Ragnarok Addiction

January 21, 2018August 7, 2020Leave a comment

Suffrie x Rainee forever ♥

Last year, it was announced that the first MMORPG in the Philippines will return. Ragnarok Online opened its servers once again. Obviously, I made fanarts.

During my marker phase. ♥ I drew differently back then!

I’ve already mentioned my addiction to Ragnarok from this post. So, obviously we (those on the cover image) hardcore played the game. It was our first time to play together on an official server though! I don’t think I’ve mentioned here before, but I met Inggo at RF Online instead of Ragnarok. It was also a good thing that are chosen jobs are perfect for each other! ♥

Full Support Priestess & Agi/Dex Hunter. ♥

The 3rd jobs: Ranger & Arch Bishop.

I’ve also mentioned this on Instagram. I think that you need to be obsessed with something in order to improve your art. I’ve accumulated a ton of fanart because I was this obsessed with this game! If I would compare my artwork from 2003 to now, I could say that there really was an improvement on everything: anatomy, color selection, inking, etc. Not the best, but there’s personal improvement.

Left: Watercolor practice | Right: Color pencil practice.

These were some requests from my former guildmates on Fenrir server.

I would also like to note that the watercolor pieces were made with canson paper and prang watercolors. They’re the student grade representatives for watercolor and I still love using them! I don’t have to worry about anything, I just had to create. ♥

And I think I have to draw more with this style. I still need improvement!

InPrnt

January 17, 2018September 23, 2021Leave a comment

As said in my previous blog post, I’ll try to describe these sites in detail.

So what is inprnt?

My InPrnt shop.

From their website:

Since our founding in 2006, INPRNT has worked to help artists spend more time doing what they love by producing the highest quality art prints from start to finish. We fulfill their orders with care and professionalism, including world-class printing, shipping and customer service.

Something unique about this site is that you after you register, you’ll need to be approved by the Inrprnt community before you could sell your works. You could also join the community by invitation from approved members. They get an invite every month.

Pros / CONs

Once approved by the community, its very easy to get started. You just need to click the blue icon above to add a new print. See below:

Adding a new print is easy. Just follow the instructions on the right for the file requirements.

You could also set the pricing for your products.

You could also check the additional products if you want to sell them on different products asides from art prints. They have a limited selection compared to its counterparts, but I really like the simplicity of this website. You could also set promo codes or discounts for your followers.

I also like the look of my shop. It looks so clean and organized. ♥

My art prints.

The framed art print gallery looks so nice. ♥

Art cards. ♥

Please check out my inprnt shop if you want my art prints. ♥

Ragnarok Online – Marker process

January 16, 2018August 7, 20201 Comment

I’ve been digging around my external hard drive and found some photos that I haven’t shared yet. These are my work in progress / process photos of a fanart that I did years ago. How old? Around 4 years.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before on my blog. During my teenage years, I’ve been obsessed with the MMORPG Ragnarok Online. I played in the official Philippine Ragnarok Online servers from 2003 – 2007 (Fenrir server represent!) and played at private servers from 2007 onward. At around 2011 or 2012, I played with my friends from another game called Fantasy Earth Zero on a private server after FEZ closed down. These are our characters from the said private server:

Sketch! ♥

From upper left: Vorg (Royal guard), Kharn (Sura), Lhaikz (Geneticist), me (Arch bishop), Lower left: Melt (Geneticist)

Right of me: Pants (Sorcerer), Below me: Fols (Guillotine Cross)

Inked version. I used my leftover unipins from college.

You have to check your inking pens first if they’re compatible with markers. Some pens bleed when used with markers. I learned that the hard way huhu. I also use various thickness for the unipins namely: 0.05, 0.1, and 0.3. 0.05 is the hardest to find.

I dunno what happened to the fur HAHA.

It’s either lack of skill or laziness.

Coloring process. I always start with flesh tones first.

During our third year, we had an interior design class that required our plates to be rendered in markers instead of watercolors. I only had zig kurecolor and shin han touch markers back then (and a limited color palette for interiors) because they were expensive. After the said class though, I still collected them and branched out to flesh tones and other colors. It was also during that time that a local store named Fullybooked started selling the Letraset Pro and Tria markers.

I also worked from right to left because I’m left-handed. (with a handkerchief because of sweaty palm)

Doing all the same colors will also save time.

Close-ups. Even though Melt & Lhaikz were the same class, they had different color schemes. (Because its a private server lol).

Lhaikz & I. They did that pose because Fols’ headgear was a bunnyband.

I think it was only Pants and I that had the original Ragnarok colors. The others customized theirs.

Sometimes I use a very light violet for shadows. I think this was Mauve Violet – Touch marker.

Finished! ♥

From what I remember, this was my first artwork that I did with a lot of people on it. Although not anatomically correct, I still had fun. My friends also liked this image too. They’re been asking recently if I could make another one soon. Maybe I should? If I have time. I’m not sure if I’ll use markers or watercolor, though!

