The Wedding

I've done a lot of Halloween getups before but this one is the scariest I've done yet. Remembering Halloween '06 from my old office, Xlibris. Our department had come up with a spine-chilling idea. We created "The Wedding" - an unforgiving bloody story where one wedding turned into a masacre.

We all had a great time that day. I did their makeup and used poster colour to get some fake wounds and cuts. Even our boss didn't mind us looking like a dead corpse.

I was the little flower girl - complete with dead flowers in a basket and dollies.

The bride was my favourite. Classic horror bride.

Haaay I miss these crazy people. Love you guys! Have a spooky weekend everyone!

Dubai Pearl

WHOA.

This is the Dubai Pearl.

your safety is our priority

Fancy the halloween? My husband as a Security Guard 5 years ago. Tomorrow, my 3.3yo will have his first trick or treat in school as a Policeman. Maybe two years from now, the Baby Manghud can be a Military General! Oh yeah, mother feels so safe around her boys.

There were other options for him but they would never work. He can be a WWE Wrestler with my black tights and his black shoes wearing nothing on top, if only he'd wear the mask like Rey Mysterio and his Championship Belt. He can also be a ghost as my mom suggested but I just couldnt find a white cloth that could fit his entire body. Oh well, his costume turned out pretty cool for him anyway. I hope he enjoys his day tomorrow as a Policeman.

handmadefont!

the coolest. ever.

check out handmadefont.

S O R E

Lucille Umali's first solo exhibit.

Read details here.

stylefaerie interview: XIOMARA'S GIRLS

Tell us about your girls.
My dolls are called Blythes. They’re highly collectible dolls that a company in Japan called CWC and Takara manufactures every month with different styles and themes.

What's your girls' signature style?
I really gravitate to the woodsy-woodland type look. I always imagine them to be mushroom gatherers rather than urbanite divas. I also like doing whimsy Tim Burton-ish type of clothing but I really have to smoke corset making.

I am most fascinated with your Twin Outfits project. Are they becoming you or you becoming them?Definitely not the latter. Haha! I have favorite outfits that I wish I could wear everyday so I copy them or get inspiration from them for Blythe dresses. The girls can then wear them till I get tired looking a the same ol’ outfit.

Do you prefer shopping or creating for their clothes?
A little bit of shopping but I want to try as much as I can to make them. It’s an artists’ pride thing. If there are clothes out there that I think I can’t make with my amateur seamstress hands and they really wow me over, I’d buy them as long as they’re not over $30. If they’re worth more than that then I try to inspire myself to make an outfit that would be worth more than my imposed Blythe wardrobe budget. I buy shoes though because I can’t make those. I actually have more Blythe shoes than dresses!

What's the biggest challenge in customizing their outfit?
For me everything looks good on a sketch because my sketches are pretty detailed but when the design is interpreted on fabric, it doesn’t look as stellar. I don’t know how I manage to do that every time. It gets debased as a finished product. Also, puff sleeves, I’ve been doing them forever and I still can’t perfect them!

Who's your favorite girl?

(don't worry, they won't be reading this blog)
Ooooh this is almost like a sacrilegious query. Haha. Let’s just say that the ones that were not my favorite were the ones I adopted out. If I was asked this question at gunpoint I would have to say my petrol haired Princess a la Mode Blythe. She just seems mermaidish to me, you know me and my fascination with scaly maidens...

I heard they're insanely expensive. How does your purse feel about that?
My purse or my husband? Hehe. They are somewhat pricey but it kind of helps to know that they have excellent resale value. I have a doll worth $ in the secondary market. It’s pretty much like owning jewelry, you own them for the prestige of owning something that has an excellent value. I am justifying. If I ever quit this Blythe mania, I can always sell them and not lose any money. Also, I make and sell dresses, I’ve bought girls with the money I make from my guerilla dress shop.

Do you plan to buy more dolls? Who's next in line?
I choose my girls according to hair color. The stock clothes come in second but not really a priority since stock clothes don’t stay on the girls for too long. I let go of a bright yellow haired Blythe to get the shocking pink haired one that I’ve always wanted. I want a blonde and a mossy green haired Blythe. Still waiting for CWC/Takara to come up with her.

So is it an addiction or a kind of lifestyle?
I would say it is more of an addiction than a lifestyle. My life doesn’t really revolve around my Blythes since I collect other things as well but Blythes fuel my creativity when I’m at home. With my other vintage toys, they’re just shelf denizens.

Lastly, why blythe dolls? and not barbie dolls or ball jointed dolls?
Blythes seems to have an ambiguity when it comes to age. Unlike Barbies or Momokos which look like adult women, Blythes can get away wearing childish frocks or lavish ballgowns. And then there’s that whole big head big eyes Japanime fascination that never seems to leave my psyche.

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Xiomara has been a graphic artist since she was 4 years old.

STYLE GUIDE: find your own illustration style.

I think it's important to maintain a certain style to your illustration no matter what the trends are out there. It took me more than 10 years to finally find (and accept) my signature style and I am still facing the challenge of truly putting it to the fullest. Here are my thoughts on finding your own style in your illustrations.

✔ Know your strengths and take them higher than your expectations. Super realistic figure drawings? An eye for details? Textured experiments? Focus and get to work.

✔ Speak up! Having a big idea behind your illustration makes better storyteller in you. And when you have a story to tell or a thought to share, you get to imagine how you would share it. Your tone makes it uniquely your own.

✔ Surprise! If you surprise yourself with your process, that's a good start. If you're satisfied with the end result, make room for more surprises next time.

✔ Don't get too inspired. Inspiration becomes deadly when it grows with you that you start to imitate (maybe unconciously) exactly that which got you inspired.

✔ Review review review. Review your work over and over and see if it doesn't "look like somebody's".

✔ Stick to YOUR style. But let them grow in maturity - not in numbers or popularity.

just-woke-up hairdo

My 1yo Akii

Your very own Online DNA

This is just so cool. Try Personas. You enter your name (or whoever's name) and it categorizes you from online searches. This is my online DNA. The biggest slice I've got is "illegal" because maybe it magnified my artwork called "Grand Escape". It's hillarious!

But I must say it still got it's flaws because the result changes everytime you enter your name again. Or if you happen to share the same name, it could affect your DNA. But I had fun, so it's worth sharing!

www.girlaloo.org

empowering the women in design.

an all women digital illustration exhibit tour.

www.girlaloo.org

Tambolbee Villarino

Darlene Sanguenza

Lucille Umali

Luisa Gonzaga

Govinda Trazo

Kristy Anne Ligones

Madeth Villarosa

Kristine Oplado

Johanna Velasco - Deutsch

Richelle Chua

February Anne Ybanez

Narki Hormiguera

Girlaloo updates / older posts

SCENT KEEPING at last.

I couldn't stop until I get it right. Not that the previous artworks are wrong, it's not just satisfying yet. Originally this piece was dark with brighter illuminated neons. And then I decided to re-tone it in less saturation. Now finally, I got rid of some elements and stuck with the basics. This is SCENT KEEPING at last.

GIRLALOO

TOUR DATES:

nov 9-13: university of san carlos

nov 16-20: university of the philippines

nov 23-27: benedicto college