Me, again

  Simple thumbnail sketches of dragonflies (with daisies) in 3 colors Final artwork of Dragonflies in A4 watercolor paper. Thumbnail sketch of Fireflies in an Iwahig Stream Fireflies at night final artwork.

  A quick watercolor exercise I was able to do today. If you’re struggling to choose which subject matter to paint for leisure, I suggest going for silhouettes. They’re not only simple to do, they’re also decidedly dramatic and give instant gratification; like this fantastical shark viewed by a child in an aquarium.  Source: Pinterest as An Unwanted Nightmare

  Still Life with Cherries and Peaches c. 1885-87 I'm not joking when I say I am a fan of Paul Cezanne. When I hear Cezanne, I immediately think “still life” similar to this one I haven’t painted before. I remember doing a series of randomly chosen paintings in 2017-18 I didn’t know the painter of and it turned out they all belonged to the same artist. I didn’t find it special then but by sorting out stuff in my backup HDD and getting the chance to review them, I thought they were pretty(er). Maybe it has something to do with his enticing use of colors, astute sense of composition and “easy” rendering that seem timeless and that they're really fun to emulate.

So I was browsing Wikipedia looking for some dirt on Cezanne… Here’s the result I wasn't hoping for: It’s an oil painting of The Artist's Father, Reading c.1866. Why I chose this one to reproduce (in watercolor) is actually none of your business. It just strikes me as first, doable and second, relateable. That’s all you need to know. If my father ever sat for me to be painted, this is how I would envision him to be. Of course my father was never one to sit patiently for someone as he was too fidgety. He would however sit on his lazyboy and read the morning paper everytime it’s 8 o’clock and do nothing else until it’s time to inspect the kitchen and eat lunch. He also dabbled in painting a little as well as sculpture with basic, coarse materials but he wasn’t nearly as good or refined as me. Come to think of it, he wasn’t refined at all. He was antagonistic, belligerent and bellowing; but not when he was in his nook reading a book. He was a well-read dad. How he turned out to

  Who says you can't have fun with your art? It's turning out to be my mission in life. *Conditions*  Doesn't have to be serious with always an effort to sell. Just "liveable" and maybe something you would want to buy for yourself.  Here's an exercise in 2D or flat, poster-color type painting of a retro Coca-Cola Ad I found in Pinterest. I had fun painting in the iconic Coca-Cola text (thanks to the good ole  non-shaky hands), some white generic 1950's lady model, a beautiful Coke bottle with a greenish hue I always wanted to paint (maybe I'll do some more) finished with some splattered darker paint over a blue turquoise background (easy to do).  Next, I want to paint some Cezanne . He's an ODG (old dead guy) and copyright-free, right? Incidentally, here are some slogans by the Coca Cola Company  through the years that have turned into catchy phrases similar to the title of this blog that's good to reminisce. I don't want to shoot myself

It’s true what they say you get a little rusty when you haven’t picked up a paint brush in awhile and begin to paint again. Normally, painting has to be done everyday if you want favourable results aka results you can actually live with (to develop muscle memory with whatever muscles you’re using while painting, which ultimately aids you in your process.) I’m getting a little stressed with my current watercolor which I haven’t been doing on a regular basis. But maybe just a little. My stress gradually turns into a lesson in patience which I lack when doing art anyway. I remember a high school classmate co-Artist who was not at all impatient like me. How do I know? Here’s an example. When I’m using glue or when I’m working with ink, I don’t usually let the glue dry completely before I make something with the paper and when I’m drawing with ink, I don’t let it dry fully before I erase pencil marks on it which sort of mars the drawing.      Anyway, this classmate of mine was so relaxed an

Still going with the momentum of "artificially enhanced" photography, I concocted a photoshopped image of me sitting on my friend's couch in her Relish Resto taken a week ago with some additional text and images of my younger self beside me.  It's not necessarily a cultural piece of media or meme . (If you're wondering what a meme  is exactly, head here . )  I just wanted to cherish every moment of my life and relish every precious minute without leaving my younger self behind. * My brainchild* How to be an original:  Be a Fruit Loop in a world full of Cheerios. 30 Inspiring Princess Diana quotes . On Family, Love and Royalty Love is a four-letter word spelled T-I-M-E . Expert advise on Love. Some image macros  to digest using cartoonified images of me.

Do you ever find it weird or curious how time treads on, proceeding with no regard for pause or reflection? Yes it does. It’s as if it was only yesterday that we were all on lockdown due to Covid-19 and as the name suggests, it happened in 2019, about three or four years ago to date. Nobody wants to relive a collective state of torpor but almost all of us are already out of it trying to live a normal life equivalent to our pre-pandemic selves….easily forgetful as if the pandemic never happened, maybe? As a matter of fact, 2023 seemed to have just begun and amazingly, we already find ourselves here in its third month March. The question now is what have we, what have I done these first two months so far?  Well today at least, I spent real, engaged time trying to enhance our old childhood pictures which I have started to do at the height of the pandemic and even before that. It seems to be a passion. There are new AI APPS to help you that were non-existent two years ago or even last yea