Origami

ORIGAMI

Marjorie M. Evasco

This word unfolds, gathers up wind
to speed the crane’s flight
north of my sun to you.

I am shaping this poem
out of paper, folding
distances between our seasons.

This paper is a crane.
When its wings unfold,
The paper will be pure and empty.

When I was a little girl, Mommy used to fold origami animals out of colorful paper for me. She found time to make these for me at the end of the day, after she had finished all her household chores, and we would sit indian-style on the bed in the master bedroom. She had a kit which included a booklet and several sheets of colored paper, and she would let me choose which animal I wanted her to make.

My Typical (Illustrator’s) Work Day

Today I will be donning my Illustrator’s hat and share with you the article I wrote for my nephew Matthew in the U.S. because he wanted to know more about my job for his Career Day class project.

WHAT’S A TYPICAL WORK DAY LIKE? (For Matthew)

It takes me, at the very least, a day to finish a page or a spread of illustration.

Will take you step by step through a project I did last year, for an exhibition commemorating the life of two Philippine heroes, who were incidentally married to each other and are parents to the current Philippine president.

I belong to a group of Filipino illustrators of childen’s books, Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK) and our group was tapped by the Ortigas Foundation to illustrate the writings of Benigno S. Aquino and Corazon C. Aquino.

I illustrated this passage of text from the former President Corazon C. Aquino which describes her feelings while her husband was unjustly imprisoned by President Marcos during the Martial Law and she was left with the tough job of raising their five children:

“As a housewife, I stood by my husband and never questioned his decision to stand alone in defense of a dead democracy against an arrogant dictatorship.  As a housewife, I never missed a chance to be with my husband when his jailers permitted it. Nor gave up looking for him one day when he was taken away, no one could tell me where…..As a housewife, I held his hand as the life drained out of him in a self-imposed fast of 40 days, to protest a fine legal point about the civilian jurisdiction of a military court…… For seven and a half years, I sat outside the gate of his maximum security prison, with his food and his books — when they allowed it — and with forced smiles from our children and myself…”

It is the job of the illustrator to help the reader understand the text by interpreting it into a visual that conveys the essence of the author’s meaning.

Here, the author is Corazon C. Aquino, and because she used to be a former president, there is a lot of information about her on the web.  I had to do some research on her life, her thoughts about her husband being imprisoned then later, martyred as he was assassinated. Although my rendering would be stylized, I still wanted to know how she looked like when she was a young wife and mother, and what her clothes looked like back in the 70s. I downloaded her pics and some articles about her as references so I can access them easily on my desktop whenever I felt at a loss about my interpretation.

Making studies. I spend a whole day on this before I paint. I make additional research, if I feel I need to. So the first thing I did after researching was to sketch studies.  First I did tiny sketches on my sketch book.  Illustrators call these sketches thumbnail sketches.  These are tiny (though literally not the size of your thumbnail), quick sketches so called because of their size.

How does one interpret pain of being away from a loved one?  How does one visually describe the longing of a family for their father?  I decided that this was what the way I wanted to interpret Aquino’s text.

So, from my sketches I chose one which I thought best captured the meaning I wanted to convey and then I made a bigger, more detailed sketch exactly the size of the painting I was going to make.

From this I made a cleaner drawing. (Unfortunately I wasn’t able to save that sketch.)  Will use the drawing later to transfer the image onto the collage background I will be making the next morning.

8:00 AM  Making the collage background.  A recent favorite technique of mine is making painted collage artworks. I cut pieces from magazines, my old notebooks, scrapbook paper, just about anything that I find interesting.  I keep a box of scrap paper of all kinds for this purpose. I apply them on a canvas panel with acrylic emulsion. The acrylic emulsion acts as adhesive and as primer for the canvas.

I like the way the handwriting on the torn notebook pages convey memory. After all it was Aquino’s reminiscence I wanted to capture in my artwork.

10:00 AM  Painting the background.  I prime the background with white acrylic, covering some of the collage and leaving some details uncovered.  The wonderful thing about this technique is that you can make mistakes.  You just paint over them.  Over this I put a layer of green acrylic glaze.

Then, at this point, I add more textures to the surface with unconventional materials and tools.

11:00 AM  Transferring the drawing onto the background.  I make a tracing of the clean drawing I made earlier on the surface of the collage, and then I start painting in the flesh tones.

LUNCH BREAK

1: 30 PM  Working on the skin tone.  I refer to old artworks for the skin tone. Mixing the skin tone is a bit tricky. I needed just the right mix of chrome yellow, white, vermillion and burnt umber.  I referred to a previous painting I had made of the Aquino sisters.

2:00 PM  Working on  the middle tones.  Then I worked on the middle tones. I work layer by layer.  This is what artists call the “glazing” technique.  At this point I also start adding the darker tones and shadows.

Adding details and definition.  It is an extremely painstaking process, and you have to be really patient.  It is only at this point that what I am painting gains a semblance of the final product.

6:00 PM  Finishing up. After all the details are in place, the artist signs the artwork. Sometimes an illustrator opts not to sign an artwork, especially if it is going to be used in a picture book.  In a picture book, the acknowledgment for the artist appears on the cover, along with the name of the writer. But this particular artwork is for a commemorative exhibit which aims to familiarize the Philippine youth with the writings of Benigno and Corazon Aquino. So I sign it.

Giving the artwork a title is usually an optional step for illustrators.  But I gave this artwork the title “Seven and A Half Years”.

