Week 3: Tattooed Pin-Up

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While I’ve always had an obsession on how women dressed made themselves up in the 40′s and 50′s, I’ve been on a particular pin-up girl/rockabilly  kick these past couple of days thanks to the pilot episode of Bomb Girls.

Much love to Pallon for helping me with the rose. I srsly fail at drawing flowers.

I realised today that my anatomy is shit. I really need to practice drawing bodies again instead of just busts. Bad habits need to be unlearned. But hooray for week two!

James Jean Signing!

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The original plan was for me to finally buy Fables Deluxe Edition Vol. One which featured my favourite James Jean cover to have signed. Then I realised I had miscalculated my funds and was several thousands short of  my budget for my Hongkong trip in March so I asked Julie to have my 1001 Nights of Snowfall signed along with hers instead.

I still went to Bonifacio High Street that day to take pictures though. The least I could do was get a photo of JJ signing my book.

He has really pretty hair.

And then Julie’s magical friends with VIP passes, Chi and Spikey,  gave her their other number, and I in turn got Julie’s original number.

This sufficiently sums up how I felt at that moment.

I did not think it would be possible for me to be any less cool talking to James Jean than when I tried to strike up a conversation with Neil Gaiman, but I was just a hot mess. I just stood there, doing the world’s best Michael Cera impression.

But he was super nice, and I was pleasantly surprised that he still sketched me a little something on my book, despite being 66th in line.

I’m really glad Fully Booked brought him back, since I missed his signing the last time he was here. There are so many more artists I’d love to meet in person, I hope they all eventually make it to Manila too.

Project 52: Weeks 1 & 2

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After the James Jean signing (more on that on a later post), Julie, Pallon and I hung out at a coffee shop to sketch. We’ve all made resolutions to be more proactive and productive this year with our – and I really hate to use this word because it makes me feel like a pretentious douchebag –  art.

While I can’t commit to a 365 project like Pallon, because I know I won’t be able to stick to it, I’ve decided to start a project 52 instead. 1 sketch every week for the rest of the year.

To make up for missing the first weekend of the 2012, I’m uploading two today, and they are sketches of who else? My Let’s-be-productive buddies, Julie and Pallon haha!

Julie. You can check out her sketches of us that day on her blog: http://bit.ly/yHovTj & http://bit.ly/xZw37W

Pallon. Her sketches from that day are here: http://wp.me/p26DmS-18

They both have their eyes closed because we were all kind of sketching each other, not because I got lazy hahaha! (No, no. I’m not defensive at all.)

I’m not the best person at finishing what I start, so I really that I stick to this to the end. Let’s go, 2012!

My Army of Artoos

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I got my latest Artoo last Saturday, at the Christmas Toy Con which reminded me that I needed an update of the last photo I took of all my astromech droids.

This photo was taken with my brand-spankin' new Lumix LX5 heee~

I never really go for just figurines because I find them a little redundant to collect, so I like looking for the ones that have a double purpose haha!

  1. Walkie-Talkie (comes with a C3PO one)
  2. Soda Can holder. (Pepsi *hissssss*)
  3. Star Wars MicroMachines Transforming Action Set R2-D2/ Jabba’s Palace
  4. Lunchbox from Jolibee
  5. Pez Dispenser
  6. Water gun from Burger King
  7. From the Star Wars The Legacy collection with light and sound
  8. My only real figurine. It was free from one of the gas stations (I don’t remember which) here when the digitally remastered original trilogy was shown in cinemas.
  9. Keychain
  10. PET bottle cap
  11. Headphones 8D
  12. Opens up, has a Princess Leia holding a blaster inside.
  13. Bag ornament thing. From McDonald’s.

The Pez Dispenser’s the newest one. I’m already out of Pez. Do candy stores still sell just refills? I haven’t seen those in a really long time.

I was actually supposed to write about all the issue #4′s of my pull list, but Batman #4′s just arriving tomorrow so that’s gonna have to wait.

Christmas Wishlist 2011

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a.k.a Things I’ve been planning to buy for myself for a while now, but other expenses keep popping up. Like needing to buy a new phone because my old one ragequit on me.

1. Light-up 1/4 scale Star Sapphire power ring and battery replica

2. Batwoman: Elegy (Hardbound)

Hardcover preferred but sold out, so paperback’s good too.

3. Glam + Melissa Disney Villain flats.

I want them all! But they’re P3495 a pop motherfucker. If I had to choose, I’d love the Evil Queen from Snow White one. The Cruella deVille one’s the prettiest, but I don’t really have any love for ol’ Cruella.

[edit] THEY’VE RELEASED AN URSULA SHOE OMG WANT WANT WANT TOOOOO

4. Mimobot Star Wars series R2D2 Flash drive.

Surprise, surprise. More Artoo shit. Haha!

5. Panasonic Lumix LX5

My Nepal trip frustrated me so bad because all I’d brought was a point-and-shoot and all my photos came out flat or washed out. Some were saved with a little curve-tweaking on Photoshop, but the others were crap. I still don’t want a DSLR because of the bulk and because I just don’t want to deal with that many options in taking a photo. With a little luck, I just might be able to buy this before the year ends. :)

6. 10 oz. Pink Flourish  Twins Boxing Gloves

My Everlast pair is still in great condition, but I’d a 10 oz pair. :P Also, how adorable is this print!?! ♥

Batman: Year One

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Year One, based on the comic by Frank Miller, recounts the beginnings of Bruce Wayne taking up the cowl and Jim Gordon’s career with the Gotham City Police Department. 

