Corrective Measures

Below is a tight pencil drawing to be used as a pin-up for the title i'm currently pencilling for Ronin Studios. It's called "Corrective Measures: Nicholas".

For Love of Drawing

I have always been drawing since I can remember. Being a kid then, I was the type who prefers drawing and copying my favorite comic characters than play with my friends. Well, I do play, but not as often as other kids do. Back then my "refuge place" was in the roofed terrace in the second storey of our house, which overlooks the road. There I have a drawing table that my mother has personally commissioned for my birthday. It was nicely done, with an inclined board that was hinged on the topside so you can open it and store your drawing and other materials on a compartment at the bottom of the drawing panel. It was very special because aside from it being my first ever drawing board, it was also there that I have learnt so many things about drawing--practicing from anatomy to shading to background making. My drawing materials too, over the years have graduated from the very cheap newsprint papers and ball pens to white bond papers and felt-tip pens and black markers.

I think as early as grade 2 (around 8 yrs old) I was already doing my own comic books. A number of photocopy papers folded and stapled at the center. I recalled my first ever influences were the TV's Superfriends, then the local comics (SuperKat from funny comics to the more mature-themed stories like ninjas and wars as I get bigger) that I bought from pennies I saved by not eating during recess and walking instead of shelling out fares for passenger motorcycles (Pedicab). Most of these makeshift comics usually I don’t keep. They were either bought by my classmates(most of them, yeah) or given to friends.

My comics were usually a mesh of any form I can copy from my comicbook idols. Most notables would be Vic Catan (Jipeen, Anti-Ninja-1985) , Hal Santiago(Combat dragons-1986), Mar Santana(Robo-Tronn- 1989), Karl Komendador (Akin ang Buhay Mo-1988) and Pol Niño for local creators; then Joe Kubert, Dick Giordano, Dan Jurgens, John Byrne and frank Miller for the US comics (more often than not from comics borrowed from more well-offed classmates who has brothers/relatives living abroad). So drawing my own comics has basically became a routine for a long time. It usually begins when I came back from school at afternoon. When I begin to sit there, I can let anything just pass by and not care a thing about anything else but what I'm doing. Back then, once everyday, I have my own world. A world I totally control. And my so-called problems slowly drift into oblivion.

PAYBACK!

Sorry, Folks. I wont be goin to post new pages of Hell Fury today coz my scanner was busted. I think it's better to buy a new one so I won't let the busted scanner repaired. I may end up paying more than buying a new, better one. Anyway, I'm posting a new art here, a product of Ronin Studios' Pinup DrawOff. It's a character of Grant Chastain's "Corrective Measures" book under the Ronin Studios blanket (where I'm currently pencilling pages for "Ronin Variations"written by Grant himself). This character's name is Payback.

My Bro bags ASEAN Editorial Cartooning Grand Prize!

Rio, my younger brother who currently works in Cebu as an editorial cartoonist/artist for the local paper SUN STAR DAILY has won the ASEAN Editorial Cartooning contest besting other 28 contestants from prominent Manila-based newpapers like the Inquirer and Manila Times, and community newspapers from other part of the country. This is the second time he has won a national editorial cartooning contest. The first was with the Philippines' Aids Soceity where he pocketeed the US$500 grand prize and a trip to Bangkok.

You can read the bigger newspaper page feature here (magnify to read the text).

Hell Fury Page 04

...And Page 04! Next pages will be next monday! Enjoy.
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Hell Fury Page 03

Guys, the 3rd installment of the Hell Fury pages...

For a bigger resolution drawing, you can check out http://reybronx.deviantart.com


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Into the River

The older I grow the more earnestly I feel that the few joys of childhood are the best that life has to give. There is something fascinating in being a child, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever, and our dreams shooting the stars.

I have volunteered to be nanny last Saturday since Jean had some visitors from Manila and she was acting as their tour guide to the various tourist spots in the lion city. I brought Fergus to the playground at his usual playing time @ 4:00pm after the afternoon sleep and milk. Watching my son playing at the metal and plastic play equipment with some Malay and Chinese friends at the block playground, I can't help but wonder how different my childhood was with that of my son's.

I considered myself lucky to have spent my childhood days not in a big city but in a remote, almost "unknown" city in Northern Mindanao because I have enjoyed things that people in big cities did not. Even my son, growing up here in Singapore won’t be experiencing the kind of childhood that I have.