Divine Grace

Tags

Bookmark, Grace Chong, OMF Literature Inc.

Grace Chong went to the University of the Philippines for her AB Speech and Drama. While there, she was a a DJ at DZUP and a staff member of the Philippine Collegian. Then she went to the U.S. to take up Mass Communications at Columbia College and after that, her MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Grace first worked at JWT as copywriter and then she moved on to Dentsu-Young and Rubicam (DYR), then to Adamson and Adamson as Marketing Services Manager, then back to DYR, till she retired from advertising completely.

Grace says she retired to do “new things”, which are basically writing,  part-time teaching (“to finance and inspire the writing”), and part-time consulting (“to never forget advertising”).

Grace had no training whatsoever in writing. It was, to her, “just a childhood passion carried on through adulthood.” In all, Grace has won five Palancas, and her books have been finalists at the National Book Awards, Gintong Aklat Awards and Catholic Mass Media Awards.

Grace has three sons. One is a software designer/engineer who runs their family business (a school for medical transcription), one is a physician in the US, and one is a lawyer. She has a four-year-old grandson, “courtesy of the physician,” she quips.

MTP:  I am sure that although we all make picture books, our reasons for doing so are as varied and as interesting as our stories. Why do you write for kids? What’s in it for you?

GRACE CHONG: After leaving advertising in the year 2000, I didn’t really set out to be an author. But a year before that, two young copywriters (knowing I love to write) encouraged me to join the Palanca. So I did with a piece entitled “The Boy who Had Five Lolas” (Bookmark, 2001) and I was surprised to win first prize. I thought then, maybe there IS life after advertising. I was privileged to have Bookmark publish it with you as the illustrator! (Remember that very first meeting in a coffee shop? Talking about the pictures to go with the words was a different kind of high.) You might say, I was bitten by the writing bug and never looked back.

Three reasons. Maybe it’s a guilt trip? I was too busy working that I never, ever, got a chance to read a book to my three sons when they were growing up. By writing, I am reading those stories to them through other young mothers who buy my books for their children. Or maybe as a mom I want to partner with teachers and young moms in inculcating good values to children? Or maybe I am writing for the child in me who loved listening to stories by my grandmother and reading children’s books sent by my uncle from the US.

MTP: Thank you so much for making time for my blog, Grace. It’s so wonderful catching up with you, after all these years.

Grace gets invited to do book talks in various parts of the Philippines. She has also conducted workshops on writing for children in Cambodia, Hong Kong and Thailand. She further fills her very busy schedule with her duties as one of five advisers of Compassion International, Inc. and as a trainor for Media Associates International where she trains “would-be writers in hard countries in Asia.”

Grace blogs every four days although she goes online daily on Facebook (“but is having difficulty with the new look and uploads”). “I have just finished a book on, hold you breath—retirement!” Grace says. “Not that I consider myself retired. I am busier now than I ever was. Happier, too.”

(Above) Grace as her own best marketing person. (Below) Grace’s little corner where she crafts her award winners and bestsellers.

(Above) The  best-selling “Oh, Mateo!” series from OMF Literature Inc.

Drawing from life

Tags

Adarna House, Ariel Santillan, Christmas in February, Insular Life, Insular Life storybooks, Isabel Roxas, Jay Menes, Jordan Santos, May Tobias-Papa, The Luckiest Girl in the World

The writing of many of my stories mostly start the same way—they were inspired by stories while I was growing up and they now include stories from my expanded world as an adult.  Everything I had ever written, I think, are, in varying degrees, semi-autobiographical.

When I was asked to write the Insular Life kiddie financial literacy series, I thought the readers needed a realistic story they could relate to, whether personally or through a classmate who had had a similar experience. And so I sought to write about kids with real-life concerns.  As a five-year-old preschooler, my son Anton was not of much help yet with the questions I asked myself for the project:  What do tweeners worry about now? How did they cope?

In starting to write a story, one wonders where one must begin.  And the insight I had been getting from many years of writing has been consistent. For me, the best starting point for a story is always myself, because it’s a territory I know so well—I draw aspects from my childhood, my present circumstances, my thoughts and view of the world. I don’t think it’s possible otherwise;  I’d literally get lost.

The directions for the Insular Life series, as communicated to me by my publisher Ani Almario from Adarna House, from the client brief through e-mail, were pretty pat: no mention of Insular Life brand or their products, stories must involve and empower the child reader into taking proactive steps in helping build the family wealth, and stories must be aimed at the middle reader (ages 8 to 12) so it was going to be a storybook, rather than a picture book.

Some projects practically write themselves.  As a little girl, I did have problems that had to do with my family’s financial status, and from a young age, I had been sensitive to the differences in my family’s financial circumstances with that of my classmates’, and this had been a source of my inferiority complex.  We didn’t eat out (for the same amount, my dad said we could have a feast at home), we rarely went to the cinema, we were given clothes or books instead of toys at Christmas, etc.  On the other hand, I had a classmate named Marjorie who had a new watch every week, had a tin Barbie lunch box with Thermos that I envied, and who celebrated her eleventh birthday by bringing our whole fifth grade class to their family fishpond in Bulacan.  Marjorie and I were classmates from the second to the sixth grades; she was also my very first art patron as she bought the paper dolls I drew on the cardboard backing of our writing pads (at 25 centavos) as well as the dresses (5 centavos for dresses and 10 centavos for gowns) I made for them.  Marjorie had also once pitted me in a drawing match with Beatrice, a girl from the morning classes.  There was no money involved, though.  But looking back now, I can see how she was so proud to be my friend and how she believed so much in my talent for drawing.

