WORK IN PROGRESS + SENTIMENTAL THINGS

For one of my latest drawings, I want to incorporate just a touch of pastels. My aunt gave me this set after she found them in 2000. Guess what?? They used to be my dad's, and my aunt thought would like them. She was right, you know! Talk about something sentimental.

I'm thinking about only adding a flush of pink to her cheeks after I add markers and pen, but I might have to incorporate a bit of the orange. I just love that combination of colors. On a somewhat related note to color, did any of you ever have to wear braces? When I had mine, I would always get the bands to be orange and pink. You have to make your mouth colorful somehow, I guess.

I actually added some extra marker and pen last night to this little lady, but here she was beforehand:

Once I add a bit of color, I'll have to show you the finished piece soon!

Do you have anything you're sentimental about?

ART BY JEN RAMOS

I've been meaning to ask Jen Ramos if I could share some of her work with you for the longest time, and I finally emailed her about it over the weekend. She was so sweet about it, and I'm so excited to show a small section of her original work off. It's a huge possibility you've already heard of Jen. She's the owner of MadeByGirl, her online print and accessories shop, as well as Cocoa & Hearts, her relatively new art business.

I love that her style is easy to recognize...those bright, playful colors will catch my eye any day. Not to mention, I love the way she photographs her artwork. LOOK at that sunlight streaming in against the white backdrop.

Colors 51, Pursuing

Soulmate

I could stare all day. What about you?

FOUR THINGS

Hey everyone! How did your weekend treat you? Right now, I have my guy sitting in the same room with me as I'm working on this since he gets Memorial Day off. Days off like these are the best, don't you agree?

So three things:

1. If you celebrate it, Happy Memorial Day! Hope you get to enjoy it. :)

2. My little blog is undergoing some changes, and I'm SO excited! There are still a few things to fix up (like sizing, rollovers, and links), but we're working on them. Please bear with us as we moan and cry to finally get it all working. Kidding. Not on the bearing with us part, though.

3. Pasadya finally has a Facebook page! Welcome to the 21st century. Show Pasadya some love with a "like," and you'll get access to exclusive updates and giveaways . Twitter, you're next!

4. I can't believe this, but...

Yes, he's kept me around for a year already. :) I never would have thought that I would get to marry the boy who asked me for money to buy a himself coke during lunch in 7th grade, kicked the back of my desk every day in Spanish class in the 8th grade, and who finally got the courage to call me for a "homework question" in 9th grade. We ended up talking for hours, until our parents told us to put the phones down and go to sleep.

We lost contact during college, but I'm so glad we reconnected two years ago. This boy is the reason I'm even here typing at this moment; he pushed and encouraged me to do what I love and live my life to the fullest. I wonder where we'll be in 80 years...

Happy Monday!!

SAYAW

Good morning, everyone! I just tried to type in 'morning' and autocorrect typed in 'boring' instead. I guess 'good boring' isn't all that bad either, as long as you're lazily enjoying yourself.

I've had this painting for years and years...not only had I painted it for my very first apartment in college, but it's based off of a handcrafted wooden figurine of my mom's from the Philippines, so it's pretty special to me. I can't believe I was thinking about selling it a few months ago. When I dragged it out of the storage closet, tons of nostalgia flooded back to me, and as I was trying to find old photos of it, I ran across pictures with such dear friends of mine, including me with one of my favorite girls in the world two stepping hand-in-hand to our country songs, singing out loud at Pete's Piano Bar with girls from interior design and guys from architecture (I would like to point out that one of my interior design friends got MARRIED last year to a guy in architecture she met that night!), among other happy things.

Anyway! Back to the painting and short story. Are you wondering what 'sayaw' means? It translates to 'dance' from Tagalog (the main Filipino language) to English. Well...that's what Google Translate told me. I didn't get to call my mom or Filipino family/friends to make sure it's being used in the correct context. Bah, that's the name, I've decided.

The music, while foreign to her ears, was all too familiar. She shyly pulled the sides of her red dress down her tanned legs as far as the fabric would allow while discreetly glancing at members of her extended family and their gigantic group of friends dancing to the beat of the drums, kicking the white sand in the air with their feet. This was her native country…not one she had been born into, but one that was the root of her cultural background. The last time she had been at this very place was as a two-year-old; and now, in her twenties, she couldn’t seem to grasp the notion of spontaneity and self confidence she had once possessed as a child.

As the music continued on for the next half hour, she became accustomed to the beat paired with the loud, happy behavior of those enjoying it around her. They’ve been dancing for hours, she thought to herself. After surveying the happiness and festivities surrounding her one more time, she decided to finally let go and be a part of it.

