Things I Want to Learn in 2011:
- make homemade onion rings
- make homemade vegetable tempura
- make crispy fried chicken
- Tagalog fluency
(and hey, why not?)
- sail
- horse ride
- make latte art

-bake macarons

Things I Want to Do in 2011:
- bake more cupcakes
- make more sushi
- more guitar
- more violin
- go to Museums
- get a DSLR camera
- walk around SF in the winter with Starbucks in hand
- go out of town several times in my truck
- get my first Entry Level Graphic Design studio/firm job or Graphic Design I job
- letterpress & silkscreen
- paper art
- wear more vintage
- actually afford clothes/shoes that are not falling apart!

Saul Bass

Some random stuff

HELLO!

My boyfriend's little sister's son is half Peruvian. They call him little Inca. For his 1st birthday gift I made his mom this portrait since I am a broke art student. I really hoped she'd like it and she did =). It's the baby in his signature tongue-out pose with an Incan helmet on.

Maria Clara was the heroine of Rizal's Noli Me Tangere. As a Filipina w/ Spanish origins, I'm creating 5 paintings based on the Maria Clara dress. They will be sold at a Cultural Bazaar on Sunday with 25% proceeds going to my church children's program. They focus on the lacey panuelo and baro, the matching gorgeous accessories, the embroidered and paneled saya & the strawflower native to the Philippines. This piece in this picture is not completed as of now.

Here is one of the flyers of set I designed really quick for the event, with pictures from when I use to teach the children.

I'm also trying to start up a children's/baby's tshirt online store. It will be managed by spreadshirt and it will provide pocket change for me. I use to have a women's shirt line, but now that I've got better Illustrator skills, I'm relaunching this new store.

I have a long list of ideas! Here are some graphics I'm playing with:

http://rockmebaby.spreadshirt.com/

A hectic quarter just ended for me a few days ago! Now I have a 3-week break. I will then be entering my 4th to last quarter. Through all the energy drinks, memorization, obsessive kerning, persnickety rag-correction, angry brainstorming, botched print jobs and sleep deprivation, I'm actually super satisfied with lessons I've learned and the sometimes horrible ways I had to learn them. Overachieving never lets me down in the end.

The other day, as my teacher and renowned creative director of a leading design firm looked over a final for another class. In that over class, the teacher is more experimental. The notoriously expert teacher I like to call the "Big Guns" of our department staff was polite to say he liked how honest and conceptually strong the work is. But he indirectly paid me the best compliment I've gotten to date by comparing my means of presentation to his overachieving tendencies as a student. It was strangely flattering to think Big Guns had seen himself in me at some point!

I really have been working super hard out of fierce competition with peers and myself. It's frustrating coming up with just Bs sometimes in Big Gun's classes but his ability to push me actually makes my work a lot better than it would've been, in the end. I use to get a 4.0 but since he and a new dean entered the staff I've been falling to 3.5 and above though I work hard. After getting president's list so much, it doesn't feel the same getting less than a 4.0 even after butt-busting work. But no matter what I shall treat myself to frozen yogurt!!!!

Even my marketing class -which was super left-brained for me-I got a portfolio piece. For my Experimental type class, I am thrilled that all the teachers with different design styles like my final. Lastly, I'm happy that I got a few portfolio pieces from my corporate communications class. On the last day of class, when I was done with all my work and my boyfriend was embarrassing me on my webcam by showing my classmates his nipple, Big Guns came over and told me he was going to hang my work in the hall. I've had work in the halls almost every term in the first year of my schooling but having it up now -when it's become so hard to compete for the small graphic design wall realty- is encouraging.

On a different note, I'd be happy to do corporate design for a brand I love after school is done. It is a goal for me to sometime soon get a 2nd internship (this time I hope it's paid) and build my portfolio to be more impressive. I have also decided that for the first years as a designer I will also take classes to help me transition to a grad program by the age of 28. I want to go into either the highly competitive field of medical illustration or the promising field of art therapy.

