Art and my world

Goodbye Miss Grundy

2010-12-23T20:53:00.000+08:00

I'm sure that a lot of you are familiar with the Archie Comics. It's one of long running syndicates strips in the United States and has reached the far corners of the world. I grew up reading classic Archie and the gang thanks to my tita's collection which she had since the 1970s. Each character is known to me, much as one would know a neighbor or a classmate at school.

My friend Ryan, a fellow toy collector and comic enthusiast, shared this link today that shocked me to the core. Riverdale High's long-time teacher Miss Geraldine Grundy gets cancer. That's not the worst of it. She never successfully battles it and she subsequently passes away.

This storyline will be featured in "Life With Archie" Issue #6. This shows how reality is creeping into the fictional and somewhat perfect world of Archie Andrews.

It makes me sad. It's like losing an old friend. I remember numerous storylines where the gang would try to bring her together with The Bee. Or how the girls once gave her a make-over to help her get a date. It's those little things that bring her close to you even though you know her character exists in between those sheets of paper. While I probably won't read this comic (I don't know if I will be able to get one), just knowing how it goes makes me really sad.

Image is from Comic Vine.

Rest in peace, Miss Grundy.

BSP releases redesigned Philipine Peso bills

2010-12-16T21:27:00.004+08:00

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas today revealed the new designs of the Phillipne Peso bills. According to BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., these designs took three years to conceptualize and print. One the whole, a lot of the bills' designs are the same, but some elements were changed and added.

P20 bill
Obverse: Manuel L. Quezon
Reverse: Banaue Rice Terraces and a palm civet from the Cordilleras, which are famous for producing the coffee alamid.

P50 bill
Obverse: Sergio Osmeña
Reverse: Taal Lake and the Giant Trevally (locally known as Maliputo), a delicious milky fish which thrives only in the waters of the lake.

P100 bill
Obverse: Manuel A. Roxas
Reverse: Mayon Volcano and “butanding” or whale shark, the world’s largest living fish which is the main attraction of Donsol, Sorsogon.

P200 bill
Obverse: Diosdado Macapagal
Reverse: Chocolate Hills and the Philippine tarsier, one of the world’s smallest primates.

P500 bill
Obverse: Corazon Aquino and Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. (Tetangco said the addition of Mrs. Aquino was decided after she passed away in August 2009 and before her son announced his candidacy for president)
Reverse: Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the blue-naped parrot, which thrives in the forests of Palawan and Mindoro.

P1,000 bill
Obverse: Josefa Llanes Escoda, Vicente P. Lim, and Jose Abad Santos
Reverse: Tubbataha Reef Marine Park and the South Sea Pearl, which is produced by oysters that thrive in the South Seas which the Sulu Sea is a part of.

Fe Dela Cruz, director of the BSP’s corporate affairs office said that the images of the national figures have been changed to reflect their younger selves, as they served the country during their prime.

The banknotes have new security features to help prevent them from being copied. These features increase as the value of the note goes higher. They include: embossed prints, serial numbers, security fibers, watermarks, security thread, optically variable device, optically variable ink, and a see-through mark.

This see-through mark is the word "Filipino" and is written based on the pre-Hispanic Philippine writing system called "Baybayin".

Sources:
Pinoy Tumblr
GMANews.TV

The Magic of Drawing

2010-11-14T23:53:00.000+08:00

Today's bargain find: The Magic of Drawing by Cliff Wright

While I believe a person can never have enough books about the topic they love, I was a bit hesitant to buy this. The clincher? Cliff Wright illustrated two UK versions of the Harry Potter books. Shallow reason, yes. But as I skimmed through the book, I realized that it has a lot of great information that I can use.

It's a secondhand book, so the price was good. I look forward to really read this book. It was published in 2008.

Marvel gives each NBA team a comic book cover

2010-11-13T11:12:00.000+08:00

For the NBA season this year, Marvel and ESPN teams up to give each NBA team their own comic book style cover. Basketball fans will enjoy seeing their sports idols depicted as super heroes (which they are, I suppose, in a way), but what about the comic book fans who aren't that into basketball?

