Eighteen year old Mark James Manubay is a Davaoeño Vector/Vexel artist  that you just can't ignore. There is actually a slew of Vector artists in the city right now, all of them are pretty impressive however, Mark is the one that has the most crazy ideas. And as we all know, crazy ideas, when executed properly, can be genius.

He is now studying BSIT in AMA Computer College and is also a DOTA addict. One thing that you need to know is that he started out creating digital artworks when he was still in 4th year high school. But, things have changed when he discovered a Facebook page named Editor's Zone, which was the main reason why he started out getting more and more serious about Vector and Vexel Art. His main drive, really,was to make  really cool vector portraits of himself and also of his friends. But right now, he is a an artist that has 2 two year experience under his name and is now accepting commission work for anybody who is interested.

I know it doesn't really matter what I think about his work. But I'm going to say it anyway. Well I think that Mark, has a lot of potential. You see, if you are a big fan of Vector and Vexel art, you know  that the styles which are being used by artists right now are pretty generic in a way. They make photos of other people look a lot better by giving it a twist. That's it! Our artist in focus right now does those kind of work  alright, however, he also has some really great ideas of his own (see: "you deserve this" art work, collab with kim valle, and Punkist artwork).

We asked him about the things that inspires him to get better with his craft. " I have nine idols right now and I'm just really amazed with their artworks. These people are Aseo, Mark Atas, Rizaldy Catapang, Jayson Vitug, Bars Torres, Renen Mariano, Aris del Rosarion, and Ivan Pasustento. I really love the artworks that they create, and they are now teaching me on how to be a good graphic artists and as well as critic my work.  The quality of their work and their styles are just fantastic and I want to their level someday." 

Mark James also has some words of wisdom for those young artist who want to get into graphic arts. " Never give up, try and try until you succeed. Just like in skateboarding- Don't quit if you fall. Do it again and again until you do it. Don't be afraid to try something new. Get inspired by other artists and also your crushes. Most importantly, always be open to criticisms about your artwork for you to know if there are other areas that you need to improve on" 

If you want to see more of Mark's fine works. All you need to do is visit his online Portfolio

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Davao Music Nation is the authority when it comes to featuring the music scene here in our city. When the site went live last year, it was not just the birth of an exclusive online Davao music magazine. It was something more than that. For the people who have been passionately following the progression of the Davao music scene, the conception of Davao Music Nation was a beginning of a revolution that could potentially help make the world explore the amazing music talents that our city has to offer.

The thing that you need to know is that this website is a serious project that was conceptualized over bottles of beer. I know two really great ideas that got incubated during a beer-drinking session- Guinness Book of World Records and Davao Music Nation.  The date was March 28, 2011. Jessica Madrazo and Johann Calderon, two of the main founders of DMN were drinking a couple of beers when the topic of starting a music magazine exclusive for Davao came up. The initial idea was for them to get into the cruel world of print publication, a world barraged with crushing pressures and  high costs. Good thing that Jessica knows that world pretty well and they have decided to build an online magazine instead. The following day the two of them went straight to work. They invited two people, JR de Castro and Julia Sta. Romana to join in the core group and contribute on the areas of promotions, marketing, and other technical stuff. The next step was to give the site its really catchy name and then after that, they purchased a domain on the same day. These folks work really fast.

"We all agreed on the concept, feature an artist each month, inject additional articles to keep it going, feature their music,their photos, videos, etc, and that we launch in 3 months, on May 26. It was to be without bias on musical preferences, styles and genres. It was just an avenue for musicians to promote themselves if they like, and establish Davao's music scene to the world." says Jessica when  I asked her about their goals when on the initial stages of the online magazine.

