Noir et Blanc

9"x12" canvas
Medium: acrylic

Elizabeth

26" x 22" Medium: Acrylic

It's been a year since I published an artwork. My husband and I have been so busy on a big project that it consumed all of  my time, even to paint. Finally I squeezed it in my schedule, and disregarded my household chores for almost a month. Thank goodness for laundromats, dine outs and my understanding husband who took over most chores and never complained about his wrinkled uniforms (I love you!).

I wanted to practice making portraits...was so amazed by other artists who can make portraiture so life-like and full of emotions. My self-portrait (the one I made a few years ago) looks like a dead fish next to theirs. Anyway, here's the finished product of my latest venture. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, but I'd still grade myself with a big, fat NI (Needs Improvement). Maybe most painters are never fully satisfied with their works, that's why they never stop painting. Or maybe that's just me.

Can't wait to start on my next project. I still have a few blank canvases at home.

Tea Time of the Monarch

Here's my new project trying the trompe l'oeil technique. For all the amateurs (like me) out there, trompe l'ooeil is a french term for 'deceive the eye'.  It is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions (source: Wikipedia). This is the technique that most artists use for murals or frescoes to make their art appear life-like.

30" x 30" Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

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I don't know if this will be the style of all my succeeding works, but I'm pretty much leaning towards Realism (is this an actual art term?). I think I need a crash course on Basic Art 101. :P


Total duration of art project: 4 weeks

A Place in the Sun

Acrylic on Canvas ; Size: 32" x 40"

Again, this was taken during one of our summer trips in the beautiful island of Palawan. He's a worker at the resort, carting sacks of cement to and from the stock shed. It must be a huge bonus to view such landscape while working, not even CEOs have this kind of advantage, methinks.

Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk

I was on a Jeff Buckley mode last March. His song, Lover You Should Come Over and cover, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, was on loop on my player and in my head. His voice is as haunting as the proses of the songs he wrote. As I was googling his discography, I stumbled upon the title of his unfinished album, "Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk". This gave me inspiration for the theme of my next art project.

28.5" x 18.5"; Medium: Acrylic

I'm patting myself on the back for finishing this in less than a month. :)

Untitled

First painting for the year.

Decided to paint on a small canvass just to start my engine running. I really hope I could finish at least one artwork a month.

9x12" Medium: Acrylic

Vietnamese Waffle Vendor

Last April '09, my husband and I went to Vietnam for a much deserved break. As we were strolling along the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, we saw this vendor selling waffles and making it on the spot with her cast iron griddle and charcoal burner.

28.5 x 18.5" Medium: Acrylic

This is really a new feat for me: painting printed cloth and objects inside a plastic.

Might have to re-sign my name here. Having a hard time seeing it myself. :P