They still may want to take a look, as these covers --- a total of thirty for the two conferences (15 for the Eastern conference, 15 for the Western conference) --- were created by well known comic book artists including J. Scott Campbell, Olivier Coipel, Terry Dodson, Leinil Francis Yu, John Romita Sr., Kaare Andrews, and Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Joe Quesada.

I'm especially excited for two names: J. Scott Campbell, who made the awesome and sexy Fairy Tale Fantasies; and Leinil Francis Yu, a Filipino comic book artist who has been with Marvel for quite some time now.

It's interesting to look at the covers, and figuring out the story behind it. Some are similar to previous comic covers (like the one with LeBron mocking a 1967 Spiderman cover) or an artist's take on the teams they're illustrating.

Here's a few of covers. The rest can be found at the ESPN site. You can also look at the sketches gallery. All images belong to Marvel, NBA and their respective artists.

Neil Gaiman art contest winners

2010-03-19T07:45:00.003+08:00

Here are the winners of the Neil Gaiman art contest held in conjunction with the 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards.

All three plus other selected artwork can be seen at the North Court of Rockwell Power Plant Mall.

First place: Boundaries by Elle Battung. Medium: Paper

Second place: Together with Barnabas by Marie Franz Canares. Medium: Canvas, Acrylic, Coffee

Third place: Hole by Rea Uypitchitig (thanks Lyn!

~~I think this one won the People's Choice award~~ This tied for second place. You read about the author's account about the event here.

Armageddon by Lyn (uh, what's your last name nga pala? Hehe.)

Here are some of the other works I found interesting:

The Other Mother by Melanie H. Lim

Peek-A-Boo by Kamille Anne U. Areopagita

Congratulations to the winners! Neil Gaiman himself chose the winners.

Note: I am not affiliated with the organizers of the event, Rockwell or Neil Gaiman (though I wish I was for the latter hehe).

The Art of Charles Vess

2010-03-04T09:47:00.000+08:00

My first exposure to Charles Vess was through his collaboration with Neil Gaiman for "Stardust." Vess' work there particularly reminded me of the old fairytale books I read as a child*. Maybe because Stardust is a fairytale for adults, or maybe the period the story is set in. Aesthetically, his character's features are not my type, but I love the attention he gives to details, the color he uses and how each artwork evokes emotion.

Charles Vess at the 2004 Comic Con (Source)

Dark Horse Books has released "Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess," an compliation of Vess' works over the years. The beautiful illustrations are accompanied by comment from Charles Vess himself, describing his adventures as a painter, sculptor and publisher.

Aside from Neil Gaiman, Charles Vess has worked with writers like Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) and George R.R. Martin. He is the recepient of such awards like The Will Eisner Comics Industry Award, World Fantasy Award, and Spectrum Annual Award.

*In the foreword, author Susanna Clarke mentions that there is something "unsettingly familiar" with Vess' works, and goes on to mention names of Edwardinian story-book illustrators like Authur Rackham, Charles Robinson and Kay Nielsen. I didn't recognize the names at first, but when I saw their work, I knew what Clarke was talking about. Those were the artists whose works I saw many years ago.

Exclusive contest for Drawn! readers

2010-02-24T19:14:00.000+08:00

We Love Patterns and Funkrush have teamed up for an exclusive contest for Drawn! readers. Three (3) pattern ideas and/or themes will be picked and each winner will receive an "We Love Patterns" squirrel t-shirt.

Submit your entries to gaston.caba(at)welovepatterns(dot)com with the subject “We Love Patterns Too.”

About We Love Patterns
Gastón Caba, Silvana Marino and Lara Caba created the family company We Love Patterns in 2010. The company is passionate in creating a growing collection of "extra-cute, colorful and optimistic pattern artworks" to add charm and whimsy to all kinds of products.

The company offers a different style of patterns from the standard ones often seen in the market. Each one has the ability to tell a story, or view a giant concept from the tiny objects and words.

