Harry

It has been a while. Finally got around to writing back on this blog. I'm excited too. The subject is one of my favorites - a cat. I love cats. I have maybe ten or more cats in my home. However, the cat above is not mine. His name is Harry and was the pet cat of my wife's friend. Harry had passed away. The pet owner loved him so much that she wanted him immortalized through a painting. 

The challenge when getting commissioned for portraits is getting the resemblance right. I have often done portraits of people but not of animals. This was my first. Another challenge is making it artistically pleasing. It must not be just a copy of the photo but had to stand out as a painting. Well, you can judged for yourself if I'm successful. Anyway, the owner liked it so much that she even cried when she saw the painting. When your client reacts that way( gets an emotional connection) to your work, then you know you have done your job well.  

HARRY,  Oil on Canvas, 18" x 24" 

I'm back!

    It has been more than a year since I blogged. I had been involved with a large painting project and I got so engrossed with it that I stopped blogging. The result is the painting shown below. It's a 36 x 48 inches oil painting.

      I resolved this year to resume writing blogs as regularly as possible. I have been painting a lot in oil pastel lately. It takes about 1 to 3 hours to finish an oil pastel painting. So with this medium, it's possible for me to make a painting everyday. I am tempted to do a daily painting blog which is the trend these days. Well...we will see how it goes.

Leaves

My initial paintings may be described as realistic. But I am keen to experiment with different styles. Some artists may think this is a disadvantage since artists are often identified by their styles, like it's a brand. I am making up for this by using baybayin as a focal point of the painting. Style is secondary but the painting must be appealing. In my latest work featuring leaves, the painting is more abstract. As in my previous work, 'Makina', I wanted to get more colors and elements on the canvas.

Dahon, 9" x 12" Oil on Canvas

Thickness of Oil Paint

I had a chance to visit the Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo last Saturday. As I go through the works of many famous Filipino painters, I was looking closely at the thickness of the brush strokes. Too close, in fact, that a resident artist cum tour guide noticed me, "You are an artist, aren't you?" I still am not sure of the right thickness for an oil painting. I tend to vacillate between getting it too thick or too thin. When I was starting out, I did a really large painting of Pacquiao using an impasto technique. The paint was so thick that I consumed a lot of paint. It was expensive.

Ang Kampeon (2010), 30" x 40" Oil on Canvas

In another painting, a commissioned portrait of then Imus Bishop Chito Tagle (He is now Archbishop of Manila and soon to be a Cardinal), the thickness was thin. The white canvas seems to be showing in some areas. But still, I achieved the effect that I wanted.

 Bishop Chito Tagle (2010), Oil on Canvas

Maybe, the thickness doesn't matter as long as one gets the desired visual result.

Something green

I wanted to make a painting filled with green color. After thinking of leaves, vegetables and gardens, I settled to paint a green landscape with a tree trunk at the middle. Why a tree trunk? Because, you can carve images on them including baybayin characters. My wife suggested having a heart on the trunk with our initials. Nah...too personal and cheesy (in Filipino, this word connotes something awkwardly romantic). I ended up placing the equivalent of "I love you" - mahal (heart shape) kita (in baybayin).

Mahal Kita, 10" x 14" Oil on Canvas

The missus naturally loved it. Yeah ... it's still too cheesy.  Anyway, one can use it for a special someone or for a campaign to save or to plant more trees.

Still Life

Most of my paintings have a dark background. My wife wanted to see a subject with a brighter color, so I painted a pineapple. It's not something I'm used to paint, but it turned out well.

Pinya, "9 x 12" Oil on Canvas

Eye of the Tiger

The eye of the tiger represents the intensity of focus on a prey. In a way, this is also my state of mind for several days now. I want baybayin to gain popularity in the Filipino Society. It's part of our identity, of who we are before the Spaniards came.

Mata ng Tigre, 9" x 12" Oil on Canvas