "traditional" art: sketching, painting, drawing without using any digital tools. It dawned upon me that I had a lot of subscriptions from sites that deal with graphic design, web graphics or anything pertaining to digital art, but not so much from the "offline" medium.

A random Plurk message from a friend sparked the idea of putting up an art blog. Now, I'm not a very experienced artist, and it has been a long time since I truly did anything I'd consider art related, but I figured that I could use this blog to share things that I find meaningful and useful for this love of mine. Maybe as time passes I could add my own tutorials and tips about art. Goodness knows I have alot of stock knowledge but little practical experience (which I hope to remedy).


I can't understand why I stopped drawing, really. Growing up I was always encouraged by my family to pursue art. My mom enrolled me in classes when I was seven, and never reprimanded when I'd rather draw than study. I have more than my share of influences from various family members who could draw and paint, not to mention sing or play various musical instruments.


This blog aims not only to share with you things I found inspiring, but also I hope would serve as a motivation for me to get up and start creating. Cheers!


P.S. Blogspot domain for now :)