artistic soliloquies

I am very happy and proud to announce a new book that I’ve illustrated, titled Simply Jesse.  It is a wonderful story written by Yvette Fernandez about the life of Jesse Robredo as narrated by his daughter, Jillian.  She recounts how her dad lived his life as a dedicated mayor of Naga City and a good father to his family. I remember getting really teary-eyed while I was reading the draft of the story— it was so moving. There were also times when I’d feel bouts of sorrow while sifting through photos on google for reference, or while drawing him with his family. (; _ ;) Mr. Robredo was truly one of a kind, and though his passing was such a huge loss to the country we hope people will continue to be inspired by his story.

The book launch was held last March 15, 2013, at National Bookstore Glorietta 1.  I am a shy person, so being in the limelight was quite overwhelming but overall a good experience.  I won’t be as nervous next time! It was also surreal to meet the Robredo family for the first time— the people I’ve been drawing and coloring and whose facebook accounts I’ve been stalking for reference pictures for the past 3 months… I feel like I know them already! haha. Also, listening to Jillian narrate a few excerpts from the book was my favorite part of the entire event. (=´▽`=)

This is the second book I’ve worked on with Yvette, the first being Maia’s Birthday Party. It’s pretty amazing how life just connects you to people and brings you to where you’re supposed to be. I am so grateful to Yvette and everyone at Big Dream Books for inviting me to illustrate this book.

Simply Jesse is available in all National Bookstores nationwide for only 125 pesos! Also published by the same group are stories about Cory and Ninoy Aquino, John Gokongwei, and Nanay Coring. They’re all really good– it gives you an entirely new perspective about these successful people, from their humble beginnings to how they’ve overcome hardship and adversity to get to where they are now, all the while still grounded to their values and love for their family.

Maia’s Birthday Party is finally out! It was launched by Adarna House at the Manila International Book Fair last Sept 14, 2012, and I had a wonderful time meeting the author Yvette who was really nice, and the little girl whom the book was based on– the real Maia! She was so cute.

Maia was adopted as a baby and the story tells of her growing up in a happy home with her new parents. It’s a cute little story, with translations in English and Filipino on the same page.

You can purchase and see more info about the book in Adarna’s website: link

I hope everyone enjoys the story and illustrations as much as I did working on this book.

My 2nd children’s book, Maia’s Birthday Party, is going to be launched tomorrow at the Manila International Book Fair! SO EXCITED! :D

I’ve worked on another book for Candy– this time a self improvement book, and I drew all the illustrations for every chapter. If you live in the Philippines, you can grab a copy in any bookstore nationwide. :)

This book of fun facts is a collaborative effort between Adarna House and various artists of which I am very happy to be part of! We were given a number of articles to illustrate and everyone did such a great job. Can you tell which characters are mine? ;)

Available in Adarna House and local bookstores!

As a special treat, here are all the illustrations I did:
(it’s a huge drawing)

When you accomplish one of your life’s dreams, there’s no other feeling quite like it. A very amazing feeling. :D

I can finally share the illustrations I did for this October issue of Yummy Magazine!  The article is about kitchen staples, and it was my first time drawing so much food. I really enjoyed this project.

Don’t ask me why beer is in the list,  I shall have to buy a copy one of these days to find out. :D

The file is rather huge, but click to see more details!

Yummy magazine asked me to do 20 illustrations of food for their Kitchen Staples article.  Here are some that I doodled on for fun!

I’ll try to post all the illustrations I did when the article comes out. :D

The school planner that I illustrated for Candy Mag is out out out! ♥ They did such a great job with it! ♥  I am ecstatic!