post-travel journal

What happens when wonder | wander | women put together the perfect sketchbook kit for travelling... and then leave it behind? 

There we were in Paris, the jewel of the continent, beauty in every direction, and we were empty of sketchbook, watercolours, pens or pencils.

sunset at Pont Alexandre III

On other trips we brought the notebook, journal, pens...everything ready but us. There was no time to sketch because we were busy seeing everything, keeping company with friends or family, or moving to the next location. What to do? 

writing & drawing by hand

A lasting benefit our Benedictine education (ora et labora) brought wonder | wander | women were penmanship classes. Before that we watched our parents writing longhand - admiring their beautiful handwriting and eagerly awaiting our turn to put thought to paper so beautifully. 

"Bayan Ko" chorus in baybayin by Mahala Urra

Long before studies showed the importance of hand writing and how among other things it engages the whole human being - we were encouraged to write legibly and well. 

Being creative ignited our love for cursive early on. Eventually this art form spread into other calligraphic options. Including writing in our own regional native alphabet, badlit - the Visayan version of the better known baybayin, Philippine script of Luzon islands. 

wonder | wander | women creative collaboration

Baybayin is a pre-Spanish 14th to 18th century writing system used in the Philippines to write Tagalog and other Philippine languages and dialects. Baybayin is an abugida, which combines a consonant and vowel into a single symbol that represents a syllable. The name comes from the Tagalog word baybay, which means "to spell".

waiting for spring

wonder | wander | women's word for the year so far is "deluge". Between grey or freezing weather, natural disasters, and the man-made disasters of our collective governments, the year has barely started and it already feels like we're being swept away.

Kalachuchi (Frangipani) in ballpoint and watercolour

dancing with paint

How do animators create such iconic characters as Bugs Bunny, Stitch, Pikachu or the Disney Princesses? There are a wealth of ideas that can emerge in the creative process but the hands have to be loose enough to create the greatest range of wild, out-there, crazy designs.

travel journal

wonder | wander | women crossed another item off our bucket list: we went to Switzerland! Some dear friends hosted us in the gorgeous city of Bern and we were so excited to explore the mythical land we had only known through media like Heidi and The Sound of Music.

View of Bern from the Rose Garden

Lately we're working harder on keeping a journal while on the move. We love art and travelling, but it's hard to balance both when on a trip. There isn't much time to draw when walking and moving around, but there are quiet times that are perfect for resting and journaling.

sketch in the city

Seems to wonder | wander | women like the times are getting rougher and tougher. It's been hard to work at home with all these worries whirling through our heads.

Art, as always, soothes our anxiety. Without too much planning, we pick up a trusty waterproof pen and our favourite paint. Simple doodles with pure colours are best: pick one colour from the palette and let your drawing grow around it.

the art of life: character design

wonder | wander | women have a new project! It's good to get back into drawing for comics again. Of course every project, especially one that tells a story, naturally comes with a slew of research.

Mermay 2024

Last year wonder | wander | women jumped into the joyful ocean community that was Mermay, an art and animation competition created by Disney animator Tom Bancroft, who also created Mushu from Mulan.

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planner art

wonder | wander | women love art journaling! Scrapbooking, watercolour, doodles and urban sketching, whatever it is, we want to try it. But over the past few years we noticed the trend of artistic planners, from Hobonichi to bullet journaling, and last year we finally decided to try it.

I used bullet journals for almost a decade, but aside from a single highlighter, a few stickers, and the occasional doodle when I didn't have my sketchbook, my planner was very basic. I preferred to keep art in my journals and sketchbooks. But watching others draw and paint in their planners, I really wanted to see if I would enjoy it too.

botanical watercolours

The study of plants is an ancient science, and as with the oldest sciences, was tied to the mysteries of nature and the body. It was considered essential for anyone of learning to study and record plants and the way they grew. Even children in today's schools are encouraged to draw the parts of flowers and try to grow their own plants from seeds.

Botanical illustration therefore is one of the oldest uses of art. It is both art and science, a study and an appreciation of the beauty of nature. With our eyes and hands, we are analysing the structure of a living thing. Using ink and paint, we are learning to understand a growing thing from the outside in.

art process: testing pens

Every illustrator has their favourite medium, and mine is pen and ink. I love the fluid colours of digital art and the temperamental, surprising whims of watercolour, but my heart belongs to the simple beauty of the ink line. 

"The Dot and the Line: A Romance in

Lower Mathematics", Chuck Jones, 1965

the heART of Spring

It has been a hard winter and a cold, wet spring. Despite the joyful work we do on our lives every day, there are times when we feel a little resentful, heartsick and lonely.

Robin in diary

the journey of a hand

Our relationship with our bodies seems like it should be natural and instinctive. Who knows best how to take care of ourselves, if not ourselves? But if that were really true we wouldn't need doctors. Even habits and occupations that bring us joy can also wear us out if we don't practice awareness of our bodies' capabilities and limitations.

studying, resting, writing, learning

Vaccinations are rolling out, variants rampant, summer days hot in one country and damp in the other. What are stay-at-home wonder | wander | women to do? Read, rest, write and learn!

Robin in the garden, watercolours in Paperblanks notebook

indoor adventures: #inktember

It's been a very busy few months project-wise! But wonder | wander | women couldn't resist the new art challenge that popped up this year. Instead of drawing through the month of October, I celebrated my birth month by drawing for Inktember instead.

Butterflies

birthday spirits

It's a wonder | wander | women birthday post! Mom celebrated her birthday a few days ago and it's our tradition that I draw or paint her something for her birthday. Our favourite motif is the divine figure of the bodhisattva from Thai Buddhist art or the diwata of Philippine folklore.

sketches from the soul

In Catholic school art class I would always be scolded for drawing. Our teachers assigned projects that were more suited for factories or souvenir shops than art galleries: a lamp, a figure made of seashells, a crochet scrapbook, a bound journal that we were not allowed to draw in. Everything had to be constructed the same way; everything had to look uniform.

Drawing master: Picasso and paper

'To know what you're going to draw, you have to begin drawing.' - Pablo Picasso

Nude Resting Woman, 1966

indoor adventures: art journaling

It's Valentine's Day and our feeds are filling up with hearts and gratitude. We want to keep a reminder of life and love as a permanent record - but how to make it special? With our first love - drawing!

InkTober: taking a line for a walk.

It's October and artists everywhere, even digital and 3D masters, are digging out their pens and paper.  Every year hundreds of illustrators and animators join the InkTober Initiative, created by illustrator and teacher Jake Parker. Mr Parker says he started InkTober in 2009 to strengthen his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits.

Digital sketch, Photoshop