unique like everyone else

Doureena

2012-01-30T12:44:00.001+04:00

Here is a comics i illustrated that just recently cane out to print. It's a magazine in Arabic called Doureena, in English it means 'our champion' , and of course it's all about football.

This section of the magazine are actual complaints or situation related to Oman football.

Above is the final print which is a bit paler and spacious to the previous version of this (see below). The sports editor wanted me to tone down the colors coz he thought it was 'too sunny'! hahaha! and he didn't like the idea that each scene was too close to each other. He wanted me to put borders or frames for each, just like an actual comics. We argued for a lil while but in the end, it's not really my final say. The version above is not that bad after all. :)

Above: complaining that the football field is bad, giving the players injury. This is in some area outside Muscat (i cannot remember the name of the stadium).

Above: Fans and players are complaining that the first aid team are very slow.

On this one, a certain manager of a football team is being ejected by the fans and some players. Hehehe

Sports infographics

2012-01-29T21:09:00.002+04:00

I have been making infographics! *huge smile* Since i joined the newspaper i have been trained to make infographics and it was never easy. First of all i hate dealing with maps and a lot of figures then there are datas to analyze. It just really hurts my brain. But like all things, nothing can be learned specially when it comes with a lot of pressure.

With the patience of our head infographic designer Antonio Farrach and our art director's vision, i now have my own full spread infographics (just two for now).

I have to say, i am still learning and making some minor mistakes and still learning the art of visualizing data to. But the Stefi Graff poster only had minor revisions from our head.Antonio. :)

This one involved a lot of data and information, i thought i was not gonna be able to make it to the deadline. This also had few tweaking from Antonio after reviewing it. But in the end, i felt so proud of myself! :)

***

By the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I've missed blogging so much! :-*

Kneeling Joy

2011-12-07T21:37:00.001+04:00

A not-so-wholesome post as compared to the previous one, here is a sketch lost in the pile of papers in my desk. If i weren't killing time tonight, i would not have stumbled upon this. just a fast digital rendering for now, i am still thinking of retracing it and give it a real rendering. I am still thinking about it.

Aah the joy of kneeling.

Food Business

2011-11-26T13:04:00.001+04:00

A page i did for the business section of Times of Oman. Went all vector and boxy for the page. Was also aiming for something very clean and sleek. At first the plan was to make it look like a menu since the article is about food and all but i wound up making it look like this, which i am personally very happy of the outcome. :)

The idea of my design was inspired by this.

Below is my study. First thing i did was layout the text in InDesign with the images in mind where to put them, print it and sketch on it until i get my desired illustration for the page.

Sunkissed

2011-11-22T23:20:00.001+04:00

If i'm not drawing or designing, i take photos. Here is a set of photos i took during the time of the day when the sun is in its playful mood in my room. There is just no resisting to the tempting display of light.

some of these photos are posted in my Tumblr too!

I've been fishing lately

2011-11-19T19:24:00.001+04:00

If you are wondering what i have been up to these days (at work), I've been drawing fishes endlessly. From time to time i finish a few fishes in a day if there is nothing for a daily deadline.

After I finish this fish project, i swear i can recognize a fish and name them by their scientific name! :D

the squid!

Goldilock Suicide

2011-10-22T18:01:00.003+04:00

I'm glad to have another personal work again. But personally, this work has no profound underlying meaning whatsoever, just a product of self pressure to do something non work-related. hihi

(Above) is the sketch in pencil and ink

(Above) is the first digital rendering. Below are the details of the final work.

Multaqa

2011-10-14T14:23:00.000+04:00

This is an old illustration i found in one of my 2011 folders. By old i mean i don't remember the story but i reckon it has something to do about local Omani writers or poets. I like the colors and the little details of this illustration.

Bowed and Arrowed

2011-10-04T16:11:00.002+04:00

Where there is pain, so will pleasure be. One can come after the other or together at the same time. One will find most pleasure after so much pain, and so much pain after please. Bowed and Arrowed is double pain at one time, imagine the pleasure after that. :)

Illustration done in a scratch log book paper. Rendered digitally.

The Ramadan blanket

2011-09-28T14:49:00.001+04:00

While August passed like a slight breeze in the heat of fasting, this ramadan blanket kept us all busy at work. Twenty four pages that came out for the whole month, each one with Ramadan topics and if combined all together will form a one whole design which says 'Eid Sayed' (Happy Eid). This was a well thought and carefully executed design blanket.

Waleed Rabin was the lead designer of the blanket which only means his brain was the most fried of all the people who worked with him on this project. Adonis Durado who was our design director did all the brain frying. hehe.. I did most of the ink illustrations.

Click to enlarge

the final and last page

Here is a detail of the first illustration on the first page. It's obvious i couldn't keep a straight line. hehehe

A well documented process of this project with some interview from our design director, can be seen here.

Time out in Holland

2011-09-28T14:47:00.000+04:00

I have abandoned this blog for a while, for no reason. While i was not blogging, i was out there on some other part of that world that i have never been to. I was in Holland having fun and seeing their art. All i can say is that i wish i live there :)

Now i will be back blogging! :)

a work in progress

2011-08-01T10:30:00.004+04:00

It's been a while since i've worked on an artwork with typography, here' one i can't wait to finish.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Gangsta in Muscat

2011-07-17T19:56:00.000+04:00

Muscat has these delinquent youth that roam around the city raising havoc to some quiet neighborhoods. Just like any country around the world. Although Oman is known to be a peaceful country, there will always be some troubled youth out there. And they grow by numbers during the summer, youngsters with nothing else to do.

Messing with Messi

2011-07-17T19:36:00.001+04:00

I have drawn Messi countless times at work. Sometimes i even think i can draw him with my eyes closed. I remember the very first time i made a caricature of him, the sports editor complained that it was far from Messi, I kinda agreed with him that time, but since there was no time to redraw it, we just had to settle with my Messi-attemp. After that, i made sure i drew his face as recognizable as the famous man.

Copa America is here and Messi is back once again with his mighty team, Argentina. And of courseI get to draw the man against Forlan representing Uruguay. Now here comes the sports editor complaining again that this illustration is NOT Messi. I refused to believe i failed to draw his face. This guy is Lionel Messi!! Hmpf!

Your brain might have been tricked because in my caricature the guy sported a face that isn't usually illustrated of him. I'm just trying to convince you all guys that this is really Messi. I swear!!

Them faces

2011-07-03T22:08:00.001+04:00

I loooove making portraits, it's one of my most anticipated task at work. There is a section in the Arabic paper that gives me the opportunity to do this. Although it's quite small in dimension, i am always eager to do it. BUT, for some reason it has been decided to stop making portraits/caricatures on this small section ( i hope it is only temporary). There has been too much load at work now and for something so small, we can't put too much effort and time for it.

