Essays containing things that are interesting to me and hopefully, they are interesting to you too.
A few years ago on Tumblr, I was amazed by how these amazing artists can do monthly printables and now, I knew how to make one.
My younger self who loves to print monthly printables, created for free by artists in the studyblr community on Tumblr, did not even imagine that, years later, she would be able to make one as well and share it with others.
Versions 1, 2 and 3 can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1u86CiIKAJ3siy6_JY65vM7xmt2cpMRg4?usp=sharing
Last May 2020, I learned how to draw (again) with the help of Mark Kistler through his book, You Can Draw in 30 Days.
I was looking for resources about drawing and I discovered this gem. The book is composed of 30 lessons and each lesson can be completed in less than 30 minutes per day. If you do not have 30 minutes to spare then 15 minutes will do. I completed most of my lessons in less than 15 minutes (promise!). Turn your everyday into a seed.
“If you work on something a little bit everyday, you end up with something that is massive.” – Kenneth Goldsmith
The lessons are extremely beginner-friendly. Do not worry so much on being the best in the beginning. The main goal of the book is to have everyone overcome their fear of a blank page and a paper.
It’s hard to be “best” right away, so commit to rapid and continuous movements. – from the book, Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
Here are some of my drawings in chronological order. Take a look at my progress 😭.
Lesson 1 – 4/29/20
Mark Kistler’s method is having his students draw simple shapes first like this circle. It doesn’t have to perfect. Just do it.
Lesson 2 and 3
Spheres everywhere. Noticed how my shading got better than the first lesson? And how my circle got better as well.
“The more you draw, the more you will really begin to see the fascinating details in the real world around you.” – Mark Kistler
Lesson 5 – 5/1/20
Starting Lesson 5, I began to write my thoughts beside my drawings.
Lesson 8 – 5/4/20
One of my favorite lessons! I grew up as someone who thinks that ‘drawing is just not for me’. Hence, being able to draw a koala is a massive achievement for me. I can’t believe that I got to draw an animal omg.
“Albert Bandura used the process of guided mastery— a series of small successes— to help people gain courage and overcome deep-seated phobias.” – from the book, Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
Lesson 14 – 5/12/20
This lesson taught me how it is so easy to draw a flower. I will never look at a flower the same way again.
Lesson 15 – 5/12/20
I had so much fun doing this lol. As you can see, the lines aren’t perfect but that’s not the point. The point is to practice and having fun while doing it.
Lesson 16 – 5/12/20
When I was a kid, I always wonder how animators can draw this. Back then, I was wondering. Now, I am doing it!!
Lesson 18 – 5/14/20
Yay! #scrapbookideas
The quote written on the scroll is from the book, Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl, “He who knows the why for his existence can bear almost any how.”
Lesson 20 & 21
This drawings prove to me that I am indeed improving.
And Lesson 30 is the best lesson for me. Lesson 30 is how to draw a human hand. And why is it the best lesson for me?
A little background, last July 2019, as when I was just starting to (really) learn how to draw as an architecture student. Our professor asked us to draw our hand. Here is what I drew:
And now, this is the hand that I drew last May 18, 2020.
Woah. The progress that I made in less than 30 days. Also, in the book, there are drawings of other students as well, that will make you feel that you are not alone in this journey.
And I continued to draw more.
Mark Kistler has another book for those who want to draw more! It’s called: You Can Draw It In Just 30 Minutes.
Never be afraid to try something new. We never know what will happen in the future so let’s do the best thing that we can in the 24 hours that was given to us.
Lastly, I am grateful to Mr. Mark Kistler for his books. You truly had helped lots and lots of people. What I was given, I will share.
What started as a project to make something of the used papers scattered around our home ended with the thought of giving something to others.
I made notebooks last year using kettle stitch binding and Japanese bookbinding. For these notebooks, I used Coptic stitch variation to book bind the papers.
“In my opinion, the most ordinary things, the most common and familiar, if we could see them in their true light, would turn out to be the grandest miracles…. and the most marvelous examples.” – Michael de Montaigne
I used the problems that I encountered in notebooks as a basis to the final products that I will be creating.
