'Take caution, my child. Humans have only been lured to the waters because of the shining moons beneath it, for they believe these will bring them fortune and prosperity.'

'Not love?'

'When has it ever been about love for them? If you are lucky, however, as the legends say...the one who loves a sea folk forever is usually lured by the song of our longing, not the pearls. But as with its nature, it is just a legend. So don't go looking for the one you're destined with up there in the surface. A sea folk's heart would never bear the pain of a human's fickle love.'

And so the young sea folk swam to the surface, not realizing the older sea folk’s tone and sighs. She waited with bated breath as the tiny moons beneath the waters shone like that of the same, albeit gigantic one up there in the stars.

'They're up here, the one who will love me forever. I know it.'

And so she sang.

-----

I 've been experimenting lately with things I'm not comfortable drawing. Lighting, color, perspective. I know, the basics. Boink.
This idea came to me yesterday after being frustrated of not being able to draw what I was supposed to draw. I think this is sort of a 'shake off' of some kind, something to get me back on track. A good distraction, I guess.

 https://www.instagram.com/p/CEsdsASDrYx/

Hello, dear reader.

I know things have changed so much recently in what seemed like a fast transition, like a snap of a finger or a lever that has been pulled; the changes had been surreal.

I feel anxious at most but I'm rather more predisposed to feeling a tad bit hopeful. So much had shaken me enough to rouse me from my sleep, anxious and troubled at what the present is and what the future may become.

But with shaking resolve, I try to pick myself up every time I wake. Being grateful is the start of my day and then off I go to do household chores and cook our food. I've been much more of a help around the house recently and I can say that at least I've improved with the cleaning aspect. My cooking, I can say but humbly so, is quite satisfactory. Day by day, night by night, I choose to set a certain sort of routine for myself.

Chores, work, down time, reflections.

They go on and on each time that these had already become a set of things to do. The monotony of things had somewhat calmed me into a mindset that things will be in order once again.

The kind of order that I hope, would mean that we will give order to our lives with the lives of other beings in mind and purpose.

For years, I've tried to figure out ways to give attention to nature's needs. We have been so focused on ourselves that we have forgotten that we share this world with other beings. I've said it before and will say it again. 'In order to live peacefully in this world, we must learn how to respect every being and learn to protect them.' And it is not just a leisurely thing to do, respect. It is our duty to do so. Sharing something with others require respect and empathy and I feel that we should follow this more often.

In light of these thoughts, this year, I've decided to dedicate illustrations and stories that focus more on flora and fauna. Well to be quite honest I have always done creations with these as the subjects but this time, it's about the ones that are endangered and vulnerable.

Following the research of IUCN and of Joel Sartore and National Geographic's 'Photo Ark', I begin illustrating various species of fauna. My hope is that by illustrating them and giving them stories, they may be given attention and care, to bring awareness to the threat that these beings face. But most of all, I yearn for others to form connections with them, empathising with their circumstances and to marvel at their diversity and wonderful qualities. I've been awestruck at the diversity of the creatures that we share this world with. My heart races just at the sight of their striking eyes, of the way they conduct themselves, of how they thrive no matter what.

Climate change and human activities have affected them so much but they try so much to adapt and to continue living.

In a way, do they not remind us of ourselves? That in the face of adversity, we still try to pick ourselves up and move on? How each and every one of us tries to be strong for another? It is the same with how a mother orangutan tries to find another place to raise her young because the jungles and forests they call home have been cut down to half its size, how migratory birds still yearn for the same sanctuaries they seek, how some would be willing to partake of what is left for them to have.

We are not far from them nor they to us.

The coronavirus 2019 pandemic had brought not just solidarity and understanding, but strength with which we share in equal measure with these beings.

They may not talk in the same language as ours, but we do have one thing in common and that is the strength to keep on no matter what.

Wherever you are, I hope you will always have strength. I promise I'd do the same. It's hard, but let's keep on keeping on.

Much love and encouragement,
Mariel

-----
I will be sharing them through this art blog, my Instagram, Twitter and other social media sites.

There is a medium that had taken my heart with so much enthusiasm. 

Dry Pastel.

