Tree a Day #27

This one is very very random haha.

Tree a Day #26

Not really a tree but the implication is that they're lying underneath one. I was too lazy to draw all the shadows haha. But I think it could make for a sweet painting.

Tree a Day #25

made before / right before / after a lovely talk with b

Tree a Day #24

Corals, trees, target logos... I have no idea. haha. I drew it while listening to "Never Had Nobody Like You" by M. Ward. Love that song!

Tree a Day #23

Just taking the previous tree a step further :)

Tree a Day #22

It has been a while since I've done a tree so here ya go! It's a lil different than my usual but I like it :)

Tree a Day #21

heeeee! I really like this one! I have no idea where it came from but I just started toying with colors and whatever and walla! She's so cute! I can imagine her thinking, TREEEEEES!!

Tree a Day #20: Painting Progress

they now each have fun toys!

Tree a Day #18

I really need a new sketchbook. Drawing on the inside cover is too much. Anyway, saw a tree today that looked like two but was actually one and it gave me an idea for a new tree house painting! Here's the rough sketch. It comes from the heart. I'm so excited to paint it :)

Tree a Day #17

Last page of my sketchbook! I've never gone through so many sketchbooks so quickly... I'm currently averaging one a month! Ridiculous!

I decided to draw myself into this one as personal motivation for what I want to do. I've gotten lazy with my work (or perhaps just burnt out). Either way, I haven't been as productive as I usually am and dammit it's time get back into the groove. The internet is so distraaaacting! No more! This ends now! :)

PS, this sketchbook is the best ever. It's just like a moleskin (thick paper stock [good for watercolor!], pocket & elastic band) but cheaper and with a lovely textured, soft cover.

Tree a Day #16: Buddha is Everywhere

I was listening to a podcast about buddha and love, and they brought up an interesting take.

Imagine everyone in the world, except one person, is buddha and the one person who isn't is you. And every one--as buddha--is trying to teach you and help you along your path. Therefore, every one has a purpose & reason for being in your life, from the stranger on the street to your best friend. Their influences may be different but their importance is equal. And it's natural for people to ebb & flow in & out (yum!!) of your life like the tide. There's a time & place for everything, and the same goes with people! The way I see it, believing that everyone exists to help guide you will only open you up to love. Your life would be a regular This American Life, discovering that every person has an interesting story to tell or a solid piece of advice, that the most ordinary is actually extraordinary. You could find adventures in your own backyard, which I feel is so difficult.

And as the boundaries dissolve between yourself and the world, the love & light you shine will flood the world, leaving nothing and no one untouched or unaffected by your love. Mmm... what a beautiful way to exist!

Thanks for reading, you buddha yoooou :)

Tree a Day #15: up UP & away

happy to see how far I've come
to the same place it began
my dreams and imagination perfectly at peace
so I move along a bit higher
(kid cudi)

Tree a Day #14: OM

I've been having so many good talks with friends...!! This time it's Biggers. I told him about the heaviness I'd been feeling from living abroad & being without my friends. Friends bring out different parts of you, and to be without those people... well, you find yourself being just you, as in your core you, plain & simple. While it's good to be yourself, it's exhausting, tiring, and frightening. KB likened to sleep. You need sleep to take a break from living (and I also think of that episode of Star Trek where the crew goes crazy because they can't have REM sleep). I miss my friends to take a break from being me. But at the same time, it's making me face a lot of issues and confront who I am. Anyway, at the end of all this talk of feelings, heaviness and changes, KB said:

I don't imagine that we'll be having the same conversations a few months down the road. Because I believe you'll  soften & lighten the heaviness plaguing you right now. But if we are having the same or a similar conversation it's ok.

Gah. "It's ok." Just hearing that, being reminded of that... I felt so much better. I feel like we often put too much pressure on ourselves to be a certain way, by a certain time. When I work, I like having deadlines because I mold my schedule around meeting them. But I guess you can't approach life like that. You work toward deadlines. You live in the present.

