"If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” ~ Esther 4:14

This is my first artwork for the Women's Month Celebration. I started creating this infographic poster last year but was unable to finish it due to the overwhelming amount of schoolwork and art projects I had to complete. However, I was able to complete it this month and am proud to share it with you.

In the story, she is not only the queen but also a hero who saves her people from destruction. Her wise and determined nature, along with her outspoken wisdom, makes her an iconic figure in her story. This highlights the impact of her intelligent choices on future generations and reminds us of the power of communication to change the course of history.

Program used: Adobe Photoshop 2021

In January and February of this year, I created some digital artworks. Stay tuned for updates related to the upcoming March celebration.

Finally, I've finished my 2nd Inktober drawing. I finished this artwork in December 2023 due to my busy school schedule for the past two months.

This is part of my upcoming comic, "The Scale of A Hero", on the concept art page. In the ancient Philippines, blood compacts (sandugo) were practiced between leaders (The raja and a datu in this artwork) of different nations as a sign of brotherhood and friendship. After cutting themselves (wrists in this artwork), each party needs to put a few drops of the other's blood into their cup and drink it. Members of society accept their leaders because of the blood compact they maintain with them.

One of the highlights of my story will be the facts about Sandugo. I plan to incorporate the cultures and traditions of pre-colonial Visayas as a theme in my story. (Probably) this will be the final artwork of the year. Next year, more updates, facts, and trivia about my story will be available. Ayo-ayo ninyong tanan! (Take care everyone!)

Materials used:

A3 Sketch paper

PIGMA Micron Pens

Sources: https://philippineculturaleducation.com.ph/sandugo/… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONX18NkwZKc&t=93s

INKTOBER INSPIRATION 1

"The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring."

~ Isaiah 58:11 LB (The Living Bible)

It has been quite some time since I participated in the Inktober challenge. It is one of the most intricate pen and ink drawings I have ever created. It's influenced by engravings, Renaissance paintings, pen and ink artworks, and comic page inking. The artworks stand out due to their unique compositions, symbolic imagery, and meticulous brushwork. For this reason, I started Inktober in 2016 and even used it as a means of creating interesting panels in my comics.

Most of the influences I mentioned earlier revolve around religion. This is the reason behind my decision to focus on Christian artwork. The scripture in this piece was inspired by a frame featuring a waterfall painting and a Bible verse. Instead of the usual waterfall concept, I included a woman and a hand to symbolize the verse's message.

In addition. Next week will probably be the final Inktober artwork posted (Clue: In relation to Pre-colonial Philippines) More updates are coming soon.

Drawn using micron pens on an A3 sketch paper.

Finally, another character poster for my upcoming comic, "Ang Timbangan sa Daragangan" (The Scale of A Hero). I was inspired by Barangay Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society, the batik patterns for the backgrounds and his attire, and most of all, a webinar Beyond Filipiniana Season 3 from Karakoa Productions. His name is BAKHAW, meaning 'mangrove' in Bisayan language. He is a Timawa (warrior vassal and freeman), and an expert in playing Lantuy or Tolali. He likes to wear the ceremonial clothing known as Lihin-Lihin and to put Antuwanga (Hibiscus) on his hair.

FACTS:

According to the context provided in Barangay Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society by a historian William Henry Scott, the Lantuy is considered one of the quieter instruments. It was traditionally played indoors during nighttime and was meant to imitate the mournful sound of a human voice through shakes and trills. This style of playing was deemed appropriate for wakes and funerals.

Banig is a traditional handwoven mat from the Philippines that is typically used as a sleeping mat or a floor mat. The weaving technique used to create the diamond pattern is known as "Amakan."

PS: I'll give more details about my upcoming artworks, comic series, and Pre-colonial Visayas. Stay tuned for more updates!

This is the first post of the month. Last week, I planned to share these artworks to celebrate World Beard Day. Due to tight schedules, I rescheduled them for next Wednesday. I designed the David poster in 2022 and the Abraham poster this year. Some people mistakenly believe these are tarot cards when they are infographics. They were originally designed for A1 size and then resized to A4.

