Opium poppy flowers. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I was searching for pretty purple flowers to paint for my mom and I came across opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) flowers. They are so pretty but illegal 🤣 So I would have to content myself with photos from livescience.com.
So here, side by side, the Ming dynasty version of an opium poppy flower and the 2022 (my) version. I guess what the Ming dynasty painter saw was the giant poppy so he used magenta (which I also used) and a combination of indigo.
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m running out of frames again. Hahaha! I would have to order frames online. Seeing my improving watercolor drawings framed gives me a serotonin boost so it’s ok to spend that much on frames and art materials. I don’t think I’ve been this happy in the past year when I was still living inside my head and in the past. Now when I think about him, this is the image that flashes through my mind:
Obviously he’s not. He has a lot of women to fuck around with. That’s the rude awakening that I needed, the reality check that I no longer matter so I shouldn’t waste my time moping around and grieving over somebody like that.
How many times has art saved me? I can no longer count.
So wait, is this my justification for ordering Daniel Smith watercolors from Amazon??? 🤣🤣🤣
DANIEL SMITH Watercolor, 5ml tubes, Jean Haines Master Artist Set 10 Watercolor Tubes (total 10 pieces) 285610223 DANIEL SMITH Watercolor Set 5ml Tubes – Alvaro Castagnet Watercolor Set – 10 Tubes, 285610016
In the meantime, my cat, Kimchi, loves to sit on my Kuretake.
Kimchi, my spoiled cat. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Liza Loza, a graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, taught a discussion section for which she was not paid.Credit…Neeta Satam for The New York Times
After protests, U.C.L.A. took down a job posting that offered no pay. But it turns out colleges often expect Ph.D.s to work for free.
It’s tough to be in liberal arts in the US, given that there’s an oversupply of PhDs there and not much job options for the academically inclined. I have been reading about this disparity for years that’s why I didn’t pursue a PhD because it seems like there is no need for me to do that—just yet. Although we in developing countries are better positioned than our counterparts in the US because we have job alternatives, plus there is still demand for PhDs in liberal arts since there aren’t enough teachers in colleges and universities with PhDs of value (I’m not talking about masters and PhDs from just anywhere). MBAs, however, are a different issue. There are too many MBAs here that they just obtained from somewhere with little value, just bragging rights even though there’s nothing to brag about it. That’s why it pays to graduate from a top university in a developing country like the Philippines because anything else is negligible in the bigger world. There is little brand recognition from anywhere else.
If I were these PhD candidates/PhD holders in the US, I would transfer to Asia where their degrees hold more value.
I’m speaking as a person who has come from a family of PhDs and the minimum educational attainment is a master’s degree and lived and breathed academic life.
In our sibling chat group where we discussed this NYT article, I told my brother to tell his son (who took the same undergrad course as I did) to work on apprenticeship more since in liberal arts it holds more value. Take courses or acquire additional skills in adjacent fields like fine arts to be more marketable in visual communications. That’s why a former colleague was very smart to take up a second degree at the UP College of Fine Arts (Visual Communication) after finishing her journalism degree while working. Her logos are now carried by startups. It’s better to be multi-skilled in our field. We now have data science + journalism, visual communications/multimedia/technology, and other hybrid disciplines.
For me, it was valuable that I took up a variety of courses in my undergrad so I couldn’t be pigeon-holed in one linear area. I was so thankful I took up edcomm and other social marketing related-subjects that I could use for communications strategy consulting. However, I need half of myself affiliated with an educational institution if I were to get consultancy jobs in this line. Maybe when I quit fulltime journalism.
I’m gonna finish this tonight. Trying on wet-on-wet technique with Kuretake.
Now the pain starts. Art and photo by CallMeCreatio.com
UPDATE
Finally, after so much procrastination. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
This is so satisfying even though using tiny brushes was painful. I think I need to scan this before I frame and give this to my mom. I think she would like the color/s.
My best friend has asked for this.
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
While my sister-in-law asked for this one for their new townhouse.
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I have to dispose some of what I’m making because I’m running out of walls.
But before I could start scanning my old drawings, I must update the OS of this old laptop to the new Ubuntu version. My scanner is so old (Canoscan LIDE 25) that there is no driver for Win 8 or Win 10 that it can only be used with Linux. This scanner is perfectly serviceable and I don’t want to buy a new scanner since I don’t regularly use it.
Acting as tech support again. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I rushed in buying ETF earlier this week. It was 2 pesos more expensive than today as Nikkei index has registered the biggest fall in 4 weeks on US Fed comments about rate hikes. I had a nagging feeling then that I should wait but I ignored my inner voice and told myself what bad news could we have again? 🙄 How annoying. I could have bought more at today’s price.
