The Foolish Amba and Clever Pong

Amba

Once there were two friends named Amba and Pong. A monkey, Amba was shrewd and self-centered. a humble turtle, Pong looked after the Amba and himself. Both of them lived beside a river, in a forest.

One night, a storm hit their place. The river surged and a lot of trees fell down. The following morning, the storm had left and Pong looked around for food. He found a banana tree floating on the river, with some fruits still hanging on it. Hit by an idea, he grabbed the whole tree and searched for Amba.

Amba was lounging in one of the trees in the forest. He was waiting for Pong to bring him breakfast. He was whistling tunelessly, while enjoying the after scent of the storm.

"Amba! Look what I found!" called out Pong.

Amba loped his arm on a branch and dangled himself. "What is it?" he asked excitedly.

Down the Memory Lane

Aside from dosing off while getting inked, my tattoo reminded me of something else: hiding out in my apartment, went out only to buy food. I know a lot of people get bored (or go crazy) when confined inside the room for a day (how much more if it's a week) but the experience had given me a good amount of time to practice my sketches ... and I made a lot!

In fact, I am sharing some of the sketches I made. These are famous celebrities. Warning to the fans! In the event that you feel these sketches haven't truly represented your idols, I claim to be in the early stage of my art career. You can't fault a newbie. That would be a complete injustice. :)

Drawn from the Pensieve*

One day, I finally took the chance to draw a human figure from memory. No models - animated or not - in front. It took careful imagination and thoughtful analysis to come up with one in correct proportions. Of course, thanks to my friend, Jotay, who kindly advised me if my human appears disproportionate.

It would be a real treat if you can also drop your comments about the sketch above. Ciao!
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*pensieve - a seemingly combination of the words 'pensive' and 'sieve';  refers to an object used to sort out and reflect memories drawn from the mind, first appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Burning in the Dark

9'' x 12"  acrylic on water color paper

I am interested to hear your thoughts. Kindly leave your comments on the box below. Thanks. :)

Wishes On Copper

For the past weeks, I have been struggling on getting inspired. I felt that the muse who has driven me to create had finally left the building. Much as I want to 'let loose' or 'let art unfold before me', the results would always be a bizarre combinations of lines and colors, which I might on as abstract. But who am I kidding? Abstract isn't just a mixture of colors and lines. There should be harmony that emulsifies those two. 

One Sunday, I passed by the paints section of National Bookstore and saw tubes of copper paint. Interesting. That color would look good on a man's figure. Think..copper-skinned man. Yum! So, I bought a tube. Then beside it, I saw a bronze paint! Think...a bronze-skinned man. Somebody turned on the AC! I included the bronze paint in my cart and passed the books of Fifty Shades of...I could make my own version of it one day. Inspiration..don't leave me yet!

Excited with my find, I went straight to work. I drew a man's figure on a watercolor paper. However, the paints don't seem to  work well with the paper. Let's talk about affinity and polarity. They just don't stick. Yeah, I was disheartened and set them aside for awhile.

Last weekend, I decided to get my hands paint-dirty. My plan was to get to know the paints. I primed the paper with titanium white (no time for a gesso) and applied the copper on it afterwards. The sun came out...it's working! I continued covering the whole paper with copper and observed how it blends. Then I made simple balloon drawings, using medium yellow. Mars black did the shadows. 

The results..Ta da!

This weekend, I'll try out the bronze paint. Who knows, I might be able to get my own version of Fifty Shades with my man, Pete.