SPAM! FAM! STUMP! AND DRUNK!

The weekend was insane. Scratch that. The weekend was full... I've had an insane weekend, and that wasn't quite it. Anyways... here's the haps:

Friday, as you all know, Aldrie, Marielle and myself went to SFSU, to do some live painting for an event called SPAM! (Showcasing Pilipino Artists and Musicians) The crowd was wild and it made me remember my college days, even though I didn't go to a traditional college. Performances were great, and even though I didn't know the headliner, the crowd apparently went crazy for him. Our setup was nice, but they turned the lights out on us about an hour in. Luckily a fellow artist, whose name escapes me now, lent us a lamp so we could continue our work. We couldn't have done it without him. Anywho Here's my piece that I painted live! (I took more shots, but Blogger is being yucky so you only get one!)

My piece was called: A Great Friend Can Help You Reach the Stars. It has our good friend Stump this time and is part of my Stars series. I haven't named the girl yet, but I'm leaning towards Matsuri, the name of my late Great-Grandmother... Matsuri is about 7 years old and somehow meets stump while she's alone. They become fast friends and travel together across the land, having adventures and learning about life.

This piece is a commentary about all the great friends I've been lucky enough to meet. Many of which helped me get to where I am today. Granted I still have a long way to go, but I am grateful for what I have now, and I haven't ever forgotten the people who helped me get there.

It's painted in acrylic, LIVE, in about 4 hours. The piece is painted on two canvases, that when placed together, create the whole piece. I wanted to make it so each piece could also stand on its own, but I really didn't sketch too much out beforehand so I think the top one ends up being much stronger.


Saturday was much more chill. Live painting always takes a lot out of me, so I spent a lot of Saturday morning recovering, and trying to get my feet back under me. In the evening, I went to my Auntie's house and celebrated many September birthdays, my nephew's and my great-grandmother's included. After that it was off to the studio to attempt to get some more work done.... but when I got there, I promptly fell asleep....

Eventually, I woke up, and got my lazy ass back to work. Here's the newest evolution of Stump:

One of the most major changes I've made to the composition, was the addition of Matsuri sitting on Stump. She looks on at the moon as Stump rests from a long day of traveling. Hopefully, she'll be able to sleep soon. I wonder what she's thinking about.....

After looking at all the detail I added to other parts of the piece, it felt like a shame to leave the leaves in the condition they were in. SO.... I went in for more randomness and details... which, in turn, adds a few more days till it's finished. I feel like I really want the piece to end, but I keep finding things that I can play with... so on and on it goes. Artists that I've spoken to about this (like Chris de Leon and Sherwin) have told me to take my time and step away if I need to. They know what it's like to keep adding and adding and adding, and these are guys that I look up to, so I take their advice to heart. I've gotten great compliments on the progress shots I've been posting, so that tells me I'm at least doing something right. I promise though... I will have a print of this guy for sale eventually. So to everyone that's been encouraging me, you will see it finished sooner or later!

Sunday, we went with Melissa, Phil and Michelle to the Oktoberfest in San Francisco and that was a blast... Lots of beer, polka, sausages and tomfoolery... I got thoroughly sloshed. Let's just leave it at that. Here's my beer...

Ahhhhh... Refreshing! The Germans really know how to party. :1