Yaya Dub

I did this today to take a break from the fiverr gigs that I am catching up to. I have been trying to keep to a work schedule that ends at 6pm everyday to keep health issues at bay.  I also like to have some time in the day to be for art that I could do for myself.

Today I grabbed a photo online of the current darling of daytime Filipino television, "Yaya Dub". I'm pretty sure she is a very talented person, but much of the success of the segment in the noontime show, Eat Bulaga, that she highlights with her "loveteam" wasn't in the original plan when she was taken in as part of the program. That said, it doesn't diminish her in any way and credit must be given to the creative team behind the show for recognizing an opportunity when they caught her being distracted at the sight of the good looking also fairly new addition to the cast and reformatting the "Problem Solving" segment into the very first "kalyeserye" on television.

Although I not a big fan of local programs, and don't really follow what has now been locally labeled "aldub mania" or something to that effect, I'm glad the show's writers, directors, and cast have come up with a series that entertains as much as educates the youth on the values of proper courtship practices.

Another Nathalie Hayashi portrait

After doing some revisions on artwork on that have already been approved and cleared previously, I took some time to make another portrait piece.
Well, designing characters isn't easy and it's nice to change pace once in a while and doing portraits helps me relax and declutter my head. I don't know, there's just something about it that helps me unwind.

Like EB Babe Molly, I've tried to capture Miss Hayashi's beautiful likeness more than once before. I think the first time though was when she posted on Facebook a picture of hers that she would love for her fans to draw in anime style. There have been a lot of those types of artwork done before by japanese and non-japanese artists but most of those use the exact pose and setting of the reference so I did my interpretation in a different background and made her into an angel. I also used her likeness in a vector/vexel practice.

Captain Crossfit

One of the most challenging things I've done as a freelance artist and a comic book creator wannabe is creating characters based on a real person. It's particularly tough when you're having to do it by request or service for a complete stranger, especially when in my case, meeting the client in person has literally between very little to absolutely no chance of happening.

Since every person is unique and not a lot of his/her actual personality or distinct nuances can be derived straight from a photo, it's easy to get complaints and other negative reactions when your designs don't quite get certain traits the client is looking for. A lot of the time, though, problems like these can be solved or better yet, avoided by proper communication. You can't fault a client for sending photos of himself/herself that may look good for them but don't really help much as drawing references. Expect that they expect you to be the artist and that you know what to do with them. Asking the right questions is key and knowing the specifics that I need to get a design correctly makes it easy and sometimes it's clients who ask the right questions or have a clear, definite picture of the character design in mind.

I've been very fortunate that most of the clients I've met through fiverr have a clear enough idea of the characters they need help creating and communicate them very well and yet are very open to suggestions for improvement.
Creating Captain Crossfit for my client, Mike, was a breeze because not only have all the
details for the character like costume theme and colors been specifically laid out but a personality profile and references for background objects were all provided right away.

I'm also glad that despite a timer to get a gig done starts immediately when it is ordered, most clients aren't in a big rush to get the art done no matter how excited they are about the rough drafts that I send them for review. Thankfully, it's also these types of clients who gladly hand you a 5-star rating.

Another EB Babe Molly Portrait

I had a busy week doing 12 character design models for a fiverr client in the past week plus 4 other concept sketches for several others that I had to take a break and do a little art for myself.

So here's another digital portrait of one of my favorite subjects to draw, Miss Molly from the most popular noontime program in my country.

I've tried to capture her likeness in my art several times now. I've even drawn her as Supergirl. She may not have the stereotypical look that models, actresses, or most other celebrities but there is definitely a spark of genuine spiritual goodness, a pure inner joy that shines through when I see her face. It's easy to get the impression that she's not only gorgeous but has a kind and generous heart as well.

Maybe next time I'll try to capture her likeness in anime style.

Titanore: Another 5-Star Fiverr Rating

On May 11th of this year (2015), I got an order for a concept art sketch for "an old Titan that has been living at the earth's core for centuries". The rest of the description goes :
very powerful, has blackened fire and lightning resistant half-plate armor and sword from iron-nickel alloy from the core.

So here's my rendition of it:

I had fun with this gig and I'm really grateful for the 5-star rating.

My First Colored and Gig Extra Order on Fiverr

On May 1st of this year I got a request on my fiverr gig for a sketch of a female superhero-type character. The buyer had very clear description of what he wanted drawn "...taller than average, blonde hair, beautiful face, long legs...", which is really good and helps me a lot to imagine the look and he continued with more specifics -"should be
smiling and upbeat, dressed in casual clothing-jeans, shirt, etc...pose, something fun and
quirky, maybe shrugging shoulders...".

It really feels good to start off with an order when you see how specific a buyer is with what he wants and the fact that he also sent a reference for the expression and pose that he was describing, sets me in the right direction of what to draw. Although my sketch is only very loosely based on the photo reference I was given, it helps that I can easily make studies that I know is close to what the client wants without having to do the tedious and time consuming research.

The study I sent had only a minor revision request from the buyer ("could you make the shirt a little longer") which I was happy to oblige for the cleaned up submission and thankfully, he was so excited with the end product that I not only received another 5-star rating but another order right away. He ordered a turnaround modelsheet for the character in color and purchased the original source file gig extra (and another 5-star review: "Fantastic service and high quality art. I couldn't be happier.") What started out a 5-dollar gig got me a $60 sale and it's thanks to having a buyer who helped me help him.