So here are the last few portraits i made for the last page of Al Shabiba section A. You might recognize these faces. The first one, I adore her so much!:)

Pretty little fellas

2011-07-03T01:03:00.001+04:00

Just wanted to share something that i did today. It's a little discovery i made early this evening while working on an article about population. By discovery, i mean how cool it was when i saw the result of what i was trying to achieve. Actually, this technique has been done before by another illustrator, i saw it while browsing on his site and i thought it was freakin' creative! Now here i am trying it out for myself. :)

The technique was drawing on a tracing papers and scanning two papers together. The one at the back (background) will have an opaque color while the one on front (foreground) will get the darker and clearer effect. It's a really cool technique!

Below are the details.

Small Illustrations

2011-07-02T13:59:00.000+04:00

Every now and then i get this small illustrations and they come in a really tight deadline. After more than a year of working in a newspaper, i have developed a technique and style that has always saved my ass when situations like this arrives.

The Prison Situation

For this illustration, instant downloaded brushes are the key to a fast textured looking artwork!

Buraimi Pollution

When i don't have to draw anything on paper-- that is a real time-saver. A fast pen tool and shape tool illustrations will always do the job!

Summer Robbery
My dependable Staedtler ink is my bestfriend when i want a safe and fast illustration. Just add in a few colors, texttures and brushes on photoshop and wallah!

Botox

2011-06-24T14:23:00.000+04:00

Hmmm... i wonder if i should try Botox. Lol! I duwanna impair my 'embodied cognition'. hihi

It's been fun lately working with Extra pages for Times of Oman. Before i only get to make designer pages for business page- C4. Now we are exploring more pages and designing the pages more, than just illustrating. It's a lot better than having to keep coordinating with the page designers. On this page though, i have a lil help with Waleed Rabin. :)

Here are the original sketches for the page, all in pencil.

Blogging

2011-06-24T14:05:00.000+04:00

Yes blogging is the 'in' thing now. And some people are worried because it might replace the old tradition of paper-writing and stuff. Of course there is more option in writing an online diary and more audience too with less restrictions as you can speak your mind even hiding your identity. Not to mention it's eco-friendly. But paper is paper, it has its own beauty.

This is how i usually work in a page-- i see to it that my illustration is right where it should be with the body texts and the headline. So the page designer wont take too much time figuring out what to do with the illustration. It is always best to coordinate with them on how i want the page to look with my illustration on. They usually give us the freehand on the page (coz most of them are lazy). hhihihi

Sexpired

2011-06-22T20:25:00.000+04:00

I haven't been blogging here. That's because i am currently engrossed with my new blog--creative sexpirations. In this blog you will find anything that inspires me, influences me and of course stuff that i find sexy.

Hope you will have time to check it out and get sexpired!! :)

Style Gala

2011-06-15T18:28:00.001+04:00

Here is an illustration i made for Style Gala a fashion event in Cebu City. My all-girl group, GIRLALOO has coordinated with this event. Govinda Trazo, my Girlaloo mate designed the poster and is one of the featured fashion designer of the event.

The original illustration in pencil and pink ink.

Dubai making more tea

2011-06-11T21:05:00.000+04:00

Apparently Dubai is looking to bag the top spot for making more tea in the Mideast. This is a pot illustration for the article with the said topic. I hate color 'green' but this i love this illustration. It turned out really organically cool! :)

Quick post: super model turned actress

2011-06-01T17:33:00.000+04:00

Molly Sims y'all! :)

Got carried away with pencil shading! haha! OK, now moving on to the next illustration. :D

Vector lines in one day

2011-05-31T16:22:00.000+04:00

Three days ago i made two illustrations all in the same style. One for a small article and a celebrity portrait. I like doing this sometimes, not shifting style on illustrations specially within a day. It allows me to continue the momentum and explore a particular style. This is a happy-fun-loving-colorful and random vector lines. It's very easy and quick! Good for some rush tasks.

Food Chemicals

About the junks we put in our body that causes cancer and even blindness. Foods that are chemically preserved.

Orlando Bloom

I just made him so gay in in 30 minutes!

My first anime page

2011-05-31T15:52:00.000+04:00

I am not a fan of anime. It never really bothered me that it's a huge culture probably even bigger than life and there are a lot of really good movies, series and comics of anime. Just didn't took my fancy at all. What bothers me is if someone makes a comment of my illustrations and calls it anime. It's so not right!

But i am not a biased artist. Whatever works for a nice article to convey in my art and design, i will pursue it. For this article, it is once again related to Japan and its nuclear crisis and how it is affecting the investors. I thought what a better way to make an anime of it because anime is sooo Japanese (duhh palot)! By the way this is my very first ever to make an anime art. Very first.

The actual newspaper print was really good-- that's me expecting a really bad and poor attempt of an anime comic. Considering i'm a first timer! This page even made it to the wall of 'Best Pages of the Week'! :)

I made each frame in one A3, making sure my drawings are in good quality and very detailed. But i don't know how these anime artist do it. Their lines are just clean and perfect. And doing it in Arabic- my orientation has o be right to left. I was trying so hard to make it look like a pro anime comic-- but it was just a poor attempt. I need more years of practice.

Here are a few of my references. Just random google search. And since i am clueless on how to make anime, i had to have a crash course! I didn't wanna break any rules in anime. I have always had high respect for this art, even if i cannot really appreciate it, now it just got higher.

Spending my Thursday-Off

2011-05-27T03:57:00.002+04:00

My Thursday in Oman is my only FREE day. I usually go panic on what to do and how to spend the most out of my one and only day off in a week. But i always end up at home doing laundry or doing something more productive other than being online whole day available for chatting and catching up with friends and family. Although i haven't finished this yet.. will do in a few days. :)

Kill Me, My Incubus

I made the sketch of this a few months back (maybe 4-5 months ago). But after the whole pencil sketch, i left it lying in my watercolor paper stacks. Forgot about it. For a while there was a battle in my head whether to use watercolor or acrylic--part of the reason why i left it unfinished.

"I will let go, I will stop dreaming and believing in us. I need to set you free, I have been lying to myself every time i tell you you are free, i have kept you for myself all this time. i need to let go, only then when will i ever be able to grow. "

----

My colors of despair.

Samurai for renewable energy

2011-05-25T14:28:00.000+04:00

Japan is still in crisis and making more news about the nuclear thing going on. This article is talking about considering renewable energy for Japan.

And what a nice way of using a samurai as an advocate for the renewables! I got really excited about illustrating this because anything related to old Japanese art always reminds me of a college plate which had a very low grade but i thought it deserved a really high grade. So everytime i get a chance doing a Japanese art (NOT anime), i always feel like proving myself! hahaha

The original sketch i used to traced in illustrator.

Some of my references while creating my samurai. Argh! so tough to get that 'old' effect of this Japanese art.

Tourism in Dhofar

2011-05-21T18:26:00.001+04:00

Here is a small infograhic showing the tourism in Dhofar ( northern part of Oman). Most tourists who visit this area come from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries.

