Vector Mucho?

This is a portrait I made of Jalon, an extraordinary artist in Spain.

I kinda messed up his visible eye but I still love this portrait~

This is Nil Bartolozzi, an artist in Barcelona~

I love the colors on this one and the lines too.

I guess everyone's picked it up by now that I am as much as a vector illustrator as I am a female. I don’t know exactly what I meant by that but it sounds right, doesn’t it?

The Art of SoulPancake

A few  months back, I discovered a website where I can ask & answer questions, ponder on some talk points and throw my ideas out to a community that would actually come back to me and let me know what they think. It's a very engaging website were conversations are created and simple ideas grow into complex ones. You can find a spectrum of subjects to talk about and explore like art, philosophy, whathaveyous. The site is called SoulPancake. In SoulPancake, no opinions are discriminated and no views are blocked! It's some what motto is : CHEW ON LIFE'S BIG QUESTIONS.

SoulPancake on "What is SoulPancake?": It's a place for you to TALK about your soul and the existence of God. It's a space to ENGAGE in art, philosophy, creativity, truth, and beauty. And ultimately, SoulPancake is a community of people who are digging DEEPER to figure out what it means to be human and to experience this rich, strange, difficult, and awesome journey called life. 

At first, it can be intimidating to join in on conversations and or answer some questions posted, but if you open your mind to the possibility of getting back something in exchange of putting your thoughts out there, you will be a very happy and satisfied camper. 

Football For Juan

 Photo from Getty Images

Unless you've been living under a rock or simply living in the Philippines, a day ago, Spain won the FIFA World Cup Finals 2010. Their win lead to some discussions of whether Football is a sport for Juan or not. First thought that popped into my head when I read this article was, "Are you kidding me? Football is the game for Filipinos!". While some of his points, I can take, like the need of heavy support from the Government, overall, the article left me with no nodding head. Saying that you have to be enrolled in a good school to play Football is rubbish. I mean, really? Have you been to Bacolod? Have you been to Davao or Dumaguete?  Also, football can be played if you have less than 11 players a side and it can most certainly  be played without the "expensive shoes". Clearly this guy doesn't know the sport very well or has no love for the game for him to understand it better. It's just sad.  

Thank goodness for people that love and understand the game as much as I do.  I found this article and have to say that I share the same sentiments with him. I  like what he said about how Football is a simple sport and "The only time a normal person plays in a 21 man, expensive shoe, two hour football game is if he is playing it competitively and professionally."

Football can be played by every Juan. You can play it with a buddy or with the barkada. It does not discriminate height which is perfect for Juans cause we are not giants! Any Juan can play this sport and it can be as enjoyable as any other sport we Filipinos love. Personally, I think Basketball is a game for show. Puro yabangan. What most of the players have become: bloating, glory hogs whose playing area is just 1/8 of a Football field. Come on.

If it helps you to take in more the concept of Football for Juan, you should know PAULINO ALCANTARA.

Paulino Alcantara was born in Iloilo in 1896 and is the highest goal scorer in FC Barcelona's History with 357 goals and 357 games. He is also the youngest player ever to make it to the senior team!

"Paulino Alcántara is considered one of Barca’s legendary players because of his goal scoring exploits. He lacked the build of a stereotypical athlete, but he possessed the killer instincts of a matador. This offensive machine knew where the goal was and often made sure that the ball was in it." - FC Barcelona website

He became a legend even before Ronaldo, Beckham, Cannavaro and David Villa!  

He's a football superstar and he is Filipino.

Football is the perfect game for Filipinos...many Juans just don't know it yet.

Joga Bonito!

SFM

Some good reads about Juans and soccer:

Pinoy Soccer Star to Meet President Obama After Leading Team to MLS Cup 

UK's First Pinoy Soccer Team Finishes 2nd

The Philippine National Football Team

♬ Listening to: Hello Operator's The Breaks Album

Isip Laging Nakaakbay sa Daloy ng Hangin~

One of the many things I do (when I find time) is research old Filipino poems and love songs. There's a happy string in me that gets plucked when I read lines from poets and writers that sing of love and or misery.

