DRAWING MY LIFE: WHERE'S THE CAT?

Angel, our Labrador, was being taken out for a walk by our maid Jek, when they saw a cat enter one of the houses being constructed in our village. As Jek peered inside to look for the cat, Angel stood on her hind legs and did the same. She stands almost shoulder height of her handler!

DRAWING MY LIFE: PRACTICAL JOKES BY THE DEAD

Recently,there was an exchange of emails among my siblings and cousins about when exactly did our parents die. The 4 Antiques as we call my Dad and his 3 siblings, are all reunited in heaven now, but they must have played a practical joke on us because we can't seem to get a fix on the exact dates of their deaths!

Well maybe this is what really happened. Har! Har!

DRAWING MY LIFE: ONE JUMP SHOT TOO MANY

I was browsing through photographs taken by my nephew Kris Mendoza when I saw shots of his family jumping in front of famous landmarks around the globe (e.g. Abu Simple, the Sphinx,Macchu Picchu etc.) Then the idea for a cartoon hit me...so I had to sketch it. This is what came out.

Moral lesson: "Look before you leap...for a 'jump' shot...it may be your last!" :)

DRAWING MY LIFE: STILL LIFE WITH A GARDENIA LOAF OF BREAD

I was making a quick sketch of my wife Jaja preparing a sandwich when my attention turned to the loaf of bread and its packaging. I made a more detailed drawing of that and came out with an interesting drawing.

DRAWING MY LIFE:A DOG AT BREAKFAST

Our yellow Lab, Angel, is occasionally let inside the house by my wife. Usually she lingers around the table until someone mercifully gives her a tidbit.

When I sketched this scene one morning, she was beside Jaja longingly waiting for a handout.

We don't really know what's going on in the mind of our pets...but maybe, just maybe...Angel might really want something else than the usual piece of bread,no? After all she's a dog with breeding and probably has a taste for a good cup of java!

DRAWING MY LIFE: THE PINOY TRANSFORMER

A toon I made based on the concept of Transformers.

We did have a robot back in the '60's. It was known as the Admiral. It stood about 3- 4 storeys high at the front lawn of the then Ysmael factory at E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City.

It didn't do anything much except stand there.

However, during the Christmas season, it was transformed into a Santa Claus robot. And that was the only time of the year that it had some entertaining value!

DRAWING MY LIFE: ANOTHER ORANGE CLASSIC

One wonders where Orange, who was about 4 years old then, would get this idea of how to get her Ninong Dennis out of bed!

DRAWING MY LIFE: JAMES ASLEEP & GAINING MOMENTUM

I saw my second son James sleeping on the couch in our sala and drew a quick sketch. As I was drawing he turned around in his sleep so I sketched that too...THE RESULT: A DOUBLE EXPOSURE.

I experimented with the coloring,trying to make most of the colors all pure and flat...the effect was great.

I seem to have gained some momentum in my drawing. It's getting easier by the day. I just make sure I have something done within the first 2 hours of the day...and everything else is a breeze. I feel a burst of energy that keeps me going all morning that sometimes...before I know it, it's LUNCHTIME!

Besides drawing, I've started on another passion of mine which is papercraft.

More than a year ago, I downloaded a papercraft model for a Yamaha motorcycle. I never got to assembling it but yesterday I set aside drawing and started cutting away and gluing. The model is complicated...but I finished the first stage.

Can't wait to see the finished model!

DRAWING MY LIFE: A BANANA IN MY EAR

Sesame Street was one of Orange's favorite TV shows. She learnt her alphabet and numbers from this edu-taining show. But she also picked up some lines that she would use to get her way. Like this : "I can't hear you I've got a banana in my ear!" which she picked up from Ernie.

DRAWING MY LIFE: A SCENE FROM A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ORANGE

Sometime in 1982 I made a mural-like piece entitled "A Day in the Life of Orange" which showed by way of cartoon illustrations what a typical day was like for my precocious niece Orange. For my Drawing A Day challenge I thought I'd draw a scene from that mural.

This one's a classic showing Orange scolding her Lolo Pito for not using 2 eggs for pancakes the way her Tita Bie does.

It just occurred to me that if I can recall the scenes from that mural I might be able to piece together a book of the same title. Hmmmm

DRAWING MY LIFE: MEMORIES OF TUYO (DRIED FISH)

The drawing explains it.

