Filipeanut Art & Design

Designer & illustrator. I also make @filipinofoodart & @philippinewildlifeart.

[filipeanut]

A design I made for the environmental movement a few years ago - "tree of hope". Sharing this with some thoughts on the recent cutting of trees in Manila.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/puno-ng-pagasa-159630052

[philippinewildlifeart]

Happy World Binturong Day!

The Palawan binturong is a big, furry animal that loves living in trees. It’s also known as the Palawan bearcat, but it’s not really a bear or a cat. It’s its own unique animal!

https://philippinewildlife.art/portfolio/binturong-or-palawan-bearcat/

[filipeanut]

Celebrating Philippine Birds for Draw a Bird Day

Get to know some of our members’ favorite birds, linking science and art!

As an artist myself, working with other artists in the environmental movement, it's always nice to share our work with each other and the world. 

This includes a 7-year-old trying to strike a balance between "strength and kindness" in her depiction of the Philippines' National Bird.

"I liked making them look friendly. I made the eyes look kind and nice, but still strong like a cool bird!"

Every day is a good day to do this, including "Draw a Bird Day" today.

[filipeanut]

First time drinking iced sikwate (chocolate made with raw cacao) in a bear-shaped bottle with a hat on.

It was a hot day when I wrote this - so in my heat-induced delusion I wrote about chocolate and AI.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/real-chocolate-154803095

[filipeanut]

Here's a free printable buko juice coloring page.

Why? Because I’m hot and stressed.

Also coloring black and white drawings of cold drinks brings children and children at heart closer to being cool. Ok you’re probably still better off getting an actual cold glass of buko juice though.

Sharing here art that I made highlighting my favorite electrical lights in the world. Sorry I mean electrolytes. This is healthier than Gatorade and the oddly-named Pocari Sweat. I say odd because it seems odd you would name a cloudy-colored drink with the word sweat, but it has indeed helped me during times of dengue and/or LBM. If you don’t know what LBM stands for, it’s a bit TMI. If you don’t know what TMI stands for, I can’t help you anymore sorry.

I digress. It’s been a stressful month. Wars, fake news, idiot male toxicity, you name it the world has it. I’ve also been working part time as a Communications Officer for an environment NGO, stressing about how to get people to become more involved in conserving the environment in the midst of all the chaos coming out of our “for you” feeds.

With that, that’s a photo of my favorite drink in the world. I can’t believe I used to love Pepsi. It’s probably because growing up in the 90’s in the US of A we were told to choose between Coke and Pepsi as if they were the only two things you could drink in a capitalist society. 7-up was for yuppies. Those were all successful campaigns because I still remember them, and I could almost taste the sweet fizzy caramel-like commercialized ambrosia going down my throat on a warm summer day.

Fast forward to today where I don’t have a television anymore. Instead we have a large screen with Netflix and YouTube. The only commercials we see are YouTube ads, and for some reason they’re all about laundry detergents.

I kinda forget already why I started writing this. But I just want to say daghang salamat to the buko juice vendors who nourish me on a weekly, almost daily basis. I think you’ve saved my life a few times, and in heat like this, it really feels like you do.

Color my buko juice printable, it’s free and print for all your pamangkids: https://filipinofoodart.gumroad.com/l/buko-juice-recipe-coloring-page

[filipeanut]

The next adventure of Joy Francisco's Little Yellow Jeepney involves urban and natural landscapes in and around Cebu! Suroy sa ta bai! 🚕✨

In my 3rd book with Joy, her Little Yellow Jeepney takes readers through the busy streets of Colon to natural falls surrounding the island province.

I’ve tucked in some personal touches, including Badlit or Sulat Binisaya characters in my handwriting, as well as likenesses of family members to help me fill up illustrations of crowds… It’s more than just a book; it’s a mirror for Joy, myself, and the next generation of Filipinos from all over the world.

Read more in latest Patreon post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/ride-little-cebu-151844174

[pinoy-culture]

[filipeanut]

"In short, the Philippines is starting from a difficult position, but its flexible modes, strong transit ridership, low car ownership, and large potential for infrastructure gains make mobility transformation not only possible — but uniquely achievable."

Why we don't have hobbies: A day in the life of a "time-poor" Filipino

Am I not interesting enough or it's just our precarious situation does not allow us to do something that isn't work? Get ready with me for a

[filipeanut]

When I'm out and need "fast food", a local karinderia is all I need. Jollibee is still an option, but only when the pamang-kids or someone else is craving it. Other than that I avoid fast food chains as much as possible. They’re not always the cheapest and most accessible option, especially when an even higher price is paid later in life. 

