Christiane's Chucks

My friend Christiane asked me to doodle on her shoes.
This is how it looks like now.

Nothing much to say in this post, except that I had a lot of fun drawing. This was my first time to doodle on shoes and I really didn't have like a theme or a concept in mind. I simply doodled away, just as I would doodle on paper! It all started when I mentioned that I had a pair of fake Chucks (eep sorry *guilty look*) at home, which I plan on designing.

I used my trusty ol' Calligraphy pen to draw on this pair aaaaand... let's hope it doesn't smudge when it gets wet. Give me more time to practice and think up of themes/concepts for the designs, and soon you, and the rest of the world, shall face the wrath of my doodling powers. Mwahahha.

Soundtrack of My Summer: Part 2

View the original Soundtrack of My Summer entry over here

This picture showcases the entire collection so far. I have a feeling I'm going to be drawing more soon but people might get tired of it so... haha I dunno. Here's the second part of the collection I guess (together with the first one). 5 new drawings starting from the brownish one with hanging clouds! Click the link above for the story behind this collection.

It is officially summer and so far, I'm having a great time. I've been going out, bonding with elephants (haha), hanging out with my friends, planning stuff with my co-officers at Celadon (my organization) *which I totally enjoy, just to make that clear* and more drawing. I'm trying to learn new things too such as sewing and more origami stuff haha. Folding more cranes as well. Ah, cranes...

My favorite from the latest batch is the one with the slow dancing theme. I may not look it but I'm a fan of unsaturated color schemes. And I love the white bubble dress on this one... wish I had one. And the boy looks particularly cute here... and they're slow dancing, what other explanation can I give? Anyway, the last one, with the silhouettes, is also something special since it's my first time to draw silhouettes and I think it makes a great 'last picture' because it truly encompasses summer. I have to say though, the boy's arms look funny here haha.

Still playing this playlist over and over. Still drawing drawings of you. Still as inspired as ever. Why...

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Songs from left to right top to bottom: "On Top of the World" by Boys Like Girls, "Coffee" by Copeland, "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls, "Simple, Starving to be Safe" by Daphne Loves Derby, "Better That We Break" by Maroon 5, "Three Cheers for Five Years" by Mayday Parade, "Burn This City" by Cartel, "You Be the Anchor That Keeps My Feet on the Ground I'll Be the Wings That Keep Your Heart in the Clouds" by Mayday Parade, "Tonight" by FM Static, "Jamie All Over" by Mayday Parade

My Drawings in Necklaces

I had these necklaces made from Personage by Stazas Inc. I saw their booth at the Celadon Biz Fair last January and knew that I wanted to have an item or two made.

We had a few problems at first because the first item they sent was damaged but all's well since they offered to replace it for free and have my second item discounted, which explains why I have two items! The drawings I sent were the Sakura and the Pag-Ibig na Dakila drawings because I think they're the most vintage-y looking drawings I have (not really THAT vintage but at least... hehe). I'm sure these will match well with some of my outfits! Yey! Thanks for the great service.

I want to sell products like this one but I have no contacts for the suppliers and all the shiz haha. Maybe someday I'll be able to though, and I'll open up a store having necklaces like these on the shelves. I have to think of more products and designs! Yehey!

Soundtrack of My Summer

It was 3am in the morning and I couldn't sleep. I took out my battered Ipod and started playing the songs on my recent playlist... and sketches just came out of nowhere. Boys Like Girls. Daphne Loves Derby. Even some Maroon 5. A lot of the songs had very strong imagery and how I wish I could draw them exactly the way they look on my mind, but my noob skills permit me from doing so. Instead, I suffice myself to drawing those scenes as accurately (at which, I think I failed, but all the same...) as I can imagine them in my mind using my usual cartoon style. It, of course, helped that I was inspired during that time.


Back to the drawings. I started to sketch, like I said, some scenes as they were playing in my mind. I sketched so much more than what I ended up finishing and was inspired by more songs than what I ended up using. All the same, it was great practice for me. I will probably continue the rest of my sketches soon (especially since it's summer already) and create a second batch of love-sick, emo drawings using songs from Secondhand Serenade and from my all time favorite pro-depressant musicians Rachael Yamagata and KT Tunstall. But I'm trying to avoid my depressing songs lately. I need to keep being happy, especially since it's summer!


I named this collection the "Soundtrack of My Summer" collection, after the lyrics from one of the songs by Boys Like Girls ("Thunder"). I'd like to thank my good friends Jed and Abz for always singing songs like these during our emo sessions and car trips home. I hate telling people I listen to emo songs, but I just can't deny that I love these. Most especially, thank you Abz for "Coffee". It wasn't summer yet when I drew these and started listening to these songs, but I was thinking of summer so... I hope that counts.