Personally, I think that the masses deserve better things that they can use. Notebooks that are sold publicly for 8-10 pesos have really thin paper thus, whenever they are writing, what they write imprints at the back as well as on the next page. I solved this problem by folding the used papers in half. The used papers are in size A4; folding it in half turns it into a school notebook size. With it being folded, the paper to write on is thicker and will not seep in. I learned this from Project Nowtbuks. They gave free notebooks out of used papers to every participant during the YSEALI IgniteMNL: Leaders’ Track 2019.
In my past projects, I mostly used japanese bookbinding and in the notebooks that I bought, they are bounded by a single string/ rope at the left side of the paper. What these notebooks have in common is that they cannot be fully folded when you are writing on the right or left side. At the same time, those notebooks don’t lay flat on the desk. After several trials (Notebooks #1-#8), I found Coptic sewing variation bookbinding technique that allows the succeeding notebooks to solve these problems.
A common problem experienced by both left-handed and right-handed people. Some notebooks lie flat on the desk and can be folded in half with the help of a spring. But while it solves a problem, the spring itself became the problem. It became an inconvenience to users as it blocks the hand to be in ‘free flow’ while writing or drawing.
With only DMC threads used for binding, Notebooks #9-#28 completely solves this problem. Users are expected to experience free-flowing writing or drawing activity without worrying about the notebook itself.
Notebooks #9-#28 are the notebooks that I created using Coptic sewing variation and is ready to be used. This can be used for journaling, drawing, writing, scrapbooking, etc. In total, I upcycled 200 used A4 papers, each notebook is composed of 10 folded-in-half used A4 papers. I am grateful to Sea Lemon for sharing various bookbinding techniques and methods!
In Interior Design Masters S1:E6, the contestants were tasked to design the interiors of different retail stores. The guest judge for that episode, Thomasina Miers was asked ‘what makes a good restaurant?’. She answered, “It’s so important that the interior reflects what’s on the menu. In our restaurant, we really wanted to bring Mexico in our restaurant space, the customers are paying not just for the food, but for the whole experience.”
What Thomasina Miers said summarizes why designing is important. Designing is not about technical specifications, its all about the overall experience of the user while using the product.
Last year, I created a desk organizer crafts out of cardboard. Unfortunately, those crafts did not last long. I used glue gun & glue stick in assembling the parts. Speaking from experience, they do not last long enough to savor the function of the craft.
The Traveler’s Sewing Kit is a product of everything that I have learned from crafting and a mashup of objects I have seen in my life. I made everything suited to my needs- someone who does sewing, bookbinding, and cross-stitching.
I drew what my sewing kit would look like. Once I took account of the items that I need to place inside and their dimensions, I added the general dimensions of the kit.
As displayed in my drawing, I had a lot of erasures in the dimensions because I did not take note of the thickness of the cardboard. I became strict with myself and went back into cutting another piece if the previously cut piece did not fit in with the product. Moreover, I covered the sides of the cardboard with used papers so I can paint it later on.
Instead of the usual glue stick & glue gun, I used wood glue- a glue with a longer curing time than the former but definitely lasts longer.
In the old sewing kit that I bought, they were no dividers. Every time I open it, everything is a mess no matter how hard I arrange it every time because I always carry it everywhere so the contents inside are splattered.
In the Traveler’s Sewing Kit, I created three drawers:
● The lowermost drawer and also the biggest is for my unused DMC threads.
● The left uppermost drawer is where the tomato and measuring tape is located. Both are separated by a divider.
● The right uppermost drawer is where the single piece used threads are located.
Overall, keeping everything segregated with each other saves time because I do not have to arrange it every time.
I took special attention to the handle of the kit because I plan to take this every now and then outside of my home. Also, this handle is easy to grab when you are in a hurry or will be carrying it for a long time.
The handles of the drawers are another feature that I pondered a lot on. Instead of the usual circular handles, I opted for this design. From my experience with various furniture handles, this type works best for me. Its easier to push and pull.
In the book Steal Like An Artist, author Austin Klein wrote, “In my experience, it’s in the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who are.” And I wholeheartedly agree.
