WEDGIENET.NET

Roughs, sketches, storyboards, and final art for Aki Alupihan

Reg — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:01:11 +0000

I just realized I never posted about this project I worked on late last year. Actually, there have been a few projects I haven’t blogged about, but let’s start with this.

Bobim Papasin, the author of my first illustrated book, Ang Munting Anghel, wrote a short story about Aki, an alupihan (Tagalog word for centipede) and his family. Bobim got me to illustrate two scenes from the story and he entered the manuscript in Singtel’s 2013 Asian Picture Book Awards. Unfortunately, the entry didn’t make it to the finals but coming up with work like this, especially on a tight schedule, is reward enough for me. It’s a story set in the Philippines and it was a treat for me to illustrate scenes that show off our culture (strong family ties) and Filipino food that foreigners deem exotic, but are warm and familiar comfort food to us Filipinos.

Here are some sketches and roughs, along with the final images.

Some rough concept sketches

There currently aren’t any plans to publish the story, but I storyboarded the entire thing so I know how to divide the text among the illustrations.

Bobim and I picked two scenes in the story for me to illustrate.

The working sketch for the first scene.
Aki celebrates his birthday with his family, with a picnic spread of his favorite Filipino food.

I have a different illustration style and technique for picture books. I like my illustrations with an organic look, drawn by hand, and with the pencil textures showing through even if it’s finished and colored digitally. It’s different from my commercial illustration work where it’s all neat and digital.

Included in the spread is buko juice (coconut juice in the shell) and kalamay, a native delicacy of glutinous rice, coconut, and sugar, served in a coconut husk.

There’s puto (rice cakes) and bilo-bilo (sticky rice balls, purple yam, and jackfruit/bananas in coconut milk), too!

The final first scene

The working sketch for the second scene.
The centipede family affirm their love for their son and look out over the valley.

For the second scene, I put in a winding river in the valley and some rice terraces on the side, inspired by a trip to the Mountain Province and the Banaue Rice Terraces last September 2011.

The final second scene

Finished book spreads

Wish I could let you guys read the story! Hopefully, Bobim gets the chance to have this story published in the future :)

The images from this post are also posted on my Behance gallery. Are you on Behance? Add me! http://behance.net/wedgienet

New wallpaper downloads

Reg — Sun, 19 May 2013 06:29:18 +0000

I’ve just “retired” some of my older wallpaper downloads to clear up my link counter database and because the old designs are now outdated and not representative of my current style.

Retired designs

Retiring are Monster Sushi (downloaded 1,977 times), Cupcake Bear (2,030 times), Tree (1,768 times), Oso (1,806 times), and Mangga (928 times). Collectively, these wallpapers have been downloaded a total of 6,532 times according to my link counter which started counting my first wallpaper upload, Monster Sushi, in 2009.

I’ve added two new wallpaper downloads:

Find them here on my downloads page :)

May 2013 Desktop/iPhone/Galaxy SIII lock screen wallpaper

Reg — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:00:38 +0000

Hello! I’m about to leave on a short trip to cross off the number one item on my bucket list (hint: the Philippines’ last frontier) so you’re getting the May wallpaper a day early. Yay! I’m pretty proud of myself for having foresight, for once. I’d feel terrible if I were on a boat somewhere then suddenly remember that I didn’t post the May wallpaper. Haha.

Biking Cat – Wedgienet May 2013 desktop wallpaper

Click to download

Unlike my other wallpaper downloads, there is just one size available (1600 x 1200 pixels) but it’ll fit all screens. On your computer’s wallpaper settings, just choose “fit to screen” or “center” (or similar) and adjust the border/background color of your desktop to match, if applicable.

There’s also an iPhone lock screen version so it’s super convenient to quickly check this month’s dates without having to unlock your phone and look for the calendar app. Just download it from the link below and set it as your lock screen wallpaper– no need to scale and adjust.

Biking Cat – Wedgienet May 2013 iPhone lock screen calendar wallpaper
Click to download: iPhone 4/4S | iPhone 5

I also made a version for the Samsung Galaxy SIII lock screen, seeing that the SIII is currently the most popular Android model. Click here to download.