So many of these snippets of childhood memory found their way into The Luckiest Girl In the World, the first book. I had written down Marjorie as the name of the poor little rich girl in my drafts as a working name. I decided to keep it, however, because I thought it was perfect, and because the Marjorie I had created evolved to a completely different little girl from the inspiration—her mom was a nurse in UK (one of our classmates’ moms was a nurse in the US) and so she lived with her lola (grandmother).

Growing up, I wasn’t too crazy about my name. One of the names I fancied for myself was Carmina. My sixth grade teacher, Ms Dunca (now Mrs Alve) appears in a cameo role as Carmina’s Art teacher.

I got the project, my publisher Ani told me, because the client from Insular Life liked “Araw sa Palengke” which was illustrated by Isabel Roxas, art directed by Jordan Santos and published by Adarna House, and so they got the whole team back together again.

Christmas in February was loosely inspired by the stories from a friendship I’d been blessed to have—formed over the years, first through Friendster and Multiply, then through Facebook—with a woman who shares the same surname as my husband.  She and her husband work in UK, and their only child, a very smart and precocious little boy, lives with his grandparents.  Her sharings of her insights on motherhood, on working abroad, on being away from her only child are so touching and inspiring.

Insular Life wanted a story which featured children of Pinoys who worked overseas, because they want these kids to value their parents’ heroic sacrifice and consequently manage their allowances well. Insular Life wanted the kids to realize that they can help their parents in their own little way by saving up so that they will be reunited sooner. On my own initiative, I added the bit about the efficient management of funds by the caregivers (the main character Jaime’s grandparents) by imagining my parents in the role. Needless to say, Christmas in February was a bit more difficult to write, because I didn’t have the experience of working abroad at all, and I haven’t experienced being away from my child for a long time. But my parents, who were sketched as their younger selves as Carmina’s parents in The Luckiest Girl in the World, reappear this time as inspirations for Jaime’s grandpa and grandma who figure prominently in the story, with their sage advice on financial matters.

My parents came with me and my son to closing activity of the Insular Life Book Caravan at the 2010 Manila International Book Fair. Excerpts from the books were read as they were presented, and I saw how my parents turned both misty-eyed as they listened to Kuya Jay Menes. I was only too happy to show them that their stories and lessons all these years were not wasted on me, after all— because I listened.

Christmas in February was illustrated by the very talented young artist, Ariel Santillan.

Writing tip:  To form the outline for my stories, it helps for me to imagine the blurb on the cover of the book I want to write. I didn’t write the back cover blurbs for the Insular Life books, but I think it’s pretty much the way they would read if I had written them.  You must be able to pick out clearly the essential parts of your story and see how these contribute and flow into an integrated whole, so you will know where to take the story.

We tell ourselves stories in order to live.

Tags

Joan Didion

We tell ourselves stories in order to live.  The princess is caged in the consulate. The man with the candy; will lead the children into the sea. The naked woman on the ledge outside the window on the sixteenth floor is a victim of accidie, or the naked woman is an exhibitionist, and it would be ‘interesting’ to know which. We tell ourselves that it makes some difference whether the naked woman is about to commit a mortal sin or is about to register a political protest or is about to be, the Aristophanic view, snatched back to the human condition by the fireman in priest’s clothing just visible in the window behind her, the one smiling at the telephoto lens. We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of multiple choices. We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the ‘ideas’ with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience.–Joan Didion, in White Album

Snack food for the mind.

Tags

Adarna House, Beth Parrocha Doctolero, financial literacy for kids, Liwayway Marketing Corporation, Making Paperboats with Papa, May Tobias-Papa, My Name is Gus Gastos and There's a Monster in My Room!, Oishi, Once I Was Rich, Ondoy flood

The great thing about working freelance is that I get to choose my projects.  And I’m so happy I got to do this series on financial literacy for kids for Liwayway Marketing Corporation (LMC), makers of Oishi snacks. And, it was as if the forces of the Universe were conspiring, because, the very next day, I got another e-mail from my publisher, Ani Almario of Adarna House, asking if I would be interested to write a series of books on the very same topic for their client, Insular Life. Needless to say, this incredible coincidence had put me in a quandary; do I say yes to one and turn down the other? And if it I were to decide based on a first-come, first-served basis, did that mean saying yes to Liwayway who was, after all, the one who contacted me first, and no to Adarna who contacted me the next day? Or keep mum, ask for a brief from both clients to know more about the projects, and then choose which was more interesting?

But the thing was, both projects seemed interesting.  Apart from Francisco Colayco and Nina Lim Yuson’s “Money for Kids (Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo)”, there didn’t seem to be any books on financial literacy for Filipino kids. And both clients were favorites of mine. LMC has been my client since 2003.  I wrote copy and designed packaging, billboards and a trade exhibit for them.  My relationship with Adarna House goes even farther back to 1995 when I published my very first children’s book. It was a tough one to decide. And so I wrote back both clients, telling them how I would love to work on their project and at the same time, informing them about my dilemma, without disclosing which parties were involved.  I prepared for the worst possible scenario, which was to lose both clients, held my breath, and waited.

And then, happily, I got both projects!  Both clients told me that they appreciated my confidence, and for as long as the other party didn’t mind, then they would be happy to work with me.  Even if they didn’t ask for it, I reassured both that I will make the two series very distinct in terms of style and treatment.  It also helped that LMC wanted a younger audience, the early reader, and Insular Life/Adarna wanted the middle readers.  More on the Insular Life/Adarna book series in another post.