In creating Traveller’s Sewing Kit, I discovered how I am uncomfortable in starting again. There were times where the pieces that I cut had incorrect dimensions. Therefore, I had to cut another one. In these times, I had this thinking of just leaving it be even if the dimensions are lacking. I discovered that I was just uncomfortable with starting all over again. Once I identified this thinking that I had, I decided that I had to teach myself to be comfortable in starting again. Rebuild rather than settle.
All throughout this project, I am grateful that I got some dimensions incorrectly because I get to teach myself a lesson. I suddenly had greater respect for Thomas Edison. He was not afraid of starting all over again once an experiment failed. Because you do not fail, you learn. He did it. He invented the light bulb!
As I observed people, I discovered in people while they are picking out drawers/kits that they will use, they usually only took account of the objects that they will be placed inside, and most of the time, they left out something important: the user.
The Traveller’s Sewing Kit is perfect for me because it suited my behavior and my needs. This craft would be designed differently if the user is a kid or a senior citizen. I pointed this out because if you look everywhere starting in your home and observe how your family members interact with an item, you would discover a bug in one or two objects.
Real-life example:
Recently, I observed that my grandmother is struggled in opening and closing her clothes kit. It takes a great amount of energy for her to close and open this type of lock.
Thus, she mostly leaves it open. Now, this is a bug. When my family members bought this for her, the only thought of the items that will be placed inside and not how my grandmother interacts with it. There I discovered that this type of lock is not senior citizen-friendly.
I got an idea for this artwork after I read the book, Gravity by Tess Gerritsen. One line from the book resonated with me, “I won’t ever touch the stars, but I can be here to see the others do.”
I am fond of space. When I was kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. That dream was shattered when in highschool freshman, I researched how to become an astronaut and found out that I was not qualified because of my vision. Although now it is possible to have a 20/20 vision through surgery, I realize that designing experiences is what I wanted to do. Things do happen for a reason because if I had a perfect eye vision, I would had been taking up a science degree now.
I read Gravity when I was a senior in highschool. And when I read that line, suddenly a wave of nostalgic-ness splashed over me. I remembered my childhood dream and why I did not pursue it. And that led me to create an artwork.
As shown, the artwork is composed of two elements: eyeglasses & a rocket. I am looking at a rocket before it blasts off to the sky. I titled it as “Im-possible Dream” (yes, the dash is intentional). I previously thought that it was an impossible dream so, I did not pursue it at all but I figured that if I still want it so much then whatever the circumstances are, I will pursue it. I will make my dream possible.
Originally posted last August 2019 from my previous domain
Grit is the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals (Duckworth et al., 2007). With the continuous advancement of technology, most people are struggling to commit to something for a long time.
Finishing this cross-stitch was more than hard. It takes a great deal of patience and strenuous effort to complete this. I first started this thinking that, “I would never even finish this, so why start it?” But having read Angela Duckworth’s Grit: The Power of Perseverance, I look back to this then, unfinished cross stitch artwork, I told myself that, “I want to finish everything that I started. Even if it takes a long time. I will start commiting to everything I do.” And so, everyday I try to make small goals to complete this art. For example, this day, I’ll complete this leaf. Next day, another leaf. In that way, I’ll still have time for other commitments and at the end of the day, I can say that, “I accomplish something for today. I made a progress.”
Throughout the whole process, I realize that commitment has a lot to say about a person’s strength of character. The japanese has a term for it, Kaizen. It is a japanese term for continuously improving by making small improvements.
We always think about doing a one big action but it’s actually doing small actions constantly that matters the most.
I got the The Work Behind The Artwork idea from the book, Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon. Check out his works at austinkleon.com
Start Date: April 2, 2020
Finished: April 16, 2020
It took me two weeks to finish the crochet bag I made from the used plastics we had at our sari-sari store.
The idea of creating a crochet bag from used plastics came from the moment I realized that yarn is not a sustainable material. My last craft is making a poncho using all the yarns I found while cleaning our bedroom (somehow, I crochet-ed in a sustainable way). Another reason is I want to try out various materials which involve finding a way into what to do to trashes to make them into something of value.
I found out that the DIY community in Youtube use the term ‘plarn’ for the words plastic yarn. Moreover, I am grateful for Trashform art on Youtube for sharing how to cut the plastic into one long plarn.
