Day 30: Congrats Banner

Omg! It's finally done. The last one is dedicated to my hard work and for not giving up. After two years, i finished the 30 Day Drawing Challenge! It was not easy for me doing this because im a very moody artist. I'm also not that talented with "drawing" so i used reference halfway. I broke some rules along the way like in day 16 when i used colored background and text should be inside some sort of a banner. But all decisions were made because at that time it just felt right for me. This also has been a great activity for me. It didn't only challenge my skills but also it made me know myself better. I really recommend all artist to do this challenge. It may not be as serious as i did, but practicing your craft will always make you a better artist. I also learned many techniques and even developed my own. I love to explore and just be creative. I hope all these creative juices will never run out. This one I dedicate to everyone who believed in me. Thank you and God bless ^_^

Day 29: A Place You Want to Go

I love travelling! My first time to travel or have a vacation outside the city was after high school graduation. I went to Iligan with the entire Zabala clan. Travelling with family is great! We get to see new places, share new experiences and get to know each other more. My entire childhood was here in Zamboanga, and I always dreamt of going to Disneyland or Universal Studios as a kid watching cable TV. I know a lot of places coz i always read books (as in encyclopedia) and watch nerdy channels like Discovery Channel and Nat Geo. I also dreamt of travelling outside space and becoming an astronaut. As a teen i discovered Harry Potter and no doubt, i wanted to be a wizard and study in Hogwarts. A lot of movie and cartoons made me want to go fictional places like Neverland, Oz, Narnia, The Shire, Rivendell, Gotham, Smallville, and the Pokemon Universe.

But in college i get to travel for real. I went to Manila many times for the Graphika Manila conference. I traveled to Baguio for a Student Journalism workshop. I went to Naga for

Day 28: Anything You'd Like

For today, im doing a throwback doodle from my college days. Back in the days, i would love to hang out at coffee shops just doodling in my planner and taking advantage of the free wifi access.haha. This dates back to 2009, my last year in college. I doodled a new dessert from a cafe which i tried. It's their version of the Knickerbocker, a cocktail of fruits with icecream on top. Knickerbocker is a must-taste dessert when you visit Zamboanga. As you can see im also busy with my laptop. That year i had my new laptop which i bought with my own money. Okay, not entirely mine, my parents helped me a bit.^_^ I worked during summer conducting seminars and workshops and the fruit of my labor was my very own laptop which i use to surf the net when im hanging out at cafes. Today, this laptop is already dead. :( It got wet when rain dripped inside our house due to construction of the second level of our house. I was forced to buy a new one coz i always use it at school for teaching. Anyways, this doodle is just a look back at the good ole days. Hope you like it ^_^

Day 27: Someone You Love

It's not so hard to think of people i love because i have a LOT! My parents, my siblings, relatives, and friends makes me feel loved always and i love them more. This particular artwork is dedicated to my one and only sister, Eldee Grace Michelle, or Ate Chen-Chen. It's her 27th birthday and i thought of making this as a birthday gift to her. Talking about hitting two birds with one stone ;) I created this colorful portrait in Illustrator with a bit of texture added using Photoshop.

Anyways, my Ate is a shy person but she's also adventurous. We both love to travel and explore places and do new stuff. As young siblings, we we're the usual kids who fight at times but we're generally peaceful. The toughest years when she was in her early teenage years when she's very moody with all that crazy hormone side effects. We went at the same high school and she's my rolemodel in terms of academics. She studied nursing at WMSU and i studied IT in ADZU. Now we're already working. She's in Cebu working as a call center agent while arranging her papers for abroad. She's a very fun-loving and adventurous person and i couldn't have a better Ate than her. So cheer's to you Ate and wishing you a great year and prosperous life. May God bless us always!

Day 26: Something You Don't Like

Coming up with something you don't like was kinda difficult. It took me two months to finally come up with one. Well, its already 2014 and i started this series in 2012 and now im down to my last few days. Last year was a tough one especially with all the natural and man made crisis that happened in our country. For something i don't like, i chose rain coz it reminded me of #YolandaPH or #Haiyan, the worst Supertyphoon that hit the Philippines and the strongest one in history. Communities were erased in the map and lots of families lost their lives and loved ones. Rain and wind could be very disastrous.

Here at home, we're not that affected with the typhoon but the series of rainfall caused floods in some barangays. Our house is still under renovation and the roof has a lot of holes. Whenever it rains our living room, dining room and bedrooms get flooded and we have to put catch basins around the house. Then i would mop the floor when it stops. But after a few hours the rain would fall again. I left my 5 year old laptop in our sofa when i was at work and when i got home it was already soaked. Now its dead ad i have to buy a new one for class. Going to work has also been difficult when its pouring because im driving a motorcycle. Most of the time, i really hate rain when it hinders my productivity. But i don't hate it all the time. I only like rain when im in bed sleeping. :)

Aside from rain, i also dislike the fact that im allergic to food colorants and dark colored food like chocolates. I have allergic rhinitis where my eyes turn red and itchy after eating or drinking food with artificial colorants. I also dislike super hot weather, wet socks, bad hair days, annoying music, bad typography, smelly people, bad service in restaurants, and people with bad vibes.

Day 25: A Scenery

A few days left and im done with the 30 day drawing challenge. For day 25, i have to create a scenery. I really wanted to feature the beautiful places in Philipines like Banaue Rice Terraces, the Eighth wonder of the world, and Chocolate Hills, but with a twist. This art is inspired by my other work Lala Land, a fun colorful fantasy land. The stripes of the mountain here resembles the rice terrraces. The shapes of the mountains were also inspired by the beautiful chocolate hills of Bohol. Unfortunately, because of the recent earthquake, most of these rounded hills crumbled down. :( Some of the mountains that i created were cracked half like an eggshell which will remind me of that incidence. Aside from the war and earthquake, another calamity happened. One of strongest Super Typhoons that happened in the history of humankind, Haiyan aka "Yolanda", swept away the islands of Visayas and flattened most of the cities (View before and after photos here). The thunder sign in one of the mountains and the swirls represents the super typhoon. Many people have been killed and families left homeless and traumatized. The world is now hand-in-hand to help Philippines in the recovery and rehabilitation of this humanitarian crisis. I hope that there wont be another Haiyan in the future. Despite all of these, we Filipinos will never lose hope. The colors here represents the optimism and fun-natured Filipinos that will surely rise from the ashes. God will never forsake us and we must always be steadfast in our prayers. God bless Philippines.

Day 24: A Couple

Here's a tribute to one of my favorite couples on TV, Finn and Rachel, also known as Finchel, the main love team of the popular musical series, Glee. The couple played by Cory Monteith and Lea Michelle, were also a couple in real life. Unfortunately, the talented Cory had a drug overdose and died in a Vancouver Hotel room at the age of 31. As I was watching Glee's tribute to Finn/Cory, I couldn't help but be emotional with that episode. I'm a gleek at heart and I have witnessed their journey from being ambitious students to becoming national champions. Finn is definitely a quarterback, a leader. Someone who is not afraid to be himself and even helped others to be comfortable with showing their talents to others. He is an inspiration to his fellow glee members, to his mentors, and to every gleeks out there. Rachel, the love of his life, is just as talented. A girl with big dreams of becoming a singing star. They had ups and downs but there is one thing they know for sure, they are destined for each other. But it's sad that their love story didn't have a sweet ending. Finn's voice will always be in our heads. RIP Cory Monteith.