(For those who didn't know, World Beard Day is observed globally every year on the first Saturday of September, and the specific celebrations differ from place to place. However, they all share a common bond: an unwavering admiration for the beard.)

These drawings are the most detailed ones I have ever made. It took me around a month to complete using Photoshop because I researched their stories and information in the Bible and drew them from scratch.

I am fascinated by ancient and elaborate art and designs from different parts of the world, such as Byzantine mosaics. The magnificent creations inspire me to make intricate Bible figures. Creative movie posters that I saw on the internet also inspired me to create these. By the way, these artworks are done using two brushes: 1 is Hard Round and the other one is my custom brushes, which I named Tile Brushes. Maybe I can upload the Tile Brushes in the future and can be used for free.

As of now, I have not been active this month; however, I will share my artwork if I have time. More updates to come!

This will be the final post of August. The comic's art style draws inspiration from my earliest artistic influences. The inspiration for this came from one of my experiences during my elementary school years. In the near future, I may publish more of my (childhood) life stories as part of my comic series, "Ang Handuraw ni Hoshiana". Additional details will be revealed soon!

LATE POST:

I finally finished this comic page for "Buwan ng Wika" or "The Month of Language" celebration in August. I plan to use comics to showcase our cultures and histories in the Philippines for the month of August. In the Philippines, videoke has become a common pastime during celebrations, parties, and other events. I observed that the majority of the videoke shows dancers and women in bikinis on the screen while the song plays. In my analysis as a teenager, I found these things to be very wrong in many ways. Can you tell me what these things are? The answer to this question will be provided this August.

Stay tuned for further information coming soon.

PS. The content is written in Cebuano. This is in line with our commemoration of "Buwan ng Wika".

The colors around me make me happy, Let my eyes see the wonders surrounding me. Without these colors, all seem empty, Because they bring the glow to things so plenty, How sad will my day be; When these colors I will never see, For they are light and joy to me.

~ Hoshiana Arts

I drew inspiration from one of my 2020 sketches to create another artwork for my nature series. My art teacher said, "Colors add flavor to our art like salt does to our food." I couldn't imagine how our life will be without colors that give life to our surroundings. As a visual artist, I'm so grateful that we have such diversity in our world, not only in the art styles but also in the many colors with their own names. Both dark and light colors play a vital role in my creation, and this artwork is a perfect reflection of that.

Program used: Adobe Photoshop

Nature is a wonderful scenery that we always see, The unique features and colors amaze me. As I gaze upon its beauty every day; I am reminded of Our God, the Almighty.

Nature gives great joy to my heart, That inspires me to do a work of art. In order to show my appreciation and love, To the One who made them all for us.

~ Artistic-Ana / Hoshiana

Currently, I am practicing perspectives and visual storytelling with Photoshop. The inspiration for this artwork came from one of the sketches I did last 2021. Due to busy school schedules and pending artworks, it was left unfinished. Despite many changes to the original sketch, I was able to capture the essence of what I wanted to convey. Stay tuned for more nature-inspired artworks.

Here is a comic preview of one of the most significant holidays here in the Philippines, Independence Day. Thanks to Photoshop, I was able to complete this in one week.

Here's the link where you can read this comic: facebook.com/photo/?fbid=198027129869398&set=a.104693255869453

I am referred to as Hoshiana (formerly known as Artistic-Ana). For those who are interested, what is the source of my pen name, Hoshiana? I constructed this username when I started my college studies, using random words on my iPad mini during recess. Hoshiana is composed of two words: HOSHI and ANA. My first name, ANA, is combined with the Japanese word for STAR, HOSHI. When you combined both of them, it creates a new meaning, HOSHIANA - SAVE I PRAY in Hebrew.

"𝓘 𝓢𝓐𝓥𝓔 (𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮) 𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓟𝓡𝓐𝓨 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓒𝓗 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓢𝓣𝓐𝓡𝓢 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓼 (𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓼) 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭.

"P.S. This is my 2nd attempt at utilizing the PAINT TOOL SAI program for drawing. I only used 1 brush (CRAYON BRUSH) for the entire process.

