More Than Highlights...

Snowscape. Micro pigment ink on 11"x14" on Bristol Board.

2011 was a period of punctuated equilibrium.

Here's to 2012.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Malipayon Nga Bag-ong Tuig!!!

May your life be filled with 

people you love and who love you.

May you occupy industry, diligence and success.

May you be of good health.

May healing take place.

May your life be filled with celebrations.

May America heal and be strong again.

May the governments be effective, efficient and honest.

May the laws be fair.

May the world be filled with peace.

May women be treated equally and with respect everywhere around the world.

May the men be brave and strong.

May the children be safe and happy.

May families be strong.

May you be productive.

May you prosper.

May you love and be loved.

May you create fabulous art.

May you get enough sleep and rest.

May you find time to listen to music, dance and read.

May you reap honors and distinction.

May you never get lost or astray.

But if you do, may you find your way.

May your home be a refuge.

Pray.

Give thanks.

Amen.

Tsup!

These are the last acorns and leaves I will be drawing for 2011:

L to R above and below: Quercus glaucoides (Lacey Oak), Quercus nigra (Water Oak), Quercus arkansana (Arkansas Oak)

Quercus chapmanii (Chapman Oak) in progress...

(Oops! I lied about the acorns. I have drawn nine more, last night and still drawing...)

See you next year!!!

Tsup!

Quercus Macrocarpa or Bur Oak

I am seriously contemplating of joining the oak society. Yes, there is such a thing. I am thinking...thinking...gotta pay the membership fee...seriously thinking... In the meantime, this is the Quercus macrocarpa, also known as Bur Oak, Mossycup Oak or Mossy overcup oak. And to everyone who has access to oak acorn and leaf specimen, tell me about them and I will illustrate them. If you send me acorn and leaf specimen I will appreciate that very much. Thank you! Thank you Rick Forrestal for reminding me of the Bur Oak which I have actually illustrated several times in the past, here and here.

Archival black and colored micropigment ink on 2.5"x3.5 Bristol Board. Below, the ATC are set on black archival acide-free mat boards. Drawing the colored leaf required 12 different colored pigment pens because unlike water colors or colored pencils, pigment ink do not blend well.

 Quercus macrocarpa

Family Fagaceae

The Bur Oak is a tree with very large acorns, stout trunk, and broad, rounded open crown of stout, often crooked spreading branches but sometimes it is grown as a shrub. Height: 50 to 80 feet. Diameter: 2-4 feet. The large acorns, 3/4 to 2 inches, have very deep fringed cups, the largest of all native oaks. The name describes the cup of the acorn which resembles the bur of Chestnut. The Bur Oak is the northernmost New World oak. In the west it is a pioneer tree, bordering and invading prairie grasslands. It is planted for shade, ornament and shelterbelts. The leaves are 4 to 10 inches long and 2 to 5 inches wide. Wow! That's a big leaf! It is obovate, broadest beyond the middle, lower half deeply divided into 2 to 3 lobes on each side. It turns yellow or brown in the fall.

If I Had To Draw Only One Thing...

Above, the acorns of Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), Quercus lyrata (Overcup oak), Quercus marilandica (Blackjack Oak) and below, their leaves.

Above, the acorns of Quercus falcata (Southern Red Oak), Quercus prinus (Chestnut Oak) and Quercus laevis (American Turkey Oak) and below, their leaves.

Above, the acorns of Quercus virginiana (Live Oak), Cyclobalanopsis blakei, Quercus robur (English Oak) and below, their leaves.

 Pigment ink on 2.5"x3.5" Bristol Boards. They look better when matted and framed as a set. Otherwise, I shuffle them like playing cards.

If I had to draw only one thing, it would be the oak. It's not surprising that my first drawing this year was an ATC/ACEO with an illustrated mat depicting a specimen of Quercus laevis (left) and then I end the year with a set of drawings of acorns and their leaves. When I run out of ideas or just want to draw something leisurely, I draw oak which gives you the idea that I am frequently out of ideas. 