This break has consisted of a lot of confused relaxation. It's always odd going from "Hell Week" to a nice break. Painting, naps, reading, InNOut at the park at night, reuniting with my Starbucks usual order and my bestie, a walk at Landpark... I'd say the break's off to a great start!

Just Some Stuff

Great Packaging

http://www.mashdesign.com.au/

MASH

http://www.sociedadanonima.info/

SOCIEDAD ANONIMA

http://www.voicedesign.net/

VOICE

DREAM JOBS

1)Domestic goddess

2)Children's Bk Writer & Illustrator / Art Therapist

3)Elephant reserve owner

4)Marine Biologist

5)UNICEF ambassador

6)Antique collector

7)Art Historian

8)Travel Photographer

9)Vinyl Toy Designer

10)Cupcake Photographer

DREAM VACATION SPOTS

1) India (for the colors and culture)

2) Santorini (also, for the colors)

3) Africa (for the elephants)

4) Italy (for the art)

5) Paris (for the food)

6) Alaska (for the wilderness)

7) Jordan (For Petra)

8) Egypt (for the history)

9) Japan (for the kawaii)

10) Philippines (for my heritage)

Nirvana

Universal Studios is angling at making a biographic film on Kurt Cobain of rock legends, Nirvana.

Who's my vote for the lead?

None other than...

Joe Anderson of Across the Universe.

Always.

I got that triple shot of Espresso in the usual Caramel Macchiato to do some work. I wish I didn't sleep... I could get so much done! haha... Justin tells me there's a book about a world with no sleeping and that I should read it.

My days are usually dedicated solely to homework. I haven't worked a part time job in some time because I tend to be ambitious and spread myself thin over volunteer work, hobbies, work and school. At this point, I want to concentrate really hard on making my school reputation a great one before I graduate. That way I can graduate earlier and hopefully get a better job straight out of school so I can save for a few years before I go into my intended Master's program (art therapy- ATR).

Anyway, things are so much more quiet and forcefully solitary at night. That makes for wonderful creative time. In the daytime, I'm getting more restless. I seem to have less discipline when it comes to self initiated projects I know I want to do when things are livelier in my surroundings.

It helps to be in a coffee shop- partly because coffee seems to be like my aphrodisiac for working! Maybe it's a placebo effect but I feel my focus sharpen with coffee in my system. If I had a MAC laptop I would be the epitome of the hipster art student.

PS} My hand lettered/cut forms weren't used at the concert they were intended for. This makes me a sad Tiffany because I spent so long to get them right. They were my small way of donating to the cause without being able to attend. *tear

Two charity shows in the works.

And they've finally made a movie about one of my favorite books and heroes:

WARIS DIRIE'S DESERT FLOWER (came out a while back, I want to see it really badly!)

I do not know how to explain

how much of a loss Alexander McQueen is to my aesthetic world, right now. Especially since I do not have any friends who can understand ...

The only other artist I ever cried over losing was Michael Jackson.

Out of all the fashion and contemporary art world, his work is the one that opened me up to the fantastic.

His work made me unafraid.

His work influenced so much of my art more directly than many other artists I can think of.

It is so sad and it leaves me a bit distraught to think that there will be no more of him.

To punctuate...

My bearded dragon baby died this morning.

She was named after Gustav Klimt and she loved opera music.

She was my roommate and my studio mate.

RIP to both.

wow.

rip

One of the best, ever.

Droopy-eyed.

New Goal:

Be so passionate in my classes that I bring up the competitive quality of any classroom I am in.

Anyway.

Here are some doggies.

I have been on a doggie drawing kick.

Also, an illustrated-list-making kick.

"You ever find buttons on a jacket & you can't find their homes & it just DRIVES YOU CRAZY? BUT! Then you do? (aha!) And then the jacket looks that much prettier on you? Buttons are like hearts in life's jacket!"

My classmate read my hand lettering doodle in class and kinda laughed.

I like being ditzy in my art, sometimes- as long as I'm professional when I need to be.