Finally, I managed to finish another comic panel preview for my comic series, "Ang Handuraw ni Hoshiana". Is there a relationship between warriors with tattoos and a monitor lizard in the precolonial Visayas? You will discover this in the upcoming month of June! Be sure to stay posted for upcoming information! I plan to be more active between June and August. Expect to see new artwork(s) or content(s)!

(I provided two versions of this infographic poster. These versions have no text. This poster only covers the Bisayan Constellation) This infographic poster was inspired by a journal article BALATIK: Katutubong Bituin ng mga Pilipino by Dr. Dante Lacsamana Ambrosio, "The Father of Philippine Ethnoastronomy". Ethnoastronomy is concerned with how people have understood astronomical phenomena over time in their own cultural context. Going through his journal article, I could not help but be awed by the cultural context and diversity of the pre-Hispanic Philippines. Examining the stars in the sky and even the Milky Way Galaxy itself reveals the creativity of pre-Hispanic Filipinos. The way they described the Binugsay (Milky Way Galaxy) is something that I find interesting and magical, not to mention the different constellations among the Bisayan people. These things inspired me to create an infographic poster. If I am able to find the time, I aim to create additional infographics on Filipino culture and history with Photoshop. This is how I tell our colorful stories here in the Philippines by making them more interesting. Stay tuned everyone!

(This post contains an extensive amount of information.)

"And we are all connected to each other, in a circle, in a hoop that never ends."

-Excerpt from the song "The Colors of The Wind"

(Today is Earth Day, so this is the best time to share this artwork and my personal stories as well.) This line really strikes me when I was young. The sense of connection and harmony between nature and humans is what this line is all about. Its message of the beauty of interdependence and importance among living things, including us, is what makes this line or the song itself timeless.

My admiration of natural sciences led me to admire the detailed patterns, usages, colors, and structures of nature. From the Fibonacci sequence pattern to the golden spiral, from fractals to symmetry, all these things are my inspirations in creating artwork. My artwork is always full of intricate details, regardless of the subject matter. I adopted the "Biomimicry Method" - copying existing stuff to create conventional and creative solutions for my art. Even if nature has different functions and uses in the ecosystem, I believe they are as important as the cells in our body. The idea of unity in diversity is relevant to nature, not just to people of various races, religions, occupations, and so forth. These things made me want to enroll in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in my Senior High.

My ambition was to pursue Biology or IT to gain further insight into their patterns, complexities, and operations, from the most basic level to the most advanced. Unfortunately, I enrolled in a non-STEM-related course in college, Multimedia Arts. My first year in college is probably the last time I encountered STEM-related subjects and the rest are art-related.

I have a deep admiration for STEM classes that instilled in me with respect for nature and technology, and especially, the lectures and teachers' thoughts and inspirations about their "STEM occupations". I appreciate and learned something from them.

Really, I should not cry over spilled milk. I still continue to hone my skills in arts (that's what I'm doing right now) and hear me out, I do not regret such a decision to enroll in Multimedia Arts because I learned a lot from art techniques to create effective designs and some lessons are being applied in my arts. Although I cannot change the past, I can use the STEM lessons as a source of inspiration for creating a comic series, Chapter STEM, with a combination of humor and educational content. This comic series will combine both humor and educational stuff. This is probably the only thing I can do to give credit for what is due.

STEM helps me to improve my creative skills.

STEM opens my eyes to see the beauty of patterns and functions, both big and small, invisible and visible.

STEM gives me an appreciation of diversity in living things.

STEM is one of the reasons why I love drawing.

This is the last preview of my "Ang Handuraw ni Hoshiana" comic series this year. I kind of had a hard time creating designs and symbols for this one. I'm glad it turned out well. The comic depicts two different phenomena when it is sunny and rainy at the same time. One is scientific and the other one is a superstitious belief here in the Philippines. As I said in my previous post, I will continue to post more updates for my comics. Stay tuned everyone!

Another preview of this comic series. This comic page tells the story of a Bakunawa, (hence the title at the upper left) a sea serpent that wants to eat the moon, resulting in a Lunar Eclipse. Bakunawa is one of our mythical creatures here in the Philippines.More comic previews soon! (AND COMICS WITH SPEECH BALLOONS AS WELL!)