Portraits and Plein Air Works

Last Saturday a lot of people were downcast and angry from the sneaky Marcos burial, but I’m thankful I still got to end the day in delight. Saw the Nutcracker ballet for the first time (happy music and smiling dancers–sure to uplift!), and went to a live nude drawing/painting session that lasted til 11pm…the kind of geeky thing that makes me super happy!

I painted over 10 works, in full appreciation of the human body. This is a great hangover from reading Big Magic earlier this week, which really brought me back to making delight a part of my daily life. I think it is possible to fully engage the difficult (ie climate change, politics, economic strife, uncertainty), and yet find joy in the everyday. It is not self-serving escapism when seeking joy is done consciously, and it can even be considered a radical response or protest to the difficult.

In college I came across an interview with Pope John Paul II which asked him how he remained joyful amidst so much suffering and hate in this world. He said that the worst has already happened–we killed God–and yet something beautiful came out of it–we were saved.

Even if you frame that in different words, the message is the same. Joy and delight are powerful ways to actually engage fear and helplessness. We don’t forget or cast aside the difficult, but we go to battle, all in, and with an armor built from within.

Nude drawings and paintings from this session are available for purchase. 

Here’s a slideshow of the rest of my loot (click on the arrows to view next):

Here’s my friend, Billy, holding a #wip portrait I did of him after we hiked the Taal volcano in Talisay, Batangas last month. Known as the world’s smallest volcano, it is actually a crater within a crater, with many other volcanoes next to it inside this big lake. Been wanting to do the hike for ages, so I was thankful to have an outdoorsy visitor agree to join me.???? Needed more time to work on the features of his face, but I really miss working outdoors like this! How’s your Saturday coming along?#outdoor #portrait #acrylic #painting #pleinair #wip #taal #volcano #lake #taalyachtclub #boat

Behind the scenes pics of that hike:

Finally hiked the Taal volcano and even got to boil an egg on the shore of the lake! The Philippines has so many hidden gems like this– so thankful to be living here.

#taal #volcano #crater #hike #egg

Will be posting a series of drawings for sale, starting with this sunset sketch of Nagtabon Beach, Palawan.
Colored charcoal on Paper
9×12 inches
July 2013
For sale at Php500.

Other drawings and sketches also available to buy.

#sea #beach #palawan #nagtabon #sunset #drawing

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