A Sample of Line Art in Adobe Illustrator CS3 with the use of Gradient

Yesterday I posted a tutorial on how to make gradient in Illustrator CS3. Now I want to share a sample of my art work using gradient in Illustrator CS3. I wanted to use curved lines, so I chose to draw a female body. After creating the outer lines, I multiplied the lines from outside to inside, then created new lines, to emphasize some curves, and then I applied gradient, as a finishing touch, to some of the lines and got the desired look that I was aiming for. It's very easy to use Illustrator once you got the hang of it. It's a very helpful tool for you to achieve the work of art that you wanted to accomplish.

Illustrator Tutorial: How to Make Gradient in Adobe Illustrator CS3 for Your Artwork

Since people keep asking me about making gradients in Illustrator I have decided to make a tutorial of it.

If you have some questions, or in need of some clarifications, your inquiries are welcome! I'll do my best to help you. Thank you very much! Good luck with your art! :)

Here’s a step by step guide on how to make gradient in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

Art in Packaging: Enticing the Eyes and the Mind

Photo by Carmel Vilchez

I’m just thinking… a product’s packaging really does wonders. I remember when my Mom went to Singapore and bought some chocolates for us. She bought many, believe me. When we saw the packaging of each brand, in their interesting wrappers, my younger sister and I decided to take pictures of them at the rooftop, of our building, where the lighting is best (I am a food photography enthusiast, so I try to keep my camera handy when I see delicious and interesting foods). One of the products was wrapped like gold bars and the other product was shaped like merlions while yet another product had rounded chocolates wrapped in gold-colored paper. We decided to mix them all together and arrange them in interesting ways, so that when a person sees our photos they will say, to themselves, “Ah, I want to have some of those!” After our photo shoot we went back downstairs to finally taste each product. To our huge disappointment, the chocolates didn’t even taste like chocolate! They all tasted like sugar in some kind of bland mixture, except for the rounded chocolates. At least they had an outer wafer, covering the chocolate inside that’s mixed with more tiny bits of wafers. We gave most of them away to our friends. We just wanted to get rid of them because we didn’t like the taste or the texture. What’s the lesson in the story? Don’t buy foods based upon their expensive packaging. Looks can be deceiving and as they say, “You can’t tell a book by looking at its cover”. It’s no wonder that so many food producers invest so much money in their design and presentation. The packaging look luxurious while the chocolate itself tasted bland but I must say kudos to the artist behind them.

French Movie: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec

This is a French movie about a woman, Adele Blanc-Sec. She is a writer who has an old, eccentric, yet genius friend who has found a way to connect his mind beyond the barriers of death. He communicates with people who have passed on with the use of antique artifacts and art around him. Adele is looking for ways to revive her sister  who lays in a death-like catatonic state, after a fatal accident that Adele feels so guilty about. In Adele's quest for her sister’s cure, she travels to Egypt in search for the mummy of the Pharaoh Thutmose’s doctor. With the help of her eccentric friend, she tries to talk to the doctor's mind, asking him to help her revive her sister. I don’t know if the sister is really dead or not but she sure looked dead, and the only possible way to bring her back to normal is by ancient knowledge of medicine mixed with magic or supernatural power from the underworld, or from death and beyond it. The movie is a mix of sci-fi, fantasy and adventure. So, if you’re into that kind of thing, this movie is for you. Personally, though, I don’t like the story of this movie because of the theme about talking to dead people and the like. But I must admit that it’s well-written and well-executed. The visual effects and the incorporation of graphics and digital manipulation with real-life people are really noteworthy. It’s kind of a bizarre movie but it’s worth the watch, actually, and it’s for that reason I have watched this movie twice. 