To prepare for both projects (I had to work on both simultaneously, because of the deadlines, and, more importantly, because I wanted to draw up distinct frameworks for each series, I had to read up on local and foreign resources on financial management concepts, including but not limited to materials addressed to children.  My client C from LMC showed me some beautiful picture books, FDIC chair Shiela Bair‘s “Isabel’s Car Wash” and “Rock, Brock and the Savings Shock”.

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to write picture books for children because the parents read the picture books with their kids, so the parents can maybe pick up some information too as they’re reading the book with their child.”–Shiela Bair

C was pretty definite with what he wanted to do with the Oishi series.  He wanted a wide readership that included the preschooler whose mother will read it to him, as well as the adult who needs advice in managing his retirement funds.  But first, we decided we had to call the series something. We brainstormed (and this would be characteristic with my working relationship with C throughout the writing of the series–a very close collaboration, with C acting as my co-writer and editor) and came up with Oishi Peso Smart Kids.

As for style, C and I agreed that a cautionary tale which would give the child a vicarious experience and which would be metaphorical as well and have an ambivalence adults can relate with.

ONCE I WAS RICH (©2009) In the first book, “Once I Was Rich:  True Confessions of a Nine-Year-Old Big Spender”, the little boy in the story gets a thousand pesos for his birthday and uses it up in no time.  This book warns how thoughtless spending is like an addiction which, when left unchecked, can lead to disastrous results. Mindfulness is key when spending, so that you will be able to manage your funds better.

MY NAME IS GUS GASTOS AND THERE’S A MONSTER IN MY ROOM (©2010) The second book is a bit autobiographical. Thoughtless accumulation of objects leads to clutter in the house.  Sometimes you collect so much clutter that it’s impossible for you to organize, keep track, much less, find things when you need them, so you buy new things to replace the things you’d lost, and the vicious cycle continues.  And because you had accumulated so much stuff–most of them unused–you fall into lethargy and refuse to take decisive steps to deal with the problem (which continually worsens).  And the problem is literally (and visually) turned into a monster.

MAKING PAPERBOATS WITH PAPA (©2011)  The thing with making a story for a series is that you have to constantly check whether it fits–is it still within the topic of financial literacy, and more importantly, what does it contribute to the topic? will the storytelling be consistent with the previous ones? C and I have pitched to each other, and similarly, have shot down numerous story ideas before we wrote these three books (and a fourth one, which is still on the drawing board) for the Oishi Peso Smart Kids series. The tough part is how to do this and not be boring.

For the third book, C told me he wanted a story about Ondoy.  He told me of the story of his friend and of his profound personal insight from the flood, that against Nature you really are powerless, and so it’s best to live with zen habits, with only things that are most essential. I had my own personal experience to add to this third book. Ondoy had submerged my parents’ house in thigh-high flood.  The water rose so fast that we only had enough time to pull out drawers from my parents’ bedroom cabinets–drawers that contained precious family documents and family photographs–and take them up to the second floor.  Except for food and drinking water, my husband, sister-in-law and myself took very little else upstairs, because we had resigned to the fact that we won’t be able to save much anyway. Luckily we didn’t lose electricity the whole day, although we had voluntarily shut down the power for most of the time to avoid being electrocuted (because water had seeped into the electrical sockets), and during these times we had electricity I was able to read the updates on my friend’s Facebook walls, and one that particularly got my attention was the update on my friend (also illustrator for the Oishi Peso Smart Books series) Beth Parrocha Doctolero who said that their area was flooded, and then, much later, that she had made paper boats with her son.  I said, how wonderful, to be childlike and see opportunity for play and joy in the midst of a calamity. I had always envied Beth’s coolness, and had not envied her so much as I did then; I was near-hysterical with horrific imaginings of the tsunami at Banda Aceh. I was so scared for my son who was only three then.  I only wish I had Beth’s calmness.  It was all these that went into the 650-word storybook (the wordiest of the three; the first two ones were very tightly written, at around 400 words) that is now “Making Paperboats with Papa.”

The Oishi Peso Smart Kids Books are not available at your favorite bookstores, but you can learn more about Oishi’s financial literacy advocacy, get some tips on saving, and read “Once I Was Rich” and “Gus Gastos” online for free, in English or Filipino here. I think you can also try to inquire about how to get some copies of the books for your school library there. The books are wonderfully illustrated by the incredible Beth Parrocha Doctolero.

Ilustrasyong Pambata sa Panahon ng Facebook

Ito ang papel na aking isinumite sa 3rd National Conference and Seminar-Workshop on Children’s Literature na inisponsor ng The Pilandokan Inc. (National Research Society for Children’s Literature) sa tulong ng National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) at University of the Philippines  College of Arts and Letters (CAL) noong ika-14 ng Oktubre 2011 sa Claro M. Recto Hall ng CAL, UP Diliman.

Watercolor o Acrylic?  Vector o Bitmap?

Alam mong nasa 21^st century ka na kapag ang mga pagpipilian mong medium sa iyong 2D artwork ay hindi lang watercolor, acrylic, gouache or oil, kungdi pati vector o bitmap.