Updating my portfolio

Reg — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:11:50 +0000

In preparation for overhauling my portfolio, I’ve started adding and removing portfolio pieces to better convey to clients the kind of work I do and the kind of industry I want to get into: art licensing for stationery and paper products, illustrations for the youth market, and illustration for picture books, among others.

Overhauling a portfolio isn’t easy. You can’t add every single job that you do and every now and then, you go through your folio and remove the ones which you feel aren’t representative of your work anymore. I was a graphic designer (well, I still am sometimes) before I decided to transition into being an illustrator so until recently, my portfolio included some of my old design work from my previous full-time jobs. However, I am starting to phase out the design part of my portfolio as those design projects don’t contribute anything to my being an illustrator.

And so I say goodbye to:

MY MOTION GRAPHICS WORK

My very dated (for me) demo reel with my motion graphics work from 2005-2009

I feel nostalgic about throwing this out of my folio. For three years, I was a motion graphics designer for a broadcasting company here in the Philippines, designing and animating graphics for TV. It paid really well and my work was aired daily on nationwide TV and worldwide (wherever The Filipino Channel aired :P). It was an awesome first job from which I learned a lot about myself, “the real world,” professionalism, office politics, and dealing with people from all walks of life and of different temperaments. It was this job, with which I had a okay-hate relationship (I say “okay-hate” because I can’t say I loved/liked the job) that taught me the most important life lesson I’ve learned so far: that if you want something, just go ahead and do it— which is why I resigned from the job to pursue illustration.

Title cards and show openers for various TV shows, 2005-2009

It’s been almost 5 years since I left the motion graphics/broadcasting industry and sometimes I still catch my old motion graphics freelance work on TV (rarely though, as I rarely watch TV). While I didn’t particularly like being a motion graphics designer, I did like some of the work I did, but I haven’t done any motion graphics in the last three years and don’t foresee myself getting back into it, so it’s time to let go.

MY DESIGN WORK

Rich media online ads, 2010-2011

I also spent almost two years working from home and on night shift as a graphic designer for a creative agency in New York with offices in Los Angeles and London. I designed comps for online ads, websites, Facebook apps, and online games, among others. It was a good job with a nice variety of international projects that looked good on a resume, plus it paid well, but it came at a time when my career goals and priorities were shifting to illustration and I eventually had to let it go to pursue a different direction. Also, Night Shift and I were not friends.

SOME OF MY ILLUSTRATION WORK

I also have to let go of some of my older illustration work that are no longer a match with my current style.

Horoscope Girls, 2009

The first two horoscope girls were for an illustration pitch for a local teen magazine back in 2009.

They didn’t get picked up but I liked my work enough to add a few more girls as a personal project. However, as personal projects go, sometimes it takes years to finish them (well, in my case at least). It’s already 2013, 4 years after I started these Horoscope Girls. I still haven’t done or even started on the other Horoscope Girls. And in the amount of time between starting and idling, my style has changed. I draw in a looser, more cartoony style now, and if I were to go back to this project, the rest of the girls in the series won’t look like the girls from 2009.

* * *

Here’s a little story about one of my first paid illustration gigs. It was in 2008, right after I resigned from my first job and trying to make a shift to illustration (which I had no background in). A former co-worker’s friend needed an illustrator for a small business they were putting up for the holiday season so my co-worker referred me. I didn’t have an illustration portfolio yet, not even an illustration style, and the client was clueless about illustration (so was I, in hindsight). It was more of, “Hey, I know someone who’s an illustrator, here’s her number.” So the client contacts me without knowing the kind of illustrations I do. The job was for around 30 illustrations, half of them objects and half of them people in a stylized Jason Brooks/Hed Kandi illustration style that was very popular at that time (trust me, you’ve seen Jason Brooks’ work even if you’re not familiar with his name— you just don’t know it). Of course, Jason Brooks is Jason Brooks and I was young, inexperienced, and with a penchant for drawing cute faces on things, not slick, svelte, and lithe girls dancing in a club. But that didn’t matter to the client and we probably both thought an illustrator can just be given a reference and be made to imitate a style.