Her initial small, awkward movements felt strange and new to her, but as she moved with the music, she began to feel the rhythm. Before she knew it, she was lost in the fluid motions, thumping and twirling in time with the music and the waves of the ocean behind her. 

GORGEOUS MORNING

Oh man. I saw this a few minutes ago:

You know, San Antonio always seems to amaze me in the mornings. Do you remember what I mean?

Guys, for the first time, I took this with my Nikon, NOT my phone! Unfortunately, there was dirt or something on the lens, so I had to fix up the little smudges. Thank goodness for the clone tool. I'll teach you how to do that trick in an upcoming Photoshop tutorial after I post the last sections of the 'How to Add Tape to Images' tutorial.

When I was removing the ugly dirt from the photos, poor Xen Bean (sounds like 'zeen bean'...yes, we have too many nicknames), a.k.a. the dog, got excited and zoomed around the hallway into the office. Poor thing couldn't stop on the tiles and smashed her little body into the paper shredder. Let me tell you, the sound SCARED me and made me scream out loud. That's enough excitement for the morning, in my opinion.

Anyway, it's time for me to go enjoy a quick morning walk with my injured companion. Just kidding, she's okay. Stuff like this happens a lot.

Happy Thursday morning to you!

OVER THE WEEKEND IN FORT WORTH

Hello, hello! How was your weekend this time around?

Like I had mentioned on Thursday, we went to Fort Worth, Texas for my brother-in-law's graduation. I can't believe how fast everything comes and goes. It was so good to see my husband's side of the family, and we made some memories that I won't forget.

Would you like to see a bit of Fort Worth? Here you go:

1 & 2: It was beautiful during the days.
3 & 4: It was gorgeous and lively during the nights.
5 & 6: Of course it was country...
7 & 8: There were bushes trimmed to look like bulls, and there were brides roaming the streets. Don't worry, they weren't like that normally...a photographer was involved. :)

9 & 10: The morning before the boy and I had to drive back to San Antonio, we enjoyed ourselves while sipping on coffee. He sat in the shade and programmed away, and I scooted myself partially under the sun and just stared around. I was supposed to be reading, but I just didn't feel like it...because...
11, 12, & 13: While we sipped, these were our views.


Is it bad that I already want to go back??

I'LL BE HERE TODAY & HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Good morning, everyone! I'm actually wrapped up in the robe wearing my monkey house shoes, but I need to get of this "outfit" and into a cute little off the shoulder dress. Because....we are going on a road trip again to celebrate my brother-in-law's graduation from medical school! Being that the drive will take about 4 1/2 hours, we need to leave in...less than an hour. Guess I better pack my stuff, huh?

Anyway, I didn't want to leave you hanging, so head on over to my friend Lena's blog named mus•ing(s) at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time if you'd like to see a guest post on my artistic process.

Have a beautiful weekend, lovelies! Please take in the view, wherever you are.

Photo taken by our friend Russell in Japan

A WORK OF LOVE

The day our first project was due in the freshman interior design class in college, I sat next to a thin-framed girl with brown hair, blue eyes coated with long, thick eyelashes, and porcelain skin. Nervously, I lifted my vellum drawings mounted on cardboard onto the top of the drafting desk and surveyed my finished project. We had been working on a small, hand-drawn apartment project, and I thought mine was pretty good...until I saw hers. Who puts details as small as candles in their floor plans? my 19-year-old self thought.

Apparently, Meredith (nicknamed Mere) does. After I got over my jealously of her attention to detail, Mere and I would talk every once in a while during class whenever we would sit next to one another. Unfortunately, we didn't truly get to know one another until our junior year. She is my shopping buddy, art enthusiast, and someone-to-whine to friend, to say the least. At the beginning of this blog, I couldn't help but base a post off of one of our experiences together.

Since college, Mere spent months backpacking in Europe, moved to Florida, found a roommate to share rent with, and then married a photographer named Jeremiah, who also happened to be her roommate's brother. Isn't that so funny how things work out??

Besides her work as an illustrator and artist, Mere was taught the ins and outs photography by Jeremiah, and they are now the husband and wife photography team of Chic Shot Studio in Gainesville, Florida. This duo is good, to say the least. When they sent me the shots of my bridal portraits and our wedding, I couldn't stop staring.

While they were still dating, Mere came up with such a loving gesture for Jeremiah's birthday gift: she would paint a section of the graffiti wall on 34th Street in Gainesville with an image of a little girl named Elba (photographed by Jeremiah while he was traveling in Guatemala), knowing that her artwork would be painted over soon. The story of the lack of water in Guatemala is heartbreaking, but it definitely opens my eyes to how lucky we are to have the things we take for granted, such as clean, running water.