Artists that have their original designs on We Love Patterns include Bubi Au Yeung, Dana Zimmerling & Mr. TobyHK, and every month, the company selects more artists to add to their catalogue.

Source: Drawn!

Season's Greetings!

2009-12-26T00:31:00.001+08:00

Here's to more art next year!

K+kkk+K Ayos! Order in Chaos

2009-12-09T17:11:00.000+08:00

I was fortunate to be able to attend the opening of "K+kkk+K Ayos! Order in Chaos," the first exhibit of the De Guia family: filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik and his wife, artist Katrin de Guia and their sons Kidlat Jr., Kawayan and Kabunyan.

The exhibit is at Rico Renzo Galleries and Caffe (N. Garcia formerly Reposo St., Makati City) and will run until January 5, 2010. It features bone sculptures from Katrin, photographs from Kidlat Jr., ceramic mosaics from Kabunyan, collages by Kawayan and various woven sculptures from Kidlat Tahimik.

Kabunyan De Guia and Kidlat De Guia

"The Scream" by Kabunyan de Guia

One of the sculptures by Kidlat Tahimik

Collage by Kawayan de Guia

Random painting

2009-11-10T00:41:00.001+08:00

Feeling odd today, but weirdly enough, I did quite a few things that made me feel a bit accomplished. :)

- Upped my Nanowrimo work to 6131 words. Some may say I should be way beyond the 15k mark by now, but given how lazy I am and how uninspired I am to write, that's an accomplishment. For some reason, even though I want to write, the idea of writing just for the number of words makes me want to not write. But this is good, even though the story is mostly made up of snippets and that I'm veering away from the supposed main characters.

- Painted on my bookshelf. I was just imagining what it would like to paint on my bookshelf until the urge got so strong that I just did.

Sketches

Base. I made a mistake and wet my brush, thus the thin layer

Black & white

Think.

At first I was irritated at the wobbly lines, but then I realized it looked great that way, smudges and all. With my leftover black paint, I dabbled on other parts of the bookshelf. Nothing much though. Sorry the pictures are blurry. :p

Painting experiment again

2009-10-05T12:46:00.000+08:00

The recent storms have conked out my DSL and I couldn't even reach Globe's customer service line. I'm thankful that no DSL is my only trouble from that storm. Many people weren't so lucky. I just read in the newspaper that there was a man who literally lost everything: his home and his family. Please pray for him, and let's all do our part to help the victims.

Please also don't forget the people in the provinces. People in Botolan, Zambales are still inundated with floodwaters that have yet to subside since Typhoon Kiko. Let's pray for them.

Experiment

I always loved fantasy, and though in local folklore the "little people" aren't often seen on a positive light, this one's based more on the ones that reside in the United Kingdom. I grew up reading Enid Blyton's stories so I know about elves, fairies, pixies and gnomes.

This is the second in the "mushroom" works. The first I didn't like much because I made the mistake of outlining what I painted. This one, I tried to keep the paint from going over the other ares so there's a clear line.

My favorite part is the flower. The shadow over it is me, as I only took a picture. :)

WIP: The Merlin Conspiracy

2009-09-25T08:45:00.002+08:00

Roddy, Grundo, Nick. The goat is somewhere in front of Nick, and I still have to fit Toby and the Izzies. Photo's blurred because my hands were shaky. Gotta finish this! :)

Inspired by "The Merlin Conspiracy" by Diana Wynne Jones

Playing with acrylics

2009-09-23T07:37:00.002+08:00

I finally decided to open the set of acrylic paints I bought some months ago. I mostly use watercolor and colored pencils, then digital paint for most of my works (which aren't enough *sigh*).

The first time I ever used acrylics was when I was about nine or ten, when my aunt gave me one of those "paint-by-number" kits. The paint was acrylic, and I remember this not because it was written on the box, but because I remember using the paint on other surfaces including eggshells* and they never washed off.

I didn't have any particular subject in mind, so I just chose the colors and dabbed them on the paper.

One of the first things I read about painting in general is making a wash, so I did that. I like how the blue and the green flow into each other. Everything else was random.

