Don’t be afraid of the blank sheets by Ricky Nierva

I just want to share this inspiring TED talk by Ricky Nierva. For those of you who doesn't know him, he is a filipino production designer at Pixar. He's worked on Up, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo & Toy Story 2. :)

Staring at a blank sheet is one of the artist's nightmare. Watch how Ricky Nierva tackle this problem. :)

I hope you were inspired and motivated by his talk. :) Let's start drawing! 

Be Brave

Merida of brave is one of my favorite character because she is not your typical princess. I just love her hair!!! :) I decided to draw this because at the office we are working on chibi cute characters and I was thinking why not create a cute chibi version of Merida! :) 

chibi merida steps gif

Tools I used for this piece

I made most of my artworks using the ff materials. You can buy most of these at Deovir. (No Deovir does not pay me to promote them, although giving a few brushes would be nice!  :) )

• BRUSHES: 
• 1" Langnickel Hake Brush
• No.8 Grumbacher Golden edge Sable
• No.1 Winsor & Newton nylon brush
• PAINT:
• Prang 16 colors
• White Gouache (for the highlights)
• PAPER:
• Arches Watercolor Paper

initial wash and color blocking

I start off with the washes and started to loosely fill the subject. I used a lighter shade of the colors at this stage. And build it up later by adding darker shades. Most of the colors are blues and greens and a bright orange for her awesome hair! :)

building up color

After that I took a break, and stepped out. I do this to refresh and also to look at the artwork from afar in a different view, then I as myself, am I happy with it or do I need to add more color? what is missing? where does your eye lead you? etc. 

adding details

After talking to myslef for a while, next step is adding the details on the bushes, trees, Angus' shadow and Merida's dress. And it was finished! yay! :)

I enjoyed creating this Chibi project I might do another character, let me know in the comment which character you want a chibi version of. I might do it if I like the character. :)

How I Got a Signed Print of Armand Serrano

For those of you who doesn't know Armand Serrano, he is a pinoy artist known for his works in Walt Disney & Sony Pictures. He's worked on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Brother Bear, Lilo & Stitch to name a few. He also did a talk for Graphica Manila a few years ago and that was where I first saw him I remembered him because of his puppycorn illustration for Cloudy with a Chance of meatballs (puppy + unicorn = puppycorn!).

 So how did I get a copy of his print?! Simple I taught at Tradeschool. Whaaaaat I don't see the connection?

Well, it started with a series of fortunate events. :) 2months ago my cousin pushed me to teach at tradeschool. I signed up and got a schedule for the workshop and barter trade.

The items i requested are the ff:

• blog post 
• art book
• watercolor paper
• starbucks GC
• cellphone load for tradeschool
• volunteer/teach at tradeschool

After the class one of the participant gave me the signed print! :)
She said that she was supposed to barter a blog post but gave me the signed print instead! :)
Which made me smile from ear to ear! So next time someone asks you to teach just say yes! :)

 

HOBBYISTA: Watercolor Workshop for Beginners

HOBBYISTA: Watercolor Workshop for Beginners: I am so glad to have learned about Trade School Manila (TSM) from a friend's post on Facebook. For those of you who are not yet familia...

My Tradeschool Experience

Did my first workshop for Tradeschool Manila yesterday!
I taught basic watercolor workshop for beginners. This was a 2 hour workshop at Commune in Makati. The participants are all lovely females the age group and their backgrounds vary, from a student, physicist mom to an oceanographer! (yes we are a weird bunch! And I mean this in a good way.)

photo (c) Amanda Lago

Here I am talking about the watercolor materials, the brushes and how to use them, the techniques lifting, washes etc. And after that I did a demo and then they did the application.

photo (c) Anthony Panugao

This is my first time to meet an oceanographer! :)  photo (c) Anthony Panugao

Photo with the physicist! (my nose was bleeding from her english!) photo (c) Anthony Panugao

Amanda's artwork. photo (c) Amanda Lago

Group photo! (c) Anthony Panugao

I hope learned something and had fun. Hope to see them at 98B selling their awesome artworks! :)

And finally the barter items I got are the ff: blog posts (I will have to wait for this one), watercolor papers, a book, and the super cool signed print (This signed print is so unexpected will post a separate story for this!).

Thr tradeschool experience was a blast. I met awesome and passionate people who are eager to learn.
Special thanks goes to my cousin Mita for pushing me to join and teach. To the dedicated volunteers Hara & Clarice thanks for the help!
I would certainly do it again. (I just hope my schedule agrees with me.)

Entry for PBBY

Here's my entry for the PBBY. :) The story I illustrated is "Gaano ba kalayo patungong paaralan".
A well spent weekend last month. This was kind of rush, thus the unfinished look. :)

Kit Cat WIP

Just want to share my WIP just for practice. I haven't done personal projects in a while. It's just great painting for yourself and not for a deadline made by a client. :)