When I went to visit Mere and Jeremiah in Florida, the wall had already been painted over with sorority symbols, but that's the nature of the wall; it's ever-changing. Fortunately, Jeremiah captured the process, so Mere's work of love will always be remembered.

Every time I remember Mere's wall painting, I think of her love, and I can't help but be reminded of how lucky I am to have the small things in life that I often overlook.

BRIGHT & SUNNY

Even though it's currently raining outside, this is how I'm feeling today:

I took this photo the weekend before last while taking a walk. It's the only palm tree in our neighborhood, and I love it. It feels weird to lug the camera around on walks in the heat, but I can't get over the feeling I have when a photo comes out like this, unedited. I can't wait to try a technique that makes the photo blurry and hazy. I've heard that you can put a blanket (or some other type of light fabric) over your lens to achieve the effect.

Obviously, the beach has been on my mind for far too long.

OVER THE WEEKEND

Good morning, lovies! How was your weekend? Here's a little recap of ours:

1. FIRST of all, Happy late Mother's Day to all of you sweet moms! Hope it was a beautiful day for you on Sunday. You deserve all the best for putting up with us pesky children. :) I wish I could have been back home to celebrate this important day with my mom and mother-in-law, for sure.

2. While I went gift shopping for very important people, of course I got sidetracked....with..myself. Just LOOK at this orange dress by Kenneth Cole via TJ maxx!! LOOK at it! I didn't buy it...but maybe I'll scoot my way back there.

3. My quick little breakfast before trying out a new church with the boy on Sunday. I closed my eyes and pretended I was at the beach with my toes in the sun. Kinda worked! :)

4. Bandalino wedges from Marshall's. Le SIGH. I didn't buy these either. I'm having a tough time not lusting over them.

5. A rose that the sweetest lady from our new favorite Thai restaurant gave me. She reminded me of my sweet Filipino mama--phenomenal fresh home-coooked food and out-of-this world genuine kindness.

6. Mmm...more food! We had no idea we lived so close to this great seafood/burger place!

7. ...It reminded me so much of beachy places. Aaah, love!

8. Two of my favorites. The black and white one is NOT supposed to be on the bed cuddled amongst those pillows. My husband is a sucker for those big, buggy, pitiful eyes of hers. Obviously.

9. Tummy rubs all always appreciated around here.

10. Something I DID get because we had extra reward points. GOODBYE, ugly brownish (once white) rubber iPhone case. Helllooo, pretty green case.


What did you do this weekend?? Do tell.

UNTIL MONDAY

(Photo via Beina's blog, Pice's adventures)

Ahh, doesn't this photo captured by Beina launch you into the mood for Spring and Summer? I think it'll end up to be a sunny weekend here after all. :) Hope you all have a beautiful weekend! I'll see you on Monday!

BLUSTERY

Happy Friday, everyone! It's been raining just about nonstop over here for the past few days, and it reminded me of the fall. I've had this illustration sitting around for quite some time now, and I thought since it's feeling cooler, it's time to share it with you.

Silence surrounded her. After all this time, the stillness felt newly strange...as if she were trapped inside of an expansive tunnel, no sunlight to be seen. She carefully tip-toed a few steps further, almost afraid to hear the faint clicking of her heels touching the pavement. Then it came--she felt herself catch her breath as a cold gust of wind rushed to her skin; she felt the breeze lift her dense hair, making it feel weightless, yet alive. She felt the warmth of the sun as it sparkled through her now-voluminous brown hair, turning it a deep bronze. She inhaled deeply, surging with the movement, and then exhaled even more deeply, completely enjoying the cleansing energy. She had been hoping for this change all along.

SIMILARITIES 2

It's an appropriate day to continue the Similarities series, in my opinion. Here is the very first one if you missed it.

I thought I'd share a painting and a disgruntled animal with you today:

The top specimen is my beloved sidekick that cheers me on with her snores throughout the day. She can inspire things, you see. Oh, and don't ask...I didn't name her. It's pronounced "Zee-nah." As in warrior princess, you ask? Yes, yes, you're right. Sigh. Although, the name Xena does make for pretty cute nicknames, I have to admit. In order not to bore you, I'll only list my top three favorites: Zee Bear, Zoo Zoo, and Xenie. Ah, and the painting is named "Boston."

Do you have a sidekick as well?