In my more than a year here in Oman, i have never been to that part of the region. They say it's greener there, and cooler. Hopefully this year i can visit Salalah-the most famous tourist attraction in Dhofar.

"The Tourists"

Arabic version

English version

Published last May 17, 2011, Al Shabiba

Quick post: Jenna Fischer

2011-05-15T20:02:00.000+04:00

A portrait of Jenna Fischer in ballpoint pen. This will be published tomorrow in the paper. Just getting ahead. :D

Untitled (for now)

2011-05-11T14:48:00.000+04:00

This will go untitled for now. I did this sketch while killing time 3 days ago. Will render this when i get the time or shall i say, if i don't get lazy. hihi

My top 3 spreads before the final match

2011-05-08T16:43:00.003+04:00

May 28 will be the final match for Champion's League and we will need to come up with something better than this top 3 spreads below. But before that, let me take pride of these 3 spreads i have created along with inforgraphic designer Marcelo Duhalde.

Top 1 Brazo: Internationalle against FC Bayern

Internationalle: Wesley Sneijder, coach Leonardo

FC Bayern: Arjen Robben, coach Louis Van Gaal

Robben in vector and later in photoshop.

Sneijder in vector and later in photoshop.

Top 2 The Galleon Fight: Tottenham Hotspurs against Real Madrid

Tottenham: Gareth Bale, coach Harry Redknapp

Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo, coach Jose Mourinho

coach Harry Redknapp

Coach Jose Mourinho

the cannonball players: Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo

Top 3 The Knights: Manchester United against Chelsea

Players: Wayne Rooney (Manchester)

Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Coaches: Sir Alex Frguson (Manchester)

Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea)

More football illis!

2011-05-08T15:02:00.002+04:00

For as long as there is something happening in the football world, i will always have something to illustrate for the sports section and it usually comes in one big spread (that's two pages)! These spreads are all dedicated to the 2011 Champion's League that is still going on until this May.

I have already posted the first few spreads on Champion's League before and this set i am posting is the second set and is arranged not according to the dates but on how i took pride of the concepts and rendering on these spreads.

1. Arsenal against Barcelona

2. AC Milan against Tottenham Hotspurs

3. Chelsea against Manchester United

4. Inter Milan against Chalke

5. Chalke against Manchester United

Nalumos (Drowning)

2011-05-08T12:55:00.001+04:00

'Nalumos' is Visayan word for drowning. This is an artwork i submitted a few days back for the Graphika Manila 2011. They will only select 100 artworks to be published in the book. Crossing fingers now! :)

Final artwork, graphite pen rendered in photoshop. 5.75" x 8.5"

This is the first version, a bit saturated. Since i cannot resist a warm colored artwork with that dreamlike feel on the hues, i decided this one will just remain on my disc space. hehe

Original sketch in graphite pen

I'm back with a GOLD!

2011-04-29T20:52:00.001+04:00

Just when i thought i will be experiencing a vacation hangover today, some good news comes up and pumps up some drive for me to work--we won GOLD for the IFRA Newspaper Infographics category!!!

Here is the winning piece but the Arabic version bagged the award for this one.

This infographic has already given us pride at the 13th SND edition. I have also blogged about this here last year. I couldn't be any more proud of myself for being a part of this team!

AND not just that, we also bagged the Magazine Cover Design for Thursday Magazine. All these recognition that the newspaper has been given is still somehow (for me) surreal. I am part of a team that made a difference in this in this country and given it something to be proud of. :)

Dynamic Views

2011-04-09T19:01:00.001+04:00

Blogger just got better! Better viewing to be specific. There are now five new ways to view a blog content via the Blogger Dynamic Views Chrome extension.

I can't explain how excited i am with this new latest web technology. Reading and viewing my blog can't get any more richer for my viewers! And for the longest time i have been wanting to make a thumbnail for my artworks. This is just perfect viewing!

Just click on the blogger icon at the address bar and choose your kind of viewing! You have ti have the latest Google Chrome version and this extension installed.

Here are the five ways to view my blog:

Flipcard

Mosaic

This has got to be my favorite! It just like how i view my Tumblr archive. The images shouting at you and wanting to be viewed one by one. Also perfect for those who are lazy to read. :)

Sidebar

Snapshot

Timeslide

P.S.

Endless scrolling is the best!!!

Danger!

2011-03-29T20:38:00.000+04:00

The topic was about how women can defend when they find themselves in the hands of an attacker. The instant thing that came to mind is that perennial image of a retro pop illustration of a frightened or sad woman with a huge thought bubble on its head. Haha! I didn't think twice to use that style for this article.

And walaah! My first retro pop illustration in super bright colors! :)

Wouldn't you agree that this style was just perfect?? :D Oh and i lurve that purse!

TV Boy

2011-03-29T20:01:00.000+04:00

Meet TV boy! He is upset and hostile! If nobody gives him what he wants.. this boy will wreck havoc like Godzilla did. So better surrender to this creature's demands!

Oh kids, these tiny little creatures who get what they want by using emotional blackmail. That's right, these little brats can turn on you in just one press of a button and blame it on media. Watching too much TV and movies have indeed influenced how a kid behaves.

I don't have a kid but that's what the article for this illustration says. I don't have to expound on it, I'm
pretty sure everyone will agree with this psychological finding. Right??

Gaddafi and the hidden wealth

2011-03-19T17:04:00.000+04:00

My first illi about Gaddafi! It's always a pleasure to to be working on something that is very HOT in the news room. There have been tons of articles about this man and his country but none landed on my Wacom pen for illis.

A cool idea to make Gaddafi into a tree and i have to say, it's really a huge challenge. When i look at a picture of this man, i always think how easy it is to draw his face. Every feature on his face is very recognizable! But making him into a tree gave me an extra stretch. His son wasn't so bad at all. :D

The beautiful thing about this page was that, the bleed on the bottom was taken off!! The illustration flowed right until were it faded at the very tip of the paper. Aweesssooommenessttt!! It gave the whole page more kick.

Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam. Can i just say he's kinda cute? OK i will shatap now. :|

Youth Deliquents

2011-03-19T16:39:00.002+04:00

Here is an illustration I made for a small infographic with data about the youth deliquents in Oman. Every time an illustration is needed to support data in charts, it is important that both the illi and the charts/pies are well incorporated so as to make a one solid graphic.

In this case, the tip of the gun fit perfectly for the pie chart! With a few dirts, grunge textures and splashes of some sort of blood to give it a war-freak feel--the whole graphic (for me) was engaging enough for the readers to notice it.

Illustration rendered in PS. Brushes here and there..

The original illustration , ink on paper. The skull face is supposed to give a youthful touch since it's a common symbol or at least a fashion icon for the young and (trying) to be trendy. hehe

Al Batinah has the highest rate of youth delinquents followed by the East Region while Muscat only has 5% .

