Society6 is starting 2017 with a lovely promo from today until January 8, 12am Pacific Time!





I hope you could take a gander and wander around my shop and see if you like something. It would be such a thrill to see you use my art in your every day life.

You'll be able to activate the 15% OFF plus FREE worldwide shipping by clicking the link below. Weee! X

Thank you so much and I hope you'll have a lovely wander around my shop!

https://t.co/4qJ0vUO3Ji https://t.co/V6L6OmOTMa

She loves the garden and everything in it. Well, maybe not all -- she's terrified of centipedes! She'll let the sun shine on your plants even brighter and the wind nicer but remember to leave some herbs for her to cook with! Oh and her name is...a secret, she says! But the wind and the birds know, she said. If we know how to listen quietly, then we'd know her name.

Remember the beautiful feeling of touching the pages of an old book, wondering just how many people have lovingly anticipated the stories within its pages? Or that simple, musty and kind of historic scent of it? And also, the excitement of opening a new book and feeling like you've found a new companion? All these are quite quirky and simple but they are part of this wonderful love I have for books. It's not only the stories, but the companionship and the "passport" I attain to far off lands and new people in adventures I know I could only have in books.

Books on the shelves, on coffee tables, on tables beside beds and sofas, on cabinets and underneath flower pots -- the beautiful musty scent of pages old and new linger in every room along with the faint perfume of flowers and rosemary. She buries herself within the pages of literature, stuck inside the adventures and thoughts of each and every story she reads, the memories and lives of the characters felt like they were hers as well. Every fact and speculation she thoroughly peruses, taking in as much as she could digest.  The books are both her escape and her comfort.

I haven't done much digital illustrations lately as I have been so busy with the holidays and some custom handmade gifts. It's such a thrill to be busy for both! But a few days in after Christmas, I've had this "itch" to continue doing this literary girl -- it's been a while since I first started on her illustration and I felt like it was time to finish her portrait. We kind of look a bit alike, but this was unintentional. Really! Haha! Are you guys familiar with the observation that an artist kind of looks like the ones she / he draws? Or maybe that there's a similarity between them among the tiniest details? I suppose it did kind of happen to us here. Haha!

Anyways, I'd love to share the brushes I used in this illustration. It's what Mingjue Helen Chen's been using which she linked on her tumblr. I have been using them for a bit of a long time now and I could say that they are the best! Here's the link and I hope you'd get "lost" in her awesome blog. 

http://jigokuen.tumblr.com/post/78660442498/some-dc-girls-redesigns-an-extension-to-the

Oh and since you are here, here's a tumblr blog about books and such that I have been following for such a long time now. I hope you will enjoy staying in this cafe / library blog.

http://teacoffeebooks.tumblr.com/

Cheers everyone and happy holidays!
:)

 Lately, I have found myself enamored once again by the simple beauty of writing letters and flower pressing. They're both so nostalgic. They leave behind not only beauty but memories and feelings. 

Have a peaceful Christmas, everyone! May love and warmth embrace you in all your days. Cheers! Here's a little illustration of the family -- there must have been such an immense kind of love between them. I hope your holidays are well and are filled with love. Cheers and love to all of you, wherever you may be.

Hello everyone!

I am delighted to let you know that some of my latest artwork has been featured on iLeGaLit, a non-profit online magazine focusing on art and culture, and founded by Lucia Bihuncová from Slovakia. I am humbled by this opportunity and thank Lucia for this exciting venture. 

She inhabits the gardens and meadows, her being floating in the air as the wind takes her to other flower fields, meandering in the simple beauty of floras. The sun, she adores. And, it is in the moonlight that she takes comfort with, lulling her to deep slumber until the sun would embrace her with her warmth. Her song you'd hear as the wind blows, singing in the duet with its airy spirit. So, each time a gentle breeze would touch your skin by the meadows, know that she is with you, loving every simple being that nature has brought for all of us to revel and love.

