Natalie Portman
Of course, it is none other than my favorite Hollywood actress – the very beautiful, glamorous, intelligent and talented Natalie Portman. I can’t help but show my love for her by doing a portrait sketch using pencil and charcoal. 🙂
9″ x 12″ Pencil Sketch
Never let your skill get rusty. Stay creative by always practicing, as they say. This is another birthday gift to a friend. As usual, I am not that confident with all my art works.
But it is enough gratification to hear him comment about it: “Sobresaliente!” 😉
I was checking Facebook’s news feed when I came across an advertisement regarding the annual Cine Europa Festival here in the Philippines which showcases international films from participating European countries.
Being an Anglo-American Literature major back in college, I was of course thrilled I will get to see European films again – for FREE. 🙂
One movie caught my interest and of course it has to be set in 18th Century Denmark, the period of Enlightenment and a historical drama wherein most details in the movie are based on historical facts – A ROYAL AFFAIR.
“A Royal Affair” (2012)
It has received several awards – Satellite Award for Best Costume Design and Robert Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Perfect choice as this movie had its free screening in my university’s film center which is synonymous to this – I don’t have to travel far to be able to watch it. I have God to thank for that. 🙂
Cine Europa 16 @ UP Film Institute
GENERAL CRITIQUES
The movie indeed is deserving of its Best Costume Design award. Costumes are not too lavishly done and yet nothing too dull either. Details of 18th Century costumes were particularly followed and it did not rob the classical essence of the designs with gaudy styles or excessively vibrant colors. I have always been fascinated by the fashion of the early century Europe. The evolution of the dresses clearly depicted the changes in society’s standards as well as with the political reformation. A particular dress will tell a lot about the history of a nation.
There are limited instances of a landscape scenery which is in accordance to the movie’s plot as most of the scenes are set and captured inside the castle. The sequencing of the events are carefully delivered which is what I admire about the movie. It doesn’t set the audience in that moment wherein a particular scene will make you recall the previous scene in order to connect the current scene and limit the “WH” questions. I must admit that when I have those questions in mind while watching the movie, it only means that there is a scene that I am baffled about, I am assessing the relevance of it to the entire movie and how it is connected from the preceding scenes.
In other words, every scene in the movie is crystal clear. 🙂
As for the acting, the actors perfectly fit in the roles that they portrayed – appearance, aura as well as delivery of the lines. I must say the actors were indeed successful in internalizing their character roles in the movie. The age of Enlightenment has been one of my favorite eras in our study of European and American literature, political and social history. It deals with idealism, reformation towards a positive change, among many others. Although this is also the time wherein a lot of revolution took place, terror and violence erupted, conflicts arose wherein majority are unresolved but I may say, that still, the events are exemplary of a society being changed from a state of dystopia to almost utopia.
Ahhh yes, now maybe this is the reason why I became an idealist. 😉
I was greatly influenced by my long years and extensive study on Anglo-American Literature which would usually be associated to the social and political history of Europe and America. I have always been fascinated by Kings, Princesses and knights not because I love fairy tales but because it is just interesting to learn the origins of a foreign culture, most especially that of Europe and look into the totality of the transformation of a certain period/era in connection to the people and society in general.
After watching the movie, I rated it 4 out of 5 stars, 5 being the highest. If I would be given the chance to be transported back in time and be an onlooker while events are happening for real, I definitely would choose the early centuries. Suppose there is a parallel universe for that, it would be this – incredibly awesome.
Well, what we need now is a “time machine” by H. G. Wells where we can teleport and time travel. 😀
And speaking of time traveling, because I love anything antique and vintage, and being a fashion lover, I wore something from the past when I watched the movie – a vintage dress that belonged to my Mom designed by her. If you want to know how old it is, it was worn by my mom when she was in her 20s, exactly 4 decades ago.
I hope I did give justice to my “hippie” look with matching fuchsia pink nail polish . 😉
Up Close
Full Body
Pink Feet
Red-Orange Kusudama Origami
This is the tiniest origami flower I have made so far. Folding it has been the greatest challenge as it is difficult to fold an inch-big paper and make it relatively smaller. I colored this one with red and orange poster color to give it that more natural look. I created quite a number of this to decorate the flower box origami I made as a birthday gift to a friend.
If time would permit, I hope and pray I can do more of them, origami. 🙂
Broken Nigel
It happened a few hours before New Year. New Year’s Eve it is, a few hours before the clock struck 12 signifying the start of a new year – 2013. I never thought that it would happen. The camera has been with me for two years.
