Portfolio

Sunrise-sunset
12×18 inches
Acrylic on canvas
April 14, 2016

Spent the morning finishing this painting, which I started on Guinto Island, Palawan last week. It was a humid and sticky day but the sky went crazy to impress us by late afternoon. The night was filled with constellations and shooting stars, and we couldn't stay away from the water for too long when the bioluminescent plankton began to come out and play. I woke up at 5am the next day and spent 2 hours watching the sky turn blue again. Endings are also beginnings, which turn into endings-beginnings day in, day out. We live in such a beautiful world.

#pleinair #painting #acrylic #beach #taophilippines #palawan #adventure #sunrise #sunset

Alex
8×10 inches
Acrylic on canvas
April 6, 2016

Painted on a moving boat while on a camping expedition. Comes with splashes of seawater and breeze.

#pleinair #painting #onthespot #acrylic #figure #portrait #taophilippines #palawan #adventure”

The island life
12×18 inches
Acrylic on canvas
April 5, 2016

#pleinair #painting #acrylic #beach #taophilippines #palawan #adventure

Sunrise on Cadlao Island
12×18 inches
Acrylic on canvas
April 4, 2016

#pleinair #painting #acrylic #beach #taophilippines #palawan #adventure

I discovered the joy of painting outdoors with Teacher Elaine Herbosa and the rest of the painters at L’Arc en Ciel in early 2013. We would travel 2 hours each way to head to the beaches of Batangas for the day and paint under the scorching sun with our oils and makeshift easels. Paintings would be gestural and finished in an hour, each one a composite not just of visual elements on the final work, but also of the outdoor conditions that influenced the output.

All the more, I cherished every painting/drawing day I had in Central Park last summer. On my last week, I woke up extra early in the mornings and took my canvas to spots that spoke to me.  Here are some works from those visits:

A sketch of my good friend, Tom, who took a nap while I sat under the trees and ate sweet summer peaches (side note: I didn’t know peaches were okay to be eaten with their skins! I even blanched them in boiling water to peel off those furry furs at some point).

I love trees. Anywhere, any kind.  But especially when they’re inviting and used to being around people, like the ones in public parks.  There’s something so reassuring about them.

Summer morning
Acrylic on canvas paper
16×20 inches
July 22, 2014

Quick plein air painting at Central Park. Happy I’m able to paint faster now, this was done in 1.5 hours.

#nyc #sunnyday #centralpark #outdoor #painting #pleinair #balto #trees #summer

Process pics:

Started painting in the Park yesterday as a slow goodbye to NYC. Was drawn to this spot with a dog sculpture, Balto. #nyc #sunnyday #centralpark #outdoor #painting #pleinair #balto #trees #summer

Doodle from one of Central Park’s big boulders, overlooking a baseball field.

On Week Two at the Art Students League, I switched to a painting class, still under Mary Beth McKenzie, and came up with these portraits. The small double portrait was a struggle for me, so for the next poses, I opted for solos. I also discovered the joy of painting on unstretched canvas pads–perfect for quick paintings on-the-go.

My favorites from this series are the stylized Betty and Henry I, done with experiments with the palette knife.

As in Remembering New York, Summer 2014 (Part 1: Large-Scale Drawings), below are the paintings I came up with, captioned with thoughts for each day:

First day of painting from life today under Mary Beth McKenzie. I have never painted a live figure before but gosh how I’ve missed painting! All the colors! I started with yellows, blues and reds, but muted them in tones to get a more realistic feel. Even then, you can tell that I’m not a big fan of traditional colors. Hopefully after 4 weeks of this I will have figured out something more concrete about what I like and don’t like in figure painting! Students at the League normally have 3 weeks to finish a painting, after which a new pose is introduced. I’m coming in on week2 for this pose. How nice it must be to work on a huge canvas! It requires a different mindset. Composition-wise, it’s a great exercise. I want to take my works home, though, so I’m painting small (18×24 inches — which is still a good size).

Seated Male and Female Acrylic on canvas
18×24 inches
Work in progress

#painting #live #figure #onthespot acrylic #workinprogress #artstudentsleagueofnewyork #nyc

Day2 update on this painting. Most details done, but I’m still on the fence about what to do with the background. Tomorrow our teacher comes in for a critique. Hope she has helpful insights. I see people in class use mirrors to check for errors (easier to spot in mirror-image)…maybe I’ll do that too tomorrow! 🙂 #painting #acrylic #live #figure #art #artstudentsleagueofnewyork

The many transformations of the background:

We are alone.
Acrylic on canvas
18×24 inches
July 11, 2014

What is intimacy? Why do we sometimes feel more alone when we’re with someone?
—–
Thought I’d have this afternoon to work on the final details of this but our female model didn’t show up today. Will have to pick it up at some point and finish it from memory or imagination, but for now it is done.

