Blessing/Curse

I find drawing portraits very relaxing and compared to still life, landscape and seascape, portraiture is the best for me. I like working on the details of the eyes and the hair especially but I really, really, really, really, really suck at proportions. Seriously, I'd draw famous people or just random gorgeous people from weheartit or tumblr and my drawings wouldn't look like them! It's so frustrating but at the same time, I get to create new characters which I'd consider as the bright side of my problem.

Hehehehehe I tried to draw Iwan Rheon (I used a screenshot from Misfits as a guide) and ended up with this tarsier-looking guy. I named him sausageman since I could imagine him as a sausage seller with his slicked back hair and his creepy/oily persona.

Actually, this one was supposed to be a guy haha but while I was working on it, I noticed that it was very feminine so halfway through the drawing, I changed my mind and turned it into a girl....and in the end, it turned into a sunflower.  

Gambie

It's been a while since I last posted hehe. School work + choir practices have been turning me into a zombie these past few weeks so I think this painting that I worked on last night is quite fitting haha.

Thor's Day

I got transferred to the drafting class I was talking about! Anyway, I didn't mean to do it but this drawing ended up looking like a Hunger Games fanart for Katniss/Gale haha. 

Yesterday was such a mess! Classes got suspended at around 3 and after a while, we found out choir practice was still on. At around 5pm, my dad finally picked me up from school and told me we'd have to let the rain subside before we try to pick up my mum in Makati. He brought some slippers and this bubble wrap thingy for my huge sketchpad for drafting which we stuck underneath his shirt and jacket to keep it dry haha. 

After crossing the street to get to his office, my feet and skirt were drenched! My feet felt weird so when we got to the 4th floor where my dad's office was located, I went and washed my feet. Wee. I did some of my drafting homework, sketched a bit and read a book while sitting on the counter in the girls' bathroom. We only left the office to fetch my mum at around half-past 10 in the evening. I don't really remember what happened after we got in the car because I was so tired and sleepy, I faintly recall that I was so cranky when they woke me up when we finally got home. But I do remember that I there was someone in the bathroom and I kept telling myself that I'll just take a nap on the floor while waiting for my turn to shower. 

I never did shower. I know, it was gross. I slept on the floor to avoid getting my dirty clothes on my bed but I must have caved in during the night, got up, dressed in clean clothes and collapsed in bed.

Fatherhugging Zombies

Happy Father's Day to everyone! Isn't it cool that my Mother's Day post included zombies as well? Anyway, today has been an amazingly chill day. I painted a bacon themed greeting for my dad last night and left it on the dining table with his car keys and wallet because I'm sure he'd be the first one to wake up and see the painting. Wee. After waking up to the smell of pizza and cheesy goodness, we got right down to business and dug in to the Italian themed lunch that my mum prepared.

I got to bake my own pizza today and after helping my mum a bit with the cheesecake, I went outside to play with the garden hose from heaven. It's seriously the best! It has 7 options: mist, spout, jet, shower, center, cone and flat. I had fun cleaning out the garage and acting like a human sprinkler.

After getting the work done outside, I tried to finish all of my homework. Tried being the keyword, though. I only finished 2 subjects. Plus the other 2 I did last night, I still have 3 more to go. Thank God, there are no classes tomorrow! I've got Geometry, Intermediate Algebra and Biology left, 3 of the 4 major subjects. Ugh. Instead of doing them, I painted a zombie couple about to get married! I was inspired by this screencap from the movie Beetlejuice.

It hasn't been rainbows and happiness all day, though. Only one thing sort of spoiled my day:

The down button on my laptop decided to break up with the rest of the keys. What's left is a hole and circuit looking thing with a circle in the middle that I can still press to scroll down. But it feels wrong to go poking, so I'm stuck with a toothless keyboard.

Drafting Lung

I finally bought a sketchpad today! Yay. I also got myself an 8B pencil and an F pencil. I had the sudden urge to buy a sketchpad because I've been thinking of transferring to the drafting class offered in our school.