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL PART 1: ADDING TAPE TO IMAGES

Hey everyone! It's been raining here all night long, and it's STILL raining as I type. Very unusual for Texas. Unfortunately, today is the day that I have to run errands, so I'll just be looking like a wet cat. Yesterday, I was awaiting a painting by Mary Ann, and I literally saw the post man out the window of my office. I was BESIDE MYSELF in excitement. Unfortunately, Mr. Post Man rang the doorbell and ran away as quickly as possible...as in, before I could even get to the door. Le sigh. I've been saving my excitement for this painting all throughout the weekend, and I think I can wait until today to get it. You can bet I'll be carrying a giant umbrella to protect it!

I have exciting news!! I finally finished a Photoshop tutorial that I've been talking about for a while now. I realized that I had to break this tutorial in two or three sections, because I don't want it to be a monstrous tutorial, a.k.a boring and confusing. You tell me if this helps you at all. Keep in mind, this is very basic. This is the finished image we'll end up with by the end of the tutorials. Look familiar?

Let's begin, shall we?

Okay, when you're opening a document in Photoshop and realize you don't have the correct windows up, don't freak out like I used to. Just go to Window and make sure you have the following checked: Adjustments, Color, Layers, Application Bar, Options, and Tools. You can choose whichever settings work best for you, but I like to see these in my sidebar.

If you mess up like I do, here's how to undo:

You can also go to Edit--Step Forward or Edit--Step Backward to go forward or backward a step.

On to the fun stuff:

1. Go to File--New to make a new document.

2. Add settings for your document. I like to keep my in inches. If you're doing print material, make sure your resolution is either 150 pixels/inch or 300 pixels/inch. The higher the resolution, the higher the quality (clarity) your print will be. If I'm printing an 8.5" x 11" document, I usually set the resolution at 150. On the other hand, if I'm doing a web document that needs to quickly load, I set my resolution at 96. After you have your settings, press Enter.

3. You can drag your newly opened document anywhere you'd like on the screen. Just click and drag on the gray bar above the document. Notice the gray area around my document. I clicked and dragged on the bottom right hand corner of the document to do this.

4. Open the folder containing your photo, and click and drag it into your Photoshop file. Easy peasy.

*If an X doesn't appear on your image, disregard steps 5 and 6.

5. See that X that appears over my photo? This means that you need to "place your photo" by just pressing Enter. After you press Enter, the X will disappear.

6. I don't know too much about smart objects yet, but since I still need to learn more about them, I just rasterize my photo so that I can resize and edit it. Do this by going to Layer--Rasterize--Smart Object.

 7. To create the shape for your tape, you have a make a new layer. Imagine placing sheets of paper on top of one another to make a single stack of paper. This is how layers work in Photoshop. You can always move one layer on top of another, delete it, or add new layers. Go to Layer--New to add a new layer.

a) You can make the shape of your tape in a variety of ways, but I usually just use the Rectangle Marquee Tool.

b) After you select the rectangle tool by clicking on it, just click and drag on the location where you want your tape. Don't worry if you get a weird placement. We can easily move and resize it later.

c) Notice that when we added the new layer, it appears on the right toolbar. You move one layer on top of or under another layer by clicking and dragging it up (to be on top) or down (to be below). You can also freeze a particular layer by clicking the box directly to the left of the layer. This will either make your layer disappear or reappear. The layer you are currently working on will always be highlighted in blue. To select multiple layers, click on the layers while holding down command (Mac) or control (PC).

8. Now that you have your outline for the tape, you can choose a color for the tape. Do this by selecting the Foreground Color. Once you select it, a box will appear that allows you to choose the color of your dreams. :) I guess the color of my dreams was black that day.

9. To add the color to your tape, use the Paint Bucket Tool (a) and click inside your outline.

10. If you like to be see-through like me, you can change the opacity (a) of your color.

11. To make your tape look torn, you can use the Rectangle Marquee Tool (a), the Polygonal Lasso Tool (b), and the Eraser Tool (c). It doesn't matter if you use all or one of the tools. These are the ones I generally use to get the tape to my preference.

12. Next, resize your tape. To do this quickly, simply right click the tape to make sure the layer is selected, and press command t for the Mac. If you're using a PC, use control t.

13. Remember when I said in step 7c that the layer you're currently working on will be in blue? To quickly find the layer you're working on (whenever you start working with TONS of layers), right click your image, and Photoshop will tell you. In this case, my tape layer is Layer 1.

14. Now I want to make a copy of Layer 1 so that I can have tape for the bottom of the image. Do this by right clicking the layer in your right sidebar, and click Duplicate Layer (a). To move your new layer of tape down to the bottom of the image, make sure your Move Tool (b) is selected on your left sidebar, and click and drag your tape down. I used the eraser tool and command t to make my bottom piece of tape look like that.

