Portrait Commission: Keri Zamora

Posted with permission from the client.

One day, a very sweet lady wrote to me to have a portrait done.

Her name is is Keri Zamora.

She’s a lovely lady with an exquisite sense of style.

I was pleasantly surprised when she expressed that she appreciated the anime influence in my work! When I asked her for visual pegs she would like me to draw inspiration from, she sent me images from the Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away. I knew then that I would definitely enjoy working on this portrait.

One of the scenes from Spirited Away that I found visually striking was when Chihiro was running through the field of flowers. Perhaps you’ll see its influence on my painting when I show the final work at the end of this blog post!

I started out with soft washes, going from light to dark.

 I chose warm, sweet, summery colors that I felt Keri would like. I had also started adding the gold ink at this point.  I chose to outline some details in gold because it’s an element I really enjoy when looking at yukata or kimono prints.

They add a whole other dimension to a piece because of how it can look different when it catches light a certain way.

Chihiro was wearing traditional Japanese clothes, so I thought to draw Keri in a kimono. As I’ve mentioned, she really wanted me to incorporate the anime influence in this portrait so she was very game about being drawn in a kimono.

I filled in the colors of the flower details first, because I would base the color of the kimono and obi on their overall look. They are such big areas of color that I needed to be very careful with how I treated them so maintain the balance of the composition, as well as to compliment the colors of the smaller details around them.

 Here are the colors I decided on for the obi. And another look at the different qualities of the gold detailing based on the way light hits them.

 After coloring in the obi, I went to work on the rest of the kimono.

 I selected mainly shades of peach and pink for the kimono. I added some smaller bursts of similar but darker colors on areas where I needed the details to stand out more. It also added more balance by reflecting the color of the obi.

One of my favorite spots to work on.

Keri. Watercolor and gold ink on aquarelle paper. 15 x 20 inches.

And here is the final work, my portrait of Keri.

Rather than having her simply wear a floral-printed kimono, I wanted to add a bit of dimension and touch of whimsy by having the flowers growing out of the print. I also had her hold a chrysanthemum because it’s a flower that is traditionally given to mothers during Mother’s Day in some cultures, and it is also said to attract good luck in a household.

I’m very happy that she loved the painting and was such a wonderful client to work with! I hope somehow it does bring more good fortune and happiness to her home. :)

I’m currently open for commissions, so please feel free to send me an email (josonjin at gmail dot com) or use my contact form if you’d like to send an inquiry!

Thanks for looking!

Posted by Jin on October 29, 2012
2 Comments

Shirt Design: Forever and Always

A pair of ghostly hands I drew some time ago, for a creepy shirt design idea I had. I looked at x-rays as reference, and drew everything in Photoshop. I shared it on my dA page, and submitted it to a couple of shirt websites where people vote on designs to get them printed. So many people expressed their interest in owning the shirt, but it never quite made it through to printing.

However, one day I got an e-mail from T-shirts.com saying they had seen my work, along with an invitation to be part of a project they’ve been working on. And I’m now one of the artists they selected for their Artist-Designed Collection for which they selected illustrators around the world to make shirts of our artworks. Very honored to be part of the roster!

While my previous attempts to get this design printed may not have been exactly successful, sharing it with people and getting it out there still led to T-shirts.com to finding me. My arrangement with them is even better, because now I can design whatever I want and they can print it without me troubling people to vote for it first!

Let this an example of how things might not always work out quite the way you planned, but life may just surprise you with something better! Work hard and be kind. :)

See all my designs so far in this page!

Forever and Always is available in several color variations and on both men’s and women’s tees! (You may click on the pictures to be taken to the store, where you’ll also find a couple more of my designs)

I’ll be creating more designs over the next several months! If you like, comment to let me know what you’d like to see!

If you guys order any of my shirts, do send me pictures! It makes me happy seeing people wear my work!

Thank you for all your support and appreciation! This wouldn’t be possible without you guys!

Posted by Jin on September 3, 2012
Category: illustration, work
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Waking Life

“They say that dreams are only real as long as they last. Couldn’t you say the same thing about life?” — Waking Life

Here’s my illustration that was featured in the Graphika Manila 2012 Book. In preparation for a series of paintings I’ll be doing, I wanted to work on something that explores the concept of dreams, mixed with emotions I’ve been observing.

With this piece in particular, I wanted to depict those moments when you’ve just woken up and are trying to find your bearings. Your mind is cloudy, and you feel confused about what’s real because your dream reality is mixing up with real life.

There may even be those times when you’ve just gone through some life-changing developments which might not be the happiest, and you contemplate hindering your brain from piecing together the truth you may not wish to face. You find yourself wanting to sink back into the comfort of uncertainty in some alternate dream world, or the peaceful void of unconsciousness. But you’ve got to pick yourself up and keep living.

