Just Like Spring

I had the chance to get some sun and take pictures of some plants a few days ago. It is almost the end of June and rain has started to pour on most days this month. What's great though is that you still get to see the bright sun after the rain. That is one of the best times to take portraits because light is even and skin tone looks the most natural. And of course, the plants and trees are also wonderful subjects at this particular time.

The minutes just after the rain has completely stopped, you can happily step outside and feel a bit of warm sunlight softly bathing your skin, and you see the raindrops sliding down the delicate petals of the flowers and leaves around you, sometimes even giving you that illusion of a uniquely fresh feeling. The red fire trees in the area also gave out that bit of an autumn look. It would be very nice if these trees were everywhere along the Boulevard and are in full bloom all year long.

I tried out my portrait lens with max aperture of 1.4 but never really shot wide open because it fails to be sharp at that setting. It does give a somewhat swirly bokeh that I really like that reminds me of the Helios lens I've been wanting to get. I'm pretty sure though, I'd see better-looking bokeh with a Canon Eos. I may have said that too soon but I've never seen that kind of "buttery" bokeh with Nikon.

Nevertheless, I was happy to have taken snaps of nature's little details (how awesome would it be to use a macro lens on the bugs and veins of leaves!). I think I needed that from having shot too many wedding pictures in the past weeks. Whew! I'm also wishing I have new landscape photos to take. I miss the spectacular view that only the mountains and the outdoors can offer.

June Days

The rainy day months are here. June started out as scorching hot as summer but I'm starting to feel cold breeze during evenings and through the nights. The kind of weather you'd love to curl up to in bed under a blanket and a fluffy pillow and listen to slow music on Spotify.

June isn't as packed as May in terms of weddings. Which is ok because rain, despite being supposedly "good" for the marrying couple, we consider as "bad" as wedding photographers. The team is also looking forward to taking a week-long break from work by end of this month to go on separate vacations, which would be a good refresher to each of our hearts and minds. Exchanging travel stories upon our return to work in July would be something we all look forward to. I'm super excited to take photos of new and familiar places!

Here are a few snapshots from this month.

I just realized I actually have access to a bazillion cut flowers almost every week. Now, I can have a more inspiring workspace (hopefully) all week long!

Trying Walnut Ink

I recently acquired walnut ink for calligraphy, to see what the hype was. Apparently, on Instagram, I always find people raving about how awesome it is. I've tried it out but I find it too transparent. Although the color is great, I am reminded so much of coffee (which makes me think I could also use coffee or tea in painting one day).

Being transparent and all, I decided to use it on a recent drawing. I tried my luck in drawing human hands, but I didn't use watercolor paper. I used a Fabriano sketch paper, 90gm2. Half of the time I like to use it because of its creamy color but it gets frustrating when watercolor makes it wavy and wrinkly but nevermind because these things I only do for practice.

I was fairly satisfied with the hand drawing, but the coloring was a little difficult. I made mistakes in the shading but it's difficult to correct mistakes with translucent paint so I did what I could to fix it and decided on a finished artwork.

I did a little extra with another type of watercolor paper by doing some monochromatic florals.

This week feels like a real drag. It is still Tuesday and I feel tired and unmotivated.

Painting birds

I am doing birds as my next challenge. I looked for bird photos with really simple feathers but with vibrant complementary colors. I love how birds look when they're painted, they look so retro or vintage like those pages from old books I've seen in school libraries.

For my first set of birds, I chose a Robin and a Blue Jay. It wasn't easy as I thought. The feathers and color transitions were tricky. I realize though they could vary and there's no need to be so precise. I still need to work on the proportions. Drawing really kills me each time. I like the coloring process more but sometimes, I need a rough outline to guide me where to apply the colors.

I am quite happy that it turned out well, not as perfect as I'd imagined though. I'm thinking how I can use them for other things that I can sell on Etsy. Cards, tags, journal covers, digital patterns. Hmmm.

I did further tries in putting these drawings together with calligraphy text, seeing how they look in a thank you card or similar artwork.

Floral Obsession

There's bound to be a blog post after a huge wave of inspiration struck me in the previous days. I've been experimenting trying different simple drawings to do in watercolor.

Flowers are always great subjects and you can use any color on them and they don't have to be so accurate. I think it's one of the best things about watercolor, or probably any kind of art for that matter. You don't have to be so accurate when you paint. Sometimes, just some dabs of color can do the trick. I'm so glad and surprised that some of the flowers I started drawing, despite being rough with inexperienced strokes, they still somehow resemble their real-life equivalents. I never thought I'd be able to paint anything while I was growing up and even after I finished school.

But all this also makes me realize how much we can make use of abstract even though we don't really know a lot of the technicalities of drawing. What's important is there's enthusiasm to do it and of course most importantly, inspiration. It's what drives you to do something. It's the force that makes you get up and believe you can do it, too.

Next, I'm thinking of trying birds and owls.

Here are some photos while I was doing the floral wreath, which you will also recognize as my newly installed header image above. I got so excited today seeing how I was able to digitize my calligraphy and artworks!

Happy happy weekend to you!