My mom always begged me to draw more 'couple drawings' as she'd call it. She said I drew too much single girls , so thanks mom, I'm following your advice! I do hope that as you wish, I'd be able to find someone just as romantic as the boy in my drawings. Haha. To make things even better, I drew the girl to look like me (hopefully) with the outfits all resembling actual outfits that I wear regularly! My friends and classmates found the clothes all-too familiar, which was of course, the goal of the idea, so on that level, I guess I had succeeded. So yes, that's supposed to be me with my imaginary boyfriend in imaginary settings doing imaginary things. My boy has funky hairstyle.

And lastly, I guess I just want to say that... if you don't go looking for it, sometimes, it finds you.

Also, you don't know it's you, you probably never will, and you will probably never read this anyway, but thank you all the same for the inspiration! *clap clap!*

Read Soundtrack of my Summer: Part 2!

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Songs from left to right top to bottom: "On Top of the World" by Boys Like Girls, "Coffee" by Copeland, "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls, "Simple, Starving to be Safe" by Daphne Loves Derby, "Better That We Break" by Maroon 5.

January Celadon Events!

The Ateneo Celadon is an organization that I actively participate in at school. I really love my org and I'd like to give the entire story why, but that's another story. For this entry, I'd like to share two Celadon events which I participated in this January; the Business Fair and the Spring Film Festival.

The Biz Fair took place last January 19-20. I was there even before the event started and got the opportunity to use Retcher's DSLR and be our official amateur photographer (haha) for the day, beginning from the ribbon cutting! Heheee! I took most of the pics that day with the DSLR (which I wish I had instead!). I also tried helping out as much as I can the entire day from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm! I had tons of siomai which I absolutely adore! I had such a great time helping out for such a great event. The heads have done a very good job with this and I am very proud to have been part of the event, even if I just played a small role.

It was also a very memorable experience because of the funny fact that I was at the advertisements! One of the four 'models' haha! I honestly didn't expect that it was going to be that big of a deal until I saw posters hanging above the escalators. Freaky. Fed my vanity though. Hahaha! But it was really funny because obviously I'm not really a model of any sort and this was my first, er, shoot, I guess. But it was fun! My friends were teasing me about it. For the first time, I wasn't the one designing, I was the model! I think I prefer designing though... haha!

Spring Film Fest was one of the most interesting projects for me which is why I immediately signed up for this. It's our annual film festival wherein we feature 4 Chinese movies subtitled in English. As I am a big fan of foreign films, I already knew from the beginning that I wanted to participate.

I submitted a design for the promotional materials and luckily, the project heads liked what I did and used it as the official design. I'm very honored. This is my most widespread design though and again, I was surprised at how much of a big deal they made this! This is the largest tarp design I've ever done, it was as long as three floors, I think, and at Trinoma too! Huge mall! o.o And the posters and flyers were distributed everywhere inside and outside school! I worked very hard on them, editing the format dozens of times because of the different layouts needed and after all the revisions (Da knows... haha!) , but in the end, after I saw everything at Trinoma during our Gala Night, I realized it was all worth the pain.

Speaking of Gala Night, I was also there and I served as an usherette! It was really fun cuz we got to dress up in semi formal dresses and suits. I was also the one who held one of four scissors for the ribbon cutting. HAHA ok, that wasn't a big deal, but it made me happy. Funny! The movie we watched was really nice, it's called "Getting Home". I already had a bias for this because I'm totally in love with foreign films (as you might know already) and I've recently been having a love affair with Chinese culture (I must write about that soon). But really, it was a funny movie and I loved it. The people I worked with the entire time were great people too so great job everyone! My co ushers (they were all guys) made the night really fun and it was all great!

I love Celadon very much (I just have to stress that fact) and I'm looking forward to more events in the future! Yey!

Still Enchanting

"I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss, and a prince I'm hoping comes with this...."

One of the most delightful films this year, Disney has proved that they still have it, with Enchanted. I'm so glad that Walt Disney Pictures has decided to return to 2D Animation. Although I did find Meet the Robinsons fairly cute, Chicken Little was just really bad, so let's leave the 3D thing to Pixar for now, ok?

When I first heard about the plot, I really thought it was gonna be bad. I expected nothing more than the average cliche twisting of fairytales kindda thing. But when I first saw the trailer, it was so funny and it got me all excited! It was what I've been waiting for for forever. And it did not disappoint me. This film is just so cute, witty, funny and very VERY DISNEY! I hope they continue to produce princess films again. And I LOVE THE SONGS!! My friends were laughing when they asked me if I knew the songs (as I do with the other Disney films) and then I started singing "When you meet that someone, who was meant for you!..." haha.