Published last March 05, 2011 in Al Shabiba

Infographic Designer: Marcelo Duhalde

Champion's League First Set

2011-03-08T22:20:00.002+04:00

And now... make way for the perennial sports illustrations! Champion's League is here and it means more spreads for me to work on. The first set of matches for February has ended and we made four spreads for the most awaited ones.

For this set, I have decided to use a different style on my illustrations, a mixture of my vector and photoshop finish. The figures are bit more distorted with some sharp edges. More gradients are visible too. I was quite hesitant about it because I knew it's gonna take me extra time to finish considering I had to trace my pencil sketch and get the perfect gradient. Unlike my old and trusted style, all i had to do is render them because all the strokes are defined already. But this is for the sake of exploring new possibilities!

AC Milan V Tottenham Hotspurs FC

Illustrations in vector. (first two on top) coach Massimiliano Allegri, Zlatan Ibrahimović, (lower two) coach Harry Redknapp and Peter Crouch

********

Real Madrid V Olympique Lyonnais

llustrations in vector. coach José Mourinho, coach Claud Puel, Cristiano Ronaldo and Yoann Gourcuff (argghh! so cute!!)

********

Arsenal FC V. FC Barcelona

The guys in bowling pins are,Gaël Clichy, coach Arsène Wenger. Coach Josep Guardiola is throwing the ball while Leo Messi is the ball of fire. This was a really fun idea but it mostly leaned on the prediction that FC Barcelona is gonna sweep Arsenal's shiny bowling pin asses (this wasnt't my idea)! And it turned out, Arsenal beat Barcelona's asses! hahaha

********

FC Internazionale Milano V FC Bayern München

The blue team are: coach Leonardo and Esteban Cambiasso. The red team are: coach Louis Van Gaal and Tomas Muller. Among all these four, i have to say this is my favorite. It's very clean, well planned and there were no empty spaces. Although i doubt that Muller looked like that guy on the red box, the whole pack of this illustration made me really proud.

All these spreads is a collaboration of me and infographic designer Marcelo Duhalde. We have to be credited for creating these in just one day and i have to stress that i manage to finish and come out still alive every after spreads. It's NOT easy to illustrate FOUR FACES in one day and still have other small task on the side. Believe me it pulled the last strand of my patience. Except for the first match, I started working on one of the players the day before.

Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign

2011-03-06T19:30:00.000+04:00

It's been a while since i did collage in my illustrations and it's good to be doing it again. My design director have been pushing us to go outside our comfort zones and create something that is not "us". Having that in mind, us here in the newspaper are constantly on the lookout for styles that are something fresh and different. We are just lucky that we have every single day to experiment and hopefully perfect something in the end.

My poor signature was run over by the kid's huge foot. While stretching this layer (fat kid), i left my sig unattended. :(

The Lavish Indian Weddings

2011-02-27T21:21:00.003+04:00

The government in India is trying to do something about the astonishing display of opulence in their weddings. While the rich people are spending too much money on this events it leaves the rest of the population hungry.

"Extravagance in weddings should be controlled. It's a vulgar display of wealth." --Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, Congress MP

Indian weddings are extremely colorful and full details. I was hoping to capture it in this illustration. It looks magical to me and (i hope) it says something about 'vulgar display of wealth'.

Quick post!

2011-02-27T20:26:00.000+04:00

To make sure I got this guy's face right, i mean, I made a decent caricature of this heartthrob-- I will leave him nameless and you guys can tell me who he is. :)

This time it will be all in black and white except for my sig. This is an experiment, I wanna see how it will work on the page and the impact it will make as it is just very small. :D

Original sketch in pencil. My ketches are always better than my actual finished illustration (in my opinion). The lines are more fluid, softer, and more raw. :)

So, who is this guy?? :)

More uncontacted tribes worldwide

2011-02-26T20:34:00.003+04:00

Enough with sports illis for now, here's something more of a news. A qoute from the article itself:

It was once thought that all Yanomami Indians of the Brazilian Amazon had been contacted during the latter half of the 20th century, after which almost a fifth of their people died from diseases carried by gold-miners. Now, days after aerial photographs and footage of a threatened tribe living in the Brazilian rainforest on the border with Peru were published by Survival International, the organisation has revealed that there is a group of uncontacted Yanomami still living in Roraima state, northern Brazil.

I love this illustration but when it was placed on the page, it looked so boxed and unrelated to the text. It's called better 'planning', I guess. I lacked that. :|

Original sketch in graphite pen.

Cricket Stars

2011-02-23T14:42:00.000+04:00

So here are the 2011 World Cup Cricket posters that carried illustrations NOT photos. I retreated to my usual style- ink on paper and rendered in PS. This is a very reliable style for me because I am more comfortable and fast when using this style. BUT, I still would've preferred the new one I was developing.

There were 8 posters that came out but I'm only posting 4 here because the others were kinda not-so-so for me. hehehe

Sachin Tendulkar

2011-02-18T20:31:00.002+04:00

This one did not come out in the paper. For some reason, a communication glitch got in the way while deciding if an illustration or a photo will be used for the 2011 Cricket World Cup posters. My design director loved this illustration. I personally liked the styke i am using for this one. But the guy from sports think that this photo is nothing like Sachin Tendulkar, the most famous crickiter in India.

Supposedly, my director has the last say on all the pages but the next day we saw the page and they used a photo. Trouble!

This is the photo that I used as reference for Sachin. Maybe you guys can tell me if my illustration has at least some similarity or not to this lad. This is supposed to be a caricature, NOT a portrait of Sachin.

Cricket World Cup Columnists

2011-02-18T15:51:00.000+04:00

Another world cup is here! I didn't know that cricket has one but i do know that it is big in India and some other country like Pakistan and South Africa. I dont really understand how the game works, I just thought it's like the Asian version of baseball because they use a bat.

This event is going to end until April. Damn. It's some world cup! They say one match could last for four hours or more. So that's probably why this event will run for 2 months. Oh well, it will be an opportunity for us in the paper- more advertisers, more fun for the illustators and designers to boost the portfolio. hehe

As for me, I started with these men who knows the game inside out.

From left to right: Gordon greenidge, Geoff mash, Glenn Turner, Aravinda De Silva, Javed Mandad, & Clive Lloyd

Fom left to right: Mathew Hayden, Sir Richard Hadlee, Michael Holding, Shoab Malik, Mohinder Amarnath, & Sauran Ganguly

More SND hype!

2011-02-09T15:49:00.001+04:00

It's not over yet! We're still floating in a bubble with the SND hype. Although we're now anxiously waiting for the final result, its gonna be an agonizing wait for the remaining weeks of February as the judges closes in for the final breakdown of all the winning entries.

In the meantime, let's check Dr. Mario Garcia's own hype of this historic event for all of us here in Times of Oman and Al Shabiba. He is, by the way the man behind all the redesign of the paper. And because of him, i became a part of the design team of Times and Shabiba.