Since last year, I've always been envious of the boys (boys had to take drafting while girls took up home economics). We'd pass by their drafting class which sort of looks like a handyman's wet dream and we'd see them all drawing and drilling holes into strips of metal. But just last week, a friend of mine told me that they were being given the chance to choose whether they wanted to stay in drafting or transfer to home economics or journalism. I'm having a really hard time because our teacher hasn't announced anything about the other 2 elective classes and it'd be quite offensive if I go straight up to her and ask if it'd be alright if I transfer to the drafting class.

I really don't know what to do because home economics is sort of growing on me already. Although, my inner fatty sort of died when the teacher told us that we wouldn't be allowed to eat the food that we make since we have to sell them as training to become entrepreneurs. I like my teacher and all because she's young, funny and really really chill. But, I'd look forward more to discussing and learning about shading and drawing for an hour a day than knowing what type of preservatives to use.

For inspiration, here are some works by the amazing Paul Lung. Seriously, he's da bomb!

Wee. He is golden.

HairyHairy

I love all types of hair. It amazes me how a person's hairstyle can speak volumes about their personality. I also like how there can be blondes, brunettes, redheads and multi-color haired people. It just goes to show how different we are from one another. 

That's where I got this idea of mine to draw different hairstyles. I watched tons of youtube videos on how to draw realistic hair because squiggly lines black blobs got a bit old to me. So, here are the 3 types of hair that I've finished. If you have any suggestions on what type of hairstyle I should draw next, just leave a comment or something haha

Dip dye

Dora/Jessie J hair

Curly poofy guy hair

♥ SFX

I used to buy all those fashion magazines in hopes of becoming a fashionista ha ha ha. I tend to just flip over to the editorials and look at the pretty pretty pictures. It was sort of my mission back then to go hunting for back issues of Vogue at the local magazine shop. And every time I'd see one that costs 200 bucks, I'd wet my pants. But I wouldn't buy them because they're still so expensive, so when I finally got hold of an Italian Vogue magazine, I think I died. Then, I'd forget that I bought Italian Vogue while ripping off the plastic and be depressed that I can't understand a single word. Google translate just wouldn't cut it.

I have a very tiny collection of Preview Magazine and a bunch of Ok! Magazine, Seventeen, Rolling Stone and Good Housekeeping scattered all over my room. I read magazines, yes, but I prefer cutting the pictures out from them haha. So, lately, every time I go to Book Sale, I check out the magazine section in hopes of finding a cheap and interesting magazine that I wouldn't dare cut up.

Well, today's my lucky day because I finally found it! A magazine to die for!

SFX MAGAZINE!!!

Seriously. It's the best! It has zombies, monsters, horror movies, video games and a whole bunch of awesome stuff in it!! Oh gerd, a whole article about The Walking Dead. It's like Christmas came 6 months early.

ZOMBIES

And when I thought it couldn't possibly get any better, I see an ad for Metroid: Other M!

Not only do they bombard you with stuff about TV shows, they throw in a bunch of DVD, movie, book and video game reviews! It also says here (I bought a November 2010 issue), that the next issue's about Harry Potter and Misfits! Dear Looooooooooord. Aren't they just the best?

AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE, IT'S BLOODY BRITISH!

WahWahWah

Last Monday was the first day of school for me. I was obviously feeling a whirlwind of emotions since it was my first day as a Sophomore. It probably looked like I was bipolar or something since one minute, I'd be a nervous wreck and the next, I'd be as cool as a cucumber. Anyway, to calm my nerves down during my intense sweaty-palm-quick-heartbeat moments, I'd reassure myself with the thought that the teachers would not possibly give us a heavy workload on the first day. I mean, it's supposed to be all about getting to know each other, right? 

Well, I was sorely mistaken. 

The first day, we got to meet our teachers for the first time. During his/her period, our teacher would orient us and tell us all about the subject and even themselves. Then, he/she'd tell us the size and color of our notebook for the subject and any other basic requirements. It was all fine since it was the same routine from last year. What we didn't expect though, was for us to be bombarded with homework. On. The. First. Week. The workload was so heavy that I'd only finish and sleep at around midnight (except for Thursday since classes got suspended because of the heavy rainfall; yay). 

