I Like Your People

As an illustrator, I believe it is so important to have a distinct style. Apart from color schemes, textures and lines, I think style comes out the most in the way one draws people. And this, is one thing I haven't accomplished...yet, and thus is one of my ultimate frustrations.

Even if I have been doodling and drawing caricatures all my life, I find that my characters change, I can never decide if I want them small and round or tall and lanky, with or without noses/cheeks/detailed hands...etc. *Sigh* I bet I sound weird to you, especially to those who don't draw. But such are the concerns of a mildly obsessive illustrator like me. :)

Friends advice me to keep sketching and eventually the characters will develop, my sisters disagree with me and say I actually do have a certain style. I guess I'm just still not satisfied. They say an artist or illustrator's characters are a reflection of themselves (yes, kind of narcissistic), so I guess I should just take a closer look at myself and um... be happy with it. :)

Meanwhile, let's take a look at the characters of some of my favorite illustrators. The simplicity and personality of their people inspire me so much. I hope one day, I can create people as interesting as theirs.

Ashley G

Matte Stephens

Jacob Muñiz

Blanca Gomez

Esther Aarts

Christopher Lee

Clayton Junior

Kozyndan

What happens when two creative forces decide to make love and art? An explosion of colors, dreamy illustrations and a never-ending, artistic adventure. Kozy and Dan Kitchens were lucky to find both a soul mate and creative partner in each other. Ever since, they have been producing striking and very, very successful artworks. Their playfulness and inspirational chemistry emanates through their work, giving the viewer such a delightful experience. Naturally, I thought you'd like to see some of them too. :-D

I was so happy to see this. I always thought crashing waves looked like an army of bunnies running towards me. I'm glad other people see it too. :)

See more of Kozyndan's works and find out about their latest projects in www.kozyndan.com

Isol

I have always been and always will be a fan of hand drawn illustration.
Shel Silverstein being my ultimate idol, I am constantly looking for new artists who prefer the same execution. And I am so happy I found Isol. :)

Her line drawings, so simple and sincere combined with spots of choice colors and a minimalist composition create whimsical, charming and striking images.

I am so inspired by her work that I am going to try and make an Isol-influenced illustration. And maybe if it looks good enough, I'll post it too. ;)

Meanwhile, check out her other beautiful works on her blog.

Japan-Inspired

I spent the weekend in Japan.

I didn't want to close my eyes, even for a second. I wanted to absorb as much as I could of this beautiful country and its fascinating people. Of course, a weekend's time and a camera's memory is not enough.

In the end, I left with some snapshots and a whole lot of inspiration.
Arigato Japan, I shall see you again.

The Best Pet Ever

In a perfect world, I would be living in a beach-side villa, with glassy waves breaking along the coast and a an elephant in my backyard (where I happen to have an organic vegetable and herb garden.) But to spend the morning sipping coffee while discovering talented new artists and finding elephant illustrations is good enough for me...for now. :-)

Click on the links to see the works of these people and lose yourself in the magical world they create. It is after all, a long weekend.

Yelena Bryksenkova

Isol

Dan-ah Kim

10 Aug

Something wonderful came in the mail a couple of days ago.
My friend Migs a.k.a. Raven Guerrero sent me postcards of his own artwork. Didn't I say before that I LOVE postcards?!! So that put a HUGE a smile on my face. Thanks Migs!:-D
(And yeah, that girl is or was me, when I used to have red hair and smoke like a chimney)

Jim Datz

Mid-century style, positive vibes and sea-inspired - these illustrations just tickle me. :-D Jim Datz has the perfect formula.

Visit his site, I guarantee you it will make you smile. If not, then you're a rain cloud. Hehehe.

Veggie Love - an anniversary

This month of June marks the first year anniversary of me eating my vegetables and consequently, my words. You see, I used to ignore them. I was in a committed relationship with bacon. In fact before moving to this island, my family threw me a Bacon Luau. What? You've never heard of one? Well it's a beach-themed party with bottomless bacon. So there.

But after moving here and meeting a lot of vegetarians and getting introduced to really yummy veggie recipes, I started to enjoy them. Then one day I realized, I wasn't craving meat anymore. Instead, I craved the feeling vegetables gave me: a warm, fuzzy, content but not gross kind of fullness. I also love the fact that vegetables don't bleed when you prepare/cook them. Which is how I discovered the "joy of cooking" , but that's another story. Am I making my mama proud or what? ;P

For those who are curious or planning or need a little push to try the green diet, here are some nice veggie images to inspire you. Who says they're yucky? Not me. No Mama, not me.

1st and last photos and recipes from a beautiful blog called cannelle et vanille.
Give peas a chance print from smilesandsquiggles Etsy shop.
3rd photo of Crunchy Garden Vegetables from La Tartine Gourmande's Flickr stream.
Autumn print from anek's Etsy shop.
Adorable Tomato print from Stockton's Etsy shop.
Cute carrot earrings from gneework's Etsy shop.

Jared Chapman

His works don't just inspire me, they make me LOL. :)

Check out his blog and other works here.

I Heart Postcards

People have been telling me to turn some of my photos or illustrations into postcards. I definitely love the idea. I just want to find a good printer and nice quality of cardboard before I do. Meanwhile, I browsed through my postcard collection and pulled out some of my favorites, just to share them here.

Looking at postcards is fun but receiving them is just sweet!
Make me happy, send me one! :-)

from Katrina, South Africa

from Apol and Sam, Japan

from Thea, Singapore

from Jof ( her own design), Manila

from Ate Data and Kuya Benc, Australia

from Ate Data and Kuya Benc, Australia