I'm trying to work on learning how to color people. Since my style is mainly manga/anime, that's the color style I'm using. However, I'm trying to work on doing realism, so I hope to veer away from doing anime style when using paint. Not that there's nothing bad about it, but I just want to try and develop a different style.

There's something wrong with this, I know. There's something wrong about the proportions, mostly. I didn't really intend for this to be anything but practice, so I don't mind that it looks bad. Room for improvement, ika nga. I used this as a reference for the pose.

One thing you must remember with acrylics is that unlike watercolor, you can't re-use acrylics once it's dry. With watercolor, just dab them with water and you're good to go. I read this in one of my painting course books but it didn't really register until I brought out my palette and tried to use the colors I already had on. Zilch. The paint was harder than glue left out for 24 hours.

Hence, this last er, work. I did it mainly because I didn't want to waste the paint. I had Burnt Sienna, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green, Viridian, Ultra Blue and Black. The top scene was first done with dabs of Yellow Ochre, with no specific shape in mind. I just took the brush and used up all the paint until somehow, I ended up with that. I think it looks like mountains and field during sunset.

The black wiggly lines was done because I can't seem to fit the black anywhere in the top and bottom scene. The bottom's just random.

I want to buy some gum paint to experiment on next. Its like a mask you brush on your work so that particular part doesn't get any paint on it. When you're ready to work on that, you just peel the mask away.

More practice!

*Eggshells? Yes. I found a book that showed how you can remove the egg's contents without breaking the shell. After I did that, I painted the shell. Needless to say I ate a lot of scrambled eggs during the time I was in this art phase hehe.

5th Annual Sculpture Review

2009-09-21T10:35:00.000+08:00

On Saturday, my friend Elise and I, on a whim, passed by the 5th Annual Sculpture Review in Megamall. I saw one familiar name among the list of artists, Agnes Arellano, whom I've heard mention from another artist, Datu Arellano.

"I'm Just A Rambling Man" by Lirio Salvador

"Google Earth" by Michael Cacnio

"Call Center Revolution" by Anna Varona (I like this one. The hands move counter-clockwise)

"Seacock #1" by Tito Estrada (Elise loves the colors)

There's one that I wasn't able to take a picture of, a sculpture of Manila in the future, made out of aluminum. It's mounted on the wall on the right side of the entrance. It's a really clever work.

The exhibit runs until tomorrow.

News: RP team 3rd in art ‘Olympics’

2009-09-21T09:05:00.000+08:00

RP team 3rd in art ‘Olympics’

By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer Northern Luzon

BAGUIO CITY—Not bad for this team of artists whose pleas for funding went largely ignored by politicians and corporations, whose members spent an extra night at a South Korean airport for lack of hotel money, and who had one member briefly detained there for carrying a bloodstained knife.

That’s just “chicken blood” from some previous home-cooked dish, the detainee said, before finally convincing authorities to let him go.

Despite this series of unfortunate events, the Philippine delegation to the 3rd Delphic Games held on the resort island of Jeju, South Korea, gave brilliant performances in what was considered the “Olympics” of the art world.

The 17-member team, mostly composed of Cordillera-based artists, placed third overall out of the 44 countries that competed in the games held on Sept. 9-15.

Ifugao woodcarver Ernesto Dul-ang, 60, bagged the gold medal in sculpture for transforming, under time pressure, a 150-cm block of wood into a human figure pouring water from a pot.

Winning the Lyra Award (a special prize given to collaborative works) was a group of Filipino puppeteers headed by EV Espiritu, who wowed the audience with a shadow play dealing with the environment.

The Delphic Games are all about “peace engendering competition of the arts,” according to German founder J. Christian Kirsch, who drew inspiration from the original Greek competitions of 582 B.C.

The first games were held in December 2000 in Moscow with the participation of 27 countries. The second was held in September 2005 in Kuching, Malaysia, with 21 countries taking part.

The event serves as the artistic counterpart of the Olympic Games, said Divina Bautista, a Filipino co-founder based in Baguio.