"Of Gods and Men" and Some Reflections

How far can one go for his, or her, faith? How far can one go for what he, or she, stands for? Yes, I have asked myself those questions after watching the movie “Of Gods and Men”. It’s about the Trappist monks who were assigned in a poor part of Algeria. There, they tended to the poor and the needy. They gave food and medical assistance, including medicine. Some people say that the only reason why Christians help the poor is because they want to convert them to Christianity but that’s not always true. These Trappist monks peacefully coexisted with the Muslims in that area. They never tried to convert the Muslims to Christianity. They were there to live their faith and to show the love of Christ, by example. As a Catholic, I know I have failed to show my faith in, I think, most aspects of my life (No, I’m not proud of that). But I have always wondered how many Catholics have died for what they believe in. Oftentimes the Catholics are portrayed to be manipulative, controlling, murderous, evil, and all the vile things that people can think of. But that’s not true and it’s sad that people would rather believe anything that’s anti-Catholic, even if it’s a lie, a twisted truth, or an exaggeration, rather than know our side of the story. I once talked to a bible fundamentalist who’s very passionate about his hatred for Catholicism - for what he decidedly believes Catholicism to be. I asked him why he only listens to what his pastor tells him about the Catholic faith and not ask a Catholic apologist about Catholicism. He didn't answer - at first. I also told him I’m not the right person to ask about Catholicism either, because I’m not a Catholic apologist and I might give him a wrong answer. I told him that, if he really is looking for answers about our faith, that he should ask a Catholic apologist, or he should just do some research, himself. Well, he got mad at me for even suggesting – as in really mad. Tsk, I couldn’t help but be amazed at his blatant refusal to educate himself about something he hates so much when it’s his ignorance that feeds his hatred. I mean, hating something you are so ignorant about, and refuse to educate yourself about it, so that you can continuously hate it - wow - isn’t that absurd? I think it is. I don't know how protestant-kjv fundamentalists see any sense in that. He obviously just wants to hate the Catholic Church and there’s nothing I can do about that. All his questions are accusations/baiting questions, based on false premises, and not really questions. He asked me why I couldn’t answer his questions but, actually, I already have, to the best of my ability, but it’s obvious that he had already made up his mind that Catholicism is evil, other than the fact that most of his questions are all rhetorical and statements in a question form. To him all my answers are wrong simply because they’re not what he wants to hear. He said asking a Catholic apologist is like asking Satan to deceive him. Isn't that grand (rolls eyes)? That’s not the only time he called the Catholic "Church of Satan". It offended me, of course. Still, I tried my best to remain amicable to him and suggested that he and I should just agree to disagree but he refused and insisted that I convert to his understanding of Christianity (which is not even close to real Christianity). I am not mature in my own faith, that I admit, so I can’t continue my conversation about Christianity and God with him without getting infected by his hatefulness. I might end up being a very bad example of a Catholic to someone who declared to be the enemy of my faith. I don’t want to give him any reasons to add to what he could come up with in his mind to hate Catholicism and Catholics even more. I encountered many protestant-kjv fundamentalists like him when I was younger but he’s the one who really pushed me to the edge. I guess it’s a wake-up call for me to defend my faith because a lot of people are attacking it on all sides, both from the inside and outside the Church. Sometimes I wonder how can I defend my faith when I am not even a good example of it. Catholicism is the very core of my being; what molded me as a person and continuously doing so. So, insulting Catholicism is insulting my every cell. Even though I feel that my own faith is stagnant in me ( as of the moment at least, because, after talking to that protestant - who even denies being a protestant - I realized that I should take my being Catholic seriously), I am, at heart, a Catholic and will always be to the day I die. I am nothing without Catholicism, because if not for the Catholic faith, I don’t think I would know about God and His love and not knowing about God and His love means death to me; a senseless life that I don't want to live. I consider myself blessed to have been born and raised in the Catholic faith for in the Catholic faith I find my peace and comfort. I’m not denying that many atrocities have been done by a lot of people in power, both in the past and in the present by politicians and religious leaders alike, in the name of Catholicism but, that doesn’t make Catholicism, the faith, bad, and that doesn’t mean that the good that Catholics have done in the name of God and Catholicism are surpassed by the evils that other Catholics have done. Like the monks in the movie (Oh by the way, “Of Gods and Men” is based on a true story), they stayed because they genuinely cared for the poor and genuinely wanted to do God's will. ­If I were in those monks’ shoes, I don’t know if I’m going to leave or stay. Most probably I would leave. But then again, if I had left, would I be able to live with myself knowing that I saved my own skin like a coward while the rest of my companions decided to stay behind, to tend to the poor, knowing that it would mean their death? But who can really tell… everything is grace, and I ask God for the grace of faith and the strength to live my faith and fight for it each waking moment of my life.

