Pomona Tattoo Expo

just been to the pomona tattoo convention. i didn’t bring millette and miro because we cannot afford the hotel room so i went alone with the boys. i rode with ariel (www.gotinktattoo.com) in his pick-up truck with robert and lorena (ariel’s girlfriend). we arrived in LA at 1am friday, slept a bit then went straight to the convention. this was my third time going with ariel at tattoo conventions. i am the shop’s illustrator. i do custom artworks for ariel’s shop in san jose. i am learning a lot and i am very excited about this new direction. the art of tattooing made me love drawing again and it made me discover new things. drawing has an all new purpose for me. i‘m also fascinated about the stories darius’ and ariel’s friends were telling me. darius’ shop is also located in san jose, ca - da underground tattoo shop.

i feel liberated about doing gallery shows for now. doing gallery shows seem like pointless. it’s stupid to pursue these galleries. there are millions of artists and the pressure to stay on top is senseless so this direction does me great.

even if i’m not really tattooing yet, the feeling of seeing my designs getting tattooed is exhilarating. doing shows cannot match the feeling i get once i see my designs on somebody’s skin. imagine how i will feel when i get to the next stage which is being a tattooist.

humans are my gallery now. i had this pinoy flash about flags, suns and the philippine map and i think it’s a hit among pinoys. i cannot keep count now on how many people already had my sun/flag design. you may say these are simple designs but it’s not that. it is the attitude that these pinoys have that excites me. they are the carriers of our identity and i’m very proud that i did the designs on them to show it off.

i don’t understand filipinos who try to assimilate. you know those pinoys who are proud to be in the midst of whites. they even boast about it and it irritates me. they don’t realize that they become apes when they do this. these guys who get the sun tattoos are different. they are downright proud and screaming about their filipinoness.

the filipino sun tattoo as one of ariel’s friends told me started in prison. i’m not sure if he was right but he saw this first hand. he was in san quentin and he said lifers in that prison wear this tattoo. so i guess i started from that point. i used their symbol to make it more aesthetically appealing.

participating in these conventions is also a challenge. illustrating a piece straight from somebody’s mind in 30 to 40 minutes is a great exercise. i did this 3 days, 12 hours a day straight. jingle lang ang pahinga ika nga. it’s like a drawing marathon. it’s also good meditation.

i enjoyed hanging out with ariel and darius’ friends. they’re all hillarious specially jay and jaime. besides being funny, these guys know how to curse man. haha. i was really laughing all the way with these guys. they’re a bunch of way cool and funny people.

hey thanks guys the grrrreat weekend!

here are some pictures i took...

The Impressionists

i watched the impressionists yesterday. i borrowed the dvd from the library.

god i love monet! i was more of a manet fan before. i saw some monet originals a few years back in nyc and it changed me. manet was more of a technical person. monet was more from the inside. he was a notch a rebel compared to manet. manet was an academic that challenged the subject matter whereas monet challenged everything the academicians believed in. monet is my man.

here is a small dialog that i did with the impressionists titled 'impressionist bulul.' i also learned how hard it was to draw this image. the bulul is so simple but highly complicated. it's hard to see the subtle shadows upfront so my advice is to never underestimate anything.

Cubist Bulul

3 versions of the cubist bulul i did last week. the bulul is the rice god of the cordilleras. i never realized its power until i met santi bose. i used to think that catholicism was the only true belief system. false! the bulul is as powerful. the bulul's advantage is that it was never manipulated like jesus by opportunists. the schemers demonized it because they don't have control over it.

this image is a reaction to this notion. the bulul was influenced but never conquered.

Rose Insektos

shots i took from our rose outside.

4th of July

labing isang taon na ako sa amerika pero ayaw pa ding tanggapin ng katauhan ko ang holiday nilang ito dahil tuwing sasapit itong holiday nilang ito ay nakukumpirma ang pagkaka-nakaw at paglimot sa totoong kwento ng lupaing ito. independence day nila sa mga kapwa nila puti sa britain. paano yung mga indians na pinagpapatay nila. nasan ang kwento nila? wala bang holiday sa pag alala sa pagpaslang nila sa naunang may ari ng lupang ito?

ang mga indians ay parang pinoy din. kakulay natin sila. tayo ay itinuring ding indians at pinagplanuhan din nilang i-massacre at ubusin. mabababang uri tayo at walang karapatan sa tingin nila. salamat kina rizal na may lahing indio at di tuluyang nasakop ang ating lahi.

para sa mga naniniwala sa kaarawang ito. mag-isip pong mabuti dahil kayo ay nalinlang na. wag nyo din pong kalimutan ang tunay na kwento ng lupang ito. ang mga indians ay di nila binigyan ng pagkakataong maging independent sa sarili nilang lupa.

ang 'freedom' po ay sa kanila lang at hindi sa mga salungat sa ideas nila. so don't get carried away by their ignorant smile.

ang july 4 ay para lamang sa mga nag-implement nito, para sa mga bulag at ignorante.