Dul-ang was given three days to finish the sculpture and often had difficulty communicating with the Korean organizers whenever he requested equipment to speed up his work.

On the third day, Dul-ang recalled, the statue was still without a face, prompting him to ask the team’s videographer Joel Arthur Tibaldo to be his face model.

Earlier, percussionist Ruel Bimuyag served as Dul-ang’s model for the body, while Baguio-based painter Rishab produced sketches that helped the sculptor come up with the best composition.

Continue reading

Despite their win, I can't help but feel a bit sad with this piece of news. Here we have a group of really talented artists, but very little support can be found. These are artists who really need backing more than the so called "National Artists" that's been such a hot issue these past few weeks.

I've met Rishab before, during our STS project. He and Jordan Mangosan, who was the topic for our study) each did a portraiture of me when we went to visit them in Tam-Awan Village. I was just kidding when I asked them for a portrait but to my surprise, they were game.

Cordillera artists have a special place in my heart. :)

I protest!

2009-07-30T07:37:00.001+08:00

A news article at the Philippine Daily Inquirer about Carlo J. Caparas now a National Artist for Visual Art and Film sparked comments from the Filipino blog community. Not surprisingly, these comments were in protest of the win.

I don't really have much to say about this, except that I'm against it and will stand behind those who protest it. I believe that there are far more worthy artists out there who deserve the title. Here are a few blog entries that also air the same sentiments. I will edit this to add more later.

Gerry Alanguilan "A Questionable Victory"
- Gerry has long aired his views about the praised heaped upon Carlo J. and fought for the recognition of the artists who worked on the komiks that Caparas produced. His blog entry lists several good reasons why the win isn't just, and if you care to browse back in his archives, you'll find his other related posts.

The Marocharim Experiment "In protest of Caparas as a National Artist"

The worst part about this is that the masses don't and won't care because the bottomline is they get entertained.

Graphika Manila 2009

2009-07-08T16:22:00.000+08:00

Now on its fourth year, Graphika Manil a continues to bring together creative minds to celebrate the works of the best multimedia and graphic designers not just from the Philippines but also around the globe.

This year's Graphika Manila will be on August 15 at the SM Mall of Asia. Learn from the local and international line-up of artists in the fields of graphic design, motion graphics and animation, and visual effects production. Listen as they talk about their ideas and inspirations,and maybe pick up a life lesson or two along the way.

Speakers:
Christian Alzmann
Industrial Light & Magic Art Director

Stefan Sagmeister

Jens Gehlhaar
Brand New School, Creative Director

Ryan Vergara & Garovs Garrovillo
Everywhere WeShoot!

Pancho Esguerra, Mark Mendoza and Greg Garcia
Springboard

Angel Guerrro
Editor in Chief, Adobo Magazine

Event Details:
Date:
August 15, 2009, Saturday
Time:
Registration begins at 10:00AM.
Event starts at 11:00AM and ends at 6:00PM
Venue:
Premier Cinema, SM Mall of Asia, Bay City,
Pasay City, Metro Manila

Manila Art Events

2009-06-27T18:22:00.001+08:00

Found out about two art related events here in Manila, if you're interested.

ManilArt '09
16-19 July 2009
NBC Tent, Bonifacio Global City
Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines
http://manilart.com/home.html

MANILART O9 is the first international art fair to be hosted in the Philippines, participated in by the country's leading art galleries and those of the Asian region. Art collectors and enthusiasts can view the finest examples of Contemporary Art today and gather together to exchange views and insights about the world of art.

The opening night is by invitation only and will serve as a preview to the entire art fair. MANILART 09 will open its doors to the public on July 17 until July 19. Admission tickets are priced at P200 (US$5).

Manila Design Week ‘09 Invite

Sorry for the small picture. You can check out the Project Manila entry about it for a bigger (but not so very) picture.

Drawing letters

2009-06-26T02:35:00.000+08:00

My brother asked me to write his name on a blank page of his notebook. Normally, I'd just grab a pen and write it in block letters, but I remember how I used to really put some effort in it, so I decided to do just that.

