An Irish Blessing.

2nd week of #safendsound! :) 

Please check my ig (@monicarize) to get more info on each creature! :) 

For many artists like myself, October = #Inktober. This year though, I wanted to make my own little series (& prompts): Safe & Sound. My goal is to raise more awareness regarding the animals that are currently in danger or close to being extinct! I will draw & paint the listed animals, safe & sound in their natural habitat, in the hopes that one day they can truly be out of harm's way & free from any sort of oppression. 

I got most of my information from @wwf since they're the organization that I wish to fund! I hope that if you also care for animals like I do or want to learn more about them, you'd try & check out WWF's website! Also, if you have a few dollars to spare, consider sending money their way to fund them in their projects to preserve these wonderful creatures! :D Of course, there are other ways to help them like raising more awareness about this issue! 

 #safendsound. :)⠀

I'm not sure if anyone would be interested, but depending on the demand, the postcards that I will paint on might be up for sale - 50% of the proceeds will be donated to WWF! :)⠀

P.S. Head on over to my instagram account (@monicarize) to get more info about each animal! :D

Before December last year, I kept hearing about a planner called Hobonichi Techo. I checked their website out of curiosity & ended up buying the planner (Japanese version), a cover, some stickers, & a board. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked when my bill came. :)) 

The purchase, fortunately, was worth every penny. The paper, albeit very thin, manages to hold a good amount of water for watercolors! Acrylic & gouache can also be used with minimal ghosting at the back! I love my Techo & I’ve been using it these past few months! Here are some pages I painted early this year. :)

More spreads posted on my Instagram: @monicarize A more in-depth account of my purchase on my website: ongmonica.com

I know we all end up dying alone, but surely we shouldn’t have to live our lives alone, too. :)

First attempt of drawing my favorite couple from SENSE8 - Kala & Wolfgang. They don't look like them, but I tried. 😂 Also, if you've followed me for awhile, you'd know that I don't draw guys very often so this is my 1st practice in about a year I think. Phew! Gonna draw them again another time! ⠀ As usual, this is drawn on my handy-dandy @mossery mixed media sketchbook with Van Gogh watercolors & some Sakura pen magixxxx✨⠀ P.S. I'm so used to painting light skin tones that it took me awhile to get a good darker color for Kala. Must practice again! 🤔⠀

If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Still not successful on this so I'm literally going to have to try again. 😂 This is me celebrating the approval of the 2-hour special of #sense8 on Netflix!!!! 😭😭😭😭 ⠀ Painted with Van Gogh, w & n, & Holbein watercolors on my lovely @Mossery mixed media notebook! 💕⠀

リング (Ring) | Last but not the least, my friends got engaged during our night adventure to Pallet Town! They rode the huge ferris wheel (those are the tickets); while my other friends & I lay in wait for the good news and to record their moments after the proposal. 💍😘

ポケットモンスター (Pokémon / Pocket Monsters) | I've been a huge fan of Pokémon since I was young! I remember playing the card game with my friends in school. I had 2 decks! Heh! When we went to Tokyo, we obviously planned to go to the Pokémon Center & we did. 😏  The place was filled with merchs that I couldn't really afford though. 😭😭😭  Still, I bought some little souvenirs for my friends & nephew. ✨ P.S. My friend couldn't find any Psyduck merchs in the store. :(

オムライス (Omurice) | Ate the best omurice I've ever tasted in Tokyo! If I could, I would have this every day for breakfast! // How's everyone?! 😁💕Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday!

カラオケ🎤 (Karaoke) | A Japan trip wouldn't be complete without karaoke-ing for one night! Disney songs ftw!!!! 😂😂😂 Thank you, Carla A, for singing with us till our throats hurt!!! ✨

ハチ公 (Hachiko) | Ah... When I watched the movie, Hachiko, it made me cry a whole lot. Movies w/ dogs usually make me emotional. Heh. Seeing his statue in person, it reminded me of the pup I left at home. It's a bit too bad that we didn't get to see the newly erected statue of Hachi finally seeing his owner after so many years of waiting. Next time. 😊 // I did a drawing of Hachi a few months back; so I went ahead and copied some of the colors from my past artwork. 😂

招き猫 (Maneki-neko // Beckoning or Fortune cat 🐱) | I think most people know about this one. I, admittedly, always thought that it was a Chinese thing though - Apparently not. Heh. I drew this cause in our place in Oshiage, we frequently see cute fat cats around. I named one, Tama. 

P.S. As usual, copied the kanji from the Internet cause I can't do calligraphy to save my life. ~exhausted~ 😴