Planting my digital garden

January 12, 2018November 7, 20214 Comments

#Real talk: being a freelancer is hard. I’m currently juggling my interior design projects, making new artworks, and selling it through bazaars. But I’d like to think that I’m planting all of my “seeds” in my imaginary art garden by doing everything that I love. Three of those “seeds” are my Society 6 , Redbubble , and Inprnt accounts.

So what are these sites?

These are e-commerce websites that will do the most of the work for you (printing, production, delivery, and customer sales service). All you have to do is register & upload your artwork to their websites. You can customize them into art prints, pillow cases, phone cases, and a lot more products.

Art prints from my Society 6 store.

Hustle kahit Hassle.

Since I can’t do international shipping for now, these e-commerce sites help me with selling my artworks online. I get a profit every time customers buy from my online shops. And, well, since these e-commerce websites do most of the work, they get a percentage of profit for every item sold.

Notebooks from my Society 6 store.

Throw pillows from my Society 6 store.

In a way, I’m grateful that I tried these e-commerce websites. I got to improve my Adobe Photoshop skills preparing my artworks into their different products. Although preparing my artworks for printing takes a bit of time, it’s a small matter since I’m also fast with photoshop. And once you upload it, you just wait for it to give you passive income. I’ll write a separate blog post for each website soon. ♥

Women’s Clothing from my Red Bubble store.

Tote bags from my Red Bubble shop.

Art prints from my INPRNT shop.

I do hope these seeds will bloom soon. ♥

I’m planning on making new products this year so I could sell them locally through bazaars. I hope I could make this come true!

Unit B Mural

January 7, 2018August 7, 2020Leave a comment

A few months ago, I was commissioned to paint a mural for a cafe somewhere in Mandaluyong. Feeling confident because of my experience with my interior project (that I still haven’t blogged about!), I accepted the offer HAHA.

This is my first commission for a mural. I was referred by Inggo’s officemate’s bestfriend to her officemate who planned on opening a cafe soon. Since mural means it involves painting on walls, I can’t use watercolor! Acrylic paint is the best medium for this since its water-resistant. I bought my acrylics and paint brushes at Deovir the night before.

Details. ♥

Before everything else, I asked their requirements first. They wanted flowers for their wall that is around 4.8m (w) x 2.4m (h). I did mock proposals with photoshop so they could approve the final design. After that, we scheduled the painting day. I was supposed to have an assistant that day, but she backed out HAHA.

The final design was supposed to be around 75% lineart and 25% colored flowers. That’s the reason why I started with the lineart first. But then they changed their minds when they saw how one flower would look when colored.

Progress. ♥

Acrylic paint, water, and lots of patience. ♥

The top part was hard to paint. I had to stand on the step ladder while holding the brush with my left hand, while my right hand holds a paper plate with paint & a cup filled with water.

I found it amusing that even though this is acrylic, my style of painting still looked a lot like watercolor. Maybe it’s because I still used water for this ? I liked the effect though! And the clients liked it too. ♥

The daughter’s artworks. ♥

During the times when I was resting, I offered to teach the client’s daughters to paint flowers on the wall. When they finished, I painted the lineart on top to make it uniform with the rest of the mural. The left was done by the eldest daughter and the right by the youngest. I loved how different the flowers looked. ♥ I feel like they have the talent to be artists someday too. Don’t you think?

Done! ♥

I finished the mural around 9pm in the evening. Did I mention that they planned on opening the next day? HAHA. I’m glad that I finished it on time! This was a tiring but fun experience. I would love to do it again! Thank you again to Diane for the referral. And thank you to my clients for the trust! ♥

Unit B is now open! They’re located at #69 A.T. Reyes Street, Mandaluyong City.

Art Tambay

January 4, 2018August 7, 2020Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, we had an impromptu art tambay at Banawe. It was composed of me, Aira, and my block mates from college Ruth and Hannah.

Messy table!

I used the paper that I got from Katya. Thank you again for the paper samples!

Pictured below are some artworks that I did with my hue&ai #NoPaintNoGain watercolor pad. I was still testing out some techniques with this paper.

Experimenting with blooms. I like the bloom effects with this paper. ♥

This is what happens when I paint without a reference. I enjoy too much and forgot about everything else. HAHA. This was supposed to be white!

Hannah & Suff

Aira & Ruth

We had two more art tambays after this one last December. It’s great to meet up with friends to catch up and paint. ♥ I hope we could arrange another one this January!

Coffee Project revisit

December 28, 2017August 7, 2020Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, I revisited a cafe that I used to go to when I was still working near the area. I was surprised that they’ve expanded their interiors! And it’s still so pretty huhuhu. This is Coffee Project at Wil Tower.

They are known for their garden-inspired interiors. With faux flowers everywhere, wood furniture, bicycles, and metal accents. I’ve said before that this is a good place for an art tambay, and I still agree with that statement! The weird thing is that I haven’t done that YET with my friends, why?! Just look at the photos:

Their tables. ♥

Full of garden-style decor!

Decor beside me. ♥

Hi Zinah. ♥ HAHAHA.

I had a funny story that day. While I was talking those interior shots, there were 2 ladies who kept looking at me. Thinking that maybe they thought I was a weirdo for taking pictures, I paid them no heed. After a while, the girl in blue (pictured above) approached me and asked:

“Hi ikaw ba si Paulina?”