Radikal na nabago ng dekada 80 ang mundo ng ilustrasyon nang halos sabay-sabay ipinakilala sa merkado ang mga unang WYSIWYG software (what you see is what you get) sa personal computer na Apple Macintosh, sa pamamagitan ng mga illustration software na Adobe Illustrator at Adobe Photoshop noong 1987, at noong 1989, ang CorelDraw.  Mas maaga dito, noong 1984 ipinakilala ang brand na Macromedia Freehand na naging Aldus Freehand na binili ng Adobe noong 2005 at unti-unting pinatay.

Ano nga ba ang vector at bitmap?

Ang vector graphics ay ginagamitan ng geometric primitives gaya ng mga tuldok, linya, kurba at mga hugis o polygon, na lahat batay sa mga mathematical equation, upang makapaglarawan ng imahe sa kompyuter. Sa kabilang banda, ang bitmap o raster graphics naman ay binubuo ng grid ng pixels, o mga munting parisukat na punto ng kulay.

Kung bumitaw man ang inyong utak sa aking depinisyon, ay huwag kayong mag-aalala. Maging kaming mga artist ay di mahilig sa mga teknikal na bagay.  Para sa amin, basta’t ginawa sa Adobe Illustrator at may filename extension na .ai, or sa CorelDraw at may filename extension na .cdr, vector graphic iyon. Pag Photoshop at may filename extension na .bmp, .jpg at .tif, bitmap o raster graphic iyon.  Simple, ‘di ba?

Hindi pa rin.

Minsan, kapag tumitingin ka sa mga ilustrasyon ngayon, hindi ganoon kadali paghiwalayin ang vector sa bitmap illustration dahil sa introduksyon ng teknolohiyang graphics tablet na maaaring gayahin halos lahat ng tradisyonal na pamamaraan ng ilustrasyon. Pero halos lang, at hindi ganap.  Dahil sa matang sanay tumingin sa art, makikita pa rin ang pagkakaiba ng digital paint mula sa aktwal na pinturang acrylic na hinagod ng pinsel sa totoong kambas. Kayang-kaya na ring gayahin sa computer ang hitsura ng 3D sculpture na luwad.

May mga ilustrador, gaya ni Jomike Tejido (“Tagu-Taguan”, Tahanan Books, 2009) na kumportable sa parehong digital at handmade art, ngunit may mas pagkiling sa nahuli, dahil ang trabahong gawa daw sa computer minsan ay mukhang masyadong “artipisyal o perpekto (too artificial/perfect)”.

Sa huling dekada naging popular sa mga artist ang paggamit sa graphics tablet gaya ng Wacom Intuos, Bamboo at Cintiq sa pag-digitize sa kanilang trabaho.  Kung saan dati ay pinagtitiyagaan mag-plot ng path gamit ang mouse sa Photoshop o Illustrator, maaari na ngayong gumuhit gamit ang stylus at tablet nang gaya lang sa paggamit ang lapis at papel.

At para mas lalong maging komplikado ang bagay-bagay, may mga artist na pinaghahalo ang tradisyonal at digital na pamamaraan sa pagguhit.  Nagagawa ito sa pag-scan ng guhit kamay at pag-edit o manipulate sa computer, o di naman kaya ipi-printout sa papel, at dadagdagan ng hagod ng lapis o pinsel.  Maliban dito, may gumagawa pa rin ng handmade art, gaya ng kakaibang paper collage, painting sa banig, rubber foam sculpture at drawings na ginawa sa pamamagitan ng gel pen.

Tila walang hangganan ang mga pamamaraan ngayon ng artist sa pagguhit, kungdi ang limitasyon ng kanyang haraya.

I-Google Mo!

Sa inyong may mga kaibigang artist, alam ninyo na ang salitang “maayos” at “masinop” ay hindi ang mga unang salitang gagamitin ninyo sa paglarawan ng kanilang workplace o studio.  Ito’y dahil mahilig kaming mag-ipon ng mga references—mga abubot, clippings at mga libro—na maaaring magamit sa aming trabaho.

Para sa isang ilustrador na gaya ko, ang Google na yata ang isa sa pinakamahalagang inobasyon na dulot ng teknolohiyang world wide web. Para kay Abi Goy, (“Labindalawang Masasayang Prinsesa,” Anvil, 2011), “Sobrang mahalaga at nakakatulong ng 200% sa aking research ang Google bago mag-drawing ng libro (kasi) mabilis makahanap ng mga reference na karaniwang kakailanganin pang ihiram ng libro or hanapin sa magazine.”

Malaki ang panahon dating iniuukol sa research.  Ang mahusay na ilustrador ay matiyaga mag-research, ngunit hindi rin niya maaaring ibuhos ang  panahon niya sa pananaliksik dahil magigipit siya sa mga araw na dapat igugol sa aktwal na paglalarawan ng mga imahe para sa aklat. Pero mahahalata mo ang mga trabahong ginawan ng pananaliksik.  Mas nakakaaliw at mas kapakipakinabang tignan ang mga larawan dahil sa detalye.

Sa aking personal na karanasan bilang ilustrador, masayang-malungkot ito.  Sa isang banda, ang ibig sabihin nito, na ang tanging sanggunian mong kinakailangan ay abot-kamay na, basta’t alam mo lang kung anong keywords ang iyong ita-type sa search field.  Sa isang banda, ay nangangahulugan ding nabawasan ang mga dahilan bakit ako kailangan sumadya sa mga silid-aklatan o i-renew ang aking membership sa Filipinas Heritage Library at sa Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation Library kung saan ako dati may library cards.