In case you were wondering — The quote below the artwork is from a film called Waking Life, which is wonderfully thought-provoking. The animation can get a little too trippy sometimes, but you can choose to just listen to the movie since it’s basically a series of conversations. I have very fond feelings for this film. It caused a big shift in my perception of certain things, made me feel like I wasn’t such an odd schmuck for thinking a certain way, and helped keep my mind open to possibilities beyond my wildest imaginings.

Sketching into the wee hours of the night. My spirits were kept up by a cup of hot chocolate with rainbow marshmallows.

The artwork in its earlier stages. The final piece was rendered with graphite, watercolor and digital.

Despite my rainbow marshmallows, I feel this post is a bit too serious. Now I feel this would be a great time to share a recent dream experience. I usually don’t remember much of my dreams, but this one I recalled quite vividly. I typed out a very long description of it for my friends, but I’ll spare you guys and share the abridged version. Some of you might have read a bit about this on my Twitter, hahah.

The other day I dreamt that I was at Comic Con, and I was dressed up as some sort of fighter. I kind of remember it looking like something out of Granado Espada. I was partaking in the usual convention fun, and then SUDDENLY THERE WAS AN INVASION OF EVIL CREATURE THINGS. And to my surprise, the people whom I thought were just dressed up as wizards suddenly had actual wizard powers. Given the way I was dressed, I was asked to fight with them. And I distinctly remember yelling, “I HAVE NO DISCERNABLE FIGHTING SKILLS!” Even in my dreams I’m an awkward human being.

After the worst of the invasion was over, I was suddenly attacked by a lizard man (in Renaissance clothes that matched the aesthetic of mine) who was angrily screeching how he would not let me foil his plans again. While I should have been pondering about when I might have previously foiled the reptilian gentleman’s plots, I was rather preoccupied as he was strangling me and at some point had bitten my right leg. When I shut my eyes in pain, I discovered I had a skill interface in my head — the sort you’d see in turn-based RPGs. Surging with adrenaline, I somehow managed to use these skills, and with incredible might and magic bashed the reptilian gentleman’s head in. And then I woke up, and my right leg hurt where he had bitten me. The end.

In other news!

Here are some newer ways you may keep up with my updates, should you want to:

Sorry about the silence back there! I’m working on a lot of things, but hardly any I can make public just yet!

As always, thank you for taking the time to take a peek over here! Hearing the simplest things from you guys makes me happy, so feel free to comment if you’d like to!

Posted by Jin on August 11, 2012
Category: illustration
12 Comments

Adventure Time fan art: Come Along With Me

Come Along With Me — fan art based on Adventure Time

(Though I do keep wishing for an episode where they show more of Marshall Lee)

In this blog post, I’m going to talk about my thought process for this drawing, as well as the progression from sketch to the final work. :) It’s going to be a moderately long post, but with lots of pictures and animations of my progress!

Read More »

Posted by Jin on June 29, 2012
22 Comments

Painting for Clinique Spring 2012

Earlier this year, I was invited by Clinique to be part of the four featured artists for the launch of their new makeup collection for Spring 2012.

We were commissioned to make artworks based on the theme “You as a work of art“, while using Clinique products in the creation of our pieces. They gave us stuff like foundation, lipsticks, eyeliners, and eyeshadows.

This is how my sketch started out. Doesn’t really look like much, hahah. I sketch very, very lightly.

Slowly establishing more detail.

Final line art. The face was inspired by Zooey Deschanel. (For some reason I now kind of see Anne Curtis too.)

official images from Clinique

I kept images like this in mind as a peg while I worked on my coloring.

To stay true with the visual identity of Clinique, I incorporated a lot of white space with bursts of vibrant color. Here’s a preview of my artwork in its earlier stages. I established very light colors with watercolor washes, and for certain parts I used the provided makeup to build up the color. I used some foundation on the skin, the tinted lip balm on the lips, and the eyeshadow cream around the eyes and cheeks.

Our artworks were unveiled  in an exclusive VIP event held at Whitespace last January 19, 2012. The night was a celebration of Clinique’s new makeup collection that captures women as works of beauty and art. (Article)

The lovely and talented Valerie Chua, part of the four featured artists. I took this photo of her beside her gorgeous painting,  “I Rise at the Caress of a Kindred Spirit”. I had a lovely time at the event with her and Miguel.

Val having a look around the gallery.

My painting, “Bloom“.

I was inspired by the way the provided Clinique products were made to enhance a person’s natural features, rather than paint a whole new face. Everything was sheer and natural, so I wanted to keep with the fresh, radiant vibe of the collection. Bloom may seem a bit too straightforward a title, but that’s what feels right to me. It’s a word that inspired my composition on many levels.

It was such a great honor and pleasure to be part of this, and I look forward to more collaborations of this sort. :)

Posted by Jin on June 23, 2012
13 Comments