of sketchbook project 2012, my desire to make more art that speaks, and my newfound love for 6B pencils

For this year's Sketchbook Project, I chose a more positive theme: HOPE. :)

And so my late night art endeavor ends temporarily tonight because I'm finally done with my Sketchbook. I think I enjoyed working on this one more than last year's project because it's really something that's close to my heart. Actually, the reason why I chose rain as my theme for last year's project is due to the fact that I thought it'd be easier to come up with rain-related works since the downpour here in Manila is insane. But alas, hope was easier and a lot more positive. In fact, working on my Sketchbook encouraged me to continue having hope. Not that I'm in total despair or losing hope. It's just that it's easier to lose hope than to remain in hope.

Here are some of the works inside the Sketchbook:

001

003

005

011

013

Since hope is an abstract concept (and word), I attributed hope to things like the sky or ascending objects because when you have hope, you focus on the tiny light inside the tunnel and believe that you'd eventually find your way out of the hole you got yourself into. When I think about hope, I think about looking up to the heavens and believing that there'd always be a spark of heaven in a cup of hell. Hoping is like looking ahead to a future that's bright and filled with joy.

Like I said, working on this project encouraged me and reminded me to always have hope, and to have my  works remind me of something is the best part while I was working, if you ask me. Moreover, to have a friend tell me he was encouraged when he browsed through my Sketchbook was already something that I'm grateful for because it means that somehow, my works spoke to him in some way. I hope it'd speak to others, too. :D

The works are mostly rendered in watercolor just because I can, though not as expertly and fluidly as most watercolor painters are. Buti na lang, there's growth. Haha!

This project made me realize something: while doodling or working on funny illustrations and rants are really fun to do, I want to make more artworks that are encouraging or at least would make people think. One of my philosophy in Art is this: an artwork may be awesomely rendered, but if its purpose is only to beautify, then the artwork is like an empty jar. Silly philosophy, you may say, but ultimately, I think art production is more than just adding a little flair in life. Artworks should be alive, don't you think? :) Of course, I don't mean it literally, and yes, kinetic art moves, but technically it's dead. Kfine, I'll stop here.

I said I'll make more Art this year, but I'll do my best to produce Art that's more than just a pretty sight.

And I think, after this project, I just found another favorite verse:

While reading this, it moved me.

And now, I'm feeling all light and happy. :D

-oOo-

Speaking of art endeavors, we finished a session of still life using pencil last Saturday, and I'm happy to say that I've found a new love for pencil drawings (not that I don't like them; if anything I really like looking at pencil drawings, but not my works) and still life. Here's an excerpt of my work:

Presenting the banana, apple, and orange!

And I found out just how much I really suck when it comes to tone values and such.

Why so hard value scale?

I love 6B pencils. <3