I decided to make something over the weekend out of weeks of obsessing over Daft Punk’s new song Get Lucky. It’s free to download, if you want it as a wallpaper. 
The wallpaper is available in these sizes:
If you want any modifications or have any requests, just leave a comment below, or contact me through my email: hello@gabmadrid.com
Don’t forget to share the love!
Last December 2012, I was invited to contribute an illustration for Kamusta? Magazine by their Photography Editor, and my friend from high school, Joseph Angan. They were counting down to Christmas, and every day they would feature a photo or illustration that emphasizes a certain part of the Filipino Christmas. Mine is about (extended) family reunions every Christmas, and how you’re suddenly introduced to all these relatives you’ve never met before. Here’s a digital sketch from my process:
And here’s the final version: 
Really liked how it turned out. Thick lines, harsh corners, and warm color schemes are my jam.
Thanks to the Kamusta? Team for the opportunity to contribute! Check out Kamusta? Magazine here!
Kamusta? is an online travel magazine for adventurers who want to see the real Philippines. Here at Kamusta? Magazine, we aim to showcase the best of Filipino life, and to provide useful information for travellers and backpackers hoping to experience life as locals do.
Earlier this year, Rob started this thing where he would trade portraits with other artists. (He was half tempted to call them Portrades. I thought he should. It sounds cool, right?) I contacted him a few weeks ago and decided to go for it! I’ve seen Rob distort his name to Robocham a few times, so I got an idea from that. Here’s a few sketches from my process:
And here’s what I finally came up with:
Th title is a reference to Mega Man Legends (obvs). With this whole Mega Man thing going on with the illustration, I thought I could insert a few small eggs around the illustration:
His life meter is a reference to his famous Helvetiburger shirt:
Photo of Rob pilfered from his Facebook profile. Photo by Patricia Nabong
And I put a little Servbot version of my face near my signature.
And, here’s the portrait of me that he did. Most excellent.
You can see the rest of Rob Cham’s Portrait Trades this year on his Facebook page here! Or here!
This blog entry contains spoilers of the first season of Legend of Korra. (Also, based on Comic Con 2012 previews, maybe some of season two.) If you haven’t seen the end of season one, well why not?
I have a confession to make: I’m a huge fan of animated series. I’ve been a fan of children’s cartoons since I was old enough to watch tv. I’m 23 now, and I still watch cartoons, though my tastes have changed since omelette du fromage. I am particularly fond of The Legend Of Korra, Tron: Legacy, Motorcity, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, among others. Their plots are driven by very loveable, relatable characters (except you Mako, I still hate you a little) and impart lessons that are effectively taught by immersing the audience in beautiful fictional worlds. They also tackle themes like freedom, passion, war, and justice on a mature level, ambiguously putting these ideologies to test with characters that cannot be easily separated into Black or White, Good or Evil. Basically, they’re reeeaally good and I love them.
And with – and out of – this love, I have spent a generous amount of time doing fan art based on these fictional worlds. Now some would say that I’ve wasted my time doing this. They could say that it is uncreative, unoriginal, amatuer-ish, and useless. And I would like to say otherwise.
Fan art, and other kinds of fan work, can take as much creativity and originality as purely original work. By taking these existing characters and worlds to situations that their creator could and/or would not, the fan artist can take fans like me to directions we never thought possible. Fan art is rich with non-canon material such as pairings, offspring of canon characters, origin stories, all of which having the same amount of emotion that can move an audience. Art with stories that dabble in questions like What happens 10 years from now? 50 years from now? What happened 50 years ago? are my favorite kind of fan art!
Art by Vinson Ngo
PPGD, a crossover web manga that started around 2002, tells the story of the Power Puff Girls and Dexter (from Dexter’s Laboratory), and their action-packed adventures as they grow up. The comic frequently includes various cameos of characters from other cartoons. Read the manga at ppg.snafu-comics.com
Working with preexisting characters and settings can also serve as limitations to the fan artist. The fan artist can’t just take a certain character anywhere he wants to. It has to make sense, considering the personalities and motivations of the character in question.
What if Korra never got her bending back by the end of season one?
“How Book One: Air should have ended.” Art by SlipStreamBorne
This ending made more sense to me considering how much Korra was out of touch with her spirituality. Near the end of season one, Korra desperately needed a lesson in spirituality. So desperate that making a whole season of lessons of it makes sense, too. (But considering where creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino are planning to take season two - with Korra taking her connection with the Spirit World for granted and using the Avatar State for small, useless things – I am now okay with the ending. *Thumb up* )
Fan art is also a way of expressing appreciation to the professionals who have given society these wonderful fantasy worlds to live in. These people have put their blood, sweat, and tears into creating these worlds only to be experienced by you, the fan. Creating fan art is, in a way, telling these creators that we love and appreciate what they’re doing.
