Two Exhibitions in April

Just waiting for my latest colored in work from Narelle Craven's "Percy and the Mystic Island" from the frame shop and I'd say all these are ready to go.

I'm talking about half of these framed works from coloring books being sent to the University of Sto. Tomas Museum for an event entitled "Color More, Stress Less", a joint project of the Colleges of Psychology and Fine Arts.

The 4-week run will feature the adult coloring trend in an exhibition and academic talks. The two lectures are interesting, they will tackle the artistic and psychological dimensions of colors in visual art. 

Entrance Fee in the museum is P50 per person. It is open on weekdays only (see bottom of poster for museum operating hours). So starting Monday, April 11, works of colorists from our group, Coloring Book for Adults, may be viewed until May 6, 2016 at the UST Museum Gallery. 

Other koloristas whose works will be included in the exhibition are Vermailene Barrios, Gilda Loja, Ian de Jesus, Ayn Descalsote, Cathy Lasam-Ballo, and Jacqueline Simpao-Callanta. 

Another exhibit (more like mall display) that will feature my works as an adult colorist, is in SM Megamall, Mega Fashion Hall. This will be on the weekend of April 16 & 17. During the event hosted by SM Stationery and sponsored by Faber Castell Philippibes I will also be holding 1-hour workshops for interested colorists and walk-in participants sometime around 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. We koloristas are also calling the gathering an OCC™, our term for our signature event where we meet and greet other hobbyists for an afternoon of fun and learning. 

I'm really excited about the new frontiers we're opening up for all the adult colorists in the country. It's time we democratize art with our renderings and make everyone realize that the practice of art is universal. 

Click here to watch a video I made in YouTube featuring some of my works. All those you see in the clip are attributed in the various entries in this blog. 

Nine Pairs

In the aftermath of the massacre in Mendiola, Manila in 1987 a pile of slippers was seen by a young Bedan student after he left school that fateful day. 

This illustration of the pile is again a poignant reminder that those who once wore them crossed a significant path in their lives which demanded that they part with something after. To others it may have very well been just their slippers, to others it may have been their very lives. For the victims of the Mendiola Massacre January 22, 1987, and the Kidapawan Massacre, April 1, 2016. 

Feel free to download and color for  #kulaykidapawan

Related links: 

PDF file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yss3zpln4r3p4ix/Pile%20of%20Slippers.pdf?dl=0

La Vida Lawyer Blog

http://lavidalawyer.blogspot.com/2016/04/121-every-massacre-is-repetition-of.html?m=1

Philippine Daily Inquirer:

http://m.philstar.com/314190/show/3b3028438ef834aeb3ba2196641185c4/?

Steampunk Hat

I had one of the biggest surprises in my life as a colorista when I got invited (more like 'assigned' haha!) to a Facebook chat group that was to be the temporary  homebase of cover artists for Narelle Craven's latest Percy title, "Percy and the Mystic Island". It was a no-brainer, I said yes immediately, and was assigned by the team to color the only steampunk image in the book, a portrait of a lady wearing a hat with gears and spokes. 

In any project in the past that I wished to give my all in I always enlarged the size before I rendered on it. I did the same to this image, I had it printed on an A3 size vellum board. 

I took out my PanPastel pans for skin shades (orange tint, red iron oxide, red iron oxide tint, burnt siena, burnt siena tint) and started to dab her neck and shoulder little by little with its chalk powder. After a few hours I was happy with the result. 

Coloring the rest of the details was something I struggled with. I realized that the artist in me wanted a monochromatic approach to most of the parts. I wasn't very sure though that my wild idea would be acceptable to Narelle Craven, whose past Percy coloring book series were known for their colorful covers and art. To end the struggle I succumbed to my need for self-expression. 

I first went ahead with the bluish colored lighting effect shining from the back. I think I used more than three shades of blue there. Polychromos oil pencils of Faber Castell has the most exciting blue shades around! The bluish light was supposed to be cast all the way up to the lower part of the gears on her head. Whenever I'd get bored in the middle of my coloring (which took about 5 days to finish) I would take a photo of my wip using my phone camera and play with the light adjustment in the edit feature. 

 

The above image was how it looked when set towards the dark end. Notice how the blue light effect seemingly shows protruded details on the butterfly-like figure behind her shoulder? I love how the use of light blue colors helps achieve that drama. 

Likewise the orange light shining in front of her casts a pale glow on the vegetation growing to her right. I just love the subtle drama it shows.