It was my batch mate from college. HAHA. So I moved my things to her table to catch up on each other’s lives. Apparently she was one of the designers for Coffee Project!

Those are my stuff. Sorry for the mess HAHA.

And after 2 months, I finally bought my own hue&ai #NoPaintNoGain watercolor pad! My friends recommended this pad to me thinking that it would suit my painting style. I got this at Common Room Katipunan for 170php.

Pretty decor! ♥

Of course I tested mine when I got home. I always turn to sunflowers or peonies when testing paper. The reason for this is that I’m so used to painting sunflowers that it became my painting style: a mixture of wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry. For the peonies, I could test my very wet-on-wet painting style so I could see the bloom effects. I’m liking it so far!

My paints of course are seamountainco. ♥

Messy peony bloom. ♥

Now the reason that I revisited this place is because I asked Hannah to meet up with me here. I met up with Dandi of Agueda Manila at Gateway because I ordered two boxes of her brigadeiros – one for me & one for a client. I got the mini box of 15pcs briggies in custom flavors (matcha, barako, and cacao) for me, while the other box contains their best sellers. I offered Hannah and Zinah to taste my personal box haha. They loved the matcha one!

Whenever there’s a Just Add Water event, we always buy from her lol. (JAW2 / JAWInk).

What’s left of my box LOL.

We went home a few hours later after talking all night. We really should plan an art tambay for this place. Anyone up for that?!

A rose for you.

December 19, 2017Leave a comment

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Youtube feature

December 17, 2017December 17, 2017Leave a comment

My stickers were featured on Rainbowholic‘s hobonichi video!

I’ve been a fan of Kaila ever since the Kawaii PH days. (How long ago was that?!). She inspires me to be positive & do things that I’m passionate about. Check out more of her blog here. She also does hobonichi videos on her YouTube channel. The most entertaining part of her videos for me is when she’s cutting her printouts HAHA. That’s why I gave her some of my hard mode sticker sets. (Good luck Kaila!)The other flower stickers she used are all CUTE! I want to improve my art so they would look like those too lol.

Thank you to Jean for giving her my letter! ♥ She went to Japan last month to participate at Design Festa.

SGD Coffee + Commission

December 4, 2017August 7, 20202 Comments

A few weeks ago, my friend commissioned me to make her a watercolor family portrait painting as a gift to her husband. I gladly accepted since she was a close friend way back in elementary. I wanted to paint outside of the house, so I asked Inggo to accompany me to Maginhawa.

We had lunch at Friuli Trattoria because we were thinking of having coffee at Negative Space Coffee after. Unfortunately, the cafe has closed operation. I was distraught because this was my favorite coffee shop in Maginhawa! I didn’t even had a chance to blog about it properly huhu.

So we decided to look for another cafe around Maginhawa. Then I remembered Tricia Gosingtian’s blog post about her adventure around this area where she recommended a coffee shop called SGD Coffee. Thanks to the internet and google maps, we easily found our way there HAHA.

Coffee round 1!

We ordered the SGD Black (120 php) and SGD Cold (175 php) for our drinks. Inggo also wanted a snack so I ordered a Lemon Bar (65php) for him. The place was packed full but we found a corner space on the second floor.

We were amused with the plating for the lemon bar. (ehem, /r/WeWantPlates). We’re not coffee connoisseurs, but sagada beans is our favorite Philippine variety because this one has a smooth, non-metallic, and not burnt taste. But it will still depend on the coffee shop. The drinks here were good! It has the same taste with other shops with sagada beans, but this one is much smoother.

Progress.

My table setup: watercolor pouch, power bank, and my seamountainco set. ♥

I also liked the interiors of the store. It was an old house converted into a coffee shop and learning center. I loved that it had large windows bringing in natural light inside. Perfect for me since I needed it for painting.

Another view of my table setup: Seamountainco set, portable mixing palette, and my w&n cotman set.

I also decided to paint another portrait of my friend because of our conversation. She mentioned that I made her a portrait when we were in Grade 6. Sadly, she lost the portrait due to constant moving. So I made a new one for her. ♥

We shared this plate. ♥

While doing the second painting, Inggo ordered food and drinks. He ordered the Longganisa (220php), Cappuccino (145php) for him, and Flat White (145php) for me. The food was really good and filling! I liked the runny egg yolks mixed with the etag and black rice. The veggies were also delicious. I think these are all Sagada products.

Coffee round 2!

His cappuccino had cinnamon powder on top instead of the usual chocolate powder. He said his drink was good. I don’t usually drink flat white, but this was also good. You could still taste the smooth sagada brew in it. The only pet peeve I think is that they serve hot drinks on glass cups. But that’s just my preference.

Finished! ♥

Overall, we had a good time here in SGD Coffee. It’s the perfect place for art tambays with the natural light. The food and drinks were good, although a bit expensive for the student crowd. They also teach everything about coffee, so do check out their Facebook page and website for more details.

Is this my new favorite coffee shop in Maginhawa? I’m still not sure.