There should be no shame in creating fan art, or fan work in general. Fan work is not inherently dull or uncreative. There will always be some exceptions, but remember that not every fan artist is an E.L. James-equivalent. In the end, it’s always up to the artist to take any available material to creative and thought-provoking places.
(Also I’d like to mention that you, with all your power and might, should not copy someone else’s style or ideas and claim them as your own. That is not the point of Fan Art. And don’t call it as being “influenced by [insert famous artist here]“. That’s not the point of influence, too. But I think that’s another discussion for another day.)
I think we owe it to these creators that we do something that is our own. It does not just mean doing something that is completely new and never been done before. (I personally don’t think that’s entirely possible and/or necessary.) It could also mean taking a generic/old/boring concept and giving it a different perspective. It’s like paying it forward: Striving to give others wonder and amazement (and awe and sadness and whatever strong emotion there is left) is what I think the ultimate goal for a creator. That’s what keeps the spirit of creation alive. Try asking Santa!
Related: Check out this Inquirer article on fan art by my friend Judee Zabala!
Events and conferences on creativity are always great to attend. They’re places where creative individuals can seek inspiration and motivation. Graphika Manila is definitely one of the top events on creativity in the country and I’m fortunate to have attended this year (February 9, 2013). Guests from around the globe and from different creative fields were invited to share their thoughts and experiences, and here’s a quick summary of the most important things I’ve learned from them.
You really don’t know where your work will end up if you don’t create it and put it out there.
James emphasizes the importance of constantly working on projects. One does not need clients in order to work. Doing what you love to do is also important. Personal passion should never be replaced by monetary goals. Never stop doing the things you love doing. Soon enough, people with start recognizing your work and clients will come.
Their presentation was mostly a portfolio showcase plus a short and simple demo on how they do their different studies for their character designs. I’ve also noticed that they’ve collaborated with a ton of other artists and companies, mixing up their character To-Fu (who is made of, you guessed it, tofu) with designs of other characters from companies like Disney. I’ve always wanted to collaborate with different artists myself, but never have really known how to go about it.
In a creative project, decisions can be segregated in two levels of importance: Wants and Needs. Prioritize the Needs to fulfill requirements and use Wants to make your project stand out. Understanding that design is primarily a solution to a certain (group of) problems, I think segregating your process that way can definitely help.
Buck was named after Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller, an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist. Ryan mentioned that he was fond of how Fuller defined a designer:
A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist.
Buck’s philosophy was summarized as the combination of Art, Science and the Desire to Innovate. It also seemed like they use a lot of humor in their work. Ryan tells us that innovation is attainable. He tells us to challenge ourselves, to put ideas before techniques, and to take risks.
Jessica tells us of her origins as a designer, being exposed to web design in her younger years while playing Neopets, an online virtual pet game. From there she discovers that she can “make the greatest Neopets webpage of all”, and make money out of it.
She gave the audience bits of lessons, telling the audience about playing and being a player (nope, not that kind of player). Work should not be the opposite of play. Play, instead, is an integral part of the learning and creative process. Play prepares us, and immerses us in a powerful state of mind.
Benjamin’s presentation gave us a sneak peek into their process of creating visual effects for movies and TV series like Scorsese’s Hugo or Game of Thrones. It also had a lot of snippets of knowledge for the audience, especially when working as a team:
Working with paper, Benja has learned to not be scared of failure, and he encourages us to do the same. He tells us to to purposely make time for artistic endeavor. Being a freelancer, Benja also stresses the importance of honoring deadlines and commitments, and having the drive to be the best in what you do.
In the end, the event was inspiring for me. Although, this year’s event had a few setbacks, (Lining up repeatedly and for long periods of time upset a handful of attendees. If you had a problem with that, you should read this) everything was worth it. Most of the time I was at awe just witnessing their process and their ideas taking shape. Seeing how their minds work, and how their works are pieced together is just priceless learning material. Being a designer, I will forever be a student of the world, and attending events like Graphika Manila take me back to school every time.
Hello, and welcome to GabMadrid.com! My name is Gab Madrid, and I love to draw. I made this blog so I could have a personal place in the cloud where I can share my thoughts and ideas on various things related to the work I do and love.
I will be writing about (mostly personal) projects that I am working on. I have a lot of ideas lined up in my head just waiting to be created and developed, and I’d like this blog to be a place for that.
I also plan to write about events related to the industry I work in, such as Graphika Manila (happening next Saturday!) or Form, Function & Class by the Philippine Web Designers’ Organization.
There are also a lot of things I’d like to cover, such as other people’s work but I’ll usually focus on:
This blog is still under construction and will be subject to some more changes in the coming weeks, so please bear with me! I’m also open for link and art trades! Just send me an email at hello@gabmadrid.com or tweet me up at @gabmadrid.
Note: The title of this post is a reference to Lie To Me’s opening theme “Brand New Day” by Ryan Star.