Phew. Seriously, guys. I hope this helped those of you that want to learn the basics. Let me know if this helps, if you were confused, etc. I'll have the remaining tutorials up probably this week and maybe next week.

Also, I know many of you are much better at Photoshop than I am. Sooo, if you'd like to share any other shortcuts or  easier ways of doing things, I would love to hear! :)

Happy Tuesday! I'm off to go run around in the rain.

UNTIL MONDAY...

Photo snapped by my guy on a short trip to Corpus Christi, TX

Have a gorgeous weekend! Oh, and Happy Cinco de Mayo for those of you that are celebrating. :)

DANCER

Well, happy Friday, everyone! I have a new watercolor + story waiting for yooou. This one is a bit different from what I usually do. I grew up in a classical family (as far as music), and my sister now teaches music. So, I had a lot of fun picking out a classical piece to go with this art. Hope you enjoy!!

Listen to this song for the full effect.

She peeked through the slant in the thick velvet curtain, one eye closed, her nose scrunched up. The murmur of the crowd has hushed into a respectful silence. She knew the process and sounds all too well…ever since she had first faced the crowd including her proud mother and father and her encouraging sister two years her senior as an aspiring ballerina. She had danced her heart out at every performance beginning from her first debut as a human-like rose petal flower.

She looked down at her frilly tulle garment, noticing that it was much like the color of her very first costume as a four-year-old, except much more classic and grown-up this time. Stretching the sides of the fluffy skirt down with her anticipating fingers, she heard the familiar movement of the bows against the violins’ strings. This was the exact melody of her very first stage performance as a small, excited child.  

Delicately pointing the toes of her right foot, she arched her entire body to her right, stretching out her arms in a slant toward the high, wooden rafters overhead. The music slowed, and she knew that was her cue. The heavy curtains drew apart, and she gracefully faced the anticipating crowd; they in the cloud of darkness, and she in the warm, bright spotlight. 

MARY ANN WAKELEY

Guys!! ....Guys. You have to look at this for a second. I was browsing around looking for something to be inspired by today, and LOOK what I landed! This abstract art is by Mary Ann Wakeley, a self-taught artist who graciously allowed me to share her work with you only less than an hour ago. I was so surprised to get such a quick and friendly response from her after I just asked if I could post her work this morning, and I couldn't get her work out of my head and was a little bit disgruntled at the thought of posting about anything else this morning. That's kind of whiney, isn't it? I know, I know.

Aside from blogging, I had just finished reading a message from a new friend who is getting married next April, and my mom is making a custom veil for her! She sent me the sweetest message along with photos of her dress, which, when I saw, had to muster up all my strength not to cry. I suppose I'll be blabbing away at the wedding as usual. Today must be some kind of emotional lapse or something, ha.

Anyway! Hope you like bright, light art filled with free motion:

Top painting: May Day
Bottom painting: Dressage

I love Mary Ann's description of her artwork, especially this:

"Each work is created intuitively without a preconceived idea. Often I have the sense of painting time itself and what is suspended in it. But this is just an idea after the fact, not something that I set out to depict intentionally. Titles allow me to play with words and language--a way to offer another dimension to the work."


Her method of painting reflects the way I do my own work. I love how art frees my mind and allows me to get lost in another world, if you know what I mean. I love the entire process...but when I step back and realize a piece is finished, it's such a complete feeling. Do you feel like that with your work as well?

I just HAVE to add one more of Mary Ann's paintings.

Painting: Rain Dance

Gosh, I'm swooning over her work! If you feel the same way, you can see more of her work via her website or through flickr.

*Update: Some of you were asking if she sells prints, and YAY, she does!

You can get prints of her originals here and here.

FILIPINO HOUSE SHOES

When we were little, my parents (Filipino mom + American dad) would always tell my sister and I to take off our shoes the moment we got in the house. We never, EVER wore shoes inside until we were about teenagers, and for the most part, we still don't. I remember that I used to forget something in my room before I was about to leave, and I'd lazily throw off one shoe and hop all the way to my room on one particularly unbalanced foot until I got back to the tile in the kitchen, where I would plop down and put my tossed-aside shoe back on.

I used to never understand it, but now that I live in my own home with my husband, I get it. Cultural differences + ease of cleaning. Our reason fits with the second choice...we just don't want to spend every hour of lives mopping, I guess.

These little slippers are meant to be inside, but they just wound up outdoors since I always seem to run around the house barefoot. Let's just say they don't do well when you try to walk through a muddy garden...