She also added, "Today, we have 4 partners, Dig Radio, Radio Republic, Pinoy Tuner and My Davao TV, all of them equally eager to know and share more about what's happening here in the south in terms of music. We have contributors, Kara Ahorro (K-Pops), Baian Valdez (Baian Muna), Klaus Doring(Classics Davao), Benjie Dimayuga (B Sides, Mic Fernandez on design, and Evan Bagsarsa (Trigger) on video editing for all of which do this for the love of Davao and our music, without compensation. Love is our currency. In the coming months, we will be launching a new show DMN GASStation (Gear Acquisition Syndrome or Gears Atong Storyahan), from Slawee ofOrange Box, Benjie aka UMBRO, and Anne and Mic of Anne Mendoza. All of whom, we consider to be a solid part of DMN."

One more thing. The Davao Music Nation is set to celebrate their anniversary this June, 1 , 2013. All of the bands that they have featured as artist of the month will play in that event. The event is also their way to say thank you to the people who helped them during their first year, to show their show their doubters that they are still alive and kicking, and also to show their fellow Davaoenos who great the Davao music is, if they just give it a chance.

CHECK OUT THEIR SITE RIGHT NOW                                      DAVAOMUSICNATION.COM 

And don't forget to Like their Facebook Page 

LIKE THE DAVAOIST ON FACEBOOK TOO 







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This is the first post in this blog.( okay, that was a pretty boring start). I am actually planning to create some sort of a magazine  that obsessively tells stories about the awesome things that are happening inside Davao City.Back then, I thought that the whole thing is a pretty great idea.However, after a couple of minutes,  I thought that it was just the effect of rum. Almost everybody, once in their lifetime, will be in that moment when they thought that they are being a total genius just for coming up with something that they think that will totally take off--especially if they are under the influence of rum, or gin, or vodka, mixed up with  a little boredom and empty sense of purpose( pretty dramatic moment,I tell you). But everybody also almost certainly forgets about it in the morning. A friend of mine told me that that I just had an "Epiphany.I was not really sure if the guy was right. I never really knew what the word meant, until I looked it up just recently. Well, I admit it now, the guy was somewhat right ( smart guy he is). 

So, because  I just had an "Epiphany"(gay), I will try really hard to waste a lot of your time whenever you visit this blog.  Lucky you, I have been trained by Kurt Vonnegut himself, and he made me swear while my hand was inside a pot of burning coal that I would only write things that is worth anybody's while. ( I'm not really trained by Kurt Vonnegut and I'll probably be writing crappy things that will make you sick for two weeks). The plan is to hunt down the best stories that we could share to the citizens of the city who are obviously starving for something new, not fresh, but new. We are not talking about "NEWS" here. We are talking about something else. An experience. A free tour  in the parts of the city where you have never before. An introduction to strangers. A visual and verbal array that will either entice or disgust( we may have to resort to this option) your senses. And sometimes, if we feel  like it, we will try to give you something that are way beyond those things. Like new knowledge, tips, or even take you to the highly impressive magical world of "senseless bullsh*t in the internet.

I had this post-epiphany epiphany. Not really sure if such thing even exists, but believe me, I experienced it. It all happened when I was setting the whole thing up and asked myself this question- " Are there even any awesome stories  in this city?". If you have been living in this city for quite a long time, you will probably agree with me when I say  that this city is nothing special. It's no New York nor Mogadishu. We don't have world famous influences or 12 year old kids carrying Kalashnikovs walking around or picking their noses or  even just merely standing up feeling awesome and all in the corners of our city. Cebu and Manila certainly kicks our city's ass in terms of stimuli offered to the young generation. There is an obvious lag on  how trends in both culture and style are being transmitted to our city. Well, with things like  geography and economy being considered, there is supposed to be a lag. And damn! knowing that shit is depressing. DAMN! So, will there be stories? We are not really sure, but we are confident that something interesting will come up. And once that happens ( deliberately didn't finish the sentence to avoid writing something inappropriately corny). 

By now, you might already have an idea on what this blog is up to and what is it going to offer. But if you are quite confused, then you you are not alone "amigo". I guess that we just have to let life surprise us this time. 

-Markuz Dedal

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