I feel it's a more honest and fun way of infusing visual creativity with humor and whimsy.

I want to post some of my illustrates lists and hand lettered quotes when I can get them to be of nice digital quality.

GOOD READ:

Seven Days in the Art World

Sarah Thornton

The different arenas of the art world, as revealed in this book, are intriguingly and in some cases starkly different. It's a journalistic piece with little gems of facts, insider knowledge and lots of engaging narrative. I really am enjoying seeing how different people value art. The writer seems very perceptive, eager, and thorough. I do not like putting it down! I cannot wait until the chapter that observes one of my favorite Japanese Contemporary artists, Takashi Murakami!

and....

this boy, this boy.

it’s a very funny thing about life:

if you refuse to accept anything but the best,

you very often get it.

W. Somerset Maugham

i am now very excited to be interning for :

http://www.pilotpress.net/letterpress/pilot_press.html

mmm.

Did anyone notice how Lindt Lindor Truffles packaging is very wine-bottley?

I happily received Lindt's lovely dream-weaving chocolate from a dear friend of mine. The one she gracefuly endowed Justin and I with is the Limited Edition Seasonal Milk Chocolate with White cream center (mmm, mmm and triple mmmm!).

Some observations that I cannot help but make:

1) Lace graphics- a visual identity cue for Lindt. Why? Is Lindt based in an old grandma's kitchen? No. It is not.

2) Fair hints of blurry Christmas lights... I guess to hint that you had too much wine before the chocolate. Just kidding! The snowman at the upper right corner of the bag was replaced, this year by a sleek and modernly illustrated bow, which is much more consistent with the rest of the line of chocolate.

3) Gold type on bright cerulean blue dull gloss? Really?! WHY?!! Do you not want me to read about your "160 years of Passion for Chocolate" at all? Now you're just showing off, Lindt!!

Oh! I gladly ate a truffle to show you how the individual wrappers look, as well.

4) They kept the snowman on the wrappers... (ok, my heart just sped up when i finished that- no lie! it must be because i had Marzipan flavored Cost Plus coffee with Hersheys syrup to wash it down....)

and here's some proof that you will always be underdressed when eating a Lindt truffle!:

That all said, I still love Lindor truffles like crazy!!!!

A New Year

my holidays this year were the best i've ever had. <3

sadly, 2009 was the first year in 4 years that i did not keep all my resolutions.

actually, this was due to a technicality: i only had one resolution!

I made monthly lists of 4-7 topics i wanted to be more knowledgeable about decided to learn one fact about those one of those 4-7 topics, every day of that month.

unfortunately, this system failed about 6 months through, when i began cramming homework, artwork and work time together and began to feel a wee bit overworked. i became so overworked, in fact, that i started to have to doodle out some of my to-do lists because any bulleted list at first glance (even "free-time wishlists") was beginning to look menacing!

...anyway!...

2010 Resolutions!

1 - post something originally created by me, weekly. it could be a photo, a mixed media piece, a digital piece, a sketch, a doodle... etc!

2- post a small inspirational collage at least monthly! i miss doing that, when i had the time, because it really helped develop my own unique aesthetic eye.

3- eat a macaron (finally!).

4- make time for devotional reading, nonfiction reading, and fiction reading, again!

5- eat less meat!

6- frequent my sketchbook, again.

7- cook, more.

8- drive more.

9- journal, more.

10- work & play hard, at least once, every day!

what are your new year's resolutions?