Maliban sa Google Images, maaasahan din ang mga website ng mga stock photography agencies gaya ng Getty Images at Dreamstime.  Para naman sa mga figure poses, mayroong mga website na gaya ng posemaniacs.com at posespace.com.  Libo-libong mga imahe ang nasa library nito ang madaliang mada-download nang libre or may minimal fee kung saan dati-rati’y libo-libong piso ang ginagastos ng  ilustrador para sa limitadong bilang na mga photographic references.

Sa mga panahong ito, di na maaaring ikatwiran ng ilustrador na kulang siya ng pictorial reference, basta’t mayroon lang siyang kaunting panahong igugugol sa Google.

Online Tutorials

Maari nang magself-study ang isang ilustrador dahil sa mga tutorials na naka-post online.  Di na kailangang mag-enrol sa mamahaling short course, basta matiyaga lang magdownload.  Matatagpuan ito sa YouTube, Vimeo, Metacafe at iba pang video sharing websites.  Meron din sa mga personal blogs ng mga artists.  Minsan, hindi video kung hindi mga larawan ng step-by-step how to.  Kahit anong estilo, medium, pamamaraan, illustration program, at kahit pa subject, tiyak may mahahanap ka na angkop na tutorial.

Blogging, Social Networking at Ilustrasyon

Online portfolio platforms.  Halimbawa nito ay deviantArt, Flickr, Carbonmade, Behance. Para sa isang kliyente, ang portfolio ay napakahalagang showcase ng trabaho, kakayahan at potensyal ng isang artist.  Dati-rati ay daan-hanggang libong-piso ang ginagastos ng mga artist upang makapagpagawa ng mga full color brochure na ipinapadala sa pamamagitan ng koreo o ihahatid sa mga opisina ng mga publishers, creative at art directors, at sa iba pang posibleng kliyente. Ngayon ay ibinibigay na lamang niya ang uniform resource locator (o URL) sa kanyang calling card, o sa e-mail pag gumagawa siya ng inquiry tungkol sa isang proyekto.

Maliban sa libreng birtwal na puwesto sa world wide web para sa kanilang trabaho, ang mga online portfolio platforms na ito rin ay nagsisilbing artistic community para sa mga miyembro nito. May malayang palitan ng mga ideya sa pagitan ng mga beterano at baguhang mga “artist” dahil may puwang upang makapagbigay-papuri o puna para sa mga trabahong itinatampok dito.

Microblogging sites. Maraming microblogging sites ngunit ang paborito ng mga artist ay ang napaka-biswal na Tumblr na may tagline na “home to the most creative people in the world”. Maganda ang interface at napakadali mag-post ng mga high-resolution na imahe, teksto at video na parang siyang “online scrapbook” or “moodboard” na kinagigiliwang gawin ng mga artist upang bigyan ng espasyo ang kanilang inspirasyon. Maaari ka pang makapamili ng tema, kahit na may kababawan. Upang ipakita ang iyong paghanga sa isang post, kailangan mo lang i-klik ang isang icon na puso.  Ni hindi man kailangan mag-iwan ng malalim na puna o komentaryo. Maaari mo ring i-“follow” o sundan ang milyon-milyong Tumblr (ang tawag sa mga gumagamit din ng site) sa mundo, at maaari din nilang i-“follow” ang mga “updates” mo sa sarili mong Tumblr site. Ayon kay Robert Alejandro (“A Different Kind of Policeman” Bookmark 2008), dito siya nakakakuha ng “reassurance” pag minsang pinanghihinaan siya ng loob sa kanyang trabaho.

Artist blogs at online publications. The best things in life are free, ika nga.  At mahilig sa libre ang mga artist. Kaya marami ring mga sites na nag-aalok ng kanilang online publishing platforms nang libre gaya ng wix.com, wordpress.org at blogger.com.  Kung ang siyentipiko ay may laboratoryo, ang ilustrador ay nangangailangan din ng espasyo upang subukan ang kanyang mga ideya at pamamaraan.

Para kay R. Jordan Santos (“Ibong Adarna”, Adarna House, 2005), nakakatulong sa kanya tumingin sa mga blogs, sa halip na portfolio website, ng mga artist na hinahangaan niya. Ayon sa kanya, dito mo nalalaman kung ano ang mga aklat, musiko, sining at mga taong nakakapagbigay sa kanila ng inspirasyon. Sa pagsilip sa proseso ng kapwa artist, nagkakaroon din ng kakaibang pananaw si Van Zeus Allen Bascon (“Bakawan”, Adarna House, 2009) tungkol sa imahe, elemento, kulay at pag-iisip kaya mas lumalakas ang loob niya mag-eksperimento. Isa sa blog na kinagigiliwang sundan ng mga artist ay ang illustrationfriday.com na lingguhang nagtatampok ng illustration challenge.  May paksa na ipinapaskil tuwing Biyernes, at ang mga nais lumahok ay may isang linggo upang gawan ito ng kanilang sariling interpretasyon. Dahil sa mga malikhaing pagsubok na gaya nito, kahit wala silang proyekto, napapatalas ng artist ang kanyang problem-solving skills at nahihinang ang kanyang estilo at pamamaraan.

At sa bagitong naghihintay ng pagkakataong mailathala, maaari na niyang ipakita ang kanyang gilas sa kanyang sariling online magazine o picture book na maaari niyang makuha nang libre mula sa mga website gaya ng issuu.com, na napabilang sa Time Magazine’s 50 Best Websites for 2009 dahil sa ganda at kinis ng kanyang interface, na nakakapagpalimot sa iyo na hindi aktwal na magasin o aklat ang iyong binabasa.