So far, we've had a report in Geometry and a quiz in Intermediate Algebra. We also had the election of homeroom officers today. I was elected as the P.I.O (Public Information Officer) of our class! Haha, it's not much but I've been told by a lot that it's practically the easiest position since we're only assigned to make announcements and such. 

Not everything's been bad though. I'm really really really happy that I get to spend time with my friends again even though we have to constantly check our schedules in order for us to find time to hang out. 

Union Jack-y

A package from my cousin who lives in the UK arrived today and inside, was my Union Jack flag!!!!! I love everything that has the Union Jack on it; from clothes, to nails, to food and even contact lenses! Here are some of the Union Jack-y things in my room:

Flag from my cousin!

A page in my doodle/paint book

Last year's project for school!

Tiny cardboard!

Huge cardboard!

Old drawing of a piggy girl wearing a Union Jack dress!

On Books

My favorite place would be any bookstore or library. Even a room filled with books would do. I will see stacks of books that will draw and hold my attention; my fingers skimming the spines, almost as if I was reading with my fingertips. I will hear nothing but the aircon's unwavering yet soothing hum, other readers breathing and the softest sound of a person turning a page once in a while. I won't taste anything but I will feel comfortable just sitting there or occasionally strolling through the shelves that seem to go on forever in my own version of sanctuary. Lastly, I will catch a whiff of the worn out and yellowed pages from books that have been there for quite some time, just symbolizing that books are simply timeless. 

Dog + Tutu

It's the first day of June and I just have to make an entry even though I haven't got anything remotely interesting in mind. Except this dog that I painted and eventually scanned. It's so sad because it got kind of dirty since it was pressed up against the raccoon painting that I did, which has black as the main color.

Da Dahk Mahk

I'm totally with the Light but you've got to admit being a Death Eater, Lucius sharing his hair products with you, Greyback fetching the paper, Bellatrix teaching you how to bag the man of your dreams and having Voldie as your leader sounds way wicked.

I finally scanned this baby!

6 Mildly Interesting Facts About the Word 'Gab'

☺It basically means 'to jest or to mock' or 'to gape'. Here are some versions of it that I wouldn't want to be my future child's name. Well on second thought, Gabba Felton has a nice ring to it, right?

Old Norse (gabba)

Proto-Germanic (gabbanan)

Proto-Indo-European (ghabh)

North Frisian (gabben)

Middle Dutch (gabben)

Middle Low German (gabben)

☺If you say it with a phlegmy throat, you'd sound like a cross between Frankenstein and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Click here to listen to Frankenegger say gab!

☺I found out while browsing through a Spanish-English dictionary that the word labia pretty much means to have the gift of gab. I labia!

The Gift of Gab, yall

☺There is a 1934 black and white movie entitled Gift of Gab as well as a rapper by the same name!

(c) syque.com

☺The Blarney Stone in Ireland is a block of stone in Blarney Castle that is said to endow whoever kisses it the gift of gab. I don't think kissing it is that hard.

☺Gabby is derived from the word gab, obviously. And it means that if an individual is gabby, the person is inclined to talk too much, especially about trivias.

John Green Awesomeness

I've never been a witness to funny or ironic captchas before so I was quite surprised when I saw this.

It says rephaw but I swear when I first saw it, I thought it said RHAPAW. As in the nickname used by Q for an old vehicle in John Green's amazing book, Paper Towns. RHAPAW is an acronym for Rode Hard And Put Away Wet. Yes, you have now officially started recognizing John Green's awesomeness.* DFTBA!

*By the way, my sister just started  reading Looking For Alaska. So happy for her!

Reeves, Chbosky, Bauby

I went to National Bookstore (practically my second home) today, while my mum was grocery shopping. I was there to buy some school supplies but since my school's a bit different (they don't hand out lists of what to buy, rather, the teachers tell us on the first meeting what color of notebook to buy for their subject), I ended up buying a single notebook for taking down notes on the first day of school. After finding a notebook, I spent almost an hour going gaga over the reeves paintbrushes + the books on sale + different shades of yellow and blue poster paints.

I ended up buying a copy of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby for only P99! The sticker on the back says that it was originally for P505. I seriously think I have some sort of Samus x-ray vision when it comes to books on sale. I also bought The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky since it piqued my interest after reading an article about books written in epistolary form. 