Belonging to no land, Salima conjures magic for nomads, making sure that their lives are comfortable and full of magic. She looks up to her older brother Baldouin, studies spells and tries to learn Magical Philosophy and Diplomatic relations like him. He dotes on her and makes sure she is always safe in her travels. She, in turn, is fond of Margaret and wishes her brother would forget his studies for a while and follow his spirit for once. One only falls in love once for a person like Baldouin, she thinks. She travels to distant lands with her brother's friend Daario whom she has taken quite a liking to. Oh, and her Flaming skies enchantment is a work of art and is rather a bit of a terror to see but is still a wonder to behold.

Jo March “Late at night my mind would come alive with voices and stories and friends as dear to me as any in the real world. I gave myself up to it, longing for transformation.” Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (film, 1994)

I have been in love with Jo's person --there is something about Jo that I see in myself. I am tempestuous, full of restlessness and full of stories filling my mind and heart to the brim, often times occupying my days and long into the night. I love our home so much but I long for adventures, to see the world and all its simple beauty. Like her, I am a little bit on the boyish side who prefers anything than that which confines me to one place, always seeking the dirt and sweat.

I meant to draw her for tomorrow, you know, Wednesday? Ha, really now.  If I were to become trapped in a desaturated world, I'd be Wednesday. Or maybe anyone from Tim Burton's world. Anyway, quick inktober for today though. I've got some things to do within the day but of course before sleeping, I shall read. If not, I shall definitely become young Ms. Addams here.

Dorian loves to make all kinds of potions. His expertise in herbs, fungi and river water makes him a favorite candidate for a membership for the elite order of naturalists. He doesn't like authority though, and often gets into trouble with Geeta. He's fond of waking up early in the morning to walk around the forest and after that he'd prefer to take his tea in the greenhouse with his friends.

Naturelle loves impromptu magic duels...she's a natural at it. Oh and she's good with puns too. Anyway, she inherited her abilities from her father who happens to be a cousin of Baldouin. Well, she does like being related to Salima, but that solitary wizard who can't even talk to her good friend Margaret without making mistakes in his spells? Why, magic casting expertise runs in the family, why can't he keep his calm like the rest of them? In her spare time she loves to explore the school's impressive architecture and hopes to create the next best library filled with sunlight and an indoor river. One can dream, she says.

She's brave, highly imaginative and has lots of spunk. Coraline is one of my favorite films, though I have yet to read the book. Neil Gaiman's books have always been so whimsical with a touch of innate intimacy and familiarity. I believe I shall love Coraline the way I do with his other books.

She's a witch of wisdom, with knowledge that goes far back to the early settlers of the land, heart as strong as the desert. She prefers to stay in one place despite her nomadic upbringing, believing that her spirit is always travelling with the wind even though she is still as a rock. Like an oasis, her appearance changes like the passing of day. She is actually Baldouin and Salima's mother, but it is rumoured that their father is the spirit of the desert himself, and hoping to keep Fairuza forever, gave her the ability to live her life like a moon -- in cycles. Baldouin thinks she is like a phoenix, young then old then begins again like the rising of the sun and moon. Of course, the bit about Fairuza's husband is all myth, since he is as human as her children. So, is she the one who is a magical being, or is her husband truly a spirit of the desert?

Rouen fights rebels from using magic for selfish reasons, mostly against those who raid villages and spread terror across the land. She is also a strong advocate for the right to do magic for uses other than scholarly studies.

Jane Longfellow

Jane is the daughter of two adventuring professors of the village school. Having been to many strange places, they told all of their journeys to Jane. Her imagination would run wild but what she loves the most is using her magic to conjure amazing images of her daydreams and her parents' stories out of thin air to the amazement and admiration of all those around her.

~

 This year's Inktober was both such a thrill and a challenge. It was filled with so much thought and whimsy, technical difficulties and headaches as well. But with all these, I am happy. 

 Cheers to all of us who did this lovely dance with ink.