The Carver's House

So far, I've over 20 images in my Color Kiddies website, where nice people can download free coloring pages and free clip art. 20 images isn't a lot, but we all have to start somewhere, right? Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying this little distraction, since it gives me a chance to practice my drawing and coloring skills. I was supposed to upload these updates last weekend, but I ran into major tech trouble. Now with that being water under the bridge (crossing fingers as I type this), I present to you three more fantasy-themed coloring pages for free download. Click on each image to go to their respective download pages! As always, you can also download free drawing pages and clipart! Enjoy!

I was contacted by Whilce Portacio (one-time penciller of Uncanny X-Men and creator of Wetworks) weeks ago to contribute to a coffee table book to help raise funds for the victims of typhoon Ketsana. The book, entitled Renaissance: Ang Muling Pagsilang , features the artwork of dozens of Filipino and Fil-Am illustrators, comics book artists, cartoonists, and animators based here and abroad. This is the piece I contributed to the book. It was inspired by a friend's experience: I arrived at the star-studded February 21 book launch held at SM Megamall only in the afternoon, as I had forgotten that it was my dear mom's birthday. It was a very humbling experience being in the presence of so much talent, from veterans to newbies, mainstream to indie, including Michael "Bitoy" V. Many of you may not know that the Bubble Gang mainstay is a fantastic comics artist, and has actually done some comics work in the past before going full blast into novelty rap and television. I act...

At the KomikStrip convention held at the University of the Philippines - Los Baños last February 13, I was assigned the table beside Studio Studio, the group led by Ace Vitangcol which produces "Love Is In The Bag." You may have seen this Pinoy manga series in the bookstore and wondered if it was imported. It's about a girl who transforms into a bag when under extreme stress, particularly when she sees her crush. This is particularly advantageous for her, because she doesn't make a mess of herself and someone can just whisk her away inconspicuously. When I see my crush, on the other hand, my innards just explode and I melt into a brown bubbly morass. Good luck, right? I lent my 12-year old niece the four books in the series, and she went through them all in one sitting. There will be a fifth book, Ace says, and it will be the final book. Anyway, Ace asked me to draw one of the series' most beloved characters--the brooding basketball hunk Mark Spencer. (The dazzlin...

Some of you may have already seen this illustration over at the Zaturnnah Facebook page . I'm reposting it here, the before and after versions. (Click on image to enlarge) Incidentally, Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal earned seven nominations from the 2nd Philstage Awards for the Performing Arts. The Tanghalang Pilipino hit musical is vieing for the following awards: OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PRODUCTION OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL OUTSTANDING FEMALE LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL Eula Valdes OUTSTANDING MALE LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL Nar Cabico Joey Paras OUTSTANDING MUSICAL DIRECTION Vincent De Jesus OUTSTANDING MUSICAL COMPOSITION Vincent De Jesus Congratulations to Tanghalang Pilipino! See the complete list of noms at Gibbs Cadiz's blog .

Coloring *sigh*... Such a frustration...

Shown here are two panels I'm quite proud of (click on the image to enlarge). I took some time thinking about how to compose them and what sort of props would go into them, down to the pattern on Gwyneth's goblet. I also like how cleanly my lines ended up, like Ada's hair and the little basket filled with sewing thingies. I wish all the panels of the book would come out this way. The punchline? These panels are "rejected." They will never see print. Not to say that they're not good enough. It's just that they didn't fit anymore. When I painstakingly reworked the script, a very draining activity, this simple event -- Gwyneth talking to Ada and Dodong in the living room -- didn't happen. Sort of a "Sliding Doors" moment, and the rest of the first two chapters changed for the most part. Hopefully for the better of the whole. There are times when we need to change the way we do things if we intend to move forward. The first way, the most comf...

Click on the image to enlarge. Rough drawing can be found in a previous post.

Click on the image to enlarge. It's still unfinished.

A pose study, with the objective of depicting shape and volume in body forms, particularly the gluteals. Original in pencil. Colored in Photoshop.