I also bought this...in my dreams ha ha ha. This is just too amazing not to be shared with everyone. I bought one size 10 Reeves nylon paint brush last time we went to the mall and I have paintbrushgasms when I use it so just imagine when I went to the paint brush section earlier and saw a buttload of Reeves paint brushes! I only bought 2 today, a 6 and a 14, since they were quite pricey. Nevertheless, I'm still a happy happy girl.

Lastly, I bought 3 poster paints. 1 Reeves prussian blue, 1 Reeves gold and 1 Colleen yellow! It's not obvious but I love Reeves!

A Raccoon and a Dog in a Tutu

I've always wanted a painting of a raccoon dressed up as a person from the renaissance era. When I found out how expensive it was to ask a professional to paint for you (the ones at the mall), I figured it'd be better to include my face in the painting so the 4000 pesos or more wouldn't be wasted. I dreamed of having a painting of myself dressed in those old and classic gowns from the medieval times with a pet raccoon on my shoulder. But, I've finally realized that I simply cannot and would not be capable of splurging thousands of pesos on a silly painting, that's why I'm gonna start painting raccoons and hopefully I'll be able to paint my dream portrait!

First Attempt!

I came across this funny picture of a dog in a tutu and I just had to try and paint it!

Dog in a tutu without the tutu

Dog in a tutu that looks like a huge udder/brain :(

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Orphan Hugo Cabret lives in a wall. His secret home is etched out in the crevices of a busy Paris train station. Part-time clock keeper, part-time thief, he leads a life of quiet routine until he gets involved with an eccentric, bookish young girl and an angry old man who runs a toy booth in the station. The Invention of Hugo Cabret unfolds its cryptic, magical story in a format that blends elements of picture book, novel, graphic novel, and film. Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator Brian Selznick has fashioned an intricate puzzle story that binds the reader like a mesmerist's spell.

I've seen The Invention of Hugo Cabret lots of times before I got my own copy. When I first saw it, I was simply entranced by the intricacy of the gears on the cover and after flipping through it, the illustrations and the amount of details each had just made me want it more.

I was at National Bookstore, looking for a decent book in the Below 100 Sale bunch when I spotted a hardbound version of The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It seemed to be too good to be true! I was so excited to buy it but my sister pointed out that the price was hardly understandable since it looked like it had been scratched by a chicken or something. It's a good thing that we asked the cashier if it was really for P99 because it turned out it wasn't! It was for around a thousand pesos ($20)! Long story short, I didn't buy it, but I did get lucky and found it on sale while I was out buying a gift for a friend of mine, and this time, I only paid P99 for it. 

It tells the story of a young boy by the name of Hugo Cabret. Hugo is an orphan, clock keeper and thief. He lives a life of secrets and isolation inside a wall in a train station. His involvement with a peculiar girl and the owner of the toy booth from which he has pilfered from makes up the enchanting tale that weaves horology, magic, family and film together.

What can I say about this book? Brian Selznick, the author, always goes off about how it's not a novel, not a graphic novel either but a mixture of words, illustrations and screencaps. Reading it, made me feel like I was in a movie of some sort and it was such a pleasant experience even though it didn't take me long to finish it. Turning one page filled with drawings after another gives the feeling of watching a movie in which you can control the speed to savor and study the scene or whatever.

Personally, I think that Hugo and Isabelle together is what made this book more awesome. Hugo is such a brave and sadly lost kid that has wormed his way in my heart with his sneaky ways. Isabelle on the other hand, is a favorite of mine because of the shallow reason that she reads. The drawings of Isabelle remind me so much of Natalie Portman in Leon: The Professional. Th fact that they're both dreamers, Hugo with his automaton and Isabelle with her photography, is just plain adorable. 

I also loved how a lot of topics were touched and/or scrutinized in this wonderful book. You've got France in the 1930's as the backdrop of the story, a peek inside a horologists lifestyle and how the gears and clockwork can affect someone's thinking, Georges Méliès life, the train accident in Gare Montparnasse and magic. 

A lovely quote from the book:

"I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and types of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason, too. " 

-Hugo Cabret, p.378 The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret just had me wrapped around its literary finger from the first page down to the last.

