Cupid's Long-Lost Twin Brother

Falling in love is one of the best feelings I know of. You think more of the girl in that picture you're holding in one hand, which you've probably stolen from her best friend's wallet. You close your eyes and fantasize about a candle-lit dinner by the sea; you open your eyes just to catch yourself kissing that lovestruck guy in the mirror with one hand in his pocket.:P

But it has been a different case for me. Since I began drawing nude or shall we say kama sutra art at an early age of five, I graduated from human anatomy before I knew the big difference between the words sex and love making. By then I mastered the use of charcoal and started charity work with Cupid. I was giving away simple 20-page scrapbooks to complex charcoal paintings of my friends hugging or kissing total strangers. Just like Vicky Belo, we were helping people fall in love with each other.

Just recently, I received two commission and gave my life a long thought. I've long retired from this kind of work but the imploring tone in this young lover's voice brought me to tears and made me pick up my bow and pencil. How could I fail to recognize this special talent of making everyone look like Brad Pitt? I knew I was meant for great things.:P

Just some Valentine gift ideas.;)

Banzai!

My tita is coming home in time for Kadayawan. Sayaka, her Japanese stepdaughter will be going too and will probably be staying here for 3months. I haven't had the chance to know her well during my stay in Japan. But despite the language barrier and cultural differences we managed to understand each other by body language. For Filipinos, expressing hunger would be opening your mouth, putting your fingers in one hand together and pushing it before your lips. Once, I received a bewildered look from her and to prevent further embarrassment I quickly gesticulated chopsticks with my middle finger and thumb. Good thing I didn't lick my fingers to convey "sarap to the bones" or her samurai dad would have stabbed me with a chopstick. Well, I just hope she brought a bagful of English for her vacation.

The lady to the left is not Sayaka. And definitely not Takejiro. This is a 30-minute charcoal sketch of another friend I prepared as sample work for a commission.