First, I looked for a nice font to use and decided on Cracked (I think it's default here on the MacBook). Then, I took a ruler and made some boxes to evenly space the letters in between each other. Using those lines as a guide, I drew the letters, eyeballing the size.

Using a brush pen (I have a Yoka KBP15-01M which I bought on a whim), I inked in the letters. I started with the letter i because it had the least number of cracks. For some reason, my hands were shaking, which contributed to the squiggles of the letters and was ok (but if I were drawing something else, it would've been a disaster).

Finishing the other letters

After all the letters have been inked, I erased the pencil lines. To do this, I took a soft eraser and gently brushed it outwards. The paper was thin and I needed to be careful. A putty eraser would've been better. I also used an erasing shield to focus on the pencil marks. It helps keep the eraser off the ink and lessen the chances of fading it (which happens to some inks when you pass it over with an eraser).

Final product :)

Old fashioned snail mail

2009-06-22T07:00:00.002+08:00

When I was younger, I wrote a lot of letters. I wrote to my friends when I'm in Baguio for school. I wrote to my classmates when I'm in Manila or Zambales during vacation. I wrote to my grandparents when they went to the U.S. I wrote to my cousins. I wrote little notes and long letters to my college boyfriend. I wrote to my classmates and left it in the library or bulletin boards. I even had a penpal or two abroad whom I wrote to on a regular basis.

And it wasn't just regular writing, mind you. Oh sure it was often filled with little, inconsequential things about everything and nothing, but it wasn't just words. I drew on the margins, I painted on the envelopes and sometimes wrote with nothing but pictures.

It always gave me a thrill to walk to the post office and drop the letters off. The best thing though would be when I receive a letter in return. The guys I wrote to didn't really write much, but the girls were enthusiastic in writing and were as creative as I was with their letters, maybe more.

Sadly, it seems that the number of letter writers has dwindled over the years, in favor for the faster and more convenient email, online messengers and even social networking sites.

There is nothing wrong with that, but I miss the old fashioned writing method. Hence last year, I asked my friends to send me postcards or letters and I'll send some back to them. I've yet to keep up my end of the bargain *blush* but so far, I have received four letters/postcards. Now that doesn't seem much, considering I used to get four letters in a month, whereas this was over the course of six months.

However, it's still an achievement, and every time I receive one, I feel giddy. The first one was from my college classmate Kat, then a postcard from my best friend's sister when she was in Vienna. I got a birthday card from another classmate Thet (that was a surprise!) and just today, I got a postcard from my cousins who visited New York. The stamps were all from the UN, and one that had my cousins' picture in it.

It may no longer be the chosen way to keep in touch, but I'm sure people would appreciate it if you could send a letter or two every now and then. I know I would.

I'm off now to make some postcards.

Doodle: Steampunk

2009-06-21T13:33:00.002+08:00

For some reason I wanted to do a steampunk themed drawing, so I went searching for various information and picture references about it. There's still plenty I don't know, and I need to practice more, but I like how this came about (though it's doesn't look very steampunk-y).

I did the sketch on in my drawing pad, then using a Sakura Micron 0.3 outlined the face and body. I used watercolor then added some accents with colored pencil. The hair intentionally has no outline.

He reminds me of a high school classmate of mine. :p

More practice! :D

LRT Art 2009

2009-06-20T17:09:00.003+08:00

Commuters of the MRT and LRT line may have noticed some posters a few months ago calling for entries for the LRT Art contest. Filipino citizens age 18 and above were enjoined to participate in the contest with the theme “LRT at ang Buhay Pinoy”.

I don't know how many entries were there, as I wasn't able to find any press release or news item about the results. However, selected entries may be seen at the LRT Cubao station. I'm not sure if this is the formal exhibit, as there are ropes cordoning off the commuters from the paintings (although you can still see most of them).

Here a few of the entries. I even found one artist on DeviantArt, but I don't know what his work looks like.

I love this one. It's Pinoy superheroes heading home after a busy day.

This one feels like Grand Central Station

This one's really nice too. It looks like a photograph.