Illustrations for stationery, 2008

My best attempt. Hehe. On its own, it was pretty ok, but it’s definitely not Hed Kandi :P That job was difficult, mostly due to the fact that I was forcing out a style that didn’t come naturally to me. Also, the turnaround was tight and the budget was soul-suckingly degrading. Even then, I was mentally kicking myself for having said yes despite the client’s budget (or lack, thereof). I think I was going more for the experience and for something to put in my non-existent illustration portfolio.

Anyway, I’ve learned my lesson since. And while I did like some of the work I did on that project, those illustrations are now being chucked out of my portfolio because if a potential client asks me to draw something in this style again and I stupidly say yes, I will be pulling my hair out of frustration and thinking murderous thoughts as I did during the course of this project :P

* * *

2012 was when I decided to return to freelance illustration and be really serious about it. The past year was for getting my bearings, refining my illustration style and technique, easing back into freelancing. 2013 is for going full-force (I hope). With preparing to send out my first postcard mailer to overhauling my portfolio (still a work-in-progress but it always is), I’m very excited for what 2013 brings, career-wise. I’m especially excited for a 5-week online course I signed up for later this year to learn all about doing more commercial art (I’m a sellout like dut) and breaking into the markets I want to specialize in.

Check out the portfolio section on my site which I’ve turned into a purely illustration portfolio. I’ve been updating it little by little— it’s now divided into topics I tend to draw a lot of, like children, animals, and characters. At a glance, just by looking at the portfolio categories, a potential client gets an overview of the kind of work I do and the audience I’m going for.

Also check out my Behance gallery which I’ve recently started using again :)

Wordless Wednesday #26

Reg — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:43:26 +0000

Calaguas, an unspoiled beach destination for the Boracay-weary

Reg — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:03:37 +0000

I’m a contributing writer for lifestyle and travel website When In Manila and I wrote this piece on a remote, undeveloped beach in a province in the Philippines. Sharing this with my readers (all three of them)— despite the “third-worldliness” of this country, I love living in the Philippines and places like Calaguas being within reach is just one of the reasons why.

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When in Manila, ask any urban-dweller about the best beach in the country and you are guaranteed a popular answer: Boracay. And why not? Boracay’s blindingly white powder-fine sand and its clear, azure waters have spoilt us Filipinos. The Philippines’ top tourist destination has set the bar for beach-goers who cannot help but compare other beaches they visit with that of Boracay’s sand quality and the clarity of the water.

This is not Boracay.

However, Boracay’s popularity comes at a price. With throngs of tourists flocking to the beach, it has been called “Manila with sand,” capturing the essence of what Boracay is like during peak seasons where the beach is so crowded that running into someone you know from Manila is a regular occurrence. With the influx of more and more foreign tourists due to the Kalibo airport now an international gateway, and the degradation of the beach due to unsustainable tourism practices, people have started looking for alternatives. Fortunately, with over 7,000 islands to choose from in the Philippines, there are plenty, and you don’t even have to fly from Manila to get to some of them.

These are the easy and obvious choices: drive down south of Manila for the beaches in Batangas, a destination known for scuba-diving. A little further south of Batangas and a boat ride away is White Beach in Puerto Galera, Mindoro. Go north of Manila and there’s Anawangin Cove in Zambales, where you can camp on a beach fringed with pine trees.

But if you’re willing to go further and off the beaten path, away from the crowds, lying off the coast of the province of Camarines Norte is a group of pristine, virgin islands called Calaguas, a reward for those who make the time and the effort to journey into the typhoon-battered region of Bicol.

Calaguas is a collective group of islands and islets, one of which is Tinaga Island where there’s a cove of clear, turquoise waters and an approximately 1-kilometer stretch of white sand called Mahabang Buhangin (long beach). In recent years, it has gained a bit of a cult following among beach aficionados, thanks to travel blogs and the adventurous ones who seek out the island and write about it, but mention Calaguas to just about any other person and 3 out of 5 times, you will be asked, “Where’s that?”