The Nikkei lost 1.58 per cent to close at 27,350.30, posting its biggest daily fall since Mar 11. PHOTO: AFP
Meanwhile, I didn’t get enough sleep as a midnight email from London rocked me. My boss is transferring to another product and she didn’t tell me what was going on. My colleagues and I were running around like headless chickens even until yesterday because our reporting lines were blurred. I could not help my colleague with her request for travel because I was not yet given authority to do so. A lot of things were pending because there was no reporting line authorized under me. I wasn’t even told that my boss was no longer doing editorial work so everything fell on me, without proper compensation yet. A lot of admin work kept piling up on me even though I had no official word that these were already my official duties.
I was so confused this morning. I don’t know what to make of this. Why didn’t she tell me? I kept on adding her in team calls and in email threads when she could have just told me that she doesn’t need to be in there. I was walking on eggshells for months.
I’m thinking of attending art classes and I found an atelier near my house that offers classical drawing and painting lessons. Unfortunately their schedules are not friendly to working people like me.
I figured even if I draw and sketch everyday, I will not make a lot of improvement because the theories are lost on me. If I didn’t buy a Domestika course, I wouldn’t be able to learn about vanishing points.
Unfortunately, this atelier only offers oil painting. Although the same principles could be applied to watercolors, the latter is more finicky and the medium’s immediate permanence on paper makes it unforgiving to novices. I didn’t go for oils because I have asthma and the fumes, especially the thinners, cleaners, and solvents/varnish could trigger an attack. It’s a lot messier, too, and it demands a bigger space when practicing.
Practice sketch. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I needed to make this sketch first before making a bigger drawing; it’s like pre-heating the oven when baking.
Initial wash. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I wanted to try the Kuretake Gansai Tambi on large format landscape drawings. I needed to coax this watercolor so it could at least cooperate with me, especially when doing washes. So it seems like this watercolor can do washes on watercolor paper with thickness of 200 gsm or less. Anything higher than that would make the colors sit still. The sketch of the Stabilo Boss and Pigma Micron was done on a smoother and thinner paper so I was able to spread the color and make it behave like an ordinary watercolor.
Now with on this Canson 200 gsm cold press side of the paper, I could do a bit of wash but it’s still a bit harder to spread and blend the colors.
Binangonan sunset during 2021 CNY. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m still thinking if I should ink this or gamble using the #0 brush to add details. The background trees are still flat and I need to add depth after this dries up. I need to relearn how to add depth to this without having to resort to thicker application of watercolor and make it behave like gouache. Either I layer this with other colors or I use ink.
This is how it would look like if I ink it:
Practice drawing on sketchbook. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m kinda feeling it but this may end up looking like an illustration. Whatever.
At least I feel better now that I have used colors again.
I want to achieve this level of mastery of watercolor:
Art by Winslow Homer
For me to be able to do that, I need to draw every night.
Art by Winslow Homer
I need to sleep first. I’ll add details and depth tomorrow after work.
“I’ll cross the bridge when I get there. But if ever, teaching will be good. I’m a lawyer. But entering government? No way. They can’t afford me,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll fire all of them.” –Liza Araneta-Marcos
Tax expert Mon Abrea says simple math would have pushed the bill into the stratosphere. Twenty percent interest is slapped on every year the tax is left unpaid. Justice Carpio says the passage of so much time makes a case against the heirs, especially Marcos Jr., of willful refusal to pay. He says there’s a remedy for that.
Beijing stands ready to help Marcos family consolidate power over the long term Alvin Camba April 5, 2022 17:00 JST
Alvin Camba is assistant professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and a faculty affiliate at the Climate Policy Lab at Tufts University
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is on track to win the May 9 Philippine elections.
As Bongbong has himself said, he will move to maintain a strong relationship with Beijing while not completely abandoning ties with the West. Beijing likely expects Marcos to disregard the 2016 ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague that rejected Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and kowtow to China on crucial international issues.
The makers of The Kingmaker have made their film about the Marcoses free to view for everybody. Unfortunately, Filipinos are stubborn, especially if their core beliefs are challenged–if they’re corrected.
All my plans for today were wiped out as the weather turned weird. It rained non-stop today, like it’s already August.
Parking area. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Well, it’s a good thing that it rained so Lamesa Dam and Angat Dam can be refilled, if not up to the safe level. This assures us that there will be no water shortage in the coming days…or weeks. The temperature cooled up a bit from 30s down to 26 as of this moment. But because of this weather (and lack of sunlight), I did nothing but sleep. And edit three stories. Do some admin work, touch base with a source, and listen a bit to a webinar. I’m giving myself this day to slack off because—I dunno. I don’t feel like it.
