Eizu tries to blog about art, games, and anything that she likes

LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex)/ Feminist Theory Related

Usually people can be judgmental, you might have not notice it but a human's mind has infinite words of perception. There are countless issues about LGBTI and feminism ever since, well... a long time ago. Even if we want to shout an equality statement to the world, it might never come true. All we can do is to respect people who they are. Yes. Respect. It is a small word that means something big.

Our activity project for our course subject in Art Theory II was to photograph a member(s) of our group portraying a subject about LGBTI and Feminism during our remaining time in class which is about 20 minutes. It should be printed in a thick paper and ought to look like a real postcard.

The conceptualizing process is always hard for me because I want my idea to speak out loud, and that's personally hard. At first we already thought of a good concept for the LGBTI subject which is gay marriage, but it was actually arduous to compel the boys in our group to do it. Here stands tall of men's ego. I know that it can be hard for straight guys to hold hands in "class" for a photo shoot, but since it was a simple school activity I thought it might be done. Time was running out and here we are sitting ducks, though it's fine because all of the other groups seem to be having a hard time on their own, and have no other else to do except... do nothing. The aura of that is very obvious in the class. Somehow, it was funny and awkward. In the meantime, I was still thinking about a concept for feminism and the only idea I came up with is girls who arm wrestle, also there were fewer ideas from my group mates about it compare to LGBTI. Since the deadline for the post card was next week, we just decided to think of a nice concept later then do the photo shoot the next day.

The day after yesterday came and the concept was still the same. But for a few extra minutes our concept for the LGBTI was final, two men holding hands and then a spark of idea from Denden, our group mate, said that the background should be "Keep of the grass." Perfect! I really love this concept. We had the photo shoot done without problems because we are the only people left in the class room, which means that there's no reason to be shy about.~

Keep of the grass -- It sounds something else right? We know the rules yet we still break them.

On the other hand, in feminism I just found an idea from my surrounding. I saw a ply board painted in brown. Rally. It rang a bell. A female leader running a rally. We thought it just fit in. So we did it, I intentionally didn't think I would be the one to portray it. So it was kinda awkward to pose at the camera holding a ply board... and that I should look like some bad ass woman. Nevertheless, it went well. Furthermore, I did all the editing and layout in Photoshop and I actually spent some time doing it. It was fun! The added quotes on the back was my idea, because it highlights the issue more and it spells "importance of gender" quite well. I researched some post card designs, their required paper sizes, and some information on how to mail it. I also discovered that there were various styles, but I decided to keep our postcard simple.

She's faceless because the society, especially from before, see women as of no importance in the economy. In spite of being faceless, she still strives to shout her thoughts by numbers and by gaining attention.

This invented product ad about ideology was made for my Art Theory class.

In today's generation people's perception in beauty have changed. It is defined by slim curvy forms and with a beautiful face.

Slim is in.

There are countless advantages when you're slim such as being able to dress up on trending fashions, being seen as beautiful, becoming "in" in the society, being praised and more!

In my poster, it has an obvious concept about magical lies. You cannot erase fat in a minute which is the same as you can't be fat in a minute, unless you're not human. There's no magic to this dreamy body. This is also an example of false advertising but in a more literal way. People are blinded by these kinds of products such as teas, anti-aging creams, and such. Some of these people even thought these products would actually work in like... 7 days. The great strategy about these products is that they make life look easier. But reality always happen when we wake up. All in all, people can reach this nice body when they do the magic themselves.

I created my ad using Photoshop and kept minimalism interacted. And I also used these stocks: FREE STOCK Bottle Of Magic by mmp-stock and Stock Request 9 by artforever123. Stocks can be objects, persons, backgrounds, and the like. They are free to use but most of can be found in deviantart and should be given proper credit.

The ideology that I am imparting is about body perfectionism. The voice that my ad is trying to shout is "buy me and be like me." It's trying to talk to the oppressed people who are mentally burdened by the thought of insecurities of comparing oneself to the more sexy body which is accepted in the society.