We set off for Camarines Norte from Manila at 10 PM, arriving in the gold-mining town of Paracale at 7 AM the next day after a few gas and restroom breaks along the way. From the port of Paracale, Calaguas is an often rough and choppy 1 1/2-hour boat ride into open seas, which can be dangerous when there’s a low-pressure area or approaching storm (of which the region encounters a lot due to its location as a battering ram for typhoons coming in from the Pacific). There was a low-pressure area that had just barely left the day we sailed off to Calaguas, and we felt its effect on our boat’s outriggers, its tips and ends dipping alternately into the sea, rocking our boat back and forth, splashing salt water on our faces.

Approaching Mahabang Buhangin beach on Tinaga island, Calaguas group of islands

Near the island of Tinaga, on which Mahabang Buhangin lies, are a handful of other islands with lush vegetation, fringed with beautiful beaches and rock formations, all looking perfect and surreal as if they were manicured and groomed on purpose to convey the idea of paradise to approaching visitors. And paradise it is. We landed on Mahabang Buhangin, its warm waters as clear as gin, our feet sinking into silky, soft sand.

For a beach that’s so unimaginatively-named, Mahabang Buhangin (quite a mouthful to say, so people have resorted to simply calling it as Calaguas) is an unspoiled and undeveloped destination that awaits the traveler who dares make the long and uncomfortable journey. That particular beach is often thought of as the Boracay of several decades ago, before Boracay became what it is now. With white sand just as fine as Boracay’s and water that’s as clear and as blue, it’s easy to see why. But the comparison stops there.

The fine, silky sand and the clean, clear waters of Calaguas

There are no old white men burning to a crisp while wearing skimpy trunks, no touts who have learned a bit of French, German, Korean, and Japanese (just enough to appeal to foreign tourists) offering to take you helmet diving or parasailing. There are no intricate sand castles built by local kids who stand nearby waiting for a customary tip after you take a photo with the tourist traps they created. There are no crowds, no promoters handing out sample sachets of a celebrity cosmetologist’s sunblock, no silly literal walking advertisements wearing body-sized billboards slung over their torsos. There are no bars, and most especially, no tugs-tugs music reverberating from oversized speakers at 3 am, shaking the walls of the resort you’re staying in. Actually, there are no resorts of any kind in Calaguas. There’s neither electricity nor running water.

But the absence of all these is exactly what makes Calaguas so inviting. There’s “nothing” to do in Calaguas which is, quite frankly, its appeal and what some urban-weary beach-goers look for in a beach destination. There’s a lazy, tranquil, and laid-back vibe to the place, as a proper beach should.

Time stops in Calaguas. There’s no cell signal so you don’t see people looking down on their phones and scrolling though inane Facebook updates and photos of food on Instagram. Instead you will see people playing volleyball or throwing a Frisbee around, sleeping on their sarongs under the shade of the trees, or swimming with the fish in the turquoise waters and taking in the scenery. When the sky changes from blues to pinks and purples at sunset, people stop and watch. At night, the beach is illuminated by nothing but the moon, and stars pepper the sky, easily visible due to the absence of smog and light pollution.

There are no big commercial establishments in Calaguas. None yet, at least. A cousin of mine who visited the island in 2008 recalled that their “toilet” at that time was a hole in the ground they themselves had to dig and cover up afterwards. When it rained, they gathered under trees and took shelter under the meager cover they provided. Now, five years later, there are just a few handfuls of simple nipa huts with picnic tables and benches on the island that you can rent and a couple of toilets housed in simple straw-and-bamboo structures. You can set up a tent and camp right there on the beach. There’s still no running water but you can get fresh water from a pump or pay P10 for a local to pump water in a pail for you.

Bring a tent and camp right there on the beach.

