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Single but brimming with talent? Celebrating National Arts Month this February (or any month, for that matter) might be more of your style.
Earlier, the #CheckThisOut🛒 crew wrote stories to help unlock your inner artist by familiarizing you with graphite portrait and watercolor painting essentials. But we understand if you’re gunning for the big leagues, so we looked no further and sought the help of the lean and mean Rappler Art team.
Led by creative director Emil Mercado, one of the OG Rapplers, the team churns out countless artworks and graphics on the fly – as fast as how reporters break news. This might sound overwhelming, but in reality, each one of them is built for the job.
“Most of the artists in Rappler have been with the company for more than 5 years now. Others came in during the height of the Duterte administration’s attacks. You can say that they’re veterans, and alam nila ang pinasok nila (they knew what they were getting into),” said Emil.
The variety of projects they tackle require varying competencies, and this is something that Emil is proud of fulfilling.
“The team is very well-rounded. They augment and complement [each other’s] styles and skill sets, which is crucial in covering all of the requests from the departments we work with – data visualization, in-depth editorial pieces, sports, lifestyle, and sales content,” he added.
Aside from their business-as-usuals, Emil encourages the artists to venture into “more participatory projects,” such as growing their @rappler.art Instagram account and collaborating with writers and producers for animated content.
But how about the artists themselves? How do they get into the zone (or out of it)? Here are some of the tools they swear by to boost productivity, or to set the right working mood:
Wacom Intuos Comic Pen & Touch (old model)
I use it mostly for editing photos. Since I’m not an illustrator, its small size is just right because it doesn’t take up too much space on my desk.
I can’t live without music, but I also can’t stand wearing headphones for a long period of time so a quality Bluetooth speaker is a must for me! It sounds really good given its JBL pedigree, ruggedly built, can last a whole day due to its long battery life, and is beach-ready ‘cause it’s waterproof!
I like this lamp’s portability. It’s USB powered and can be used in a variety of ways: as a standard desk lamp, lighting for product photoshoots, and for general Zoom call purposes.
I like its minimal design and functionality. For a full relaxing experience, best to pair it with a nice, calming playlist.
Gamit ko ‘to ngayon bilang idea notebook. Pwedeng may personalized text sa cover at maraming options na pagpipilian sa kulay nito. Maganda ang papel kaya masarap magsulat o gumuhit. (I currently use this as an idea notebook. You can have a personalized text engraved in the cover, and there are lots of color options to choose from. The paper quality is also superb, so it’s nice to write and draw on.)
Fast storage!
Great to use for work and for gaming.
Sturdy, can be twisted to other angles, and costs less than P100.
Pinakamurang legit na CPU cooler. Sa performance, bumaba ng 6 degrees ang CPU temp ng PC ko. Saktong-sakto para sa matagalang trabaho, lalo na ngayong malapit na ang summer. (The cheapest CPU cooler that I found! My PC’s temperature went down by 6 degrees. This is perfect for long periods of work, especially since summer is fast approaching.)
Acrylic gouache mixing set of 5
I was a poor kid in college (until now, lol), so all I could afford to buy were these three primary colors + black and white set. It forces you to learn color mixing, and the selection being CMY instead of other brands’ RBY makes the colors bright. Gouache, as a paint medium, is also very flexible since you can use it as a sheer watercolor dye or opaque thick acrylic.
This is admittedly an expensive buy. But if you know how to use brush pens, it makes such elegant but bold strokes that pair really well with watercolor painting. I can go around just carrying this and a drawing pencil in my arsenal.
There was a time when I spent 12+ hours working and gaming on my PC using a traditional mouse, which made my wrist hurt a lot. I switched to a vertical mouse to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.
Tokyo Finds watercolor paper and mini-canvases
I really like giving small handwritten notes and drawings to close friends and family whenever there’s an occasion, so I buy small postcard-sized paper in bulk. These are some of those that I buy often because of the paper quality and price.
Hours of illustrating and animating on a laptop caused my posture to hunch and my neck to hurt, so this laptop stand was really helpful.
I used to have a full keyboard na hindi ko naman nagagamit lahat ng keys, haha (that I don’t fully utilize). It takes a lot of space on my desk, so I decided to buy a smaller TKL keyboard that’s perfect for working and gaming. You can also change the switches to your liking.
I got this as a gift from my S.O. (Yihee!) I’m a beginner in using gouache, so I opted for something affordable just to try out the medium first.
Para maiwasan ang dust sa sulok-sulok ng keyboard and grimes sa monitor (To prevent dust and grimes from seeping into the insides of keyboard and monitor), I have a specific cleaning kit for my PC.
Backing up files is very important, kaya ito talaga ‘yung ginagamit ko (so I rely on this one)!
Baseus multi-port USB for MacBook Pro
I needed this no’ng nagsimula ako sa (when I started at) Rappler, so I can connect my tablet, hard drive, and other Apple thingies to my MacBook.
Stickers from Oletarts and Haluh Stickers
Ito lang talaga ang mga binibili ko sa shopee aside sa mga panlaba. Need dikitan ng stickers ‘yung hard drive at USB para kyot, char! (Other than laundry essentials, stickers are the only items I buy from Shopee. I need to decorate my hard drive and USB so they’ll look cute!)
Are you ready to hustle like these pros? Score these items and start creating your own works of art. – Rappler.com
How does this make you feel?
![[Kitchen 143] Visiting the world-famous Mott 32 in Cebu](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/05/kitchen-143-mott-32-brandrap-may-2024.jpeg?resize=257%2C257&crop_strategy=attention)