B.I.T.C.H

I had the idea of painting B.I.T.C.H (Batman, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk) last night after watching smosh's If Superheroes Were Real. I started with Batman and realized he was a bit big so I decided to just dedicate one page per superhero. But when I got back from the mall earlier, I thought of squeezing Iron Man's face below and The Hulk above! It was seriously fun to sketch/paint Hulk's cloud-like arms. Hopefully, I can finish this before the school year starts!

Edit
I finished it today!

B.I.T.C.H!

Another Edit
I scanned it, plus a bunch of other works in progress!

Ms. Granger

 I was so giddy and excited for the second part of the Deathly Hallows after reading HP7 that I decided to make some sort of fan art in honor of Harry Potter. I googled the Golden Trio but couldn't find a picture that I could draw or paint and, I eventually settled on a screencap of Hermione in HP3.

The Brightest Witch of Our Age!

I probably got the highlighting stuff wrong, but looking at it and seeing that it sorta resembles Hermione's hair and the fact that it's my first decent painting makes me so happy! Now, I'm trying to mix the colors that I ground in the perfect skin tone shade, which is proving to be more difficult than I thought. I think I added too much red because now it looks a bit like Pepto-Bismol. Too bad I haven't got any white paint left :(

Midnight Snacks

These past few days, my sister and I have been trying our luck in the kitchen by making midnight snacks. This interest came from my sister's Martha Stewart-y ways in dealing with boredom this summer. So far, she's made 3 skirts from scratch. 3 skirts! (Plus a bunch of tie-dyed tops) That's how she's been coping, while I've been buried in books and art. The fixation on making midnight snacks is not really strange, especially to our family, since it's sort of like a known fact that whenever we go eat out and have a doggy bag, that doggy bag will most likely be gone in the morning. The only explanation for its absence, the poor slice of pizza or whatever it was became somebody's midnight snack.

However, my sister and I have been putting a lot effort in our midnight snacks and that's what makes it different and cooler, and yummier. I didn't know that cooking could make me sweat! So, it's so fun that we get to whip up a meal, sweat and laugh at our awkward movements in the kitchen, eat like we whipped up something from Hell's Kitchen and wash the dishes. Jsyk, I really love washing the dishes. I just realized that I enjoy getting my hands all wet and sudsy. Before I get carried away and right an entire paragraph on the joys of dish washing, I will tell you all about our first and last Martha Stewart-y midnight snacking experience.

One night, back in our old house, we spent a night taking shots -whoever loses in a game of rock paper scissors or the staring contest has to take a shot - while munching on scrambled eggs (that we cooked!) and rice with lots of knor! It actually started out with my sister finding a bottle of The Bar near our refrigerator, well one thing led to another, and I found myself drinking from one of our medicine measuring cup thingy. When I've had 2 or 3, we looked for 'chasers' or anything to keep us from drinking too much. We couldn't find anything yummy and the house was already practically empty since we were in the process of moving, so we decided to cook the eggs we found inside the refrigerator.

I kinda suck at staring contests

We had scrambled eggs again last night, tuna with the garlic and onions the night before that (we actually burned the first batch of onions and garlic cos the fire was turned up way too high and I ended up sniffling like I just watched a tearjerking chick flick because I got the lovely lovely job of mincing the onions) and we were planning on making deep fried oreos tonight but because we used up the remaining eggs last night, we have none left. Hence, there will be no fried oreos in my tummy tonight.Yes, I'm very sad. That's why I wrote this entry.

ϟ

I've been on a Harry Potter spree since our internet connection became stable. After a weekend of browsing through weheartit and this amazing tumbleblog, I'm glad to tell you that my Harry Potter folder is now very full and most likely can cause pottergasm. I seriously have no idea where I'll get the money to buy the movies on dvd and in order for me not to cry, I will indulge and post lovely lovely pictures of everything about Harry Potter! Beware of extremely adorable Ron Weasleys, mustached Harry Potters, delectable Malfoys and girl-crush-causing Hermione Grangers.

Harry Potter + Misfits = jkdbfhdjbfjhffdbjhfdfdbhj!!!!!

Have a good day!