August is when Buwan/Linggo ng Wika is celebrated in the Philippines. Translated it means "Month/Week of Language", and is something akin to celebrating Philippine Heritage, especially in the US. I grew up in the Philippines (I only permanently moved to the US in 2017), and I am very much interested in Filipiniana (traditions, costumes, the whole culture) and Filipino myths and legends. This is a blog post dedicated to some of my Filipino-themed art.
First up, Philippine Cryptozoology! I picked 10 of the more well-known creatures in Philippine myth!
Tribal Costumes
These ladies were done in gouache, and depicts 6 female tribal costumes around the Philippines. I made this available as a postcard set and a 9x12 poster.
Buy the 9x12 Poster and the Postcard Set!
Another of my special interests is the Baro't Saya: The national dress of the Philippines and combines elements from both the precolonial native Filipino and colonial Spanish clothing styles. I have worn my fair share of some variations of this back in highschool.
This was done in 2016, and I made an updated version of it on ProCreate, this time with a Barong Tagalog (the national costume for men).
Buy the Set of 6 Stickers! (coming soon!)
And this one is a recent fanart of The Endless from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman dressed in traditional Filipino costume!
And here they are, in all Filipiniana glory!
Destiny was the easiest to design, he just needed something to hide his eyes, so I used a salakot, a traditional wide brimmed, dome shaped hat usually made from either rattan or reeds. It is use
Death, of course, in a black and white baro't saya, was the easiest to draw, because I absolutely love Death's design anyway, and she'll make anything look good, just don't forget the eye squiggle and the ankh. There are also skulls hidden in the lacework of her skirt.
Dream, ever the traditional dude, is wearing a barong tagalog with a flame design and his ruby accessorizing his collar.
Destruction was somewhat boring. He just needed his red hair and bear, so I accessorized with the red pants and off-white camisa de chino shirt. A fighting cock named Espada (lol) completes his look.
I particularly loved designing Desire's look. Definitely not a traditional look, but more modern, with a see-through bolero jacket (nothing underneath!) and black capri pants instead of the barong tagalog linen pants.
Despair was tricky, as she is portrayed naked. So after some brainstorming, decided to cover her with batok-style tribal tattoos.
Delirium sporting butterfly sleeves, with real live butterflies, as well as multi-colored EVERYTHING. Because she's fun to draw.
(As of this writing, I am unsure what to do with this lineup. Poster? Postcard set? Stickers?)
And, another character wearing Filipiniana outfit! Tala got jealous and decided they wanted to wear a version of it, too. So here they are!
Happy Buwan ng Wika, everyone!