One of my friends was squealing "Sheena! You should've watched with us! It's such a "you" movie!" after he saw the movie (yes it's a he) with my other friends (I had classes that time). And a few days later, another of my friends texted me and asked if I had already seen the film because according to him (yes it's another he), he could just imagine me singing in our local park, just as Giselle did at Central Park. It's was so funny! Haha. And I'm so proud that my friends thought of me while watching this movie! Hahaha. I'm such a Disney girl.

So, in relation, I've been trying to draw Enchanted fanart since last month, but I've always failed. I've done two drawings with Giselle in a her ball gown but I could never get the background colors right. So I decided to change costumes and did this instead, one of her in her adorable blue dress. Heehee. It's so bright (the color of her costume) and I love it. I wanted her to look extremely delighted, but one of my guy friends pointed out that she looks extremely scared of the squirrel HAHA so I don't know... I guess I still failed.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, go see it now! It's really really adorable. And if you love Disney, you'll surely love this one. I can't wait for the Princess and the Frog and Rapunzel (though Rapunzel is 3d, I'm glad they're back to fairytales). Hope they're even better than Enchanted.

The Four Seasons Project

The Four Seasons Project is all about me creating a different artwork every year with the theme of the four seasons in mind. I did this initially so that I can track my improvements, as in, see how much I'm improving throughout the years (if I have). I also wanted to give myself a reason to draw the seasons again and again, heehee, because I found the concept very interesting and the ideas for it seemed limitless.

Without further ado, I present to you, my artworks. Thank you for taking the time to view them. I sincerely hope that you enjoy them, as much as I did while creating them ^^.

2005 - The Faeries

For my very first set, I was highly inspired by Neil Gaiman's the Endless brothers. The concept of the seven brothers and sisters and the way that he portrayed them, were some things that I wanted to incorporate to the characters of the seasons. The idea is that the four faeries are not muses of the season, nor are they guardians or anything of that kind. Instead, they ARE the seasons themselves. If you are not familiar with the Endless siblings, I suggest you read up about them. Neil Gaiman is a genius and the concept will be better understood through his explanations.

I was at my last year in high school when I was drawing this. I remember inking it during class hours. The lineart was the main ingredient in the drawing. No fancy backgrounds, just a gradient for each box. I wanted to connect the four as well, so I had the idea of placing them all in the same tree. The end result didn't show this very much, because I don't think I was able to blend it well, but if you look closely, they're supposed to be hanging on the same tree.

The colors I used for the next years were patterned on the color scheme of this one.

2006 - Art Nouveau

The art style of Alfons Mucha was the great inspiration for these pieces. 2006 was the year I visited Europe, and from France, I brought home replicas of Alfons Mucha's paintings form the sidewalk (silly of me, but back then I didn't know it was his works; I just found the artworks very pretty). These paintings are currently still hanging on my wall directly above the framed prints of my own Art Nouveau pieces.

Unlike the first one, the Seasons this time were not depicted as anything fantastical; they were merely subjects of an Art Nouveau painting. I chose to do this style because it was very classical. I have always been a fan of the art style; admiring it for its elegance and elaboration. I love how everything is highly stylized. It was a very challenging style to incorporate to my own personal style and this was also one of the reasons why I decided to go with this for that year.

Summer gave me the most complications in terms of choosing the right colors. I wanted more pink, but couldn't make it work. Spring was a bit of a trouble too (but it was the first one I finished) because I didn't want to make it too bright. Well, achieved that. But it doesn't look too spring-ish either. Haha. More gothic, don't you think? But all the same, I enjoyed doing this series very much. I was able to test my patience and skills.

You may view my Deviant Art gallery for larger photos of the four.

2007 - The Marionettes

Beginning September, I have been worrying about thinking up of an idea for this year's Four Seasons Project. I didn't have any idea at all for this piece and I have been obsessing over the idea of thinking of an idea that I thought I'd go crazy. But I should have known better already. The best ideas come to you unexpected. And sometimes the best drawings are the drawings you only categorized as a doodle from the start.

I was bordering around the idea of using the Japanese fashion "Lolita" and the theme "Masquerades". I couldn't quite bring them together successfully though so I tried a different approach. I started doodling a random Lolita character and added strings on her hand. I liked what I did so I drew curtains, altered the outfit, added furs, boots and drew a little ornament in her head. It was then that Winter was born.