In my high school years, I've used pastel for almost everything. The sun in the packaging of it made me smile, as did the effect it has on my artwork. Learning a particular technique from my cousin who got it from his teacher, I smudged the pastel with tissue to make it as my base and then from there I would cover it with watercolor pencils. And then I added my own technique:  I brush it over with wet brush and added a new layer of colored pencil once again. Sometimes I would repeat the process all over again until the artwork looked as if it was printed. I rather liked it, to be honest. However, the pigment would sometimes be too 'rough' for me and it didn't give off that glow that I was looking for. It's still a good medium though.

Fast forward to this month, I stumbled upon Caran D'Ache's Dry Pastels. I have been using their colored pencils for quite sometime starting this year and goodness, they are so rich in texture and the pigments so vivid I could hardly exert too much pressure while using them. Just a stroke and a luscious vivid texture has already made its mark on the paper. 

And so as I looked for more colors (I buy individual pencils as I think I do not need particular hues that are included in their sets, plus they're very much ostentatious for me), my mum and I saw their dry pastels at the store. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get one. They're expensive -- kuripot me said no even if the curious me said yes. But upon seeing the pigments, I remember Claire Keane's artwork where she used dry pastels -- I've never seen such beautiful and ethereal illustrations made with dry pastel.

I battled against myself. Is it worth the price? And then Christmas came early -- my mum told me she would buy it for me as a gift. Now, I'm not apt to accept such an offer. However, my mum told me that if she offered such a thing, I should accept, that if help comes to one, one must be gracious enough to accept it. And so I did. 

And goodness, how beautiful the dry pastels were! And how thankful I was and still am! I used the same technique of smudging it with tissues and cotton buds and then applying some colored pencils. I felt ecstatic; is this how Ms. Keane felt? Or how Hans Holbein felt with his pastels? Utter and sheer delight! But of course, at first I was afraid. But who wasn't afraid in the beginning? 

'Spring' is my third dry pastel piece and all I could say is how happy I am with her. <3 

I have been so much enamored with dry pastel. It is such a delicate yet tedious medium but one which I find myself devoted to. Dry pastels and colored pencils by @carandache 
are so lovely and I'm very much happy with them. 

They call her by her name but such a thing could remain a secret from us and so we only know her by her title and she is called The Keeper of the Cranes. The majestic birds entrust their lives only to her hands, she whose intentions are pure, she whose love for them is as untainted as the world reflected in their marble eyes. With the keeper by their side, nothing could ever lay harm to them, not even man in their supposed boundless power. Nothing. 


This illustration means a lot to me. The keeper's love for the cranes extend far beyond the confines of what it means for conservation. She protects them not just for them to continue on living as 'species' but as living beings who are deserving of this world. She appreciates the lives of every living being, finding beauty in all their flaws and complexities that she is willing to go the extra mile to keep such creatures from extinction. If we love this life so much, then we must protect it and all the living beings in it as well, and also the world which we live in. 

Created with graphite and colored pencils as well as watercolor.

In the forest lives a woman of no origin. She has been living in the woods for so long no one knows exactly how old or how young she was. No one knows her name either, not even the birds. But everyone knew who she was. She's sister, the leaves whisper as they sway with the wind's songs. She's my friend, says the sun and the moon as they shine down on her round, mossy eyes. She is family, the rest of them say. She belongs here, where nobody thinks any less of anyone, says the mountains high amongst the clouds. She belongs where her heart feels truly alive. For all these, the woman smiles happily as she lives her life under the canopies of the woods, unperturbed and always loved, just as much as she loves wholeheartedly.

New books! The smell of new books is in the air!
Well, they're not what one would call “new” though. It seems Philippa has found some books to borrow from the village library. A “new” set of books have just arrived at the request of the village school head, Geeta. Everyone's extremely happy about it. They've got a book about Eastern Herbs and also a guide to Potions of the Ages, for crying out loud! But no one beats an early bird, Philippa says. She must borrow the new darlings before the others do or else she'll never get her hands on them! Well, maybe for at least a week or so. Except for Dorian -- he never returns the books on time, or at all for that matter.