I still look at the Times of Oman and its recent finish as second only to the giant Los Angeles Times as an incredibly inspiring story.

~ Dr. Mario Garcia

Times of Oman goes for total rethinking, redesign
http://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/times_of_oman_goes_for_total_rethinking_redesign

SND NEWS: Times of Oman Bagged 36 Awards!

2011-02-08T11:24:00.005+04:00

The UNOFFICIAL RESULT of the 32nd edition of the SND competition has just been posted. No breakdown on which categories were won and who's pages made it, yet, but this is one great news for all of us here! We made it to the second top winners among all 23 countries that entered this competition.

Imagine, we beat some of the big names by a few awards. The New York Times, The Washington Post and more! wooohhhooooo!!!

If you are not familiar with SND, it is the equivalent of the Oscar Awards for us in the publication industry all over the world. Epic!

Good job Times of Oman! Now people will know where Oman is in the map! :)

Breaking News: SND Sports Charactures

2011-02-07T02:01:00.006+04:00

ok, i am trying to be as calm as i can as i am typing and not misspell every single word here..

It would not be the Sunday of the “big game” without the arrival of a collection of sports figure caricatures. Sure, none of those illustrated are actually in this year’s game. But that’s beside the point…

SND has posted its selected entries for the sports illustrations. if you're a follower of my blog, you will know that i have tons and tons of caricatures for sports. it was a sure category for me to enter. i only prayed that i could at least get an award of excellence, never mind the medals.

tadddaaaann... I GOT SELECTED!!! i am sweating like a pig when my design director, Adonis Durado called me at 1AM to inform me about the news! holy cow! i made it, i feel like a real winner now. thank you, thank you, thank you Lord.. :)

It's the 6th illustration in the 8 charactures. wait...let me remind myself that there were hundreds if not thousands of entries in this category. damn!

**
but no official word yet. hihihi.. im toooo ecstatic!

Breaking News: SND entry updates

2011-02-06T14:32:00.002+04:00

The newspaper i am working at, Times of Oman and Al Shabiba joined an international newspaper competition in SND (Society for News Design) for the best newspaper designs under more than a dozen categories. For a newspaper in Oman, it's the first time to compete internationally against such big publication names. AND being recognized for starters is more than enough for all of us who have been working so hard to make this newspaper designed intellectually for the readers in Oman.

Kudos to every one in Times of Oman! :)

Here is he brief article of recognition. All of us here in the newspaper are on our toes waiting for the results. I am personally waiting if some of my illustrations will get a medal! If i don't, i am wishing for an Award of Excellence and get published in the book this year. crossing my fingers and toes now.

Stripper Collection: Apathy

2011-02-05T05:14:00.001+04:00

Valentines Day is coming! Anybody up for something sexy to give the significant other??

The Stripper Collection is a set of illustrations i made last year which i plan to develop in to a book. It may be a long shot but that was supposed to be my initial plan. If it doesn't push through, this journal surely will.

These journals are for sale. I have stationaries too. For those who are in Muscat, Oman who wants to buy, just email me. These are limited editions and only very few copies are with me. For those in Cebu City Philippines, let me know if you're interested, this can be made to order. Anybody outside both the countries i mentioned- maybe we can set up a deal ;)

Here is the first one--

~Apathy~

The stripper feels nothing, no more than the pleasure of pain.

She feeds on it and hunts for it.

The journal final cover

The original sketch

that's a huge 2010 right there, i hope you don't mind :)

For orders, email me at lucille.umali@gmail.com or just leave a message here ;)

Tunisia Spiraling

2011-01-25T20:58:00.003+04:00

During the height of Tunisia's warfare, everyone watched as it grew while i get to draw it. It is always a question between me and my coleague illustrator what represents a situation, a country or an idea. Sometimes i take things litterally just so i don't have to bleed my brains out. hehe A flag is always a very lame symbol for a country, its either we're getting lazy or there's just nothing particularly significantl in that country. I used a flag for Tunisa. hehehehehe

This idea actually came to me when i saw this photo. everyhting just composed in my head when i stumbled upon this and baam! that's it. Sorry i couldn't put credit on the photo, i forgot where i got it from. oooppsss! :|

What's In a Japanese Name?

2011-01-25T20:23:00.001+04:00

In Japan, changing family names when they get married is apparently a headache for women. At some point women just stay single just so they can avoid all the hassle of going through goverment papers and a long process. That is just weird. :|

Here is my interpretation of the article. Using the braches of cherry blossom trees to symbolize both family (tree) and complications.

The final illustration rendered in photoshop.

Original illustration using calligraphy pen (red and black).

Co-ed Schools In Oman

2011-01-16T20:29:00.002+04:00

This illustration tackles about co-ed schools in Oman. It's not a huge thing here in this Arab country, boys are always separated from girls and mostly parents are happy the way it is. But some would encourage this for its positive social effects. Oh well, this will always be a perrenial issue for parents specially the strict Arab ones.

Something is quite wrong with this original skecth, notice the legs. I almost didn't mind it until it's final result. If in doubt always consult Nasser (he is the go-to person in the office). So i took it off just to be really safe. :)

Published December 22, 2010 | Al Shabiba

Shakira

2011-01-16T20:08:00.002+04:00

The rare opportunity to do celebrity faces came along once again! And it's Shakira this time. For this illustration i tried a new thing- sketching without using any pen and paper just direct to the computer with my tablet. I actually haven't done it before so this would have been my first time. Thanks to Jeff Durham for inspiring me to do it. hehehe It does save me a lot of time plus being paperless makes me feel so earth-friendly! hihi :)

The original photo which i traced so lamelessly. hehehe

Omani Tailors

2011-01-16T19:52:00.000+04:00

This one is from late December 2010 but published last January 1. It's always good to do something in advance so the rest of the tasks wont be in a rush. The page designer of this is always, and i mean always doing his pages in advance and doesn't tell me when the page is up for publishing. But hey, nothing wrong with that as long as it wont be a conflict with my dailies.

I tried another experiment on this page as far as my style in illustration is concerned. I wanted to achieve something that looks old style of sketching.. im not sure if i got it right but what matters to me now is that this looked really good and im pretty much satisfied with the whole page.

Original illustration withouthe text. I added a cloth texture for the part where the text will run. The tittle was also treated in a way that is has been sewn. Cool, right? It was the page designer's idea. :)

I hate illustrating hands! They are always the hardest part of the body to draw. Arrrgh!

Published on January 01, 2011, Al Shabiba

Sketches on the side

2011-01-06T06:52:00.001+04:00

This is a relief for me to post some non-work related artworks (at least for a change). My sketchbook's been filling up a bit and some i just would not rather share. This one on the other hand is interesting for me personally. I love my works in pencil, without color - it's soft and crude.

No storytelling this time, it's just one of those random thoughts that suddenly occur then my hands start to move on its own.

http://arthousecoop.com/

For a happy person like me, it's contradicting sometimes that i can create such sad and gloomy faces. Even sometimes empty faces.