Tree a Day #13

do be do be doooo

Tree a Day #12

it's true. i have nothing but love for my wacom.

(just playing with the brush pressures on the pen)

Tree A Day #11: The Outcome

I talked to two wonderful people today: Rich & Adam. The conversations really helped remind me of where I am, who I'm becoming and what I want. Rich grounded me and Adam jogged my memory of a really important concept... 

no attachment to the outcome

I think when I adopted that concept into my life, it manifested in how I approach my work. When I make a piece of art, I lose myself completely to making the piece. I don't think about what it's going to look like in the end. I think about the lines and how the pen moves. Anyway, "no attachment to the outcome" didn't quite completely transfer to my approach to self-growth. I can't quite articulate how I can have no attachment to the outcome in regards to myself, but it does connect... That if one is working on trying to heal or grow, then one can't think, I'm going to do this to help me heal and get over so-and-so. Instead, I'm going going to do this because I want to. Because the act itself makes me happy. If you label everything with the intent of healing, it becomes weighed down all the emotional ties to the wounds. Not that one shouldn't acknowledge & honor, but gee, that's unfair to burden listening to a song or visiting a city with all that! So basically, to grow without the intent of healing... but just living. I hope this new approach will help me. I think it will.

oh, and these kids were so funny! they were playing over an air vent in the mall.

Tree a Day #10

Tree a Day #8 & #9: Keepin' it fro real, yo

I missed drawing people so walla! I present you with the people who walked by the tree I sketched! Rush hour is the best time to sit in Ayala park. It's dark enough so they turn on all the twinkle lights in the trees, but light enough so I can draw. And people are EVERYWHERE... walking around, jogging, doing the strangest stretches I've ever seen (like waving their arms around frantically while walking in a small circle. I assume its for circulation?). Some like to cuddle, some like to sit & listen to music. It's just a feast for the eyes. And it's right outside where I'm living :) . God bless primo location.

Drew this one while dining in the Philippine's first pay by weight frozen yogurt place, Qoola (aka yogurtland)!! Woo! Their tag line makes me giggle:

"Keepin' it fro real, yo"

Leave it to the pinoys to come up with corny gangstah slogans. REPRESENT! I also like that when greeting a man & a woman, the host doesn't split it up. They say: "Thank you ma'amsir!" Oh, and for some reason, the elevators smell like bubble gum. It's wonderful! And the floors are slippery so when I'm alone, I slide from one end to the other. Very short distance, but exhilarating regardless. 

Yes... I am a five year old kid trapped in a 25 year old lady :]

Tree a Day #7

That counts as a tree right?

Tree a Day #5: Stillness is the Move

Drawing paired with journal entry?! Oh, happy day! ;)

For the first time in a long time, I took my time with yoga tonight. Practicing on your own for the past 4 months is quite a challenge lemme tell ya. I think what helped me was drawing the stretching yoga tree (above) and analyzing last night's dream (dream: I was driving my car, then let my dad drive. The moment he started driving he got pulled over for speeding).

I did yoga tonight, and rediscovered that practice means having patience. Usually I am rushing to finish yoga, or am distracted by the random fat men trying to learn martial arts, or the latest episode of Glee blaring on the TV, but this time I completely surrendered. I was slow & full of intent. I relearned the poses and approached it like a beginner. I remembered that the practice reflects the self. I had been approaching the healing process (from the break up) as something to be done with, not something to enjoy & savor as an experience on its own. I have to be patient & stillness IS the move! Stillness of mind & heart to let painful thoughts come & go without disturbing your self, strength & composure. And tonight, as I was patient with my body, I could feel my heart & mind learning to be patient with themselves. I held the poses with quiet resolute, confident that I could handle the strain for two breaths more, and I did. The dream with my dad was my subconscious telling me to slow down. That there's no rush to get to the point where I'm ready to share my journey with someone.

Just be patient & be still. All the answers, resolutions, and bandaids are within me if I just quiet down. And they aren't in the form of thought. They're in the form of knowing.