On sketching

Once upon a time, when I was about nine, I took a drawing class at Mile Long. What I remember most about that summer was the cool hand sanitizing liquid in a teeny bottle that came with my artist’s envelope. It was way before the advent of sanitizing gels, and it was my first time to encounter such an innovation. Perhaps, this no-rinse soap/sanitizing thing was primarily created for artists with tired hands.

But that’s not the only thing I remember. I remembers sitting on a desk I shared with other students, each of us engrossed in replicating the still life set up before us. I distinctly remember a sketch of a vase in charcoal, and plastic vegetables, in pastel. I also have memories of my art teacher, helping me out every now and then. Lightly sketching faint circles when my orange turned elipse, and slightly adding to the shadows I’ve drawn under my vase. By summer’s end, I had a sketchbook filled with works of art I couldn’t believe I created.

Sadly, not a trace of the prized sketchbook can be found at home and to this day, I regret the fact that I didn’t keep tabs of its hiding place. Perhaps, the loss of the magical sketchbook has taken with it my sketching abilities. Or maybe, I just need practice.

I’m banking on the latter, which is why I immediately jumped at the chance to get this amazing kit for a fraction of its original price. For the nth time, I love you NBS!

I’ve doodled in a page or two but like most other things in my life at the moment, it has taken a backseat to my impending deadlines. Soon, soon, I shall pick you up again and I will keep this golden nugget of an advice to mind.

Quick as sand

Quickie art attack courtesy of This is Sand. Love the site as I really do make sand art sometimes. Creating the virtual sand art is also very relaxing, IMHO.

A sneak peek

Because there were other things that I needed to attend to last night, I didn’t quite finish collab #2 yet. But because I’m very excited about this project, I decided to take a snapshot and give you a peek into what I’m cooking up. Can you guess what this is?

Does the new header count as a post?

Call me sneaky, but I’d like to think so. After all, it took a wee amount of fiddling around PS before I got it right. The yummy textures I used were from Lost and Taken, a site I drool over all the time but I’ve never gotten around to using the incredible images he so generously shares. For FREE.

Well, until now that is. I can’t wait to have another go at this texture thing. I should probably ask for some pointers from the texture queen.

I have collab #2 in the works and I’m really excited about sharing it with you. Tomorrow, I hope!

Collab #1

This has been sitting in my hard drive for two weekends now. My first collaborative work so to speak, which I made with the boyfriend. He gave directions on how he wants S the cat to look like, and I worked the mouse.

Yes, he’s stuck on an island. And no, I don’t know how he got there.

Say Hi, Dixie

I was doodling a kitty on paper yesterday and I was eager to get her into AI when I got home last night. I started playing around with the shapes and it just wasn’t working. But before I knew it, I’ve made Dixie the ducky.

And because yesterday was Pammy’s birthday, I thought it was only right to let Dixie greet her. After all, if you’ve seen her enviable rubber duck collection, you’ll surely think of her too.

I’m back!

Dear blog,

I’m so sorry I’ve neglected you for so long. Life got busy, you know? So I hope you’ll forgive me and let me back into your arms. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?

As a peace offering of sorts, I come back armed with a number of goodies. May I just forewarn you though that these were not entirely created in ArtRage (AR). But, let me explain. I’ve decided to make this blog a repository of sorts for all my so-called art. That means from now on, you won’t only have to bear with my attempts at mastering ArtRage but also other softwares and crafting projects. I hope you don’t mind.

In return for your kindness and forgiveness, I promise to post something at least once a week. And to come up with (fingers crossed) increasingly better projects worthy of your pages. Deal?

Great! You’re the best bloggy. Now let’s get on with the program. Here are the goodies I promised you.

6

I know that it’s almost a month since I posted anything here and I’m sorry. I’m actually apologizing more to my self though because this is something I was really hoping to do regularly. And obviously, that didn’t happen. Hopefully, this will change.

5

A work-in-progress. Because the lunch break just isn’t enough. This is my first successful(?) attempt at a figurative painting. Please tell me it looks like my favorite pet.

4

Trying my hand at creating patterns.