DRAWING MY LIFE: KETCHUP MEMORIES

Seeing the ketchup bottle at breakfast this morning triggered the idea for this drawing for the day.

I recall that when my siblings would see me eat a ketchup sandwich, they would look at me as if I was some kind of weirdo who could eat the stuff! But the ketchup sandwich was delicious...and it filled the stomach...which was the more important thing.

So if I had a good dose of lycopene when I was a kid, it was thanks to the lowly ketchup and its many applications.

DRAWING MY LIFE: SPOOF OF HILLS BROS ICON AND MY BLUE NOTE

My elder brother made a comment about how the Turkish coffee he got as a gift from my sister didn't live up to expectations. And to think that Hills Bros,even made a Turk as its icon, as if signifying that the Turks knew their coffee!

I sent him a spoof of what the icon was really saying, but got lost in translation.

The other two are my studies on My Blue Note... a self-portrait of me playing the guitar at our living room. I played around with the Photoshop filters and got some cool effects!

DRAWING MY LIFE: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY ILLUSTRATION

My brother in law sent a funny poem about The Perfect Man as his Father's Day greeting. I decided to put some illustrations to accompany the limerick.

This is my 3rd drawing a day.

DRAWING MY LIFE: JUNE 14

I came across Michael Nobbs website "SUSTAINABLY CREATIVE" which gave me the idea to journal my day via drawings. So that same day I quickly sketched the day (June 14) in summary. I finalized it this morning. It helped that I didn't have to worry too much about detailing it too much. Felt good to get something done at once!

DRAWING MY LIFE: THANKS MICHAEL NOBBS

I came across a blogger's site, SUSTAINABLY CREATIVE by Michael Nobbs, who "draws" his daily journal and has come out with mini-magazines, The Beany. It was just what I was looking for to inspire me to keep on drawing.

In fact I got some great ideas for toons that will keep me busy for the next few days.

I'm posting one I made today which was based on an email from my sister who's travelling around Istanbul and sampled some of it's Turkish Delights.

I know "Turkish delights" are sweets...but to hot-blooded males,like my brother in law ZEN ...it can mean a different a totally different thing. :-)

DLSU Animo Squad Fil-Oil Champions 2011

The DLSU Animo Squad won the 2011 Filoil Cheerleading Competition held at the San Juan Arena. My daughter Natasha Marie is a member of this team. They practised hard for this often going home late just to perfect their routine. Good thing they also got a new choreographer who fixed their routine early unlike before when they would do things photofinish. Tasha said that after their presentation everyone felt really good about their performance. This was the first time the Animo Squad won gold.

Congrats and kudos to all of you. May this be the start of many more gold winning performances.

DAY 4: ROME OR BUST

Chris Guillebeau's prompt for the 30 day writing challenge was to identify the place I'd really like to visit before I die and write down what I've been doing to get there.

I'd really like to visit Rome (and some other places in Italy) to say I've really lived!

I've not really mapped out any concrete plans for making this dream happen although I've brought up the idea of getting the Redemptorist Fathers to sponsor a trip for us ex-Juvenists to their headquarters in Rome.

I've also checked Rick Steves' website and have an idea of the cost of such a trip ( a 14-day European tour using the Rick Steves tour services will set us back about $ 5,000 each!)

Maybe I need to firm up in my mind that I would like to see the place and from there detail a course of action.

I'm not as driven yet because the vision is not that clear.

DAY 3: CAN I REALLY LIVE ON MY PASSION ALONE? (OR DO ARTISTS REALLY NEED TO STARVE?)

It's been six months since I left a cushy,good-paying consultant job at a leading company. I've resisted the temptation to go back to my former corporate job in order to hone my skills in drawing and writing funny stories (aka comics.)

I've made progress in the drawing and illustrating part...in fact I've learned a lot! My comic strips are now colored and show some command of Photoshop which I didn't have six months ago.

But...it hasn't brought in money to feed my family and pay the bills...yet.

And at the rate I'm going I'm not sure what will happen first...either I run out of funds and have to go back to the cubicle world...or I get a break and start making money from pursuing my passion and never have to go back to a 9 to 5 job again.

I'd like the latter to happen of course, and eventually be able to tell others...and maybe help other dreaming artists like me to "not starve" while achieving the happiness we get from being creative!

DAY 2: WHAT TODAY WAS ABOUT IN ONE SENTENCE

Today was about earning a living by interviewing people who were in search for (hopefully) a better means of living.