This is my day of letting steam off because of my annoyance with company leadership issues. I couldn’t help my colleague with her job requests because of reporting line issues (vague). It’s really annoying me. It’s already April and there’s nothing definite happening. They couldn’t even give me the proper transition timeline. 🙄
To rid myself of annoyance, I temporarily halted my repetitive curtain sewing and returned to my complicated poppy flower drawing. It’s making me cringe. Either I finish this or I move on to drawing humans.
I suddenly remember my lawyer-artist friend who commented about the girl I was cheated on with by my ex-husband; he said she is not a fine artist but she’s more of an illustrator (they have common friends). That’s why she kept on doing squiggles and abstract graphic arts. I trust this friend because he is a really good fine artist and he has been winning competitions left and right but he chose to be a lawyer because…he wants to earn well. So now he shifted to photography and buying expensive equipment and drones has been his pastime.
So now my question is, what do I want to become? I don’t know. I just draw and paint to express myself. I’m not even good. But it forever frustrates me that I am having a hard time drawing faces or humans for that matter. I need to up the ante. Challenge myself.
Let’s start with this:
Practicing with grid lines. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m not yet brave enough to do full frontal. Probably I’ll do pencil first because I’m more decent with pencils.
It was every boy’s fantasy to be part of Top Gun after it was shown some thirty-plus years ago—my brother included. The aerial dog fights and anything about flying jet planes tickled their imagination. So I guess my brother is looking forward to watching Top Gun: Maverick. I also remember a poster of Top Gun Tom Cruise in the old house I grew up in…I asked my older sister why she put that up and she said she can’t remember why 😂 I’m thinking twice if I should brave watching this movie in theaters but this kind of movie should be watched on the big screen. I’m wary of being in enclosed spaces because Covid is still very much with us. One of the reporters in my bureau was reinfected with Covid, two months after of getting it in February. I don’t want to get bogged down by Covid again. It was just a nasty experience.
This is the reason why it’s better to completely heal first instead of using another person to “heal”/forget. To basically rebound. You’re still being toxic yourself so it’s gonna be hard to have a healthy relationship with anybody who still carries a lot of baggage.
Some friends don’t understand. It’s not me just holding on to the past; it’s me trying to be healthy first before anything else. I need to learn to completely love myself first before I love another person outside my immediate circle. But I’m not doing this with the goal of meeting a new person. I’m doing this for myself because I OWE it to myself. I’ve been through so much shit and it’s about time I prioritize me.
So right now I’m trying to start my week with good vibes. Like this, a clean workspace to motivate me to be productive on Mondays.
I bought a new desk mat because I’m tired of my mouse pad moving around my table. Photo by CallMeCreation.comWatering and pruning my plants everyday to keep them healthy. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
These are the little things I regularly do to love myself and appreciate life again.
Tomorrow I may go to Marikina to look around a pottery maker’s showroom for reasonably priced decorative clay pots and pedestals.
Pink is the color of tomorrow! Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My big roses have started to bloom again. Lots of patience and moving around of pots to learn the optimal sun exposure and watering frequency of these flowering plants. Good things come with patience. You can’t just rush things.
While the world is busy with Ukraine and its effect on each region, Myanmar has been largely ignored these days. The Myanmar central bank suddenly came out with a directive regarding forex:
A Myanmar resident, who asked not to be named for security reasons, expressed concern about being able to access their deposited savings and how much could be withdrawn.
“If we can’t withdraw, everything we earn will be stuck in the bank,” the resident said.
The official central bank exchange rate for the kyat is currently 1,850 per dollar, but this tends to be well below the unofficial black market rate.
The country’s economy is spiraling down further. It’s hard to do my reportage remotely when nobody is willing to talk to me, even anonymously.
Balloons over Bagan, Myanmar. Photo by Boris Ulzibat on Pexels.com
Looking forward to the Holy days next week. Metro Manila will be empty of people eager to go to the provinces as they do their revenge travel. The beaches will be teeming with people. As for me, I’m staying put since I know the provincial roads will be super clogged with SUVs. Maybe the girls and I can go to the Intramuros churches to do visita iglesia and at the same time I can do sketching. We can bring our bikes. We can also bike along Roxas Boulevard, along Manila Bay.
Manila Cathedral. Photo by Gerald Escamos on Pexels.com
Before that, I still need to help them review for their upcoming tests and I’m giving them some pointers for their music lessons.
My drawing for my girls’ music lesson. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Now I know why I had to go through those rigorous piano lessons and rondalla practices all those years: so I can teach my children music down the road. 🤔 I even had to teach them how to properly write a G clef. One day they will learn how to transcribe music notation on music staff, the least favorite of my duties as a music student 🎹 and glee club member.
After the first batch of their final exams, we will be celebrating the girls’ 11th birthday. I need to order food before everything closes down for the Holy Week.