[filipeanut]

These 12 fruits welcome the New Year, but they’re not your ordinary fruits found in the palengke or merkado. Each one is considered an ancient ingredient, long found in Philippine forests. Some used for sweets and wines, others to sour soups, or to compliment fresh fish like in kinilaw or kilawin. https://www.patreon.com/posts/12-native-fruits-147067983

[filipeanut]

Fireworks are already happening above our heads almost every night.

The Botong tree (Barringtonia asiatica) has one of the most beautiful flowers, and we only see them once they’ve fallen to the ground. Unless you’re up for an early walk.

Bats and moths are drawn to them, pollinating them in the dark. By next morning the flowers fall, having done their task for only a single night.

Botong is a coastal tree, found around beaches and mangrove forests all over the Philippines and other coastlines from India to Australia. This is because, like coconuts, their seeds float and travel far and wide when they fall and reach water.

They are an ancient presence in these areas, so ancient they’ve long been used by the Panay Bukidnon to heal, as well as fishers to fish. The seeds contain a toxin traditionally used to stun fish, which ironically has also been used to treat burns, ring worm, cough, flu… depending on which Indigenous experts you ask from India to the Philippines.

So ancient, there are places named after the tree. Barangay Bitoon in Cebu is named after its Cebuano name, Bitoon. Barangay Dibutunan in Luzon is named after Butung, while nearby Dinggalan is named after another local name for the tree, Dingkalan. All of these places are by the ocean.

I’m happy to have encountered this tree so far deep inside Pangasinan, in a landlocked town. I wonder how it got here. Its flowers have sparked my imagination this New Year.

Flowers like fireworks, seeds that carry both risk and remedy, floating with intention or surrender until we find ground.

Sources and more reading

Jomer Balmonte Mangawang, Ma Luz Ferrez Cabatan, Jonah Gamban Zante, Chenie Mae Torres Bibon. 2020. Phytochemical Screening of Fish Poison Tree, Barringtonia Asiatica Seed for Potential Biopesticidal Activity And Pharmaceutical Uses. https://ijst.clsu.edu.ph/index.php/ijst/article/view/v4n1_05

DTG Quigley, PA Gainey, A Dinsdale. 2014. First records of Barringtonia asiatica (Lecythidaceae) from UK waters and a review of north-western European records. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/2042349714Y.0000000042

Emmanuel Bonifacio S. Timog, Renerio P. Gentallan Jr., Kristine Joyce O. Quiñones, Michael Cedric B. Bartolome, & Daryl B. Ceribo. The complete chloroplast genome of Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz (Lecythidaceae). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23802359.2025.2457456

T. Ravikumar et al., 2015. Traditional usages of ichthyotoxic plant Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz. by the Nicobari tribes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221268211530007X

Jomer Balmonte Mangawang, Ma Luz Ferrez Cabatan, Jonah Gamban Zante, Chenie Mae Torres Bibon. 2020. Phytochemical Screening of Fish Poison Tree, Barringtonia Asiatica Seed for Potential Biopesticidal Activity And Pharmaceutical Uses. https://ijst.clsu.edu.ph/index.php/ijst/article/view/v4n1_05

By Derek D. Cabactulan & Julie F. Barcelona. Which plant did you come from? Places in the Philipines named after plants. https://www.philippineplants.org/General/locality.html

[filipinofoodart]

Have a healthy holiday season!

[filipeanut]

Finally got my first custom barong made. I decided to put my name on it, but in Suwat Binisaya or Badlit. There is also a depiction of my mom's home province of Bohol. https://www.patreon.com/posts/my-first-custom-146359705

[filipinofoodart]

Need a last minute gift that's short and sweet? Find this and more holiday printables in the Etsy shop: https://filipinofoodart.etsy.com/listing/1832056624

[filipeanut]

Sikwate sa ta diri sa Cotabato.

[filipeanut]

The late Doreen G. Fernandez would have turned 91 years old today. For her birthday I am depicting her on the cover of a book she published in 1994 called "Tikim," with her name in Baybayin.

After finishing the book I realized that had I not moved to the Philippines, reading it would not have hit me so “close to home”. She talks about restaurants in Manila when she was in college, streets where I’ve tried a few spots myself. She talks about growing up in Negros, where I love having sweet napoleones or savory inasal. If only she were still alive, I would have loved to sit down with her for dinner, lunch, breakfast, or even for just bibingka or puto maya with a side of 3-in-1 in any small town municipality. It made me appreciate who was still around today, and had me wondering why we don’t invite people to help prepare food with us more often these days. That cooking with people makes it less of a chore and more of a shared memory-making that just tastes better and better over time.

Special thanks to the precious few Patrons who fund me every month. Thanks to them I get books like this once and a while.

[filipeanut]

I'm realizing now that conversations are like rivers. If you try to block the flow, you will find resistance. Guide the flow together, and you might get somewhere together.