Reliving Past Glory

There is something about shopping in National Bookstore that makes me feel like a kid with generous godparents during Christmas. Okay, the book selections are nothing to be excited about, but this Philippine institution pwns PowerBooks, Fully Booked and their pretentious ilk because of one amazing thing: the school supplies. The art supplies, in particular. A smorgasbord of graphite and pigment and parchment and ink. I got sidetracked whilst shopping for S’s poster paints and brushes by the varied array of pencils. Yes, for the uninitiated, I collect pencils, mostly Faber Castell and Staedtler ones, with the clearly marked grades ranging from F, B, H. I like pretending to be an artist; an artist has to have various instruments to be able to depict a range of images and control: light yet hard points for preliminary sketching, smudgy dark soft lead for shading, fine tips for final, precise detailing.

And then I saw the Derwent tins. This storied company of master pencil craftsmen, revered by generations of artists. I began to think that possession of materials lovingly stamped with the brand name will serve as my aegis, giving me hitherto unrealized, magical artistic skillz through mere handling.

Drool.

Sadly, I am currently penniless due to improvident handling of credit card expenses, thus precluding me from purchasing such a precious item. But I’ve got my lazy eye on you, you sexy double-tiered tin full of premium pencils and paper. I’ve also got several projects lined up (if I muster enough energy to rise from this lethargy to even start them): 1. Cthulhu-inspired tentacle pr0n crossover of octopoid Old One violating terrified maiden, 2. HP Lovecraft – Derleth collab inspired image of succubus clad in 19th century S&M gear, submissively controlled by a fierce, powerful warlock behind her, and 3. Gatch’s Sorin Markov birthday request.

In the meantime, I shall regale you with a collection of my old sketches. A good time to try out the WordPress Gallery feature, too. Enjoy.

[Here comes a frantic half-hour of searching through my laptop, my external HDD, and finally through my old CD backups for the zip file containing my scanned drawings. Relief upon finding a copy from a circa-2002 CD backup.]