Sad and Happy news

Sad news: i no longer have a camera. =(

Happy news: a few weeks ago i got a puppy- a terrier-poodle mix. i named her Dolce because she is a sweet and pretty. i already potty trained her, come to me when i call, and give me her paw when i say "your highness". =)

Christmas: was the best ever! thanks to Justin's family!

the winter break: is good, so far. work, reading, watching Star Trek, eating, and -soon- painting.

i want:

a room full of chandeliers bloated with shiny crystals

an uhmatezing model

and an uhmatezing-er than belief-can-handle digital SLR camera

good reads:

The Art of Ponyo [Studio Ghibli Library]

Audrey Hepburn: International Covergirl [Scott Brizel]

Vogue covers : On Fashion's Front Page [Robin Derrick & Robin Muir

Good Viewing:

Up. -pixar

Cried like 5 times in this movie.

the boyfriend blazer

i forgot to say that when i went out to grab a ton of frames for my paper art show at the thrift, i also managed to bag a really cute vintage 80s creme yellow blazer that fit decently for someone who cannot afford the covetable boyfriend blazer, this season. justin didn't understand. he said something like, "I just don't understand it if I can't see your form."... which is boyspeak for show me some bod... *le sigh*... boys...

i'm not saying everyone should be stick thin (the people who know me know that it's not my goal to be). and though it would be fun to have a bunch of money to spend on shopping all the time, i'm not saying i would do that either. i am still super frugal and do not own more than a closet full of clothes (what I need). fashion is not life. art is not life. they're both interpretative expressions of it.

i'm saying let me have my fun, darling! everyone has their inspirations for creativity. i have mine. some of the greatest creative directors have been involved in the fashion industry. people in music, literature, film and fine art have looked to la mode for inspiration. the colors, proportions, cultural references, vintage muses... it's all there.

and it's fun for me. it's like dress up. i even create girls based on what i see. i may not be made for two hours in front of the blue box or for playing soccer or for even playing a 3rd person shooter game (i feel like vomiting three minutes into play)... but i can design a poster of solely blobs of color and it will make you feel like the 70s (thanks to fashion fandom).

so boo you, boyfriend! haha go play your ps3.

<3

ALSO

NEW NAME FOR MY COMPANY!

I have changed by illustration company name to Spongecake Illustration. Finally, I have chosen a new name that I find completely fitting. It's based on my theory that what you gift through art is what you have collected through life. And my little girls are to now be named "Sponge babies". And me? I am to be called Madame Sponge.

Simon Legno For Target

... how do i feel about this?

i don't know!

JACKSON.

AS a fan who has always stood by her status, the news kinda struck me hard the other day. this year justin and i are surrounded by all kinds of death and even new life. we were literally catching his pet chickens to cook them when his cousin told us about the death! it sounds odd, but that's exactly what we were doing.

Jutin's pet chickens have been really destroying the yard and his relationship with the neighbors! so he took back his oath not to kill them and decided to just do it. One would be set aside to celebrate his older cousin's life, one would be set aside for his new nephew, and the last one was decidedly going to be dedicated to MJ.

Justin's grandfather died at the beginning of the year, on cancer. It was a strange thing because at his age, he was so strong- mentally and physically. he led by example as a homeless boy turned famous jockey in the Philippines and even in his old age preferred to walk across cities to his destination. When Justin went to visit him in the hospital, his cousin's son was born in the same hospital.

Dean -justin's older cousin- also has cancer. Currently, it is terminal. It came as a surprise at a coincidental doctor's visit. He is only in his 30s and I had grown pretty close to his son, who we would hang out with all the time since they moved across the street, last summer. I met him at a time when I knew so many of Justin's friends and family that I could literally socialize for him at his parties. I had already accepted his family as my own. The last time I visited Dean, Justin's sibling was in the building to a prenatal check up. The baby was born this week and is named partly after their grandfather.

Another time, when Justin had just been telling me that death was getting closer, the kids at church found a sick cat in the church house. We drove it out to the SPCA and eventhough I had made plans to keep the beautiful creature, it died in my lap while we awaited assistance. It did make me cry, especially remembering how the cat's cries reminded me of a child's. My best friend's "baby", a cat named "Persian" had gotten pretty close to death that week. My friend couldn't concentrate on any homework because she'd known that at since she was 5 (she's 22, today). Her cat was spared, thankfully. This cat, who could have gotten a home with me, an actual Persian, was not spared. We went next door to visit the adoptable dogs, to console ourselves.