#painting #acrylic #figure #onthespot #2weekpose #male #female #alone

Quick painting today, under 2 hours. Tried to capture the model’s mood but I think I showed more of mine. :p Trying to paint in the same loose way I did those large scale drawings. But I like the rawness of this. #painting #acrylic #figure #live #female

“Models are posing.”
Acrylic on Canvas
18×24 inches
July 16, 2014

We paint from life at the League. There are two models posing together but my seat has the better view for a single figure. Betty will hold this pose from 1pm to 430pm everyday, with 5 minute breaks every 20 mins, for three weeks.
#painting #acrylic #figure #live #female #portrait #studio #artstudentsleagueofnewyork #nyc

Two more versions of Betty. I’ve been painting one Betty a day this week! #painting #acrylic #figure #live #female #portrait #studio #artstudentsleagueofnewyork #nyc #art

Blue Betty
Acrylic on canvas
18×24 inches
July 17, 2014

#painting #acrylic #figure #live #female #portrait #studio #artstudentsleagueofnewyork #nyc #art

Betty
Acrylic on canvas
18×24 inches
July 17, 2014

Experimented with lines and texture — I like the scrapes and scratches and the stylized edges. Teacher said that among my four works this week, the paintings that are most succesful are this and Blue Betty. Now I’m understanding the benefits of 1) painting everyday, and 2) painting from life, and 3) painting the same subject everyday.

#painting #acrylic #figure #live #female #portrait #studio #artstudentsleagueofnewyork #nyc #art

Henry I
Acrylic on canvas
18×24 inches
July 21, 2014

Changed seats in class today and played with the palette knife. Will try a full portrait tomorrow.

#nyc #art #painting #acrylic #figure #live #male #hat #suit #white #artstudentsleagueofnewyork

Henry II
Acrylic on canvas
18×24 inches
July 22, 2014

Last portrait from Live Figure Painting class. Tried to incorporate lessons from abstract class into the background. Not sure if it was successful, but I’m happy with the color play.

I had strange dreams last month. This female creature was in one of them.

She was a gypsy-medium-crone with three pupils in one eye and five in the other.  She was part of a 4-nightmare series that came one after the other, all in one night.

I rarely have dreams related to personal circumstances in my life, but I’m glad my cousin helped me decode this particular series.

Sometimes, it’s easier to attribute the inexplicable to the supernatural — it lets us dodge it because it’s external to us — but it happens too, that our triggers (and solutions) are actually more familiar to us than we realize.

Just got back from New York City. A friend called it a life-defining trip even before I left — and it has become that.  Very much.

It’s difficult to describe the breadth and depth of where I am right now. I feel so wide. Or widened.  Widening. I looked through photographs from the trip to try to organize them into a shareable format: over 2,000 pictures and a few videos, but still I feel they lack the spirit of what the visit meant for me.

I now feel pulled from all sides. A bittersweet pulling and pushing, one that will entail fresh hellos and goodbyes.

I’ve dreamt of moving to New York to study art for a long time.  Last time I visited the city was four years ago in 2010.  That was when “Empire State of Mind” was topping the charts, and I remember a goosebump moment on the train from Connecticut to NYC.  Alicia Keys was softly singing it in acoustic, and there I was, not even in New York and already crying from “living the dream”.  It was definitely an OA moment.

But this time, there was no drama.  I’ve been in flow, in joyful acceptance of what is.

August 5, 2014

Two weeks have passed since I got back.  I can’t behind jetlag anymore and am feeling the need to debrief from the trip.

To grasp an experience is always a struggle.  To grasp in itself is to keep chasing after something — like a butterfly hopping from flower to flower.  It’s like making sense of a dream… you remember bits and pieces but the whole picture evades you.  It stays at an arm’s length, there, at a distance, separate, even if it’s actually bursting to envelope you and take you in.  I’d rather flow through a moment than contain it.

And yet here I am. Documenting  New York. For you. And me.

* * *

Some doodles for the bits and pieces:

Every great adventure starts with the calm, to refill the well and stock up on hugs from favorite people, things, places.

What do you bring on an epic journey? How about the mountains and wide open spaces…

…to gain momentum to just do it, go for it, jump in.

Traveling is a big reset button.

You leave behind the old and embrace the new with equal ferocity and hope.

Surprises find you, in ways big and small.

And after the newness of everything passes, you find it within yourself to be still again…

and celebrate the loneliness…

Before you know it, the ride is over.

And what you have to take home with you is an invitation to come back.

To take the giant leap…

…and reconnect with the great big world out there…again and again.

There is so much to be thankful for…

…but if I were ever to do the big dance, now would be the time to do it.

To reach out…

…and reach in…

Not without fear — it is scary out there — but to brave it just the same.

Because we are in our 30s, and in our 30s we can’t afford to hide from what makes us happy.