Growing up in an "Agricultural city", and being the eldest of siblings of eight, I learnt in a young age that life is no paradise. You have to do everything you can to survive. My parents, tried hard to raise this big family who were even more infested with cousins who were sent to us by their parents because they themselves cannot afford to raise them. I am fortunate enough to have parents that gave an extra hand to help people. And these values have molded me as I grew up. Sure I had my share of papa's leather belt, but discipline has always been a part of my family.

Fun in my childhood is not about acquiring expensive toys. It's about adventure. If I'm not busy copying drawings from my favorite local comicbooks, or if I'm not reading Mythology books that I was so fascinated at, I only have one place to go with my friends--The river.

Together with my childhood friends--Rolly, Glenn, Patot and my younger brother Roy, splashing and playing in the nearby river was always the activity of the day during summer vacations. What we like most about it was that the deep part of the river, which almost resembles a swimming pool, has a cliff of about two storey high on its side. And from it, we like to jump into the river shouting superhero names as we charge airborne. We always had fun doing that, and after being tired swimming and jumping down from the cliffs, we explore the surrounding bushed area commonly populated with coconuts, variety of trees, and high hedges. We then carve out niches unto these bushes, creating a makeshift camp. Having two camps, we then would battle in that "jungle" pretending to be real soldiers with our improvised, did-it-myself wooden rifle. In that place we learned some lessons the hard way too. Like why it's not a good idea to disturb a beehive, or why it's not good to pick fruits from its tree when the owner is there patrolling.

We continued to do that almost every summer until the area was bulldozed to give way for some new residential project. But the sweet memories of childhood with that of the river and my friends will always be cherished.

RED ALLIGIANCE

RED ALLIGIANCE
(Tribute to a fallen brother)
1995

You have since been looking
For equality amongst men
You dream that one day
Your country will be one
You begin to realize
That it wont happen
Not in this kind of society
With putrid, rotten system

Denounced capitalism
Where rich becomes richer
And the peasant brothers poorer
You want to change it all
But they will not listen
You have bombarded the streets with taunts
Taken your plea to the roads
Still they’re hearing-impaired
By the fairness you claim
So hard to obtain

You have pledged your allegiance
To Sison and Marx
Took up the rifle and thick red book
Forsake university education
And fled to the jungles
You know they will listen
When you shout with fire
You have to take blood
From blinded warriors
Who are puppets to their masters
Have to pursue the cause
Vision for the masses

You’ve been fighting so long now
Until Armageddon came
And the ripper guided the bullet
That took you down
Still in your eyes, I know
Though everything were fading
Is a shadow of the dream
For a red revolution…

Hell Fury Page 02

Page 2 of Hell Fury, My first attempt to do a webcomics... Second of the initial post. Next pages will be available next monday and the mondays afterwards.

Also available for bigger resolution in http://reybronx.deviantart.com

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My Webcomics! Page 01

This is the first page of my attempt to do a webcomics. Inpired mostly by komikeros posting in the web, I finally tried it out myself. I'm posting initially two pages and will be adding new page/s every Monday.
Also available to be viewed in my deviantart(bigger-resolution)-- http://reybronx.deviantart.com
Thanks.





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Philippine politics circus in comics!

Below is just an example how filipinos enjoys so much freedom. We can mock and make fun of our corrupt leaders and get away with it. Man, if this is in Singapore, My fat arse will be sitting in the cold 6'x 6' room already. (Image courtesy--err... ripped, to make it correct-- at Bulletproof Vest http://blog.622design.com) Enjoy the strip. Laugh for a while, then after BE SAD.

Liverpool cruises on

Liverpool cruised again to their Champions league third qualifying round Wednesday night (Thrusday morning here in Asia) with a convincing 3-1 defeat over CSKA Sofia which looked to be a comfortable cushion to the reigning european champions to reach the lucrative group phase of the competition.

French striker Djibril Cisse powered the ball frist before the rejuvenated Fernando Morientes added a brace.
Click here to read more...

Portrait of a Slave

I was in our university library one time when I came across this book about Slavery in America. After I read it, I coined of mocking the “movement” into an art, making it an irony in itself.