I'm glad I did follow my instincts because in the end Narelle said she loved the finished work, teared up a bit even.

As for the background, the clouds, I colored most of the parts using both of my hands. Am not ambi but I decided I'd make use of the extra hand, after all it was capable of holding the pencil upright and moving it slightly. 

Here's the clip of that rather odd technique: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xje23tbtjli86j/2016-04-03%2009.44.48.mov?dl=0

The book just recently came out. It WAS available in Amazon US and Colour of Calm Australia, unfortunately I heard it's already sold out. Worth waiting for the next batch of printing, that's for sure.

 

As for the Steampunk Hat image it's already been exhibited in a mall display for colorists last weekend, and someone has already offered to purchase it. I'm still thinking about selling it though.

Exciting times indeed! Who knows what lies ahead for us modern day coloristas. 

OCC™, Our Distinct Brand of Coloring Happiness

The koloristas flashing the OCC™hand sign at the first OCC™held in Dolcelatte, SM Megamall

In the Philippines there are several other Facebook coloring groups but the only one I joined is Coloring Book for Adults Philippines (CBAP). My coloring days were never the same after. The koloristas (adult coloring enthusiasts, what we call ourselves in CBAP) of the group became my chatter mates about coloring materials, book titles, authors, artists, art exhibits, coloring inspirations, copyright law, book launches, hoarding, selling, sellers, fairs, wishlists, OCCs, more OCCs! I can go on but you already get what I mean haha!

At this point you might already be wondering what an OCC is and what it stands for. It's a term I coined actually, an acronym for Over Coffee Coloring™ (trademark pending) which started with "kulitan" (poking fun and teasing) among some of us koloristas online. A handful of koloristas nudged me to coach some coloring techniques which I agreed to do for fun. I also openly declared that I wasn't an art tutor so suggested  that we use the term coaching instead, and that we can do it over a cup of coffee, hence over-coffee coaching. Over time 'coaching' evolved to the broader term 'coloring'. 

The first gathering took place in Dolcelatte, SM Megamall in Metro Manila. A couple of days before the meet-up I was already declining people from joining since I only reserved a small cafe that can comfortably seat 40 people. And by the way I also got Vermailene Barrios to join us by then, author of Kulay Pinoy and colorist extraordinaire, and sellers in the group to sign up which explains the full house. The program that panned out was nothing short of unique, and it happened spontaneously mind you. Well, not really, I did have an outline of how it could go but we were all still open to wherever our mood would bring us. After that OCC™ I felt a door was opened to us, that we can all actually be friends in person even if it's our first time to meet each other!

Now how can I describe what an OCC™ is to people who may be interested to feature us and our future gatherings? I tried, here it is.

Over Coffee Coloring™ is a unique gathering that draws koloristas (coloring enthusiasts) to, spontaneously or otherwise, converge in cafes, restaurants, private homes, and offices for the purpose of social interaction and advancing one’s skills in coloring. 

What was originally a loose term for us since its initial salvo has developed into a recognizable meeting with a distinct form and following. After our first OCC™ impromptu organizers in the CBAP group would then test the waters by hinting if an OCC can be held in their particular area or city. Once other koloristas respond with a "let's go!" the word is spread and before you know it we're all seeing each other in person and sharing our ideas and passion for coloring within the brief time we have together. And it's always brief. Three to four hours is never enough when one is in the OCC™ among kindred spirits in coloring. 

A group during an OCC™demo by Art Coach Dino Copreros

In a span of five months six (6) formal OCC™’s have already been mounted in various areas in Metro Manila not to mention numerous other informal ones, called mini-OCC™s. Before 2016 is over there are six (6) more OCC™’s scheduled to take place in different areas and cities, including one in Cebu City.

OCC™in SM Mall of Asia (MOA) in January 2015

Since I was requested for a video about me and the OCC™ recently I thought I'd share it here, too, for inspiration. I hope you enjoy viewing it. And in case you still need some push to hold your own OCC™ after watching this send me a message and I'll tell you how easy it is to throw an OCC™ party for all the koloristas in your area. It's always a treat to hold one I tell you. 

Watch the video here 🎥

http://youtu.be/nMaKUTGhhig

A Lenten Reflection In Pencil Strokes

Instead of Lenten readings I found myself taking a quiet mental walk in my cozy world colors while laying pigments on this image. It was like saying a prayer for every pencil stroke, a mindful exercise of keeping my heart free of any yearning other than what the pencil and the paper wish to accomplish through me. 