The Art of Bullfighting

2011-01-03T13:46:00.002+04:00

Bullfighting is one of Oman's tradition and pride. It goes way back in their history and is still making a big part of their modern culture. The newspaper decided to make an infographic about this and show the people an in depth look of this bloodless sport.

Infographic designer: Antonio Farrach

Illustrators: Lucille Umali & Marcelo Duhalde

Published: December 21, 2010

Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

These main illustrations are mine and all done in graphite pencil.

2010 Portraits & Caricatures

2010-12-26T19:22:00.002+04:00

During my almost-365-days-of-employment in the newspaper i have produced countless illustrations of portraits and caricature and these are mostly for sports. you can imagine how playful our sports section is with the illustrations we put in this section. i started working before the 2010 worldcup begun. you will see how my illustrations have developed and improved since the worldcup and now. one of the things i have gained while working in a very fast-paced industry is speed. im so glad i came to work in a newspaper. it taught me alot.

Diego Ribas --one of the recent works i did, also my favorite, it came out in the printer so well.

Good old illustrator and photoshop love affair. I just love the tandem.

Darren Bent -- as you can see, the lines are more thicker on my recent illustrations. Stronger and more pronounced. It helps a lot in making my work faster and the rendering a lot less as long as i get the face right.

Sometime when i get too tired to render my illustrations, there's always the photoshop filters to make my life easier and faster. hehe

Robert De Niro -- this is for a very small section of the paper. but is always something i like doing if given the chance

Lily Allen -- A different style i used on this one. More lines than rendering.

If you're a fan of his works then i don't even have to mention this guy's name. This illustration was for the business section.

Diego Forlan-- This was one of my most favorite renderings of all the WC illustrations. Plus this came out perfect on paper. Notice the thin lines that i used here, i don't use this anymore for caricatures.

Champion's League, Guardiola-- this is the very first illustration i made for an infographic. we kinda didn't have a standard style yet so i used my handy vector ways and some little smudging.

World Cup was like the hazing period for me. I hated it but i loved it at the same time. these are just a few of the illustrations i produced during WC. some i cannot post, its too lousy.

Gulf Cup was the World Cup equivalent in the Middle East and it had almost the same rush for us but all the illustrations were a breeze for me, thanks to worldcup!

This small section of the newspaper is not mine, i only get to do this when the illustrator assigned is absent. hehe But always, when i get the chance i strut my stuff.

Other sports illustrations that made me so proud of myself.

The Wikileaks Frenzy

2010-12-12T17:04:00.005+04:00

Wikileaks is making big news these days and it's getting bigger now that the founder Julian Assange has been arrested. He has now become the new hero to some masses but still remains a mystery to most of us.

This is a two-page article about the famous website and it's founder. It's both an opportunity and a challenge when articles like this fall on my lap. I hope i made justice to this story and the cause of this man.

Page designed by Adonis Durado

Ilustrations by Lucille Umali and Adonis Durado
Published on December 12, 2010

The original sketch in 0.5 mechanical pen on tracing paper.

The two-page article

Monetary Authorities

2010-12-10T03:24:00.001+04:00

This was a fun page to do, it always is when you're playing with money.

original sketch

details on the page

Oman's 40 Years of Progress

2010-12-08T16:40:00.002+04:00

The sultanate of Oman is celebrating its 40th National day, His Majesty's four decades of reign. To commemorate the event, our newspaper published a centerpread infographics of the nations progress within 40 years (both in Arabic and English).

Published on November 29, 2010, Monday

Times of Oman and Al Shabiba

Infographic Designer: Antonio Farrach

Illustation: Lucille Umali

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Sa'id. This is my only contribution for this page. Its small but very critical yet the center of the whole page.

Religion on Egyption Election

2010-12-08T15:20:00.000+04:00

The Egyptian election was big on the news and i've been doing a lot of designer's page for the Arabic paper (Al Shabiba) before and after the election. This one was published during the election date itself and the story was talking about how religion is still a big part for the voters.

The whole page design

The design without the text. The lower part was cut to insert the ad below.

Ink on paper, original sketch

Mothers Demand more Maternity Leave

2010-11-24T20:33:00.001+04:00

Six and a half weeks with full pay leave is not enough for mothers in Oman. They need more time with their babies.

Original sketch

Published Novermber 15, 2010

Another political story about Mossad, Israel, Egypt and Syria

2010-11-23T19:32:00.000+04:00

Part 1 of the story | Published Novermber 9, 2010

This one tells about a book that published about the Syrian reactor that was bombed a few years ago.

Part 2 of the story | Published Novermber 10, 2010

A more complicated story about bombings and a particular person who they say was behind some bombings.

Egypt and Sudan

2010-11-09T22:58:00.001+04:00

I am exploring a new style in my illustration for this article. Although the story is very serious, i tried to use a style that looks a bit childish and very playful yet still maintains a serious tone. Thus the use of pure black and a bit og reds and yellows on the necessary areas.

Egypt is concerned with the war erupting in Sudan. It's mainly about the imigrants that will be running to cross the border of Sudan to Egypt.

The ethnic war in Sudan is getting worse.

My Sketchbook Project

2010-11-09T11:07:00.001+04:00

When i received my sketchbook late last month i got so giddy to start with the first pages. but i only started sketching early this month! hahaha i need to finish the whole sketchbook by December so that i can send it back on time for the exhibition tour.

Here are a few pages that i've started working on.

while scanning my sketches, i discovered how the light played a pretty role in my sketchbook pages as i lift each pages against the light. it was so cool to see two pages combine when the light hits the surface (like the one above). the brush strokes are so clear that it gives a really cool texture effect on my artworks.

Mayors

2010-10-06T21:54:00.000+04:00

There are articles that would take me a liltle bit longer to imagine how to illustrate it. On this one, it was even harder when the article was in Arabic and the google translation is not really perfect. But after reading the long article about 3x, someting finally popped up.

A pen and ink drawing of a "mayor supposedly sitting on a chair showing power and eminence. I did not like how this turned out so i had to juxtapose it with vector and photo images.

When the print came out, i was proud of how it looked.

Lucho González

2010-10-06T21:20:00.001+04:00

This is NOT a tutorial, just showing how i worked on this caricature from scracth to the finished print. :)

Here is my working image, although this is not really from scracth but as you can see i have just started filling the whole shape of the caricature.

Working with Adobe Photoshop CS3 and that's the Argentine footballer Lucho González over there with a huge smile!

Just when the rendering on the face is almost done, Lucho is becoming more like Lionel Messi! :o

This part, i am working on the uniform and finishing up his hair.

Here i am working on the background with textures and toying with my brushes. The last part is placing my ever famous signature. I still forget to put my template signature sometimes. hehe

Comparing the image with the background agains the original image.

And here is the full designer's page for sports section of Al Shabiba.