My supposed audience here are people who are overweight and underweight. They should by now realize the misleading product I have created, and should be laughing right now. Of course I didn't create this ad for the profit of the company "Magic Tea", well literally because this is not a serious business. It's more like a parody scene. I created this ad to make people realize something big, you know that the ingredients in potions are mysterious and magical right? Do people even have the time to research chemicals in slimming drinks? If yes, then they should know the effects or whatsoever. I've heard of slimming coffees, and I've heard some of them as giving a life long illness, because they have magical chemicals that are not worth it. And yes, I've heard of successful true stories, but again... is it worth it? Even if the person beside you uses it and you've seen it yourself, of course the curiosity in you wants to have the same results. But what if it didn't? People have different body types, both inside and out. When you use that one pack which contains 12 pieces of slimming coffees, those chemicals stay somewhere in your body. And remember, they are not BFAD accredited. And again, yes, that's what you call magic.

I give two thumbs up to people who appreciate who they are, who love their skin, who are equipped with beautiful attitudes, who take care of their bodies with a healthy diet, and can walk out of the house with no make-up on.

You can be beautiful as long as you are healthy.

These are examples of advertisements that really inspires me to stay beautiful:

Picture Source

This ad made me smile. It made me think, how did she do it? Why is she so radiant and beautiful? Well... It's because of DOVE!

Picture Source

This picture, kicks realization back! This is a huge difference. And my eyes go right through the Dove real beauty campaign. They look so happy, healthy, and gorgeous. In my art history class, women are supposed to be voluptuous with big breasts and hips like Venus of Wilindorf. Why? Because it's a feature of a real woman and because they are meant to have maternal love to their child from their pregnancy, to the drinking of their milk, and until they grow up. Imagine a slim mother do this?

Picture source

When I was young I imagined people like Marilyn Monroe in a swim suit and comparing it in today's sexy bodies. I thought we must be more lucky because the old ones weren't that gorgeous. But now when I saw these pictures. I want to take back what I said.

My conclusion in this ideology is that you can only achieve a healthy body with a healthy diet and exercise, it's never about the magical drink or making excuses. It's about you. What you are defines who you are, few people accept their body types and I salute them because they embrace themselves, even though they aren't slim they look perfectly beautiful! Thanks for reading!

This Christmas season was amazing! For the first time me and my family watched a Metro Manila Film Festival movie at the newly constructed Harbor Point, Subic! We don't usually watch in a cinema because we have home theater. Watching with the family sure is great! We planned to watch "Sisterakas" but due to the popular demand the seats were already full! So we decided to watch the "The Strangers."

The movie was nice. It kept me guessing who was the real aswang. Me and my mom exchanged whispers about ideas where the story is going. The story takes place about a family who got lost in a province and is said to be haunted by the strangers especially the aswangs. Additionally, this has an unexpected twist, which is kinda cool and gives you an "Ahhh!" expression.

An Aswang is a mythical creature in Filipino folklore. The aswang is an inherently evil vampire-like creature and is the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories. Spanish colonists noted that the Aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines, even in the 16th century.

"Aswang" is a generic term applied to all types of witches, vampires, manananggals, shapeshifters, werebeasts and monsters. The original definition is an eater of the dead, also called the bal-bal (maninilong in Catanauan, Quezon), which replaces the cadaver with banana trunks after consumption. Aswang stories and definitions vary greatly from region to region and person to person, and no particular set of characteristics can be ascribed to the term. However, the term is mostly used interchangeably with manananggal and are also usually depicted as female.

--Wikipedia

We have many horror and suspense movies about aswangs and more other supernatural stories. There were different kinds of stories about them and also produced countable movies and series that were a great hit in our society. This movie is absolutely out of the box and a very different entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival because the comedy ones were in demand and it overshadowed this wonderful story, needless to say this was still a good one.

Overall, the movie was legit! The actors surely have amazing talents, the effects were applaudable, and the story was brilliant!

The Trailer:


Enchong Dee's acting was impeccable!!! (Image source)

We all know the saying about a picture is worth a thousand words. Now how would an artist put those thousand words into a canvas, especially for an art competition?

There are rules in art competitions and there are also options like open theme category in which you will compose your art according to your artistic vision. And one thing to take in mind is that people join competition to win. Why join one if you don't plan on winning? Our message through art should be meaningful and it has to grab the target audience's interest. There's no harm done if we don't win, what matters is we learn something from joining one.

I have joined some minor art competitions online and also during high school. In good terms, I did achieved some awards. But when you're in college, of course it's going to be different. You are obliged, depending on your course, to join national painting competitions. It will help an extra boost in your resume and reputation as an artist.

