Rarely (or never?) upload pics of me on this blog so here’s two.

Finally finished my first digital painting EVER. Worked on this discontinuously due to the usual reasons (school, blah blah blah) and it was quite challenging considering I’m a detail-freak when it comes to portraits. I wish I could’ve done more but decided to leave it like this before I ruin the whole thing.

I would like to thank my adviser during my freshman year at high school, for believing in and supporting my skill. A few months ago, she gave her Wacom Bamboo CTH 670 pen and tablet to me as a hand-me-down gift. It was so sudden and unexpected. Honestly, I never even imagined receiving one this early - I’m not financially capable of buying my own and my parents clearly have other “more important” priorities. That’s why I’m so grateful - and - excited to see what I can make using it in the future.

Good news, guys! A few days ago, I got a surprise present from someone close to me - my high school freshmen adviser who’s also one of my mom’s coworkers. She handed me her Wacom Bamboo CTH-670 tablet because she wasn’t using it anymore in her photography. Of course I was very, very speechless because I didn’t expect it at all.

This is the first piece I’m practicing on using the tablet. At first I was uncomfortable since it was so tricky - I’ve been used to making illustrations with the mouse and the pen tool since I started tinkering on digital art when I was 14. Amateur tip: if you can make it look like you’re not a beginner at something, do it.

Progress of Daenerys’ portrait a few days ago. Haven’t been able to work on this because the following is getting in the way:

1) My grieving for Jon Snow (you don’t get through more than five thousand pages of ASoIaF and five seasons of the show and have your favorite character stabbed to death like it’s nothing! T_T). 2) College - acads and co-curricular responsibilities 3) My thesis 4) The anxiety that I might never finish it the way I want to.

Life was escaping me, I couldn’t find myself till it was all lost. Not anymore. I’m holding on to all the pieces of my heart’s debris till it’s time. I’ll pull it together and fix myself eventually. I know it’s mine.

I found gold in the wreckage...

I haven’t finished my second drawing of Daenerys and yet I had the urge to start a new personal piece. Trying to achieve a “double exposure” effect on this one and I can’t say I’m doing pretty well at it. But, it doesn’t hurt to try!

This is what I’m currently working on at the moment - but I’m taking baby steps. I’ve known my entire life I’ll never be one of those artists who gets stuff done within a day. Hopefully I finish this before the season ends.

Clearly, I feel bad for not keeping this blog alive as much as I intend to because I can’t always draw and illustrate all the time. Sigh. Anyway, I’m not dead.

Last year, I signed myself into the clone club. I love the show, I LOVE IT. Originally, I planned to draw my four favorite clones but due to time constraints, I only ended up drawing Sarah and Helena. I was not even able to finish this properly. I wanted to draw DNA strands below them as well, because - biology nerds, you get me. I don’t have to explain it. Consider this one a work in progress.

But who knows, I might be able to have time for it once this semester ends. I’m currently conducting my college thesis so, I hope I can get out in one piece.

My second commission for 2015 for a couple from Brooklyn, NYC. I was requested to recreate a picture of a room and illustrate it with the couple sitting on the right corner and convert the outside scenery to an evening thunderstorm.

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Interested to have a commission done? Check out my digital catalog for design/illustrating jobs I can offer.

My first commission in 2015. This is a mix-tape cover design for a young rapper/producer.

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Interested to have a commission done? Check out my digital catalog for design/illustrating jobs I can offer.

Hey guys! I couldn't find a better way to begin my year than to "officially" start my sideline business of creating drawings and illustrations as a source of income to attempt being financially independent.

So, I created a digital catalog of what services I will be able to offer you. This PDF shows samples of my work in their specific category (which I did try my best to categorize since I'm often clueless where to place them) and their price just in case you'd like to place an order.

If you want to take a look, it's available for viewing and download. Just go to my blog and click the "Commission Catalog" on my navigation bar. It will lead you to Dropbox where you can go check it out. :)

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IMPORTANT NOTES and Possible FAQs:

There are things that I didn't put in that catalog for reasons like they're kind of unnecessary to be there but I still hope you'll be aware of, just in case.

1.) Advantages of not haggling your total payment.

It's inevitable that the price range for my works will be too much for somebody and it'll always lead to haggling or in my local term "tawad" or "hangyo". Anyway, I'm not greedy so I can allow you to take away 5-10% from your total order.

However, if you'll be willing to pay the full amount, I'd be happy to say what's in it for you:

Free final revisions - Just in case you're not satisfied with the final composition of a design or illustration, I'll continue to work on your request until you're pleased. The number of final revisions allowed would be a maximum of three.

On-time output - When paying with full amount, I will try my best to work on your request so it can get done within the time frame I've allotted for the kind of commission you've requested. Haggling your total payment may cause me to delay your request because I'll be prioritizing those who pay the exact amount of their orders (plus the shipping fee for printed/hand-drawn orders).

