The Ship Maiden

I can feel this year will be a creative one (hopefully) since I have wonderful and adventurous plans for it, and be able to create things that might help my emerging artistic career. As you know, after my graduation, I have been in this kind of "struggle" to meet end's meets rather than to pursue what my personal desire to be a full time illustrator.

 

Photo by Teters Enrique

 

Photo by Teters Enrique

So I'm on a corporate world, where the world are mountains of steel and concrete rather than woods and leaves, computer screen and office papers instead of panels and brushes and trend-indulged, mainstream-oriented people rather than souls who are outsiders, art-and-crafts lovers and handmade enthusiasts.

Photo by Teters Enrique

Photo by Teters Enrique

But things are getting went well because of The Bunny who share my interests in umber, medieval, arts and crafts. We see ourselves as a very tiny patch of brown wood with rustic metalwork on a concrete (even polluted perhaps) gray, monotonous landscape.

But we still manage to gradually built our dreams by comparing and exchanging works and words and talk about our future plans and sometimes daydreaming about them. Among this work was the painting I am talking about earlier. A woman with ocean blue hair oaring her house in a boat. This is a painting for her, a dedication to her role as a woman in our artistic life.

The panel is most likely scrap wood (though I still bought it), which is I often wanted to explore on how they can be productive under my hands and mostly I get used to since I mostly use scrap materials since my childhood.

It took me almost a month to finish this, especially the finishing touches where I still have to master glazing in acrylic and finer details. What's interesting about glazing is that it really creates some sort of depth and illusion to the painting, and so far I am happy with its results (and The Bunny too!)

I am still stuck with the wonders of Northern Renaissance paintings, particularly, of course, Jan Van Eyck. But that will probably change course a little bit for a while on my next personal project, which involves impossible perspectives inspired by Iassen Ghiuselev and M.C. Escher 's works. I am about to quest another children's book illustration contest that I might get a chance to have a published work.

Postscript: My college friend, Teters, took the cityscape pictures from our trip to the old and neglected buildings in Manila. I will post some of our pictures soon.