aah

Modern monogram
formed from bisected bars and
similar spaces

– Mike Parker

This is about blooming, no matter how slowly or for how little, even in uncontrollable and challenging situations. More than the trouble of illustrating in a new style, I was going through a tough time when I did this. In a way it was me challenging my yearning to still bloom even when so many things around me were out of my control.

– Addi Panadero

Why not

We’re always asked to find our ‘why’ and how it’s important to have one immediately. Shifting to asking ‘why not’ poses a greater question and challenges you to explore without boundaries. By trying out different things and learning which sticks, you then find your why.

Looking at old lettering specimens, I was drawn to beautiful flourishes enclosed in a cartouche. Its well balanced and refined form are qualities I try to achieve in my personal work.

It’s not all perfect, as every time I look I always find something to tweak. But there’s an aspirational quality to it that I love. As artists, we strive to do our best until we can do better.

– Trixia Dela Cruz

Daily commute is a part of my life and I have a love-hate relationship with it. Commuting with all sorts of people takes so much effort and energy out of me but at the same time makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger.

– Kay Aranzanso

U

I wanted to make a piece that represented how I perceive And A Half, which is about the people. Each of us are connected and in sync, especially with how we work. At the same time, every person in the team is special and I wanted them to see it and think that they’re the yellow circle in that piece.

I was inspired by handmade block printed textiles, and initially wanted to create this by hand, but I didn’t really have the time to DIY everything. I wanted it to look like something that blended with a home, since that’s what the And A Half office is to all of us.

Design by Mike Parker

– Ada Laud

I really like loose wires and the shapes they end up forming because even in a mundane setting they still manage to surprise you. Wiring in Manila is never straight and clean – it’s always messy, loopy, bunched and tangled. I like that it’s unpredictable without trying. Even if people view it as an eyesore, a weirdly placed wire excites me for some reason. I guess this is me staying positive and curious.

– Petra Gana

8 ft wall

This is an ode to obstacle course training I’ve been going through with friends for the past few months.

As much as these races are about challenging your capabilities, I’ve learned that it’s just as important to accept your limitations and know that you don’t have to go through everything alone. Hence, concept and direction by me, design and illustration by Tim Lopez.

– Sofi Bautista

Madame

Madame X is a portrait of unapologetic beauty. It’s the kind of energy I aspire for, so I guess you could say that my frame is me willing myself into this bold inner strength of hers. Thank you John Singer Sargent. Thank you deep blue.

– Toni Potenciano

As a technical and practical thinker, I find my creativity within the constraints. I like working with things that are already there and finding ways to make them work well together.

– Jenny Lapus

I never got over my bad habit of biting my nails. I catch myself doing it whenever I get so deep in my thoughts and ideas, or when I get anxious or nervous. Trying to get out of the habit requires a lot of discipline, I hope my nails start to look like normal people’s nails.

– Clara Cayosa

This is an experiment, transposing my visual style for traditional media into a digital application. I found it interesting how, when I paint using watercolor, I always try to make it look synthetic by getting rid of visible brush strokes and making the gradations as perfect as possible. For this piece it’s the opposite. I found myself putting more effort in making it more nuanced to add character. It then resulted to the artwork’s main subjects: a thick solid line, geometric and with a predictable pattern, disrupted by red streaks with no discernible meaning.

– Mark Andres

Smoke and a mirror

It’s November and this is the second personal work I have finished this year. I know the grit and kindness that’s supposed to come with incremental improvements, which eventually leads to something great. Afraid to not be good enough immediately, this did not stick to my personal work.

So my piece is about doing this piece. I did not think much and just did it. Looking back, what came out is really a mirror of my personal work.

It’s a huge mirror with a reflection of my currently small self; it’s a light box casting a long shadow; it’s a big canvass to be filled.

– Benjamin Abesamis

If

This is a little comic on seed germination. I tried getting a couple of seeds I get from all sorts of places like bird droppings and fruit tea, and you’d be surprised that there’s still enough potential in them to sprout if you don’t give up on them! They’re teaching me a lot about hope and consistency.

– Tim Lopez

I’ve realised through the years that there isn’t a singular way to live our lives. We take on our own journey, we acknowledge our pace, we choose the things we want to be vulnerable to, and we try to find a path that works for us.

– Coi Serrano