2.) Order Slots

Since I'm still in college and I'm posting this in the middle of my semester, the number of requests I can take may vary. I'm pretty sure I  can entertain a maximum of 3-4 orders per month but it depends on the complexity of the pieces I'll be working on. I'm going for a proper queuing system.

3) Other reasons why I made an ordering catalog.

If you've read it, you'll know that I want to lessen the frustration of adjusting prices for different clients even though they're requesting the same type of work. It's totally unfair for me and for a client who is overpaying me for a commission. I can't deny this happened several times already and I'm quite sick of it. I want to start this small business with honesty and fairness for me and my future clients. What took me SO long to finish this catalog is that I had doubts on my prices - were they too cheap? too expensive? I've based them from the average of the lowest and highest payments I've received for my previous commissions. I've worked on several outputs in the past year but decided not to post my works on my blog.

So, if you happen to be that person who think my prices are too expensive, I don't care if I'll sound mean saying this but...Just don't bother ordering. I've encountered freeloaders in the past and it really drags! I can't even begin to describe the horrible feeling and I have only myself to blame because it is I who chose to take their requests in the first place. I've finally known (from reading a Design Taxi article haha) that there are no bad clients, just freelancers who are bad at choosing them - and yes, I've been there.

I know my prices are a cheaper compared to artists who offer the same work I do and I really intended it to be that way because, for the nth time, I'm not an art or design major. I'm not a professional. I do these things out of pure passion only. I do get the feeling that I should increase some just a little bit but I chose not to.

If you don't have a problem with my prices at all, then I'm very happy with the thought. I love getting requests from people who know how to pay properly when it comes to these things.

4) Do you offer other services not included in your catalog?

Yes! But I didn't include those works yet because I don't have a specific price range for them and I don't get them usually like the ones I've put in there. Please, feel free to inquire me about a design job that isn't included there but you have a feeling like I can do it. However, I can't promise that I can do it 100%. I've emphasized on my introduction section that there are a lot of design jobs you should offer to professionals.

5) What type of commissions are you planning to include soon?

"The heart has a yearning for the unknown, a longing to penetrate the deep shadow and the winding glade, where, as it seems, no human foot has been."

- Richard Jefferies

My latest illustration as a whole, "A Yearning for the Unknown". The original size of this is 21x11.5" with 200dpi. Yep, the title is from that quote which was the inspiration behind my work. Let's face it, I'm pretty bad at making titles for my works and I wouldn't really think of one if the contest I joined in didn't require it.

The reason why I don't like putting titles to my works is that they don't have a "deep" meaning or concept, as in, they don't conjure emotions in other people, unlike other works of art. I do admire artworks that can strum my strings and make me feel something and I feel sad that most of my works don't do the same to me. Sigh. The process might be painstaking for me but in the end, I'm just, never mind.

I do yearn for adventure, to have horizons that are brand new. But sometimes, I think that maybe I just love the idea of it - I'm a choosy and moody traveler in real life AND I have separation anxieties which is weird for a 20 year old, I guess. But as of now, I can't do anything about it.

Snippets of my latest finished illustration. There's a bit of Icelandic influence here and there obviously because I'm dying to visit that country but it's far from happening as of now. And of course, floating hot-air balloon ships which are my dream fictional transportation!

Actually, let me be honest - I have a lot to say about this one. Heck, I might even write a book for it but I'm just kidding, here it goes.

This piece nearly killed me! I didn't do this in the middle of free periods, gracefully tracing those floating islands and owl feathers - I made this in the middle of feeling like I'm running out of time (duh, I had my college thesis concept paper and exams in the way) and like I'll never finish it the way I want it to (which I think I did).

I've never drank so much coffee in my entire life than when I was working on this one. I was chugging 2-3 cups per day and I worked on this discontinuously for two weeks. On the night I was supposed to finish it (the night before the freaking deadline!) I felt like I had a caffeine overdose on my 3rd cup of coffee because I suddenly had difficulty in breathing and was very nauseous that I puked three times after a few moments. It was SO scary that I vowed not to drink coffee for a week or two. I felt really bad for pushing my body to its limits. I ended up cramming my way to the "finish line" on the day of the deadline. I was able to submit it so that was relieving!

It was tough to hold my hopes together even if I knew in the first place that I'll have no chance in winning the contest I made this for - which is for the Samsung Digital Masters. I feel even slightly pathetic for joining in the first place because, compared to other contestants, I'm basically the underdog of the underdogs but I can't deny that I'm so grateful that had an opportunity to join (thanks to my friend, Peniel, for tagging me on Facebook! She deserves a special mention!). Joining that contest will give my work a bit of exposure, at least I'm optimistic about that part. And who knows, maybe this piece will lead me to something better. Besides, it's no surprise this won't "win" because Samsung Masterpieces, I think, is already dropping the names of the finalists, if you know what I mean.

I might have a lot of moments in the middle wherein I felt like flipping over my desk, give up, have a meltdown and maybe check myself into a looney bin afterwards. But I got past those things and I finished it. I. Finished. It.