I was lying in bed when I was inspired to do this--I was given instructions to simply depict a comic book creator. You'll soon find out where this will come out. But, for now, I just wanted to share a behind-the-scene peek of how I do things. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

If there was one thing I learned while working for Real Living that I'm applying in comics is the idea of character in setting--that a place has a life of its own. That setting contributes significantly to the story experience by inviting a reader to immerse him or herself into the new world. If I had taken up architecture in UP during my college days, I'd think that my sense for setting would've then been developed. Setting has always been an important element when I make comics, ever since I started with Flashpoint in 1993, but a lot of it has been on the surface. I didn't study it extensively back then--as long as I gave my settings enough detail, it should be fine. But now, I'm more conscious of history, of design, of detail, of styling, of culture, just through my magazine work. Add to that my conversations with friends who were into interior decor and production design, and I consider myself forever changed as a comics creator. Whenever I'd go to Manila ...

Took me a month to get six prologue pages done because of the other things I had to do. Darn. But at least that's a total of twenty pages of the sequel off my back. Now I can continue chapter one.

It's when I see artwork like this that I heave a sigh and suppress the desire to swear. This wonderful piece is by Gerry Alanguilan , no less--set to appear in the fourth and last installment of his Elmer limited series . His is one of the styles that I, during those moments when I question my artistic ability, try to take apart to discover its secrets. Apart from the art, Elmer has one of those stories that grab the gut. You couldn't believe the kind of emotions you'll feel from a family of talking chickens. Gerry'd better compile Elmer soon. And if he does get this compiled, y'all non-comics readers do yourselves a favor and get a copy.

Thanks to Budj for the info: Besides the convention proper on November 22, 2008, there will be activities held from November 17 - 21 at the UP College of Arts and Letters (UP CAL) and in the UP College of Fine Arts (UP CFA) for KOMIKON. Our schedule is as follows: November 17 (Mon) KOMIKS 101 Talk Venue: UP CFA Auditorium "KOMIKEROS FOR HIRE" Filipino Comic Artists Working for Companies Abroad Time: 10:00am - 12noon Panelists: Harvey Tolibao, Wilson Tortosa, Gilbert Monsanto, Melvin Calingo "KOMIKS IN EDUCATION" Including Comics into the Curriculum Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm Panelists: Gerry Alanguilan, Gilbert Monsanto, Elbert Or, Jose "Chong" Ardivilla, Emil Flores November 18 (Tue) OPENING of EXHIBIT at UP Faculty Center Galleria 1 UP CAL Workshop: "Comic Making for Writers" Time: 2:30-4:30pm Venue: UP CAL (classroom to be announced) Speaker: Jonas Diego November 19 (Wed) UP CAL Workshop:...

"I came to think that nobody from England could draw American comic books, because they were clearly all done by this sort of Mafia, all these guys with Italian and Irish names who had the whole thing sewn up." Read the entire interview on Time.com.

Yes, I'm moving slowly, but I'm moving nonetheless. Below are three pages from the Prologue, though I opted not to include the word balloons. Let them hold some surprises.

Here's something you can do to jumpstart the realization of an ambition--creating a graphic novel. This is all theoretical, of course, since I don't know of anyone who's actually done this. Plus, the younger you are, the better. But if there's enough passion and dedication, plus the will to improve, then there's always the strong chance for success, right? It all takes five stages: STAGE ONE: The Starter 12 Duration: One calendar year In this stage, you will create one short comics story a month. Each story will be 8 to 10 pages long. Take two weeks to write and two weeks to draw (or the whole month to write and draw at the same time). As you go from one story to the next, get feedback, determine which areas you can improve, and allow areas for experimentation and personal styling. Simple, right? By the end of the first year, you would have 12 short comics in your portfolio. STAGE TWO: The Intermediate 6 Duration: One calendar year In this stage, you will create one...

Here are a couple of posters I did for the American Community Theater (Hongkong) through dear friend Mida , who used to perform for that group. This was four years ago, and I remember being really excited about doing their production posters. I've always wanted to add that "commercial" element to theater posters since, after all, they're supposed to attract attention and sell shows. If a theater poster was too artsy, or too symbolic, then how can the common citizen with extra cash know what the play was about? Yes, it's possible to draw crowds into a theater by the strength of a poster. But that poster has to hit its intended audience at the core.