Thursday, March 21, 2013

Uncharted Waters

2007. Published cover illustration for
Dr. Han Kyo's Manual on Natural Farming.
I never truly learned how to properly use watercolors but I've been using them since I can remember--smearing them all over the paper in thick undiluted pigments probably egotistically thinking I'm Van Gogh or Michaelangelo. I probably had the false notion of thinking that they're the same tubes used for oil painting. I was too young to know what they are exactly.

I wasted too many tubes when I would draw and my mother would frustratingly just tell me how much mess I was making. As a child--I could not understand what "mess" was. All I knew what that, I was being as artistic as those artists I saw in our encyclopedia. Years past, eleven years really,  till I learned to color how much pigment I have to use. My love for thick pigment can still be seen with these.


Yes, those are the paintings of my younger years. I was around sixteen when I made those. I also learned to be impatient and invented to use my mother's hairdryer while I paint. I wasn't able to be patient enough to attend to detail so I simply use a really thick calligraphy brush to do everything. You can see how many thick strokes are in it. Also, I wasn't content of using only watercolor paint. I used acrylic, poster and even color pencils till my work became this big mash of mixed media. Some people loved it, I surely enjoyed mixing things up.

Another year, and I learned more "techniques" now that I became friends with more artists. Also, my use of watercolor improved...a bit. I no longer use too much thick pigment but my fascination for color pencils enhanced as well. So there I was--proudly thinking I was a magician of mixed media on paper.

That year, I became obsessed with colors and deconstructing clothes to its most impossible shapes. I also emphasized more interest in ink so a lot of my watercolor works were inked. The pigments have become more transparent and I learned not use much of my mother's hairdryer.

Copic markers were too expensive and scarce to find anywhere, so I learned to find a way to mimic the marker effect using watercolor thinking that they both came from the same concept of idea or "transparent coloring". In any case, I further did my best to study works with watercolor effect. It was also the year of my Kubo Tite obsessions.


Then, one summer night--after pondering how far I could take that mixed media obsession of mine, I decided to be more patient, less  egotistical and less experimental with my watercolor style. It took me two hours--no hairdryers and just a good use of my sister's scratch watercolor paper to create the painting I used to call "My Self-Portrait"--in a metaphorical sense, I guess.


This is my favorite watercolor work. I attempted to make another watercolor color of this kind but I failed every time. Most of my watercolor works either look too stiff or too scattered now. 

In any case, my lack of expertise with this medium did not stop me to get myself published for the first time in 2007 when I made the cover for Dr. Cho Han Kyu’s Manual on Natural Farming sponsored by my school's College of Agriculture. 


Even though this technically was made with ink and watercolor on paper, as you can see, my use of pigment has improved. Even though I was unable to recreate the same style and technique I used for the "Metaphorical Self-Portrait", I was able to hone my watercolor skill through observing other self-taught watercolor artists. Hence, I have a very personal touch in my watercolor style. I do not claim that I am ever good at it. I still even do not know how to use watercolor properly. I simply enjoy using it as a medium.

Here are some of my more recent or rather decent watercolor paintings. I apologize for the pixelated quality. I'm still looking for a way to have a better scan of them since most of my watercolor works have been given away.

Pigment Girl with Butterflies and Stars
Friend with Grumpy Cat
Sofia with Knife
Anbu Kabuto with Weapons Impossible Fanart

No comments:

Post a Comment