Jordan Divorce

2010-10-06T20:25:00.000+04:00

This is a fun illustration for an article about divorce in an Arab country. The article says that these days, women are the ones asking for divorce (in Jordan), leaving men sighing in relief. The Arabs may be conservative, but at least they allow divorce in these countries.

This was actually inspired by another illustration i saw months back which was also about divorce. Only in that the artist illustrated women coming out from the houses window. I thought it was really witty! Im still trying to remember the illustrator of that.

What i did for mine is a simple family portrait with the wife trying to escape from it. Nuf said.

A 2 column by 3 module sized illustration. It looks a bit cute in the page. hehe

Faiz Rasheedi

2010-09-22T23:00:00.002+04:00

World Cup may be over but Gulf Cup is here in the Middle East. Faiz Rasheedi is an Omani national team footballer. I seem to be a regular for sports caricature now since the World Cup started. And i am enjoying it! :)

A half page caricature of Faiz

Ink on paper

Details

The full page interview of Faiz Rasheedi

Published last September 19, 2010 for Al Shabiba

Karadzic Slow Trial

2010-09-22T00:16:00.000+04:00

An artwork about the article of the war crimes trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. It has been constantly suspended by the International Criminal Court and has been dragging and may extend another for two years.

I did not have so much time to work on this one so i thought of someting symbolic with not too many details. The first thing that actually came to mind was a turtle that would symbolize "slow" or "dragging" for this political case. But i thought its gonna be complicated and too much work. So i made a fast line sketch of Karadzic and slapped the logo of the International Criminal Court on top, added some brushes for texture to give it more depht and noise. The colors, yellow and green is Netherland's flag.

2 columns x 3 module

detail on the upper part

detail on the lower part

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic who is accused of genocide.

A Woman's Letter to the Sultan

2010-09-21T21:12:00.000+04:00

Published last Septemr 18, 2010 for Al Shabiba

Kodak Royalties

2010-09-20T20:43:00.000+04:00

The article is about Kodak seeking royalties to smartphones. They claim to pioneer in digital photography and all. Apparently some have have paid a hefty amount on this case but for iPhones and Blackberry, they might have a small chance.

The detail on the old Kodak camera that i'm so proud on how it looked. The crown is also perfect on top. All done in Adobe Illustrator :)

Published last August 9, 2010 for Times of Oman.

Strict Policy On Beggars

2010-09-20T17:26:00.000+04:00

The article is about the alarming number of beggars in Oman specially during the Ramadan season. The Sultanate has new policies on prohibiting them.

ink on paper

details

Published last September 5, 2010

Lady Gaga

2010-09-13T21:39:00.000+04:00

sketch rendered in PS

Inked with Staedler Mars Graphic 3000 Duo (blue)

detail on the face

detail on the chest area (not too reavealing for Muslim readers) hihi..

George Michael

2010-09-03T17:38:00.001+04:00

A quick caricature of George Michael. Quick for me is less than an hour, maybe for some it would be like 30 minutes or something. but for this kind of illustration, it would usually take me an hour if i wanted to put more details. But when i did this, it had to be in a rush because i wanted to go home and it was already late in the office. This caricature went really well for me. For something so rush this was really good. :)

Here's George in ink.

Here's George rendered in photoshop.

George Michael's details.

Ramadan fever

2010-08-19T13:00:00.000+04:00

Studies for a small list of prayer schedule everyday

It's the holy month of Ramadan and everyone is doing graphics and illustration related to this one-month religious event. I couldn't escape it, especially that i am in an Arab country.

Glorious Oman Cover

2010-08-11T18:14:00.001+04:00

Glorious Oman is an annual book published by Times of Oman in commemoration for the Rennaisance day. It's like an annual report of the for the country, featuring all its acheivements over the year and the plans and goals for the next year.

This year, i had the opportunity to design the cover. This year, the book is leaning on the technological acheivements and plans for the country. What initially came to mind is something shining shimmering futuristic-3d kind of effect. But along the way, we agreed to make it more sophisticated, elegant with a modern touch.

Ink studies on grid paper.

This is the first study that i made. Some random elements of swirls and curves based on all the Arabic calligraphy on my crash course in Google and and print outs.

A few options for the cover that is actual calligraphy. But it looks dreadful now that im looking at it. hehe

The final cover design.

40th Renaissance Celebration

2010-07-24T02:45:00.004+04:00

Renaissance is celebrated annually in Oman. Last July 21 was the their 40th. It is the day Omanis celebrate the day the Sultan came to power.

The Times of Oman printed a supplement for this special day and i made an illustration as a header for the supplement. There were 3 sections and we used 3 different colors for each with the same illustration.

Published on July 23, 2010

Book Criticism

2010-07-17T20:50:00.006+04:00

The story is about book critiques in Oman.

Details of the illustration

******

doodling while seriously working

2010-07-15T11:40:00.002+04:00

Yesterday i was doing some arabic caligraphy for a book cover. it was my first take on another alphabets and play with it. so i had to take a crash course on arabic history and its calligraphy. i am actually loving there alphabets and how it it written.

while getting really serious with it, i played around with the brush in illustrator. these are what i call the "arabic elements leftovers". hahaha its hardly arabic-looking types. these are not even real words. just little elements i played around with. some of these were used on the cover i was working on.

and while i was at it, i distracted myself with doodling the faces of the people around me. the brush was kinds cool! hehehehe

i will post the book cover after the books comes out.

World Cup 2010 Animal Predictions

2010-07-12T02:21:00.002+04:00

Apparently, Paul wasn't the only oracle for the 2010 world cup. There is Harry the croc from Australia who predicted Spain to win. A parrot named Mani from Singapore predicted that Netherlands will win.

Mani was the only one who predicted the outcome wrong. :D

I'm not good with animal illustrarions but this one was good! i loved how i composed this. I think i did all this in about an hour.

**********

My Fashion Blog

2010-07-11T01:06:00.003+04:00

My bff Pina and I has finally put up this new blog we've been planning for years. The blog is still very fresh and we're still planning to put some more stuff related to fashion, fashion and fashion. My very first makeup tutorial is posted on this there!

dress cool code

The Vuvuzela

2010-07-10T21:44:00.001+04:00

The paper also published an inforgraphics about the infamous vuvuzela. It's been a subject of controversy during this world cup so it should be worth the whole spread. I personally enjoyed the outcome of the print on this one. I love the color combination used for all the illustrations. The elephant as the main element had the strongest and the most annoying color of all.

They said that a single vuvzela sounds like an elephant trumpeting. But a hundered vuvuzela played together is like the sound of a swarm of insects. This should be really annoying!

I call this the vuvuphant. Below are the details of the infographics.

The "frequency" illustration above is done by Winie Ariani. All information are researched by Antonio Farach.