While in the process of crocheting, I spent a large amount of time completing this project than my past crochet projects because I still have to cut my own yarn. Honestly, I found this new massive respect to indigenous tribes who have no machineries to mass produce yarn so they cut and create their own yarns and threads. I’ll keep in mind to proactively search for opportunities where I could learn how to weave traditoonally.
I’m not sure if this happens to other asian countries but I do know Filipino families do this- they store any plastic they used instead of throwing them away. My mom saw what I was doing and she got mad because I am using up all the plastics we have lol. Well, we use these used plastics in our sari-sari store to wrap the items that our customer bought and my mom do not buy any plastic. Thus, if I ended up using all plastics that we have in store, she’ll have to buy one. Good thing, I did not finish it all. I only used 5 transparent plastic bags.
Moreover, when the initial excitement of doing something new has faded, I got into this thinking of, ‘I will never finish this. This will take forever to finish.’ And this thinking is something that I have encountered years ago when I am starting this big cross stitch artwork, which resulted to me leaving the whole cross-stitch artwork unfinished and no progress for months. But now, I have learned. I now understand that there are no gentle paths to the stars from the Earth (yes, Seneca.). No good will ever come out if I continued to let my emotions control me. If you think you can or can’t, you’re right. And I can. I started this and I will finish it even if it will take days or weeks.
And after two weeks, I accomplished it. My older sister suggested that I should paint it since it looked too plain. I actually thought that it was already okay but I realized that I thought that way because I was scared that I would ruin due to my lack of skills in painting.
I still decided to paint it- I need to apply the theoretical knowledge I learned in Visual Techniques class. I will risk it.
According to research, our eyes gravitate more to warmer and brighter colors so I chose ROY and I left a bit of the upper portion of the bag unpainted. The white will act as neutral color.
And that’s it. A crochet bag made out of plarn weighing 0.15 kg. Making something from trash to something valuable and usable. This craft project proved that there are sustainable ways to crochet and that yarn isn’t the only material that you can use.
Doubts in one’s creative ability can be cured by guiding people through a series of small successes. And the experience can have a powerful effect on the rest of their lives. -Tom Kelley & David Kelley, Creative Confidence
I observed that I am putting myself into harder-than-the-latest craft projects and since I spent a lot of time in crocheting this, I had a lot of time into brainstorming what can I crochet next. This whole experience opened a new perspective for me that I can crochet using A LOT of different materials other than yarn and I CAN CREATE THINGS without a pattern from the internet.
That combination of thought and action defines creative confidence: the ability to come up with new ideas and the courage to try them out. -Tom Kelley & David Kelley, Creative Confidence
Having the courage to act on my ideas is not something that I had overnight. For years, I always follow a certain pattern made by someone which is something that I am grateful for. But I need to learn to create something of my own. Now I had done it and with a new material. Every new project is a result of all craft projects I had done previously. And I am so excited to what more I could discover.
The first poncho I ever created but definitely not the last.
Creating this poncho was special for me in a way. Last month, I joined my group of friends into organizing a clothing swap party for Earth Day 2020 (unfortunately, it was postponed due to COVID-19). In organizing the event, I discovered that I do not actually look at my clothes as something special. Like if you would ask me then, what clothing I had right now that is memorable to me, I would have answered, none. Seeing all those stories from my friends, on how they attended clothing swap parties before, I realized that clothes do have stories.
I made this poncho for supposedly the clothing swap party but it was postponed. Regardless, I am proud of my work.
The story? Here it is.
Upon having the epiphany that ‘clothes do hold stories’, I sought out to make a clothing through crochet (one of my eclectic skills). I only had 2 plys of yarns in stock so good thing, while I was rummaging my stuff, I found a box full of unused yarn from high school so I decided to use all of them into making this poncho.
Through my Visual Techniques class, I learned about the Prang System color wheel and the color theories. So, I applied those in this poncho. If you would look closely, there are a lot of irregularities in terms of the color layers due to, like I had written, the yarns I used.
I am really proud of this because this is the first clothing that I had made and I did not allow constraints such as lack of yarn or even irregularities to discourage me to complete this. Also, I completely felt like I was in the flow while making this. Time seems to flow and I was on my own crocheting. This project ended quite quickly and when I wrote ‘ended’ it means that I had used up all the yarn (that’s why the poncho is quite short).