This is just the start of the commercialization of Calaguas, but the beach is still very much untouched. With Calaguas’ location and the time and effort it takes to get there, it’s not on everyone’s list of ideal beach destinations. Further commercialization and developments will come in the near future, evidenced by the ongoing construction of more nipa huts at the time we were there. Already there is a streamer on the beach advertising organized group tours to the island, and at least one enterprising local has set up a small shack selling snacks and chips and souvenir Calaguas t-shirts.

Picnic huts being constructed on the beach

For developers, Calaguas is a gold mine of potential. For nostalgic beach-goers, they hold on to the hope that Calaguas will stay undeveloped, even for just a few more years, away from the direction in which Boracay is headed.

It will probably take a few more years before anything more than nipa huts is constructed on Mahabang Buhangin. If you’re looking to head to the beach, relax, leave all worries behind, and take the time to do nothing, Calaguas is the place to go. And the best time to go is now, while the island is in between the anchors of the past, and the promise of the future.

Calaguas travel tips

The entire trip to the island coming from Manila takes approximately ten hours– 7-8 hours by bus, and 1 1/2 to 2 hours by boat.
The boat to Calaguas is a potentially choppy and wet ride. Waterproof your things by securing them inside large trash bags.
If you want to stay overnight on the island, bring your own tent, camping equipment, and food. There’s a camping fee of P150 per person.
Bring your own source of potable drinking water, enough to last you until the entire duration of your stay on the island.
Bring a flashlight or a headlamp as there are no lights on the island at night.
The waves on the beach can be quite strong at times, and the seabed goes from a shallow depth to deep within a few steps. Exercise caution when swimming.

The best time to visit Calaguas is during the dry, summer months of April and May. It is not advisable to visit during the rainy/typhoon season, especially during the -ber months. The waves can be rough, and the boatmen periodically cancel trips to and from the island when the swells get too big.
To help preserve the unspoilt nature of the island and to lessen the impact of one’s visit to the place, visitors are highly encouraged to follow the Leave No Trace policy. Its simplest and most fundamental rule is: pack it in, pack it out. Whatever you bring to the place, you take with you when you leave, including your trash. In short, “Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints.”

Getting to Calaguas

Paracale port, Camarines Norte

There are a lot of travel guides on the Internet all about how to get to Calaguas, but the most straightforward way, if you’re going the DIY route, is to ride a Philtranco or Superlines bus from Cubao or Pasay to Paracale, Camarines Norte. Upon reaching the town of Paracale, take a tricycle to the fishing port. Ask around for a fishing boat to take you to Mahabang Buhangin (which the locals refer to as Halabang Baybay). Ideally, use Paracale Port as your jump off point to Calaguas instead of Vinzons port, the other alternative– the waters off Vinzons is rougher than Paracale’s. Vinzons is also farther away from Calaguas than Paracale is.

Another option is to join hassle-free organized group tours to Calaguas. One provider of Calaguas tours is Travel Factor, offering trips to the island inclusive of tents, transportation, and meals.

So when in Manila and looking to unplug from the stress of city living, consider escaping away to Calaguas, a place that has not yet caught up with time. Go there soon, and get there first, before the developers do.

Some photos in this article are courtesy of Melissa Kaori Silva Litao.

Philtranco: http://philtranco.com.ph/
Superlines: http://www.phbus.com/superlines-bus/
Travel Factor: http://www.travelfactor.org
Mahabang Buhangin website: http://www.mahabangbuhangin.com/

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See the mirror article published on When In Manila: http://www.wheninmanila.com/calaguas-an-unspoiled-beach-destination-for-the-boracay-weary/

Sailing to Australia

Reg — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:59:01 +0000

I’m in the process of overhauling my portfolio and with it comes doing self-directed, personal illustration pieces to fill in gaps in areas I think my portfolio needs more of (narrative illustration for picture books and editorials).

This is my most recent work illustrating an excerpt from Sailing to Australia, a poem by Alvaro Salinas Jr, also known as M.M. Socks.

“I’m sailing to Australia
In a cardboard box
But since I don’t have any sails
I’m using my old socks.

I’ve tied them all together,
So they may catch the breeze
And since I’ve used ten long pairs
I’ll be traveling with ease.”