Where the artist's lines curve there my wrist follows.

Where the petals meet in the flower's core there my darkest shades converge. 

Where the tips open up to the light there my pencil lifts as if in flight, to leave the surface white, free of color, to bare the highlight. 

Petal Maddock, a colorist friend, gave an insightful comment about my recent muted works admiring the restraint she surmised I had summoned to finish them. 'Less is more' was my reply to her comment. Indeed that's what I may have developed, not just as an approach to coloring, but as a way of living as well. 

Adult coloring is an addicting hobby to many but to me it's evolving as a manner of self expression in my adult years, to show how much I have come to appreciate my life, my family, my friends, and myself. There is much to be pruned in me but that too must be appreciated.

In the absence of extravagant colors, in the muted presence of the greys that are normally shunned is a kind of spiritual solace. A concealed yet still beautiful path to take for a deeper understanding of beauty and life that are all, ultimately, gifts to our being.  

Muted (Dagdrömmar)

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I woke up to a gray Monday. It wasn't cloudy, just a kind of longing inside me to color with my grays. 

I opened Hannah Karlzon's Dagdrommar which has been with me for three months already but with not a single page finished.

Here are my unfinished pages. 

For some strange reason I don't feel like continuing the three works above anymore. As if color inspirations escaped me once I was halfway through with them. 

But today was an exception. For this image of a Spartan lady it was smooth sailing from the start, no mental blockades at all. It was like something was telling me that for this (and maybe for the rest of the pages in this book), muted is the way to go. 

I used five gray pencils for the face alone: 90% Gris Chaud

50% Gris Chaud

30% Gris Chaud

70% Warm Grey

10% Gris Froid

I'm convinced this is pretty much how the rest of my Dagdrömmar (daydream) images should be rendered. 

Cloudy Skies Over Venice

It's been a topsy turvy Friday morning in my corner of the house. I had wanted to finish the Venice page from the book Street Traveling by Jeongjiwon before lunch so I started dabbling in it before my husband, Marvin, and I even had breakfast.

Two hours later, with two buildings left to color on the left side of the spread I took a break and  mindlessly flipped through the posts of the coloristas at the Coloring Book for Adults Philippines group page. I then came across Ian's video clips on blending. 'Wow, sipag, galing ni Ian!' I thought. Then came the inspiration to shoot a short video clip of the remaining water part I was about to color using Inktense pencils and paint brush.

So I hurriedly fixed my tripod and selfie stick and lodged the phone on the clamp, rather routine when I take videos of works in progress.

Now here's the thing, I never took note of the proper orientation of the phone when taking videos. So, when the shot video appeared sideways on my phone screen I knew the project was going to take more time than I intended. 

To cut the long story short I uploaded the 'sideways' video but apologized to everyone who would be viewing it (or would be turned off from viewing it) since I knew there was no way I could reorient it from my phone, laptop, or any other device I had.

Good thing my friend Eli Lorenzo saw it and came to the rescue. She downloaded the video using this app:

http://www.fbdown.net/down.php, then edited it using Movie Maker, and even added nice royalty-free background music from https://musopen.org/. She is such an angel!

You may view the video from this link: https://www.facebook.com/ces.aceron/posts/10154047317788945
   

A word on the sky that I painted though, it was an afterthought.

Since I was bent on using only Inktense watercolor pencils on this picture I went along and shaded the sky area with very light lines at first. But then I had instead this brilliant (rather moronic, really) idea of scratching the tip of the pencil against sandpaper and letting the dust fall loosely on the page. Next, with my wet brush in hand and much bravado I swooshed the pigments around on that small part of the page leaving a big blue blot that I could not lift even after adding more water. That's Inktense for you.

Anyhow, I didn't want to blame myself immediately after and just thought it could still be rectified later on. The only thing left to do then was to just continue laying the blue the same way until the entire sky was done. 

When I was finished I studied the image I had created of the sky and started to notice that the uneven coloring could pass off as cumulonimbus clouds! It was a speck of light in the end of the tunnel, not exactly a eureka moment because I wasn't entirely sure it would work, but I had no other choice, I had to take it. I went in with the Aquamarine Inktense pencil and sketched tiny lines here and there until, voila! the clouds looked like it was deliberately done.

I'm definitely charging this to experience, as my friend colorist Cathy Lasam-Ballo comfortingly suggested. 

Happy Weekend everyone, life is good and beautiful!