Unforgiving

This Ukraine war is unforgiving. Many innocent lives even halfway around the world are affected and the poor are bearing the most burden. I just bought meat from Monterey (at Merkado in UP Town Center) and beef shanks cost more PHP 500/kg, pork cubes at PHP 400+/kg. Tomorrow I’ll see how much more expensive vegetables are.

I don’t know how jeepney and tricycle drivers survive this weekly exponential oil price hikes.

Another massive fuel price hike expected next week

By CNN Philippines Staff

Published Mar 12, 2022 11:31:35 AM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12)— Motorists can expect another round of massive fuel price increase by next week, according to industry projections.

In its fuel price forecast released on Saturday, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said diesel costs may increase by ₱12.20 to ₱12.30 per liter, while gasoline prices may shoot up by ₱6.80 to ₱7.00 per liter for the March 15 to 21 period.

Better limit unnecessary long distance travel these days. *Sigh*


The empty watercolor half-pans that I ordered from Shopee arrived this afternoon and I began cutting blocks of my first Bento Picasso watercolors and added them to my portable watercolor palette so they can easily be chucked inside my bag.

We left home at 3 pm to go to UP Town Center because the Timezone there is big and the mall is open air so it’s better for the kids. Because, damn it, the variants of Covid are endless…

Got myself the fine watercolor brushes and the 0.05 Uni Pin fine liner. I should have gotten this earlier because it’s a game-changer when it comes to initial sketching since I can do more details without having to commit too much to the image. I don’t have to draw using pencil first unless the sketch is complicated.

I also like the Tokyo Finds rounded brush compared to the Monte Marte I bought from Art Bar. The 000 brush by Scrivo is hard to work with. I think the 02 rounded brush by Tokyo Finds can do the job better. Not bad for a local brand. Even its artist-grade water colors are comparable to Royal Talens’ Van Gogh line; it’s cheaper and it comes in a tin container with a flip finger holder so you can put the palette on your open palm while you dab on it—the ideal palette for urban sketching.

My brushes, so far. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

We then had a late lunch/early dinner at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. I got the spicy ramen to wake me up. While waiting for our food, I started sketching Twin I.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

After the meal, the girls hopped to Timezone while I bought milktea at Serenity, which was next door, and started drawing.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I love the 0.05 Uni Pin micropen!

Art and Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Art and Photo by CallMeCreation.com

It was already getting dark so I had to stop. I was already getting confused with the colors. We went to Merkado supermarket to buy meat and some snacks and went home. The girls were happy that they earned 1,000 tickets from Timezone and bought toys for Ate C’s nephew. They don’t have any use for toys and they need 6,000 tickets to buy earphones so might as well give the toys to someone else.

I continued coloring at home.

Agggh! The grey color bled. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

NOTE TO SELF: Do not use waterbrsuh for coloring small and narrow things!!!

My brush/pencil case. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The watercolors bled from the back. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

The colors from the sketch at the back bled through this drawing of Twin I so I need to have this completely dried before I start coloring this again.

Still wet. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

Well, this sketchpad is for dry medium only that’s why I have to be more forgiving. I’m heavy handed when I do watercolors so bleeding through any sketchbook is expected. Except for 300 gsm watercolor papers but hardbound notebooks (a la Moleskine) with 300 gsm paper (cold pressed) are not readily available. I tried looking for them at Fullybooked and Art Bar. I’m about to order one online but I doubt the paper will be 200-300 gsm. I think I must make my own watercolor notebook by buying watercolor paper and bookbind them myself. I used to do it before but the results were rough because I didn’t have the proper tools. But after watching Rajiv Surendra’s bookbinding tutorial, I think I can attempt doing it and book binding tools are available on Shopee. I can buy the table clamps from Handyman or Ace Hardware.

I need a separate crafting table. My computer table could hardly contain my stuff when I sketch/watercolor.