Yes, Nigel is my dslr camera. I have always loved photography and it was only recently that I have decided to start taking photos and make it as a full time hobby. Full time hobby would mean using the camera as often as I could at any given time. It served as an avenue for me to recover from a painful past.
Came our family outing wherein I was excited enough to capture the moments. It was a swimming event and everybody was busy carrying a lot of picnic stuff.
Then the unexpected happened.
We were on our way home, I was seated at the back beside my niece and I unintentionally placed the camera on top of the bags without tying the sling to the head rest of the back seat.
I didn’t hear nor feel “danger signals” at that moment and it was already too late to realize it when before I could go out of the car, “blag!” There goes my camera falling and rolling onto the pavement. My brother and Dad were both aghast when they picked up the camera. And yes, I am to blame. I was too confident that nothing will happen to my camera as I was always too cautious making sure that it is on the safe spot where it won’t get wet, where it won’t fall, etc. But you can never let your guard down, as they say.
So yes, that was the first “strike” on my camera. The LCD was broken. And I feared the worst – the camera will not be able to withstand the fall it won’t turn on anymore. But I was thankful though because the camera is inside the case and it cushioned the fall. It was the corner of the guard for the camera strap placed on top of the LCD that caused it to crack. It did turn on. And that was something I am so grateful for.
A week before I went home to Bicol, I bought an LCD cover for the camera. For almost 2 years I haven’t thought about purchasing one just until last year. Little did I know that this gut feeling/inner voice that urged me to do so is actually God trying to tell me in preparation for something big that’s going to happen.
Then a week after that, a relationship with someone very dear to me was severed. Emotional ties were tested up to the limit. It got broken too. That was a week after the incident with my camera happened. So now I was dealing with two things: an intangible and tangible one. And there’s one thing that they both have in common – both are broken. My next question then was, “why?” What is the significance of the two events? Most especially, what was God’s purpose why He made them happen?
Then it came to me that yes, both were meant to be broken. Why? I grew up to be complacent, taking things as they are, letting things stay as they are, unaware and unsuspecting of any danger. I was taken off guard, so to speak. I wasn’t able to fix both before leaving Bicol. Then there came the annual Prayer Fasting in our church. It started exactly the day when I arrived from Bicol carrying with me the “broken” stuff. The Prayer and Fasting placed me in that moment of thinking things through, asking for forgiveness, and talking to God regarding these matters.
Yes, both incidents were meant to happen upon my leaving Bicol. God reminded me what are the things needed to be “fixed” which I have started to be complacent about and start praying for it during the Prayer and Fasting. Yes, that is how amazing our God is. He leads us to the path where we should rightfully head. He sees the “strains” and the “burden” that we will carry if we do not take action and just let things dwindle along.
I went through all the hassle of having my camera checked up and was thankful when I found out that I don’t have to pay thousands and thousands of pesos to have it fixed. It was only the external LCD that was broken. Whew! Thanks to the LCD protector that I bought a week before my camera fell. It was the one thing that prevented the shock from penetrating to the interiors of the camera. It also prevented the LCD glass from shattering and falling into pieces. It was the one thing that basically held everything together.
The same thing happened to the relationship. I prayed for healing during the Prayer and Fasting. I asked for forgiveness and have sworn to let go of my pride, accept my mistakes and apologize. Yes, I may not be able to fix the relationship totally but because of God, He prevented the relationship from shattering completely into pieces. Because when that happens, it would be beyond repair.
The camera was fixed; the relationship was also fixed.
I am more than grateful to God for giving me the guidance and the discernment to follow what He wants me to do. Moreover, I am more than glad I have made the move to obey and trust Him. God is the one thing that held everything together even until now. He made it all possible so that things would be at the right track, almost perfect, and I may be at peace. More or less. 🙂
Maybe, I thought. Possible, perhaps. But YES, after they did serve my meal in a pan. 😉
Lo and behold!
Seafood Curry
Stainless pans for their seafood meals. I ordered Seafood Curry, Baked Alaskan Pollock for Dad, and since Mom and bro are not seafood lovers, they tried Grilled Chicken Peri-Peri and Barbecue Pork Ribs.
Grilled Chicken Peri-peri
Baked Alaskan Pollock
Barbecue Pork Ribs
Dressing
Iced Tea
And yes, two scoops of vanilla ice cream for dessert. *burp*
Vanilla Ice Cream
I must say that the pans added that extra “spice” to the entire dining experience. So, the next time you would want to try eating in a pan (not sure though if it’s fresh from the stove. *wink*), Fish & Co. is definitely the place to eat “seafood in a pan.”