Published in Al Shabiba | June 28 2010

The Angry Creature

2010-07-10T03:08:00.007+04:00

For a very long time now, i have been wanting to change my header but i have no idea how to start and what to put. My head id just full of many things that it got me confused what artwork to place. My brain was so fried that not even the simplest header would land in my head. But finally, i settled on a sketch i made from my moleskin. I took a photo of it and did a few rendering.. and waallaaah!

I love how it turned out! Since i got super inspired now, i plan to change this monthly. :D

******

Daily Statistics 2 & 3

2010-07-09T21:14:00.005+04:00

Here are the other statistics that came out. we change the center illustration everytime. The second was on knights perspective and the third one is the famous Kenyan tribe called Masai. The last statistics that we will publish will be after the world cup.

Daily Statistics 2 - Knights version

Whole spread.

Daily Statistics 3 - The Masai version

Whole spread

All vector illustrations by Winie Ariani. Concept by Antonio Farach.

***********

World Cup 2010 Daily Statistics 1

2010-07-09T16:26:00.005+04:00

World Cup is almost over and i think i'm gonna miss it. Since Champion's League the paper has been gearing up fot this big event. Al Shabiba, the national paper here in Oman has published a few infographics and posters about the latest news for every matches in world cup. My part is doing most of the illustrations.

The Daily Statistics is one of the graphs we publish, showing the 5 important statics such as the attacks, defend, passes, disciplinary and speed. Stats are always boring specially they all come in numbers! To make sure that this wont look boring especially to the not-so fanatics, we prsented the datas with a lot of illustrations. The center illustration and the one on top were my job.

To add more spice on showing the 5 stats, i illustrated the 5 major stat in a military'r perspective. All five fit just well in its own aspect. this was a fun thing for me to do.

The vector illustrations were done by Winie Ariani. the whole concept was Antonio Farach brainchild. This was a real teamwork.

ink on paper.

********

Image via Wikipedia

War On Regulation

2010-06-15T20:44:00.007+04:00

This article was published last june 1 and was posted as one of the Best Pages of the Week in the paper. even before i finished this illustration, the idea i came up for the story already made me proud of myself. it is important that i come up with something really simple yet hit the topic big time.

the article is still related with the recession and the euro hullaballo. it's always safe to take thing literally yet produce it in a symbolic way. Srimani, the designer of the page came up with the idea on running the text inside the helmet and the smoke that came out from the gun. it was just perfect. the day before this was published, my design director told us that this will be the best page for paper the next day. oh well i just blushed! :D

added some texture to polish the look.

**********

House Plate Funeral

2010-05-28T13:56:00.004+04:00

Commuication is always the key to a harmonious and smooth design process. A good communication with your client or your boss or the editor and the writer will make thing easy as you go along working on a piece. For this illustration, there was a communication gap between our team lead and the editor. As an SOP, the writer/editor goes directly to our team lead to give the story and tells him want he wants for the article, after that the lead will assign an illutrator for the article. Somewhere between their storytelling, my teamlead absorbed the wrong information that was coming. they are by the way, of different nationalities and does not have a good command in speaking english (if i may say that). but it's normal here.

so i spent, almost 2 hours researching & illustrating what was instructed to me with a dash of my own view on the story. Little did i know that i was fed with the wrong information. i was halfway thru when the editor saw my work and smelled something wrong with it. when in fact the real story was about the expensive house plates in Oman that are being destroyed by the some punks and too much money is wasted on that.

the editor's idea was to illustrate a funeral for these plates. showing deah and sad faces over these house plates. i didn't wanna think of another idea, i was pressd for time. so i did what he wanted.

details.

************

Double Dip Recession

2010-05-25T23:34:00.009+04:00

It's always amazing how much i learn from all these articles i am working on. Double dip recession in something new to me,i had to search in Google the meaning of the phrase. Sometimes all these business terms are just too alien for me.

When gross domestic product (GDP) growth slides back to negative after a quarter or two of positive growth. A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession.

To illustrate the article, i took the title literally and i gues it worked! this page made it to the office' Best Page of The Week! yey! :)

************

Steve Jobs

2010-05-22T00:34:00.001+04:00

I didn't know that Steve Jobs just had liver transplant until i read this article. hehe This article was about him going back to his usual work as Apple's CEO after his transplant. i thought of just a caricature of the man while holding his glasses and the other hand touching his tummy.

***********

Oil Spill

2010-05-22T00:13:00.003+04:00

The article is about the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico that is affecting the economy at large. Oil spills naturally cost so much money and damage

I love how this illustration turned out. this was a collaboration with other designers-- Waleed Rabin who did the layout and Antonio Farach for his brilliant idea in playing with the text oil. it became more organic and a functional design.

Just a normal Sunday

2010-05-16T20:18:00.004+04:00

It's been a very exhausting week and sunday is like any other working day that gets on my nerve. sometimes i think working in such a fast-paced environment is toxic but i think i still need more getting-used to. at the end of the day it still is gratifying to feel so used up and pushed to your limits. :)

working on some sports illustrations while brainstorming for an article in business. world cup is really driving us all crazy .

some sketches for business page. how to make a concept on double-dipping recession?? hhmm..

Plus63 Feature

2010-05-15T08:21:00.001+04:00

Thank you very much for featuring me once again here! this is not the first time and it feels good to be recognized by your own countrymen. I will make my country proud of me. :)

Visit the website here and see other great filipino digital talents!

Johanna Velasco is one of my favorite local illustrator, check out hr website here.

Thanks to Seph Mayol. I owe you a lot!

unique like everyone else

Doureena

Sports infographics

Kneeling Joy

Food Business

Sunkissed

I've been fishing lately

Goldilock Suicide

Multaqa

Bowed and Arrowed

The Ramadan blanket

Time out in Holland

a work in progress

Gangsta in Muscat

Messing with Messi

Them faces

Pretty little fellas

Small Illustrations

Botox

Blogging

Sexpired

Style Gala

Dubai making more tea

Quick post: super model turned actress

Vector lines in one day

My first anime page

Spending my Thursday-Off

Samurai for renewable energy

Tourism in Dhofar

Quick post: Jenna Fischer

Untitled (for now)

My top 3 spreads before the final match

More football illis!

Nalumos (Drowning)

I'm back with a GOLD!

Dynamic Views

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Danger!

TV Boy

Gaddafi and the hidden wealth

Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam. Can i just say he's kinda cute? OK i will shatap now. :|

Youth Deliquents

Champion's League First Set

FC Internazionale Milano V FC Bayern München

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Cricket Stars

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SND NEWS: Times of Oman Bagged 36 Awards!

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It would not be the Sunday of the “big game” without the arrival of a collection of sports figure caricatures. Sure, none of those illustrated are actually in this year’s game. But that’s beside the point…

Breaking News: SND entry updates

Stripper Collection: Apathy

Tunisia Spiraling

What's In a Japanese Name?

Co-ed Schools In Oman

Shakira

Omani Tailors

Sketches on the side

The Art of Bullfighting

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The Wikileaks Frenzy

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Monetary Authorities

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