I first came across M.M. Socks’ poetry when he tweeted me about my work late last year. I had a look on his website. I’m actually not a fan of poetry, for most of those I’ve encountered tend to be dry, boring, self-indulgent, and pretentious. Not so with M.M. Socks’. His poems have a fun, delightful, and quirky quality to them. I read his stories with visuals already forming in my head. Sailing to Australia was especially fun to illustrate as the story was so imaginative— a boy turning a cardboard box into a boat? Using socks for a sail?

I had fun thinking up and adding little details that wasn’t in the story— the hand-drawn controls and dials on the box’s flaps, for example, and the fact that a buoy secured by Scotch tape helps keep the box afloat. Little details and quirks only small children think of. It just so happens I’m a kid myself, just trapped in an adult’s body :P

I still have two more of M.M. Socks’ stories to illustrate, so watch out for that :) In the meantime, you can view more of M.M. Socks’ (Alvaro Salinas Jr) work (he has an e-book coming out this year!) on his website, and stay updated on his work via his Facebook page.

You can also view screenshots of Sailing to Australia’s illustration process here on my Behance gallery.

Armchair activism: poster illustration for Muni.PH’s #CutTheCrap #NoMoreButts campaign

Reg — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:46:34 +0000

Ever been so engrossed in whatever you’re doing that you forget time and before you know it, 3, 5, 10 hours have passed?

When I’m working and I get “into the zone,” it’s hard for me to stop. That’s what happened when I got a message from Jen from Muni.PH asking me if I could be part of a visual campaign to raise awareness about the impact of cigarette butts on the environment. http://www.muni.com.ph/cut-the-crap-no-more-butts/

Did you know that cigarette butts are the single most collected item in coastal clean-ups? We may not see them most of the time, but they’re there, buried underneath the sand, and they eventually end up in the ocean where they’re mistaken for food by marine life and birds.

But then, now what? While I have my own little ways of being eco-conscious (minimizing my use of plastic bags, foregoing drinking straws as much as I can when eating out, pocketing my own trash until I can dispose of them properly later), it’s not my advocacy. I choose to reserve my energy and passion about other things. I’m not gung ho on getting people to be as mindful of their trash as I am. I’m more passive-aggressive about it: I give the offending person the stink-eye and maybe roll my eyes and think of how uneducated he/she is.

Then there are people like Jen who, with her baby Muni.PH, raise awareness and encourage people to do more than eye-rolling and mental middle-finger-raising.

The idea was to come up with an illustrated e-poster for Muni.PH‘s #CutTheCrap #NoMoreButts campaign, to raise awareness on cigarette butt litter and its effect on marine life. Now this was something along the lines of what I can do, and what I’m passionate about, which is illustration. It was for a good cause.

Before I even told Jen that yes, I’ll do it, I was already sketching out an idea for a poster. I really was just going for a sketch to present an idea to Jen, but I got so engrossed in what I was doing that the sketch became more and more complicated and started taking on a life of its own. I just kept going because I was liking how the sketch was turning out, and I wanted to see what it would look like.

It ended up looking like this.

View bigger thumbnails of the process on my Behance gallery

Surprise, Jen! Yes, I’d be glad to contribute to the campaign, here’s what I have! *shoves poster into Jen’s hands*

Yup, that’s pretty much how it went down. Jen says I ambushed her.

This illustration is not in my usual bright color palette but I went for muted tones to downplay the cute and to emphasize the sad reality of where your improperly-discarded cigarette butts end up.

Some details:

The illustration includes a dugong (sea cow)…

…and a butanding (whale shark). Both unique sea creatures endemic to the Philippines.

Cigarette butt litter isn’t a Philippines-only problem, though. It’s a problem worldwide.

I’m not going to tell you how much time I spent on this illustration as it’s embarrassing to have people know I can sit down at the computer that long, without going for pee/food/water breaks (but I did stand up to play with/pet/annoy my cat. Hashtag priorities.). Yes, this lifestyle will kill me, just like how your cigarette butts will kill these poor animals if you don’t dispose of them properly.