The other seasons were not drawn until about a week after, but all three were drawn on the same day. I drew them only once and that was it. Usually I would erase a whole lot and the end product would be totally different from where I begun, but not this time. What you see here is 95% the same as what I doodled originally. I don't know if it was the nice rainy weather, but something was really inspiring me that day. And whatever it was, I'm glad it did.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out. I honestly didn't think that I could do a better job than what I did last year (not meaning to say that what I did last year was so great, I only meant to say that I couldn't think up of a better idea for this year).

Marionettes are something that have always fascinated me. They remind me of carnivals and traditional carnivals are something I love. I gave each of them huge pink cheeks to make them more doll-like. As some of you probably already know, I really adore dolls. This concept was near to my heart and I think that's one of reasons why I got so into creating this and also the reason why I'm happy with the result. I was very happy while I was drawing this and that's essential for a good picture.

I plan on creating a short story, poem or any sort of literary piece for this drawing. I'll keep you guys posted.

Notebooks

I just designed the two notebooks which I will be using next semester (only two more weeks)! It's colorful yey! I couldn't find a decent notebook with colorful designs on them so I just bought this plain navy blue one. But I couldn't stand the plain navy blue-ness of it, so I had to change it!

I used two of my drawings; the two which I really like out of all my other artworks ^^. Then I searched my scrapbook boxes for old ribbons and other thingiemagigs. I admit that I'm not really good at mixing things up and I've never been good at scrapbooking, haha. So it may not be much, but I really like what I did! And in the picture, I included some of my favorite supplies (my ever trusty pink mechanical pencil *which I named Princess Mon-Mon after my genius friend*, my yellow and pink scissors and my pink tape dispenser). Colorful!!

Now I'm excited to use the notebooks! The blue one will be my MWF notebook because I like it more than the yellow one and I also like my MWF classes better (no law and accounting heehee), and, if the dresscode is not implemented (or if I can get away with it lol), then I'd feel even happier about MWF (because no management classes then!).

What...? Little things make me happy.

MidAutumn Tarp

This is the very first tarp design that I did for this year (second one, in my entire life, haha, but the first one was just placed on one spot) and I'm proud of it! ^^ I've always wanted to design one but it was only this year when I was able to do it. At first I thought it was only going to be placed at, at most, 3 spots. But to my surprise, it was all over school! o.o Around 6 of them, I think! Heehee. Zen Garden, SOM Parking, CTC to SOM Mall (2 of them), Way to SOM and Doghouse... not sure if I forgot something.

This one on the picture is my favorite spot; at the CTC Building. I don't know why, I really just love the atmosphere at CTC (Convergent Technologies Center) and SOM (School of Management) buildings.

A certain person came up to me and asked "Why are you the only one designing the posters for Celadon?" and I was all, "Uh.. what posters? We only have one so far this year." lol. She must've thought that I was hogging everything, when in fact I was only able to design one. Haha. I just got lucky that it was displayed at different places.

The event took place last September. It was for the annual Chinese tradition of the Mooncake Festival. Celadon holds this party yearly as a joint celebration of that festival and teachers appreciation day. It's one of our biggest projects for the school year, and I'm really really honored to be part of it. Hooray!

Before and After Drawings

So here's another edition of my Before & After thingies! Yey! I rummaged through one of my folders labelled "Very Old Drawings" and found some ancient works (hmm.. haha)! The ones on the left are drawings from 2005 and the ones on the right were made mid 2006. Funny how, in just a year, I was able to change a lot of things ^^.

A Whole New World

This is probably my favorite of the three transition drawings (or maybe I'm just biased since Aladdin is my second all time favorite). So things that changed, well, I stopped using the stained glass effect on photoshop. I also made the carpet straighter. I know the carpet looks more stiff on the second one, but it's harder to make it all soft and moving. Haha. Hmm, what else, imrpoved on the colors as well and the palace was also more stylized now. I love Jasmine's transformation here; now she really looks cute with her poofy pants!! Heehee. I love Jasmine and all her poofiness (as you might have read in my other posts).

Cinderella & Prince Charming

Removed the ugly fountain, replaced it with an empty bird bath (HAHA). Ok, so maybe I have to improve more but that's the best I was able to do a year ago. Hmm, what else, added some cute little rosebushes, improved on their faces and clothes. Cinderella's hair is one of the hardest to do, but I'm glad of the way it came out in here. Hmm what else..? Changed the tones a bit too. ^^ Gosh that fountain is ugly... haha.

