Starter

For my first post, I would like to share how this passion project began. It was my curious observation of a Faber-Castell set of watercolor pencils from a trip to a local school and art supplies store that made me decide to put it on top of my gift exchange wish list last December. At that time, I never knew such thing existed. I was amused and amazed by the 2-in-1 feature of the product. Imagine, one uses the precision of the pencil for illustration and then turns it into a watercolor artwork with a touch of wet brush - not so messy at all. I just thought this might help me win back my passion for illustration that has been gone for almost seven years.

When I got the pencils, I did not use them yet. I brought them back to my hometown of Naga City (located in Camarines Sur, Philippines) during the holidays. I began my hunt for my first subject. One day, my family and I ate in a locally known restaurant that has an interior full of nostalgic stuff from the time of 20's up to the 60's - jukebox, vinyl records and portraits of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe wall art, vintage SLRs, what not. While eating, my attention was caught by a portrait of the handsome James Dean. Right there, I knew it had to be my starter.

I took my reference photo from the web (I'm sorry for not noting the link) and drew on my 7 x 10 sketchbook - another Christmas gift I got from a close friend and office colleagues who is also into the Arts. It was not that good but it was a good start.

Eventually, I had to test the pencils' watercolor feature with this colorful plant on an equally colorful pot as my subject. But I think I failed to turn it into a decent watercolor art as I made heavy brush strokes that ruined some areas of my work. Well, I did not dwell much on the failure so I decided to stick to the pencil side and moved onto the next.

I was on the phase of just trying any subject. I found myself trying architecture with perhaps the most iconic structure in Australia - the Sydney Opera House. The reference photo I got from the web (again, failed to note the link, I promise not to do this again) was taken during the glorious hour of sunset, filled with warm hues such as orange, red, yellow orange and the cool hue of violet. I was not as much concerned with the white areas that time as I am now so my only gripe was that darker colors were transferring to the other page every time I closed the sketchbook.

Portraiture was next after finding inspiration from Asian traditional clothes. I drew two pairs of men and women wearing the Japanese kimono (left) and Korean hanbok (right). I mostly made up the drawing from my imagination except for some details from the real versions of the dresses. I think this is the piece where I started to become more conscious with layering the colors and I really had a lot of fun doing it.

These pieces essentially tell the start of my art venture with colored pencils. I am so happy to to find the satisfaction in using colored pencils because the medium suits my characteristic of being very patient when it comes to creating something not only for me but for others to see and understand.

More to come as I try to tell stories with the other pieces I made earlier this year.