Zooey

I've always wanted to paint a portrait of Zooey Deschanel (my girl crush), but for some unknown reason, this also seemed to be a daunting task for me. The photo in this article is one of my favorite shots of her, so I tried my luck and made my first "mistake" for this project - using the "correct" side of a watercolor paper.

I don't know what I was thinking when I purchased a rough watercolor sheet, so I've been intentionally using its back side because it's a struggle for me to paint otherwise. Although the texture is too rough for my liking, I'm glad that I got to overcome my nerves in terms of painting Zooey and doing it on rough watercolor paper.

What are your favorite watercolor paper brands and types? 

(Reference photo for this painting is by Sebastian Kim/Lucky Magazine)

I Know Nothing (About Painting Jon Snow)

One of the art requests that I got for my holiday giveaway is a painting of Jon Snow from Game of Thrones. Although he is not my favorite character from the series/books (Hello Arya and Tyrion), I do believe in this (Just to be on the safe side, do NOT click the link if you don't want spoilers! Sort of.)

Since I don't want to focus on Jon Snow's perma sad face, I chose this particular image as my reference. This is my thumbnail sketch:

And this is my loose sketch using my humble watercolor pad:

Although I found it harder to manipulate the paint on my old watercolor pad, it allowed me to be more spontaneous. I need to be more comfortable using better (and pricey!) paper because I feel kinda uptight whenever I use Arches. Hahaha.

Anyway, I still need to do a couple of practice sketches first before starting with the real painting. I'm starting to think that I really know nothing about painting Jon Snow. Yikes! 

* Original post from Tumblr.

Like Three Bathers For Matisse

Err, I promise that the title would make sense later on.

A few months ago, I posted my birthday/Christmas watercolor wish list . Although I still didn't get everything on that list, the items that I did get are so much better!

I'm a huge fan of Valerie Chua and her artworks. She is immensely talented, kind and humble (I haven't met her in person yet, but she's so generous when it comes to sharing her knowledge about her craft). I've always wanted to own an art print or even an original piece by Valerie, and I finally have both. Yay! (Check out her shop for her online studio sale)

First is this gorgeous art print:

Tamer of the Lake

Next is this original painting that I've been eyeing ever since she opened her studio sale in December. I was so worried every time I visit her shop to check if it's still available. Hahaha.

Cherry Picker

It's a huge deal for me to own such artworks because Valerie has inspired me to pursue painting and to put myself and my work out there. Looking at her work online never fails to make me happy and nostalgic at the same time, and even more so when I finally saw the Cherry Picker in person.

The "feels" reminded me of Henri Matisse's life story, specifically how he was deeply moved by Paul Cézanne's painting, Three Bathers. Although he was struggling financially when he purchased the painting, it had given him the freedom to explore colors and provided him "the most basic tenet of nearly all paintings he would go on to produce." When Matisse donated it to Petit Palais, he wrote a letter mentioning how the painting has sustained him morally in his moments of venture as an artist, and how he has drawn from it his faith and perseverance. (Source)

So, in a nutshell, I might not have the chance of having Valerie as a mentor (although I'm looking forward to her workshop this year. Hihihi), but her paintings have given me inspiration to overcome my inhibitions and to pursue my passion as an aspiring painter/illustrator.

Ooops, I think I got carried away. Hahaha. I apologize for the lengthy and super cheesy post. 

* Original post from my Tumblr blog.

Hello 2015!

Happy New Year everyone! 2014 has been a year of discovery and adventure for me when it comes to diving into watercolor. I can't wait to learn more this year and meet new people who are passionate about arts and crafts, too.

Before the year ended, I've decided to accept free painting requests as my way to spread holiday cheer. I feel so happy that there are people who are willing to "adopt" my artworks. *tears*

However, my progress has been slow because I've been too busy with work. I'll be shipping the original pieces and emailing the high-res copies once I'm done with everything. Here's a couple of my finished works:

Chocolate Dream

Garden Party

Birthday Girl

Groovy

How's your holiday vacation? 

* Original post from Tumblr.