Fork on a Table
Fish & Co.
Oh and wait, they have a giveaway too – mint-flavored candies.
Sweet, isn’t it? 😉
Candy Mint
When things get really serious and heavy to carry, this is how I digress – either I write, do arts, or play music and just recently, make crafts.
It became a newest past time for me and my sister. She made the really difficult butterfly origami (see photo below). Very pretty they are, aren’t they? I believe I’ll learn this another time as it is far too intricate for me. 😀
Swallowtail Butterfly Origami by my sister Ate Abeden
Before starting, I first practiced making a lily origami using a colored art paper through a Youtube tutorial – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWylGb8EyQw.
There are thousands of tutorials to choose from on origami-making uploaded in Youtube and I must admit I really had a hard time choosing which one should I do first as I wanted to learn all of them. I first made the single petal lily and the multiple petal next. It took me a whole lot dozen of them before I finally memorized the procedure without referring to the video.
Patience is a virtue, indeed. 😉
Lily Origami in Art Paper
After making them, my sister and I thought we wanted to make our origami crafts more “personalized” so we have decided to use a white paper instead of the regular colored art paper and painted them using poster color.
White paper and Poster Color
We allowed it to dry for a couple of minutes before starting to fold.
Two-tone
I used pink for the primary color of my lily and lavender as an undertone brushing with left to right strokes. Of course, a flower cannot stand alone so I made the stem origami using a color green art paper and a flower box origami using a black special paper.
This is the final result. Do make your own personalized origami as well. I assure you, it is so much fun. Enjoy! 🙂
Multi Petal Lily Origami and Flower Box Origami
Couple Sketch
This is my first time to sketch a couple and I must admit I am apprehensive when my friend, Jalyn, asked me if I could do a portrait sketch of her friends as a wedding gift. But I was up for the challenge so the answer was “yes.”
This is the 5th sketch that I am to give away. For every art work I make, I feel like a part of me is instilled in it. Something like “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” 😉
The sketch is size 12″ x 18″ and I used just the regular 2B pencil.
“Pencils and Paint Brushes: Writing and Art”
A boy he is – young, wild and free.
For him, to imagine is to dream. To recount is to live it by. Vivid are his words. Vibrant and so full of life. Thoughts flow freely and openly. Like a blossom slowly starting to bloom. Petal by petal, it starts to unfold to the world outside. It captivated every observer, every passersby. It now becomes like a picture – that of Dorian Gray. The fire of youth seems to breathe in and out of him. Admired by many, praised by most.
And yet, to the painter Basil, who made the portrait with all of his heart came a price too high to be paid – it costs Dorian’s soul. How can the boy be ever protected from the harsh and cruel realities of life? With all the experiences that he would go through, would there still be any good left in him?
Basil tried to protect him. Veer him away from all those worldly pleasures, make him see the world in a different perspective. And yet he, Basil, found himself caught in the whirlpool of words, thoughts, ideas, philosophies that are rich but are not from his realm.
The artist is helpless. There’s no way that he can be saved – that man in the portrait. It pained to see the masterpiece becoming a remnant of the past that would soon fade. Like a memory, dug deep until totally forgotten.
All that was left are his words, his thoughts, that once captivate but now begin to haunt. Sweet words they were. Now, they are all jumbled, like a puzzle, wherein one decent word cannot be formed.
Indeed, the boy is a writer. His life is a wordplay. A tangle of woven dreams, broken hopes and yes, just words.
Nothing else but all sort of words.
***It’s been a while since I have created something “fictitious.” So here’s a short fiction to practice my imaginative writing skills. If ever I have one. 😉
“Sitting Pretty”
*This is the English translation of the Filipino poem I created and posted earlier which was entitled “Pag-iingat sa Pangungulila.” Never had an idea that translating a Filipino poem can be this challenging making sure I do not lose the essence of the original poem. I hope I translated it well.
P. S.
The photo I attached in this post reminded me to translate the Filipino poem – which is what I did just now. Two words entered my mind upon seeing the sitting boy: detached and languid. Thus, the title. 🙂
TO LONG NO MORE – DETACH
I saw in you,
Happiness that is true.
But not afterwards,
When turned were the cards.
Circumstances arise,
Painful was the price.
Why it could possibly be,
Turn out this bad to see?
Now you tremble,
Looking at the rubble.
Shed tears that flow,
Sadness begin to grow.
Beautiful days are gone,
Hoping more could be done.
But you had to let go,
Good things await by doing so.
A promise made,
Memories will fade.
Soon you will see,
The good in letting things be.
The Journeyman's Moments 