Drawing acorns and leaves is a soothing activity.

I will be happy drawing oak for the rest of my life. I wonder if there is a job out there for an acorn illustrator that will provide retirement benefits,  health and dental insurance? Say, a six figure income to go along with the other benefits? If you know of one, please let me know or provide a good word about me. Tell them you know someone who loves to draw nuts. When I was searching for images of Quercus laevis acorn and leaf, look what came up... my own illustration. You know that tickles me a bit. I wish I studied botany or forestry. Wouldn't that be nice? Oh never mind. There may be snakes on the trees and forest floor. Here's another search outcome for cyclobalanopsis bella:

They are my specimen drawings of Cyclobalanopsis bella (first and fifth) and an illustration of Bella Sinclair as an oak nymph :) Here's a fact:

There are three more days left before the beginning of the new year. I may draw something else. Happy  New Year to all of you!

2011, I Shall Remember...

Give thanks for your life, your gifts, your blessings!!!

If you find no reason to give thanks, change your friends. Seriously. One cannot change one's family; but friends, you can exchange. Exchange them with those who will help you find meaning and reason to get up and love life, appreciate the sun or the rain, smile at your brother or friend who constantly tags you with every blurred photograph they post. Give thanks that they consider you important in their lives.

Laugh.

Smile.

Love. Truly love with all your heart. There is a difference. Love until it makes you quiver, even your dog.

Cry and feel sadness. It is an honor to feel sadness and loss.

Celebrate. Anything and everything. Celebrate especially your loved one's birthdays, no matter how quiet. Honor them and give thanks for them. They enrich your life.

Celebrate your heroes. They inspire.

Give. Share.

Say "please" and "thank you." It is that simple.

Parents, love your children. You will affect their lives until the very end.

Make something. Create something. Make yourself useful. Stop fooling yourself with meaningless blather about self-actualization, of empty dreams, of sharing, when you do not do anything useful for the greater good.

Occupy work and industry.

Do not envy.

Achieve!!!

2011 is a mixed blessing. There was healing, growing, achieving, a lot of struggling and loving. My sister Leah was diagnosed with lung cancer this year. She continues to battle this dreadful disease. Directly below, is my favorite drawing. At her request, I completed that drawing in a period of four days in the Philippines. I drew day and night and while I accompanied her on doctor's visits. She loves that drawing. I gave the 11"x14" pen and ink drawing to her a couple of days before I flew back to the US. Three days after I arrived in the the US, my sister became very ill.  I flew back  once more to the Philippines. This is the last of my drawings that she saw for she became blind from complications of her treatment. One day while rummaging through a packet of CT Scans, MRIs and x-ray films, my sister Freah found this drawing and another drawing (right) which was my sister's first favorite, tucked between the films. Leah is very much loved by many. To everyone who help us care for her and pray for her, thank you.

The other day, in a group dynamic exercise, the speaker asked us to think of two people, dead or alive, whom we admire. It took me less than a millisecond to think of mine. I think the people who have followed me throughout my blog journey know that there is nothing more important to me than my family and my parents, though long gone, yet continue to inspire and guide me. From my son and daughter, my husband, sisters and brothers, nephews and nieces and the very closest friends whom I consider family, I am blessed over and over again. They make my paintbrushes and pen glide on canvas and paper freely. In the end, the people you love and who love you in turn are all that matters. They help you do things and give them meaning and significance. All the selfish things one pursues are meaningless when one turns around and finds no one or can't think of anyone with whom to share. So love your family or the friends who are your family.

To all my friends and visitors who accompany me on my journey here, thank you for all your kindness. May your life be prosperous, happy and meaningful.

Tsup!

These are some of over one hundred eighty five illustrations I did this year. As you can see I only completed four oil paintings. I am not including the intentionally ugly art illustrations I did earlier this year nor the over one hundred acorn ATC/ACEO I drew and gave away.

2010