I’m kind of ambivilent about Year One. While it’s a really faithful adaptation of the comic (almost panel-for-panel, really) , I’m not digging the art direction. The original art was gritty, dark and has this really sketchy feel to it. The animated movie felt like a half-assed attempt to clean it up and make it more polished for animation. It would have been better if they just veered away from the style completely and did it like, I dunno, Under the Red Hood or something. The animation itself was problematic as well, which at times felt like a motion comic rather than a cartoon.

I also cannot stand Batman’s voice. Ben McKenzie does fine as Bruce Wayne, but his Batman voice gives Hayden Christiansen’s wooden acting on Star Wars a run for his money.

Really almost 100% panel-for-panel. Which is cool.

What I really enjoyed were Jim Gordon’s parts. He’s always been pretty likable, but Year One really shows the depth of his character.

source: forums.superherohype.com

Also really fangirled over Eliza Dushku as Selina Kyle and Grey DeLisle as Mrs. Barbara Gordon! Grey DeLisle has voiced almost every one of my favourite animated characters so it’s always a thrill for me to find her in other cartoons.

So is it perfect? No, but storywise it’s faithful to comic which should be a prerequisite for any Bat-fan. Worth it especially for Jim Gordon and a peek at Selina in her Tim Sale Catwoman costume!

Steampunk-y PsykoBelles

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Last Saturday, Pallon and I did a shoot to showcase the tattoos by Ram Marual of Psyko Studio Tattoos.

I’ve always wanted to do a Steampunk shoot and lord knows I like my tattooed ladies so this was somewhat of a pet project for me. While it’s not completely Steampunk (it’s hard to do the whole Victorian-Industrial thing when most of the models have to be half naked– at least by Victorian standards haha), I’m hoping it’s at least still in the neighbourhood.

Photography and Art Direction: Katrina Pallon
Make-up and Styling: Gabrielle Lopez
Corsets by Pola Castillo (which you might recognize from a previous  shoot :P)
Models: Bea Calantuan, Grace Orillo, Katrina Pallon, Monica Lalisan, and Gabrielle Lopez

Truthfully, I wasn’t really feeling up to being photographed because I was the least tattooed girl there and because lacing up 3 girls in corsets wiped me out. But whatevs, the shoot came out awesome. ♥

Psyko Studio Tattoos is opening a new shop soon at El Grande, BF Paranaque. Check out their Facebook page for more details.

Thoughts on the DC new 52

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I know I said I’d ignore DC until the next reboot, but I just can’t seem to stay away. I’ve only read 4 titles so far and it’s been 50-50 for me.

1. Batgirl #1

I wasn’t really stoked about Babs donning the suit again. I love Babs, but I realised I love her more as Oracle than as Batgirl. But still, Gail Simone’s writing it, and her work on the first Birds of Prey series was the reason I like Oracle so much.

I really don’t like the art in this issue. The poses were a little off and the colours were garish. I’m not completely buying Babs just getting better, although I guess it ties in with that scene from BOP where she manages to move her toes. Kinda.

This didn’t wow me, but I think it could get better as the story progresses. Because, you know, it’s Gail Simone.

2. Catwoman #1

I am a sucker for Guillem March. Again, a lot of fanrage on the internets about his stuff, but I really love his style and I usually really like his cheesecake stuff. Usually.

The writing was great, because you could feel Judd Winick really knew his shit around Selena Kyle. The monologues didn’t feel forced. (Which is what I felt with Batgirl.)

So I generally love the art and I generally love the way it was written.

Until we get to the sex scene. I don’t know if it was just the way it was written, or how it was drawn, or a combination of both but really just looked like soft-core porn. I’m as big a Bat-cat fan as any –Hush is one of my favourite story arcs– but come on. First half was great, second half was smut. Worse than smut, it’s smutty fanfiction.

3. Batwoman #1

I think it’s been almost year since DC announced Kate Kane was getting her own series, and I was really, really looking forward to this and then I forget to have a copy reserved at ye old comic book store. It’s sold out and I’m waiting for the reprints to arrive next week. Fail.

Anyway, J.H Williams? YES. YES. YES. FUCK YES. It’s totally on the same page as Kate’s run on Detective Comics although co-written by J.H Williams and W. Haden Blackman this time around instead of Greg Rucka. But yes, moar pls.

4. Batman #1

Oh, wow. This was amazing. I liked how it started off sort of re-establishing Gotham to the reader and then goes straight to the action. I was a little disappointed to see Joker in there, because let’s face it, I’m a little sick of him. He’s everywhere. I was hoping they’d focus on another villain. Although he wasn’t really the focus here either. Moving on, so I can avoid spoilers.

This scene, omg:

Yes, it’s fanservice, and I completely bought it.

I hear Wonder Woman #1′s good too. Might check it out sometime. Will prolly just wait for the reprint.  What are your thoughts on the new 52?

Tattoos # 2 & 3

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My brother Andy and I got almost-matching tattoos for our love of Avatar: The Legend of Aang.

While my favourite characters are Fire Nation, I’ve always been partial to the Water Tribe partly because of their association with the Moon. (Sew gawth!)  I’m actually glad now that they changed the bending symbols in the godawful The Last Airbender Movie, that way these tattoos are only associated with the animated series.

I got the Water-bending symbol below my right clavicle and the Water Tribe emblem below my left.

Pardon the redness and the bruising and the bleeding. This was taken immediately after they were finished.

Andy wasn’t feeling the Water Tribe emblem too much, so he got two Waterbending symbols, one flipped so they’d be facing each other.

Also still red, bruised and bleeding.

We are now officially dorks.

via avataraang.tumblr.com

Tattoos by Ram Marual of Psyko Studio Tattoos Cavite, who also did my custom Octopus tattoo. Check out their Facebook page!