Mamaalam,
Tala kong may ngiti
Saglit lamang
May huling habilin~
-Alay, Imago

Di alangan sa tukso ng ulan
Ang ihip ng hangin tila nambibitin
Atin ng simulan
-Monobloc, Pupil


Kung ang libingan ko'y limot na ng lahat
at wala ng kurus at batong mabakas,
bayaang linangin ng taong masipag,
lupa'y asarolin at kahuya’y ikalat.
-Huling Paalam, Rizal

Isn't the Filipino language one of the most beautiful in the world?

Sadly, I am not a good Filipino writer. I suck at it. My suckage (?) at writing in Filipino couldn't save my life if it had to. Thank goodness I have friends who have that magic in them to compose lines of lovely-written poems in our vernacular.

I can just always live through them, right?

Or in this case, I live through their words by illustrations.

The illustration below was made for World Weed Day 2009 and is inspired by words of  a very good friend, Simone. The illustration could use some more lines here and there but I don't want it to look over-worked~

Lunod sa kaangasan ng buhay
Isip ay laging nakaakbay
Sa daloy ng hangin
Tungo sa kalawakan ng papawirin.

Halos kalbo, kung tumubo ay tuwid
Ngunit sigurado akong magiging kulot sa gilid
Pati takbo ng iyong kokote
Parang bagong panganak na kiti-kiti.

Sa agos walang kasiguraduhan
Na hindi dadaplis sa kung anuman
Ngunit mangyari man, makakaahon din
Sasara rin ang sugat na malalim.

Maging sa simoy ng hangin
Maaaring mabaho o marumi ang pasukin
Bawat hinga  masakit sa lalamunan
Ngunit may ngiti namang maabangan.

Pasalita ka na ng pang-makata
Kantang sabay sa ritmo ng kuliglig at palaka
Wala namang saysay ang mga sinasabi
Ngunit musika ang labas mula sa mga labi.

Palakpak at hawak ng kamay
Parang napakalayo ng paglalakbay
Dala mo’y kalokohan at kasiyahan
At nakarating na tayo bago pa natin malaman.


Here's to Filipino Literature!
Kampay! Kampay!
SFM



♬ Listening to: Alay by Imago & Sumasabay by Pupil
✈ On my office chair, in rainy Makati~

BabyCakes!

I adore lines. Lines, in my opinion, make my illustrations look less naked. 

A few months ago, I saw a photo of this squish-worthy baby in Tumblr.

It reminded me of Neil Gaiman’s short, Babycakes and so it resulted to the illustration below.

The whole illustration is basically made up of lines and layers and layers of color. I couldn't give justice to this baby's eyes though. They are of a cat's! They're so beautiful.  

I don't know if you get the idea behind the toys I drew in. Closest guess, gets a kiss! Haha.

Babycakes is one of my favorite shorts by Gaiman. It’s about how one day, animals disappeared and in place of them, humans used babies…to eat, to test products on…that kind of creepy. I remember reading this as I listen to Eels' Flyswatter. It's a perfect mix of creepy; song and story! Below this, I've posted a screen shot of the Babycakes artwork done by Jouni Koponen.

You can see and read full Babycakes here.

Cheers!

SFM

♬ Listening to: Monster by The Automatic! & Flyswatter by Eels

☮ Wearing my tan skirt from 6th grade! Haha.

Spongebob in Real Life

You know how on Tumblr, you see so many awesome posts to reblog and then you stumble upon one that makes the others you've just reblogged look so ordinary? This is that one that stood out to me today.

What a fucking genius, this kid who wrote this.
It's Spongebob in real life.

For people who feel like they've lived inside a pineapple~

SFM

 ♬ Listening to: Franco's, Castaway

Some Facts About My Toys & My Hair

This is by far my favorite illustration of my 9 year old self (not that I had plenty).
Unlike some of my illustrations, this comes with a background story~