PaperCon – Commission

April 2, 2024April 2, 2024

One of the most surprising experience during PaperCon was one of my customers wanted to commission me for a painting. I didn’t offer A4 prints of my works, but I’m planning on making small amounts for the next one this 2024. At first, she wanted it A4 size, then A3, and after PaperCon she wanted a 2 feet x 2 feet watercolor painting of cattleyas.

I rarely take commissions because I’m not fond of doing them. I always offer a higher price for these. But she accepted my rates, so my weekend was spent making the painting. My usual commission process now is at follows:

Get all the info I need to create sketches. Offer 1 to 2 concept sketches before I start on the actual piece. Explain my materials – paper quality, watercolor quality, hence my prices. For commissions, I always use Arches 100% cotton 300gsm paper and artist grade watercolors. Always the best quality for client work.
After approval, request for 50% down payment before start of work. Always do this to protect yourself.
Explain my process to the client – 2 weeks lead time of work, progress photos will be sent per day, and delivery will be shouldered by buyer.

After that I start prepping my work area. I don’t have a large table at home, so I use our dining table when I do bigger paintings. That means cleaning the dining table and trying to remove as much oil on the surface as possible. After that I lay my watercolor paper, measure it to size using a T-square and cut the paper. Then we sketch.

If I’m finally happy with the sketch, it’s time to start painting. It usually takes me a day or two to completely be satisfied with a painting. I finish the painting on day one, and check another day with fresh eyes to see if it still needs improvements. The second day is where I take photos or scan, prep the painting for shipping, and informing the client that its done.

Really happy with this piece! I hope the client is happy as well.♥

Roses and Orchids – a commission

January 24, 2023October 1, 2023

One of the perks of participating in Stickercon MNL is getting commissions. One person wanted me to create a painting of roses and orchids, and to layout this into a prescription pad. Yes, she’s a doctor! I created two artworks and gave her layout options for the pad:

Its a good thing that one of my former officemates have started a printing business. So most of my products are produced by her, even if she lives in Lucena, Quezon Province. The fact that I can trust her is wayyyy more important than the cost of having my artwork stolen.

After the prescription pad, she loved it and asked if we can produce this as stickers and calendars. Why not?! It was initially around 50pcs but changed it to 200pcs a few days later. Thankfully Ate Sheila accommodated my order!

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I got to produce my artworks in different products. The client is wonderful and is supportive of my creative endeavors. Here’s to hoping for more projects in the future!

Keds Shoes artwork

May 19, 2019August 7, 2020Leave a comment

Early this year, someone asked me to paint her white Keds shoes since it was already dirty. She gave me the creative freedom to paint whatever subject that I want on her shoes – so I made peonies.

I only had red, yellow, brown and green acrylics on hand. Since I didn’t have the time to buy additional paints, I settled on peonies as my subject. This was also the first time that I painted on Keds, so I have no idea what I’m doing.

My acrylic mixing paper plate.

Done! ♥

The sides were also dirty. I decided on painting leaves / mini peonies to these as well.

And done! I was satisfied with the final product. I want to do more of this in the future! ♥

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.

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.