Portrait of a Slave
(1995)

Paint me your impressions
Using pigment of mud and straws
Smear me your colors
Hues of anger and shame
Dye my soul with aggression
With your violent words
And scornful touts
Beat me with your truncheon
Veneering me with my own
Red, thick blood
Make me a living mural
Of molten steel carrying your name
Put on me those chains
Make me a living sculpture
A pantheon of your dark nature
Build in me a cathedral
An edifice of your atrocious deeds
Brush me with your whip
Making frescoes of death!

SketchUp!

Ive been using the software SketchUp now for quite a time and it really helped me so much with my work especially doing preliminary images for projects. SketchUp is a 3D interface that is both powerful and easy to use. It also uses a “sketch” style that includes lines overlapping to make it look like a pencil sketch and therefore soften it. There’s an option to remove the lines also to make it more realistic with all the materials applied to the finishes. 3D Studio Max and 3D Studio Viz are still the most powerful architectural tool when it comes to three- dimensional visualization. It’s still the best thing to go to when doing final pieces of architectural works, but SketchUp will do superbly when you’re looking for aesthetics but has not much time to cuff it out in 3D Studio. I did the image above using sketchup and finished with a minimal photoshop effects.

Remebering Raul Roco

There comes in your life that you look up to someone with so much admiration. Someone who in your inner self you feel would be a very good leader. I had that kind of reverence to Raul Roco. One of the best lawmaker the Philippines ever had, being in the public service for very long being a congressman, senator and even a secretary of Education. He had run for the top post twice, but failed, losing to more popular candidates—Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo (Estrada was toppled with a people revolt and now Mrs. Arroyo has been pressured to resign or faced an impeachment trial that also besieged her predecessor.

I’ve always wondered how things are if Roco had been president. His wits and gentle ways would have been a feel of fresh water to the face in these turbulent times. But I guess we will never know. Ever.

I was stunned last Saturday when I was watching TV PATROL in TFC that Roco had a cardiac arrest and passed away. Even when I’m not living in the Philippines now, I know it’s still a big blow and loss to the Philippine people and to the nation in general to have lost someone of the former solon’s caliber. I’ve had always a leftist inclination since my college days, and too many leaders have failed me in search of true reforms. But my admiration for Roco has never waned and I’ve always been a supporter. Aside from being a top solon, he was also a very intelligent man, the youngest delegate to the constitutional convention being a youth leader in 1971, A financial law reformer, A champion for the Teachers, the OFW’s and the women, and a very successful corruption fighter (which made him unpopular with the department of education whose system he revolutionized during his tenure as DepEd secretary).

There are still so many things to say about Raul Roco but it wouldn’t matter now, will it? Though if there’s something to sum up Roco’s legacy, it’s what Congressman Teddy Locsin’s words: “Raul Roco was the best president the Filipino people never had.”

Taking on the cake

Ive been very busy these past few days so it took me time to download the pictures of Fergus' 2nd birthday from my camera to my computer. here's us cutting the first slice after the tyke had blown his two candles out.

Better late than never

I just finished reading Superman: Birthright, written by Mark Waid and superbly penciled and inked by two of the hottest Filipino artists in the international scene now, Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan (Gerry hosts a message board that I frequently visit). Actually this was long overdue since the series ender did hit the stands a year ago. Too bad it’s not released simultaneously here in Singapore. I had to rely with my brother sending me copies for me to read the 12-part series.

I don’t want to critic it since I’ve enjoyed it so much and the last two panels kind of touched me personally (Maybe it’s this “parent” thing. I’ve been mushier ever since I became a father two years ago). You will know what I mean if you have read the book.

Anyway, a very late kudos to my kababayans. And as a very old saying goes, better late that never.

The Next Pele?

Since Real Madrid confirmed on Thursday that they had signed Braziian international striker Robinho from Santos for a fee in the region of US$30 million, many buzz came out how the young Brazilian can give new life to the Spanish giant. True, the 21-year-old was brilliant in their games at the Confederations cup this year. But I still have to see him perform in a club level’s big stage like the Primera Liga & Europe. Unlike many, I won’t jump to conclusions right away that this lad is Pele’s heir apparent. I mean, greatness takes a lifetime to make. And it’s absurd to remark on a player’s entire achievement on just a single season or a single spell in his home country’s club (I know, Brazil’s Santos FC is not an ordinary club. It’s legendary for producing legends from its flock). Yes, Robinho can be the next best thing after Ronaldo and Ronaldinho (and of course, the now “un-sought” Rivaldo), but comparing him to Pele at this moment in time can be a mortal sin. After all, he may be a flop, like how Kleberson was in Man United. In fairness to Robinho though, he is way better than Kleberson (who was just really a plug to the hole when Ronaldinho signed for Barcelona instead of the Red Devils). So we’ll see. Let’s watch and splice words as this young Brazilian takes on the world stage.

