Drawing more people

My Filipino Food Art and Philippine Wildlife Art projects are full of food and animals. But this past month I started to draw more people. I guess like most artists starting out in illustration, drawing food and animals is much easier.

But drawing more people will help me expand my illustration skills, and allow me to try to draw people for possible commissions. It will also allow me to draw people I’d like to honor through my art.

Drawing people feeding people

In this art I drew a community kitchen known for its immediate volunteer response after typhoons, earthquakes, and even armed conflict.

After typhoon Paeng left flooding across the country, Art Relief Mobile Kitchen responded serving fresh hot food for people affected. I decided to create art dedicated to their hard work, and asked more people to donate.

Dr. Leonard Co

Dr. Leonard Co was known for his skill in identifying trees and inspiring a digital library of Philippine flora.

Last November 15 I posted art of Dr. Leonard Co next to a species named after him. He was killed in a supposed crossfire in the forests he worked to protect 12 years ago that day. Learn more about Dr. Co here.

Women and waste management

Finally my latest client work involved drawing lots of different people. WWF Philippines and the UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies found that a disproportionate amount of women were expected to take care of waste management at home.

The team had me create illustrations of all kinds of people taking part in recycling, segregation, and more to supplement their #LahatDapat campaign. See the first post at WWF Philippines here.

Drawing people has been sort of a challenge, but it helps me improve and widen my abilities to make art. Maybe I’ll start drawing more people in addition to food and wildlife, let’s see.