My May

This is a late post. It's a busy month again for me. Which suits me just fine. I like busy, especially when I'm busy with fun and the stuff I enjoy.

So here's what's up with me this May:

1. Labor day weekend in Boracay

2. Jason Mraz LIVE in Mnaila

3. Design for Web 101 by Nicole's Classes

4. Blogging from the Heart by Susannah Conway

5. My sister's first week in college, which means another longer trip to Manila to keep her company!

6. Plus everything else in between..

So much to do, so little time. :)

Avocados, anyone?

Avocado patterns!

Happy Easter!

Self portrait

I made one for myself, too :)

Faces

I'm happiest when I'm taking art classes! I would have liked to actually go to school, and maybe take an art degree, but under the circumstances, this is not an option. Thank goodness for Nicole's Classes! They're very convenient for me, since they're online. And they're a lot less expensive. And I'm learning loads!  

My latest class is Alma's Illustrating class. And this is my homework. Perfect timing, too!

My sister and 2 of my cousins graduated from high school this month. So I made them each a little present -- custom name tags for them to use in college :)

Creating an Identity

If you've noticed, I haven't posted much last February, and this is the reason why. I've been taking logo design classes from Nicole's Classes.

And these.. are the fruits of my labor.

the LOGO and its variations:

the STATIONERY SYSTEM: 

a banner - just to let the client see how else she can use the elements I've designed for her.

(The pattern is sketchy, I know, I haven't finished working on that yet)

business cards:

Now I say labor because there was just so much work involved! As a designer, you didn't JUST design the logo, you had to create a whole IDENTITY, and infuse some personality, some life into it. It's a 4 week long class and it was enough to keep me off blogger for a while. In those 4 weeks, I practically wrung my brains out. Logo design is hard! But it was good brain exercise. And I had loads of fun. It's a good way to bring out your creativity, it helps you to think outside the box. This is for a real client, by the way. It's for an online shopping site called GOZAARS. My teacher liked it and so did my client (thankfully) and I'm hoping to see it live and in action once she launches her site :)

Experiment

An experiment I made for my Illustrator class. 

Notes to self: don't rely too heavily on clipping masks when photoshop is available.

                      expand only AFTER all the editing.

Watercolor practice

Be Still My Heart

I went swimming about 2 weeks ago at our local sports club and found it quite bare and looking a bit lonely. I guess I got so used to seeing the place decked out in cheerful Christmas decor for the past few months, that this sudden change surprised me a little. Gone were the sparkling lights, the bright greens of Christmas wreathes and the reds and golds of bows, glitter, and poinsettias. What the sports club didn't remove though, were a few leafless, fake, white trees, that used to glow with white and blue lights. But where the lights were previously, now hung strings of red, glittery hearts. I thought it odd at first. Valentines isn't 'till February. And then I checked my phone, and realized february is less than 2 weeks away!

Time sure flies, doesn't it. January barely got here! Blogs too, are already celebrating Valentines' -- hearts, I-love-you's, and be-mine's seem to be everywhere!

So, I decided to join in the fun and create my own Valentines art. I had this idea for a while, thanks to the song Be Still My Heart by the Postal Service. :-)

Let it Snow

Yes I know, it's kind of late for a winter-y, Christmas-y post but what can I do? I've only just learned how to make a snowflake in illustrator, thanks to Alma from Nicole's Classes! The ballerina snowflakes here are actually my homework for my Ornaments and Embellishments class.

The other 3 snowflakes that look like paper cut-outs are, well, really paper cut-outs! I made for last December for our family's Christmas party decor. I used my old watercolor paintings, the ones I didn't care much for because I thought they looked awful. Well I only needed the clean side so I cut them out. Imagine my surprise after I turned them over. My paintings looked a lot cooler! It's kinda sad though that they had to have pieces of them missing to look nicer. Haha.

Anyway, there you have it! Who needs winter when you can make your own snow? :-)

Dream, Believe, Love

My sister's school project..

that I made!

My sister asked me to create a t-shirt design that would represent the poem she wrote for her assignment. She wanted it to be cute but cool. 

So, I came up with this -- Ed Hardy meets Oana Befort!

I'm sure it needs more fine tuning, though. I had to re-color everything several times because the pink of the heart overpowered everything else. Live paint -- which I haven't quite gotten the hang of -- was my only option, I had to lose the multiply effect on my flowers, too. I think I did ok, though :-)

Triangle Pastels

Triangles in soft pastels.

Good color combos are key to a seamless pattern. You don't just pick out a bunch of swatches and throw them in (the way I did initially). It took me the longest time to recolor everything. Each color has to compliment with the ones around it so that they don't compete with each other.

The Power of Prayer

I've always wanted to create something that expresses my faith. I created this design for my Illustrator 102 class a while back. It was originally a plain illustration which I turned into a desktop wallpaper. This is just a small glimpse of how we (Nichiren Buddhists) pray. Prayer is a huge part, not just of my faith, but of everyone else's I'm sure. It's the most important activity in a person's day, but it's never done enough. So, here's a little reminder of the power of prayer.

Milk tea, anyone?

We've got 6 large pitchers of the yummiest milk tea in the fridge -- courtesy of the Brew-Kus team! (Brew-Kus bosses more like) That should make at least 20 cups of absolutely FREE milk tea. Oh yeah. Come and have yourself a some! I've been drinking this stuff since Saturday. Who knows how much weight I'll gain by the end of the week.

And, in honor of the successful tea tasting survey and focus group discussion (FGD for short. *ahem ahem*) held yesterday at our hotel, I made these little lovelies!

Coffee, tea or me? 

I've been playing with this idea in my mind for the longest time. It was about time I got it out! So here it is, a pattern on coffee cups and teacups. :)

Someday, when I do manage (or own even!) a milk tea business, I shall have this printed and hung on my little milk tea shop.

On my Desk

The mess that is called my desk.

Travel Essentials

A new pattern inspired by my most recent travel -- Korea! 

Bloom

Dolls :)

Pick a set!

Office-table Friends

This just goes to show that inspiration is everywhere! I see these little fellas everyday at work. They keep me company at my busiest, and during breaks! (Enter, neck pillow and mug) I was bound to think of some art featuring them :)

Sunny Sunday!

Another something I created for Nicole's Classes Illustrator 102 class. This idea has been nagging at me for days. Well, here it is. Have a great sunday! :-)