Death, everywhere, and it's funny how the death of someone I never met is oddly heavy.

-------

I grew on his videos during babyhood (at which point he made me think he was androgynous). I got in trouble for bringing his record in for show and tell in kindergarten and then saved the same Thriller record from the trash when i was a kid... I also got in trouble with the cops when I called them while trying to prove to my brother I knew Michael Jackson's phone number... which I guess I thought included "9-1-1".

One of my first memories in our first house was moonwalking on polished floors and almost breaking my tail bone! There was that awkward documentary that came out, when I was a stupid middle schooler defending a celebrity i thought i knew entirely, which made me think about the cost of stardom and fandom... Suddenly everyone is a Jackson fan, today. Even the people who drove him crazy. Isn't it funny how we can turn against someone who gave so much through his music? And then either claim him again after he's dead, or leech on those that do? That's the price of being famous, outspoken, unique and talented- a public figure.

High school, his first single on his comeback was the song that represented my first boyfriend (EW! haha... thank god that one's gone!). I remember crying when he cried on TV during the televised comeback- strange because back then i didnt cry out of sentimentality! Everyone above the age of 6 seems to know at least one of Michael Jackon's phases in the limelight.

The end of an age! It was always a joke that he should never die, and would be in kryostasis! The legend that was so easily a target of love and hate is just human. Now it's just also making me think how he defined so much of my parents' cool factor and his death makes me think -again- about their time.... esp with those kids left behind, who will truly never have someone who could give them/understand the exact relationship their father did. No matter how much i thought i knew this stranger, his music is classic and it makes me think a lot about how the ripples of an outcast/talented person can speak to so many.

Oriental- TAO OKAMOTO

One of Vogue's models to watch, this year, is TAO OKAMOTO. The first time I saw her, she had opened up the show for 3.1 Phillip Lim fall line up (as pictured headlining STYLE.com's fall09 archive window):


property of Style.com

While the Biba eyes were sure to get me, (which I actually love, btw... but that's another entry) I could not help but notice quickly that many of the girls that were sent down the catwalk had a certain similarity to them that I don't think was reviewed by vogue. The vintage 60s reference look was obvious. However, I kept asking myself "why are the girls all so pale-faced... monochromatic in the face? It's a strange ashen-pink tint in makeup...? Why do some of the popular white models have darker, sometimes black hair?"
Theirs looks all echoed the style of the mysterious Asian who opened the show- who, I realized, I had never seen, before. Perhaps it is my own wishing, but I know the Beatles' hair wasn't black- only in the black and white pictures the girls' may have gotten their ashen visage from. Be it a reference to Okamoto or a reference to something else, I'm just not use to popular Caucasian models looking so close to the original look of a new, Asian model.
As first out, Okamoto presented a standard to the viewer- a standard of what to expect from the rest of the piece, a theme that would follow through out the line... everything is compared to the first of a set of anything. Hence, the chronological order of appearance already had me thinking that she was the original look to be followed by a cycle of more, similar looks.
Is it too bold to say that perhaps Tao Okamoto had partly inspired the hair and make up of the rest of her colleagues?... Perhaps she had just opened the show because she fit the already given image, so well.
I don't know what it is, for sure, of course. What I know is that growing up I had had my chance at pursuing acting -which was at one point, a dream- but the Entertainment business has little but stereotypical roles open for a Filipina who could look either Hispanic or Asian. I had had my short stint in modeling, which was more viable since ads that are more widespread tend to want a larger demographic shown in their spreads. Is it bad to feel strangely excited that all these non-Asians were walking the catwalk in a look that may have been inspired by an Asian? That's so different to me... I'm used being an Asian that likes looks to coincidentally a majority of White women for fashion cues.


property of Style.com

Either way, Tao Okamoto is rising in the Fashion world. She has just snagged a Ralph Lauren ad campaign and has already walked many a show for wonderful designers in her signature short hair cut. I wish her so much luck! Her soft features radiate a classic Asian beauty.