“Of Gods and Men”, for me, is not a movie for only Catholics but for people of all walks of faiths. The monks served as an inspiration and as a very good example; to stand for what we know is righteous no matter what the cost. That’s what makes people different from animals and that’s what it means to be the image and likeness of God.

In conclusion, here’s a very touching quote from that movie: “Should it ever befall me, and it could happen today, to be a victim of the terrorism swallowing up all foreigners here, I would like my community, my church, my family, to remember that my life was given to God and to his country; that the Unique Master of all life was no stranger to this brutal departure. And that my death is the same as so many other violent ones, consigned to the apathy of oblivion. I've lived enough to know, I am complicit in the evil that, alas, prevails over the world and the evil that will smite me blindly. I could never desire such a death. I could never feel gladdened that these people I love be accused randomly of my murder. I know the contempt felt for the people here, indiscriminately. And I know how Islam is distorted by a certain Islamism. This country, and Islam, for me are something different. They're a body and a soul. My death, of course, will quickly vindicate those who call me naïve or idealistic, but they must know that I will be freed of a burning curiosity and, God willing, will immerse my gaze in the Father's and contemplate with him his children of Islam as he sees them. This thank you which encompasses my entire life includes you, of course, friends of yesterday and today, and you too, friend of last minute, who knew not what you were doing. Yes, to you as well I address this thank you and this farewell which you envisaged. May we meet again, happy thieves in Paradise, if it pleases God, the Father of us both. Amen. Insha'Allah.”

Centurion

“It’s easy to turn to the gods for salvation but it’s soldiers who do the fighting, and soldiers who do the dying, and the gods never get their feet wet…” 

How I wish I had watched this movie last year. It’s not for the faint-hearted, so if you’re going to watch this movie be very prepared for the gory parts where blood is gushing as the heads are smashed or cut, throats are slashed… It’s full of suspense as the Centurions are trying to stay alive; fleeing from their pursuers, and make it back home to their fellowmen. One of my favorite characters is General Titus Flavius Virilus (played by Dominic West). He always thinks of the welfare of his men. It’s a very admirable trait of a leader. Unfortunately not all leaders are like that as can also be seen in the movie. The casting is good, I must say, but I have to admit that some cast don’t look Roman or Greek and the language used is modern English. But I will recommend this movie to anyone. It’s a very good watch. You will never get bored.

It's still raining...

It’s still raining… I wonder when it will stop. It’s not that I want it to stop because I don’t. I just wish there’s no thunder and lightning at night because I can’t help worrying about the electricity. I was awake until 2am. The sound of thunder was terrible last night. It’s like rolling rocks about to fall at the rooftops. My mind began to wander and I thought about the end of the world. I asked myself, what if the thunder is not a usual thunder; what if it’s the sound of heaven opening up with legions of angels and Jesus is coming down to judge the living and the dead? Surely I will go to hell, I thought. Sigh, I wasn’t idle when I was thinking of those things. In fact I was working on some designs. The rains are brought by series of hurricanes currently plaguing the Philippines one after another. The other one, I just heard, has left, and now another one is coming. I don’t listen to the news since the newscasters talk like everything is a serious matter and it’s urgent, even when the news is about entertainment and showbiz, LOL. I don’t like high-pitched voices, and newscasters here do that on purpose, maybe to keep the viewers’ attention. The rain as of the moment is strong, but it’s not like cats-and-dogs kind of rain. Surely, though, it’s causing hassles to drivers and people who are out in the streets. Speaking of streets, I’m amazed that our streets are not flooded yet. Strange, it used to get flooded with just little downpour. Now I can barely see through the glass of my window. The rain is getting stronger and stronger. I think I should fix myself a glass of hot chocolate. Yummy!