Belle and the Sheep

Honestly, I'm not happy with the second version still because of that STUPID fountain. Grr.. And actually the hoses at the back need a little work as well. This is one of my favorite scenes frfrom the movie and I remember that when I started drawing Disney (2004-2005), this was also one of those first scenes that I practiced on drawing. Sadly, until now, I haven't been able to make a great reproduction. Ah well, at least there's a challenge! Anyway, as you can see, colors changed a bit, made it warmer... I don't know, I think I like the cheescake tones better (the one on the left).

Be Be Your Love

Be Be Your Love is a song by Rachael Yamagata from her great album Happenstance. My favorite of hers has always been "Paper Doll" but for the past weeks I've been playing THIS song over and over again. And no, of course not, it has nothing to do about how I'm feeling right now (sarcastic obviously).

About the drawing:

This drawing on the right was a doodle I did during Economics class (at 7:30 am, my brain is still dead), that's why it's sketchy. I was just doodling using my black pen, with the song playing in my head, and had no plans originally to photoshop it whatsoever. I just drew how I felt like at that time. It has no concept --- just two people standing side by side.

I photoshopped it later that day to see if I could pull of a sketchy style. Took a background somewhere (I honestly forgot where, if you are responsible for this please let me know so I can give due credit). Had a hard time deciding over the patter and colors but hmm, I personally like the way it ended up.

The top I was wearing that day is similar to that 'random girl' *ahem* in the drawing, only mine was pink and white. And as for the 'random guy' *ahem*, well, he's just looking cute with his clean cut look of collared shirt and closed shoes.

He always looks cute.

About the song:

These are the lyrics to the song. The chorus just repeats over and over again, so I didn't post the latter part anymore. But gosh, the chorus. THE CHORUS! IT WAS MADE FOR ME!

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If I could take you away
Pretend I was queen
What would you say
Would you think I'm unreal
'Cause everybody's got their way I should feel

Everybody's talking how I, can't, can't be your love
But I want, want, want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everybody's talking how I, can't, can't be your love
But I want, want, want to be your love
Want to be your love for real
Want to be your everything

Everything...

Everything's falling, and I am included in that
Oh, how I try to be just okay
Yeah, but all I ever really wanted
Was a little piece of you

And everybody's talking how I, can't, can't be your love
But I want, want, want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everybody's talking how I, can't, can't be your love
But I want, want, want to be your love
Want to be your love for real

Everything will be alright
If you just stay the night
Please, sir, don't you walk away, don't you walk away, don't you walk away
Please, sir, don't you walk away, don't you walk away, don't you walk away

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Yes It's an emo song. Yes this is a happy blog. Yes this is a happy post. No it's not ironic. I am happy about this! Not because I can't can't be his love, but because ... I'm just happy about this feeling that I'm feeling.

How can I go emo over someone who says 'hello' to me in such a cute way?

The Circus In Her Head

Story

"Little Annie couldn't wait for the circus. The red balloons, the clowns, the elephants... they all made little Annie so excited! Unfortunately, the circus only comes once a year and this made little Annie sad. But little Annie was a very smart girl. She thought, if she couldn't make the circus come everyday, then she'll never let them leave!

So the time when the circus came, little Annie watched happily and waited for the show to end. Just as the clowns were packing up, little Annie took out a certain device that she created and shrunk the entire circus!

Now little Annie was very happy because she can take the circus everywhere. But a few days later, she got tired of carrying the circus around. So since little Annie was a terribly good sewer, she sew the circus and the clowns on top of her hat. That way, they'll be with her wherever she goes!"

The drawing

This drawing is one of my personal favorites (from the whole lot of my drawings). While I was drawing this, I did not have a particular concept in mind. I just doodled whatever came to me; I did not plan proportions, colors nor style. I guess sometimes, all you really need to make a masterpiece is not to plan on making one.

Some people have pointed out that the title ought to be "...ON her head" and not "...IN her head", but I assure you, that is no grammatical error. Haha. I really wanted to place IN her head because the circus really IS just inside her head. The drawing is the visual representation of how Little Annie feels. The circus is all in her head. I wanted a sort of double meaning kind of effect.

Daily Deviation

Last April 11, 2007, I got the shock of my life when I was notified that I got a Daily Deviation feature on DeviantArt. Having a daily deviation is an honor and only selected pieces are chosen each day. I never expected my work to be featured and I really couldn't ask for more. I was ecstatic that day; took so many screencaps of the front page. Haha! See the deviation here !

About the Story

I don't think I'm as good in writing as I am in drawing, though I try my best. But sometimes, I'd like to combine them both when I get really inspired. This is one of those times. I know the style is something that of a children's book and that was really what I was going for. One of my many many dreams is to be able to publish / write / draw for a children's book. I'd really like to make more mini stories. Maybe I will, when I get the time.

It's just different for me though; the illustration comes first before the writing.