Change in Government? ...Or change within?

"One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don't go into government."
--Donald Trump, on Politics

It’s hot item now that the Philippines’ government system will be changed from the current Presidential to Parliamentary/ Federal. But first, we must understand that it is not a particular political ideology that has failed, but the idea that men and women who served in our government could never define themselves in terms of greatness other than self-preservation. Be it presidential, parliamentary or socialist, the problem comes in the core of the people running it. Absolute power corrupts. I don’t have any experience or even a hand in politics. But I am wise enough to have learned that the hardest thing about any political campaign, especially in the Philippines, is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning. And boy, how our politicians pass that with flying colours. Every time I thought that there’s a single political figure in there ready to rise above all these mud and just bring progress to the country, controversy started to swamp around and all the fleas from that politician’s buried stink started to float. And it made me feel down. Every time. Maybe because I’m an optimist and it hurts when you put your trust on someone whom you think can redeem your country and they let you down with their greed. Lacson let me down. Now Arroyo let me down. And watching these entire mumbo- jumbo circus gave me the bitter truth that there are no true friends in politics. They are all sharks circling, and waiting, for traces of blood to appear in the water. Legislators switching sides in the blink of an eye, riding in the next safest bandwagon and leaving the ones sinking in deep waters. The EDSA marches proved it. Maybe the first two has its significance, used to be an institution for change. But now, it’s as low as everything else. It’s now a stage for someone with something--or anything in that matter-- to say, with a bunch of paid shouting expectators. But how can we prevent these people from attending these rallies they don’t even know the cause for, when they wanted the diminutive money they get from it. They will not listen about political theories. Clearly, an empty stomach is not a good political advisor. Everyone is saying they’re tired with the old style politicians and their flowery rhetoric. That we must have change. But can we really achieve that change? Is it enough to just hit the streets every time? Me myself had my share of taking my please to the streets in my turbulent years as a paranoid student in my college years. But nothing happened. We did see change in leadership. But it only let us down. We saw leaders from all walks of life. A celebrated military, an idolized movie star, and now a Harvard-tutored economist (and if the tide is going right, we might see a celebrity news anchor helming the country’s leadership soon). But did it satisfy our hunger for change? No. And come to think of it, probably no one will. The problem is that we rely so much on our leaders to do things for us. I have abandoned that thought long ago. If I want change then I have to start it with myself. Imagine if we can all be this way.

A walk in the clouds

August o2, 2005



"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad."

This is a picture captured by Jean (my wife) of me and my son Fergus last Sunday. We went to celebrate mass in Bedok Church and instead of riding the bus towards home. we decided to take our time and walk. Busy schedules and work always hindered me from doing this simple pleasures with my son so this is a really treasured moment.

Working weekend

It's been a while (well, around 3 months take or give) since i havent worked anything job- related at home. But the work supply in office since to become more and more since the surge of jobs that came from China, India and Bangladesh. Anyway, I'm paid by my boss for this work @ sideline rates, so i cannot say no too. I usually hate to work on weekends, but para akong nagtampo sa bigas if i'd say no since the pay is quite substantial. it's all non- dounting construction drawings in autocad format. It's just routine drawing and detailing. Esay but time- consuming none the less, and it is needed by Tuesday (it was given to me last Friday).

I did went on hammering my laptop at home Saturday and Sunday, stopping only during mealtime and when i play with my son once in a while. I was a bit frustrated at times when my almost 2 year old laptop computer isn't as fast as it used to anymore. and i have to cross my hands always for it not to hang. (well it did, once, and i lost around 40 minutes of work).

When sunday afternoon came, i've already done a significantly ample amount of work so i decided to spend the rest of the afternoon by not working anymore. i still have monday night to beat the hell out of myself anyway to outdo the deadline. I spent it with my family attending church and eating filipino food @ lucky plaza, a mall in Orchard St., downtown Singapore. I spent sometime in the evening also watching the dvd "Alfie" with my wife before dozing off to a nice sleep. I always make sure i have ample sleep on Sunday night so i have enough energy to face Monday morning. And there's nothing better to kickstart a Monday morning than a kaya toast and the local kopi-o.