Facebook. Sa Facebook makikita ang portfolio ng mga artist mula sa batikang mga ilustrador gaya ni Arnel Mirasol (“Once Upon A Time”, Tahanan Books, 2004), best-selling illustrator Kora Dandan Albano (“Pilandok” series ng Adarna House at “Carancal” Series ng Lampara) hanggang sa mga up-and-coming na mga batang ilustrador gaya ni Ray Nazarene Sunga (“Jeremy’s Magic Well”, Gig Seafarer Children’s Stories, 2010).  Ito na marahil ang pinakamadali at mabisang paraan ng isang artist mag-promote ng kanyang trabaho sa mga prospective clients.

Isa sa di-inaakalang tulong na idinulot ng Facebook sa industriya ng ilustrasyong pambata ay ang mekanismo ng feedback.

Karamihan ng mga batang ilustrador ay nagpo-post ng kanilang works-in-progress sa Facebook upang makakuha ng puna o papuri sa kanilang ginagawa—mula sa Photoshop brush na kanilang ginamit hanggang sa pose ng karakter na ginagawa nila. Taliwas ito sa praktis ng mas matandang mga ilustrador na babalutin ang kanilang trabaho sa lihim hanggang ito ay handa nang ipakita sa mundo nang buong-buo. Ang kritikal na mata ng mga batang ilustrador ay impormado ng social networking habang ang sa mas matatandang ilustrador ay base sa intuwisyon.

Alin ang mas mainam?  Mahirap sabihin.  Nakakatulong ang social networking sa pagturo sa isang indibidwal na lumabas sa kanyang sarili upang masdan ang trabaho niya mula sa mata ng ibang tao.  Matututunan niya na may iba’t-ibang pananaw dahil may iba’t ibang pinanggagalingan ang manonood ng kanyang gawa. Taliwas dito, ang ilustrador na gumagawa nang mag-isa ay hirap tumanggap ng puna sa kanyang trabaho. Maaaring tignang mas mabuti ang saloobin ng naunang uri ng ilustrador, ngunit ang problema ay hindi ito gumagawa sa ganap na pagkakabukod sa kanyang kapwa. Kapalit ng feedback sa kanyang trabaho, ang ilustrador na ito ay obligado ring magbigay ng puna sa kanyang kapwa ilustrador bilang pagkilala ng utang na loob, at dito maaaring magkaproblema. Nagbababala si Beth Parrocha Doctolero (“Ang Pambihirang Buhok ni Raquel”, Adarna House, 2002) sa peligro ng “sobrang paglalantad ng sarili sa gawa ng ibang tao.”  Posible raw na hindi estilo ang kinokopya mo, ngunit di-sadyang nakokopya mo na yung creative strategy ng ibang artist. Para kay Parrocha-Doctolero, bilang ilustrador, kailangan mong ganap na ibuhos ang sarili mo sa kwento ng iyong aklat na inilalarawan, at imposible ito gawin kung okupado ng gawa ng iba ang iyong pag-iisip.

New York, Cubao hanggang New York, New York

Salamat sa optical fiber at cellular technology, posible nang mag-collaborate ang manunulat at ilustrador, at pangasiwaan ang pagbuo ng aklat ng publisher, kahit long distance.  Ang kainaman nito, para sa lokal na ilustrador ay ang pagkakataong makakuha ng mga proyekto sa labas ng Pilipinas, upang madagdagan ang kanyang oportunidad kumita at maitaguyod niya ang kanyang hanapbuhay.  Para sa lokal na publisher, mas lumalawak ang saklaw ng mga portfolio na kanyang pagpipilian. Posible, halimbawa, makatrabaho ni Dr Lina Diaz de Rivera na taga-Maynila, si Bernadette Solina Wolf na taga Puerto Galera, at ito mismo ang kanilang ginawa para sa kanilang aklat na “The Rain Is Here” (Chikiting Books, 2011).  Sa paglawig ng estilo at kapamaraanan ng ilustrasyong pagpipilian dala ng iba’t ibang pananaw, lalo lamang yumayaman ang biswal na hain ng mga publisher sa madla, sa kanilang mga aklat. Mas mahalaga dito, nagkaroon ng paraan ang mga ilustrador gaya ni Wolf na nakatira malayo sa Metro Manila—kung saan base karamihan ang mga children’s book publishers—na maibahagi ang kanilang galing at talino sa pagguhit, isang bagay na halos imposible noong isang dekada.

Naging malaking tulong kay Isabel Roxas ang YouSendIt at Dropbox noong ginawa niya ang mga ilustrasyon para sa “The Luckiest Girl in the World” (Insular Life, 2010), proyektong pinangasiwaang long-distance ng Adarna, dahil lumipat na siya sa New York. Tinitiyak ng mga file hosting service gaya nito, Mediafire at Filezilla, na patuloy pa ring makakapaglarawan ng aklat-pambatang Pinoy ang ilustrador na Pilipino, kahit saang lugar pa sila sa mundo dalhin ng tadhana.

 

Bawal ang anti-social

Upang mabuo ko ang aking papel ay gumawa ako ng survey sa mga miyembro ng Ang INK, at nalaman ko na para sa marami sa kanila, itinuturing nila ang   pagiging miyembro sa isang organisasyon ang may malaking tulong sa kanilang artistic growth. Para sa mga batang ilustrador tulad ni Pergylene Acuna (“Kiko’s Room”, Lampara Books, 2011), Ang INK ang nagbigay-daan sa maraming oportunidad gaya ng publication, group exhibits, rakets (jargon para sa mga short-term na proyekto, na kadalasan ay galing sa sektor ng advertising) at “isang ganap na makabagong pagtanaw sa sarili (a whole new way of looking at myself)”.