There were a lot of beautiful works there, some were very creative and thought provoking; some very avant-garde and imaginative (see the superheroes one), while some were very much traditional and realistic. There were two paintings there though, that looked so similar that it was obvious that both artists used the same reference picture (one that was used as an LRT publicity picture, methinks).

Head on over to the LRT Cubao station to take a look at these works. However, you have to get past the turnstiles for that. If in any case the exhibit would formally open, I suggest you wait for that.

Drawing in time lapse 2: Feet related

2009-06-20T09:45:00.000+08:00

I played around with my camera's time lapse recording feature (I have a Canon Ixus 80 IS). Mounted it on a tripod and tried to find a good position so that it can clearly see my drawing process. A bit difficult, but I managed.

My choices of subject were unintentional. The shoe was the first thing I grabbed, and my feet were the only ones nearby (or a blank wall, literally). I had fun with this experiment: both drawing and figuring out what was good for the camera. I did about four videos, but I decided to post these two.

Artist feature: Michaël Zancan

2009-06-19T10:00:00.001+08:00

I first came across Michaël Zancan through DeviantArt. One of his works was awarded a Daily Deviation and curious, I checked out his profile. Needless to say, I absolutely fell in love with his paintings.

I am sure of one thing anyway: painting is saving my soul.

Born in a town called Agen in the southwest of France in 1976, Michaël Zancan wasn't originally a painter. During his teen years he was very much into programming. At the age of eighteen he dabbled in street art, experimenting on various painting techniques like airbrushing. He gradually moved from painting on walls to paper, and it wasn't until he was twenty two did he start to get into drawing, thanks to various projects for his engineering school's gazette, party posters and t-shirts.

Later on, he discovered oils and that was when he felt that he was really painting. In one of his comments to his site's visitor, Michaël says that in hindsight, he thinks that he didn't have the maturity to paint well back in his early twenties. Initially, he struggled with his painting, playing around with a cheap box of primary colors until it all started to come naturally. He tried every possible technique until he found a style that he was comfortable with. However, he considers that there is still a lot to be learned, and that painting is a lifetime, long learning experience.

The Book

...it takes time to study, observe and assimilate the theory that will help you guide your creative energy towards the idea you're aiming at. It's even a daily, never-ending learning task. In the meantime it requires you to free up yourself and let the gestures go, even imperfect; that takes time to, and is more related to the knowledge of yourself...

Home and the Fairies

Below the rust

For Michaël, computers definitely allows artists to create faster and brings out many possibilities, especially for illustrators who have tight deadlines. Though he uses technology (he has a small web design company in Bordeaux), he finds that traditional medium is more fulfilling, as it involves the entirety of the artist. "To tame it, you have to stay humble and true."

One of his digital works, "Tears for Joy in the Garden of Giants" created for CGTalk's 'spectacular' challenge in December 2005 is currently in the process of being painted into canvas.

Tears for Joy in the Garden of Giants

More than one site visitor has claimed (myself included) that his paintings have stories and serve as an inspiration. "Even though they are usually built upon a story of my own, when I spread an image to the world I try to make it as free for interpretation as possible, giving only clues, or surreal words that encourage the imagination.

"Inspiring might be the most rewarding adjective to welcome my work."

I continue to be in awe of Michaël's works. He creates worlds that are fantastic and majestic, yet retaining a touch of reality that viewers recognize and appreciate. The worlds and its people touch a whimsical side to those who see it, inviting them for a closer inspection.

Visit his gallery at his website or over at his DeviantArt page.

Credits: All images © Michaël Zancan
Source: Michaël Zancan
Many thanks to Michaël for allowing me to use his photos & site content, as well as for the corrections :)

Videocast test

2009-06-18T14:38:00.002+08:00

I plan to take videos of me drawing or painting one of these days, then set them to timelapse so it won't be too long a watch. I tried doing a test recording today, and it wasn't so bad. The drawing was crappy, and the frames kept flipping around, but otherwise, I think it went ok. Hopefully, I'll get to improve --- both with the quality of the editing and the drawing --- over time.