These are some of my ancient works that were submitted in art competitions:

From left to bottom: Toys are alive, 2010 and Blood + Fanart, 2007.
From right to bottom: Philippine's Passion for Shell Competition 2010 and Color Contest 2008.

It was a very friendly competition for me. And I had fun creating it. There were no regrets whatsoever because you only had to invest time and the result would be to attain a great thing called experience. Furthermore, you can also get cash prizes.

Highlights

Hidden Beauty [2012]

8 paintings among some entries are chosen by the Far Eastern University Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts Professors as the official entries to the 2013 Calendar of Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC). This painting won 5,000 Pesos and 7 more others.

I submit my work not knowing about the prizes, I was surprised it had one. When the deliberation was still undone, there were last minute paintings that was accepted. I was so disheartened when i saw their works, i told to myself that I could've done much better. Their skills was very high level.

It was an unexpected and hidden-like announcement, if I hadn't learned about this from one of my Prof I wouldn't have joined and experienced this happy feeling. Since it was not on the plan, this painting was done within a day and a half using acrylic on canvas. 2' x 3'.

Imagine! 2x3 feet! It's the first painting I had ever done on a big canvas, it was quite stressful because of the big space that I have to paint. Now that it's all over and done, I've never been so excited to paint on another big canvas again! Haha!

This is also the first time that I painted on WITHOUT PENCIL SKETCH. The first direct method I've ever done with acrylics! Gaahh, I'm so happy I was able to do it nicely. Oh and look at the cute small koi fishes! Aren't they cute? <3 span="span">

When my art was selected my Professors gave me advices to make it better, like I should add some koi to add more to the meaning of "Hidden Beauty". I also edited the water lily petal.

Again, at the last minute, a Professor of mine said that there would be an awarding ceremony, too bad I came too late, there were free food!!! When I arrived at the exhibit, there were people going out and I was the only one there. It was so awkward.

There were many beautiful paintings exhibited from many universities, I was so overwhelmed by the winning entries, they truly deserve it. There were some paintings that were eye candies, but a competition is a competition, there's always a quota.

The Remaining Seeds [2012]

An entry to Petron Painting Competition

A child's mind is very creative and inspiring. Teaching them how to take care of our environment would be the best teaching of all, it's the simplest way of saying I love Earth, our God's greatest gift! All our love ones and precious belongings will all be lost in just an instant calamity. Prevention is crucial. Being a professional isn't enough.

And as the saying goes, the children are our future, I believe each child should grow up and learn valuable subjects. An example is to be knowledgeable about morals and the value of life.

By the way, this is a rush work, about 8 hours or so.

When was about to submit my artwork at the receiving location right before 12 mid night, which is the Petron's traditional way in their every art competition to provide students extra time to finish their works, I saw a lot of grand works with large canvases, I really felt embarrassed about mine. They were personalized canvas, and their works are just handled with time and nice techniques. Even all of this mishaps, I never regretted joining. Experience is a good teacher.

Prizes are nice, but the real competition is with your performance yesterday. (Irwin Greenberg)

These competitions help me in my personal aesthetics as an art student. True, competitions are hard, but it's a great exercise to be more motivated and inspired. Joining competitions has widden my perspective that there are other great artists out there and since they can do it, I could do better.

The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage. (Arie de Geus)

Tips

Always ask for critiques and suggestions. From professors, parents, siblings, and friends. It's better to hear something from them rather than from strangers. Professors never expects anything back if you win, never think of that. Just think that they are always here to help. In appreciation, we can thank them by painting a portrait or simple art.

Check your calendar in advance. Never miss a competition! In my experience, I have missed a LOT. And most of my works are last minute.

Read carefully the instructions. This is common sense, but it's better to print it than tiwala sa memory mo

Expect the unexpected. Trust me, I always expect.

You don't need to think about representing your school. I honestly never thought about that. But you will unless you are going to represent your University.

Quotes from http://quote.robertgenn.com/getquotes.php?catid=48

Aesthetics

1. Concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste.

2. (Philosophy) A philosophical theory as to what is beautiful.

3. (Art) The branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste (emphasizing the evaluative criteria that are applied to art).

4. Philosophy of art or how one thinks about art