Blue Monochrome
Oil on paper
This is an oil painting I finished last December. It took me awhile to find a suitable title for this. When I picked it up and studied it closely one day, it just hit me. Blue Monochrome.
Needless to say, blue is associated with calm. It’s the color of the sky and the ocean. Although it used to be my favorite color, I’ll always love it. It’s a part of me, for I grew up loving the blue skies and sea.
The blue flowers in this painting are a reminder of my childhood days filled with gazing at the blue sky and diving into the blue.
April 14, 2011
This is one of the beautiful paintings I saw at the Bohol Bee Farm. One of these days, I’m definitely going to do a huge one just like this—and it’ll be my first one. I just hope I won’t mess it up.
April 14, 2011
This was taken at the Bohol Bee Farm where we had a delicious lunch. I had seafood pizza, my dad had marlin and my mom grilled squid with red organic rice. As for my brother, he had dessert, since he ate a sandwich at a museum cafe we stopped by that morning when we saw the Dauis Church.
Speaking of dessert, Bohol Bee Farm makes its own ice cream from malunggay and durian—which are just divine. It even makes its own cones which are crunchy and scrumptious!
Here in this picture, I’m sitting in the sala of the restaurant. I loved everything about this restaurant—from their native architecture to their eco-friendly environment, from the seaside view to the breezy feel at the dining area. I especially loved the paintings on display around the sofa. It gave me an idea to do my own huge paintings on abaca and just let them be exhibited on easels which I would put in the living room.
After doing a retouch on my oil pastel painting I did yesterday, it then occurred to me that painting is like writing.
It takes revisions when writing a piece until you feel satisfied in much the same way it takes retouches when working on a painting. Finding the right words to express your thoughts is the same as experimenting with colors and playing with them. And there is pleasure derived from both, no matter how difficult and time-consuming they are. It’s this feeling of joy that is so rewarding after having done something you enjoy doing— not to mention the thrill that you feel when an idea pops into your head and you exclaim, “That’s it!”
You don’t have to be like Shakespeare or Van Gogh to create a beautiful piece of art.
As long as you give it your all and you love what you do, the work itself is the beauty.
Lilac Rhapsody
Oil pastel on paper
This is based on Lydia Velasco’s Lilac Rhapsody. Velasco is a Filipino painter who is known for her paintings of the contemporary Filipino woman. In November 2008, her solo show “Les Femmes” showcased paintings of women that are strikingly elegant and feminine with a muscular build and elongated figure.
Velasco depicts women with a strength of character, beauty and grace—and these are the very qualities my mom embodies. She is fearless and independent. She is as intuitive as she is outspoken. She exudes self-confidence and remains undaunted when faced with difficulty. She is resilient and resolute.
She is a woman of substance. And I feel so blessed and proud to have her as my mom.
This is my gift for her. Her birthday is not until July, but I just wanted to surprise her when she gets back from her vacation with my dad.
Oh, and she will definitely be delighted to know that after three years I finally fulfilled her wish of doing a Velasco art. It may have taken me an incredibly long time, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?
Dancer
Charcoal, pen, pencil, pastel on paper
Now this is one subject I relate to, since I love dancing-it was my first love at the tender age of four. Degas did a lot of beautiful paintings of dancers-or rather, ballerinas. Though I never got to finish ballet, I share the love of dance with all danseuses.
I see myself in this sketch.
Girl Drying Herself
Charcoal on paper
This is my second nude sketch which is also a recreation of one of Degas’ paintings. Compared with the other one, this looks a lot more… nude. Don’t you think so?
On a humorous note, I’ve drawn the biggest butt I’ve ever seen.