The final poster

Working on this poster, I was reminded of a time, more than ten years ago, when my friends and I went to a beach somewhere in Batangas, a province south of Manila. We were swimming in the water when a local man on his boat paddled up to us and offered, for a fee, to take us to a part of the beach that had finer sand and nicer, clearer water. When we declined, he shrugged, took out the lit cigarette in his mouth, and threw it in the water. Then he paddled away.

I was pretty appalled at what he had done, as if the ocean was his own personal ashtray. And to think that that was where he lived and made a living. I couldn’t fathom why he would do such a mindless thing. But that’s just it, isn’t it? It’s a mindless act. People act and don’t think of the repercussions of a seemingly small gesture.

At the time of writing, the poster has been shared from the Muni Facebook page 205 times and has been viewed at least 22,000 times. That brings awareness about cigarette butt litter to over 22,000 individuals. Even being just AWARE of a problem plants the seed of change that may later translate to positive action and reaction. And I’m glad to have my work as part of this movement— it’s so much better than rolling my eyes and tsk-tsk-ing but not actually doing anything.

Thank you to Jen/Muni.PH for initiating change in this manner, and tapping me (along with other amazing Filipino illustrators) to contribute my visuals to help bring further awareness to the campaign. To know more, check out Muni.PH and their #CutTheCrap #NoMoreButts campaign here.

Muni.PH: http://www.muni.com.ph
Muni.PH Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/muni.PH
Check out the other illustrated posters in the #CutTheCrap #NoMoreButts campaign here.

Sunday Snippets: Hello summer! And new rubber stamps

Reg — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:21:04 +0000

With temperatures here in Manila hitting 34-35 degrees Celsius, I can’t help but have summer on my mind. Last year, I missed out entirely on summer in the Philippines as I was away on a two-month trip elsewhere, but I’m home and languishing in the heat this year. It’s the kind of heat and humidity where you’re literally already sweating before you’ve even toweled off from taking a shower. No joke.

Here are a few summery illustration snippets from recent/ongoing projects :)

And of course, when it’s summer and you live in a tropical country with 7,107 islands, you hit the beach.

Blog entry/article about the virgin beach of Calaguas, Camarines Norte to come, soon :D

I’m still carving rubber stamps in my spare time and whenever the mood strikes, usually when I feel like I need to take a break from the computer (which I spend too much time on!). I’m trying to work using a new technique that, unlike in my DIY eraser stamp carving tutorial, doesn’t involve a Speedball cutter. Just an X-acto knife and a different way of angling the blade to make stamps that are sturdier and more resistant to wear and tear.

First few attempts

I’m still getting the hang of this new technique, and I’ll try to upload more stamps carved using this method when successful, heh.

This blog’s been quiet lately, and I don’t really have an excuse except that I’m lazy (and I partially blame the heat for making me extra unproductive), but I have a few illustration, craft, and work-related posts lined up in the coming weeks, so hang tight :)

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Sunday Snippets is a new, semi-regular Sunday column on my blog, a disjointed, catch-all entry for the little random snippets of art, random thoughts, interesting links, and whatever’s catching my fancy at the moment.

April 2013 Desktop/iPhone/Galaxy SIII lock screen wallpaper

Reg — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:51:58 +0000

April Fool’s! No jokes here though; just my monthly calendar wallpaper up for download :) April marks the beginning of the summer months here in the Philippines, so this month’s design features a very summery design, inspired by the tropical heat and a recent beach trip to an undeveloped, virgin island with crystal clear waters and fine, powdery sand :D I am now 3x darker than my original skin color.

Cool Cat Summer – Wedgienet April 2013 desktop wallpaper

(Download link removed)

Cool Cat Summer – Wedgienet April 2013 iPhone lock screen calendar wallpaper
(Download link removed)

I also made a version for the Samsung Galaxy SIII lock screen, seeing that the SIII is currently the most popular Android model. (Download link removed)

A similar design is also available for sale on my Society6 shop as prints, throw pillows, tote bags, shirts, iPhone cases, and more. Shop here :)