Para kay Totet de Jesus (“Mahiyaing Manok”, Adarna House, 2000) nakakatulong sa kanyang patuloy na pananaliksik sa estilo at disenyo ang pakikihalubilo niya sa ibang mga artist sa Ang INK.  Parehong natututo ang mga senior members at junior members sa subok na karanasan at sariwang pananaw ng isa’t isa.  Ipinaliwanag ni Jomike Tejido na ang kaugnayan na bunga sa palagiang komunikasyon sa industriya ay “symbiotic”, o para sa ikabubuti ng isa’t isa. Tila hirap akong magngalan ng ilustrador ng aklat-pambata na di palakaibigan at mapag-isa. Ayon kay Rommel Joson (“Dalawang Dagang Bulag,” Adarna Books, 2011), ang pagkukulang daw ng feedback sa social media sites ay napakadali raw pindutin ng “Like” button, at di ito nakatutulong sa proseso ng pag-aaral dahil hindi ito nakadudulot ng kritikal na puna na maaaring makuha mula sa isang “support group” na binubuo ng kapwa artists.

Ang Ilustrador bilang Awtor

Matapos ang usapang teknikal tungkol sa iba’t-ibang mga teknolohiyang naka-apekto sa kurso ng  pag-unlad ng ilustrasyon sa dekadang ito, atin namang tuunan ng pansin ang ebolusyon ng ilustrasyon sa kontekstong lokal.  Tignan natin kung paano, mula sa pagiging “mere adjunct”—dekorasyon o palamuti sa pahina—ang mga ilustrasyong ngayon per se ay ang bumubuo na rin ng “content” ng aklat-pambatang Filipino.

May nabubuong kamalayan ngayon sa loob ng industriya ng ilustrasyon, inspiradong tiyak ng kababayan nating awtor/ilustrador na si Jose Aruego, at marahang naimpluwensyahan din ng praktis ng mga dayuhang awtor/ilustrador, kung saan ang biswal ang nangingibabaw sa teksto, gaya ng makikita sa mga trabaho ng Amerikanong manunulat/ilustrador at 3-time Caldecott Medal awardee David Wiesner (“Flotsam”, Clarion Books, 2006), na kadalasan ay wala man lang teksto, at mga paboritong sina Maurice Sendak, Eric Carle at Leo Leonni.

“Ang konsepto ng ilustrador bilang espesyalista o awtoridad sa isang paksa o bilang maylikha ng materyal na parehong fiction at non-fiction ay laganap nang tinatanggap.” (Male, 2007)

Parami nang parami ang mga ilustrador na sumusulat, at mga aklat na pinasimulan ng mga ilustrador sa halip na mga manunulat. Halimbawa ay ang mga aklat na nilathala ng grupong Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK) sa dekadang ito, ang “Hale-Hale Hoy” (Adarna, 2006) at “Mga Tambay sa Tabi-Tabi” (Anvil, 2010) dahil sa pursigidong pagtataguyod at creative leadership ng 2-time Ang INK president na si Liza Flores, dalawang aklat na naglalayong panatilihin ang mga aspeto ng kulturang Pilipino sa araw-araw na pamumuhay ng bagong henerasyon.  Ang parehong aklat na nabanggit ay inisyatibo ng grupo, at humugot ng inspirasyon mula sa kanilang mga matagumpay na taunang eksibit.  Sa pamamaraang biswal, kabilang kasi sa mga layunin ng organisasyon ang pagtulong sa pagsulong ng panitikang pambata.

Ang katagang “awtor”, sa wakas, ay hindi na monopolyo ng manunulat.

Ang papel ng ilustrador sa panahon ng “paperless society”:

Konklusyon

Nagbasa ako ng papel noong Nobyembre 2001 sa Asian Children’s Festival sa Singapore na may paksang katulad ng papel na binasa ko ngayon at ito’y pinamagatang “Drawing From Experience:  Philippine Children’s Book Illustration in the Last Decade (1990 to 2000)”, at di ko maiwasang mamangha sa pagkakaiba ng huling dekada ng ika 20 siglo at ang unang dekada nitong ika 21 siglo. Sa nauna ay nasa kamusmusan pa lamang ang digital illustration dahil kalulunsad pa lamang ng iba’t ibang illustration software at di pa nahihinang ang WYSIWYG technology kaya’t di pa nakukuha ang lubos na pagtitiwala ng mga ilustrador. Ngunit sa nahuli ay nagkaroon ng laganap na pag-usbong ng digital illustration kakambal ng mga inobasyon gaya ng social networking at online publishing, at ito ang nagbigay-daan para isang henerasyon ng mga ilustrador na may kamalayan sa pareho nilang lakas at kahinaan, at laging may pagnanais mapabuti ang kanilang trabaho, dala na rin ng matinding kompetisyon sa industriya ngayon. Higit sa lahat, marahil, nakita rin sa lumipas na dekada ang pagpapalawak ng mga ilustrador sa kanilang papel sa pagbuo ng Pilipinong panitikang pambata upang akuhin na rin ang responsibilidad ng awtor, higit sa pawang taga-dekorasyon lamang ng pahina.

Kulang ang panahon para sa papel na ito, kung tutuusin, dahil habang nagsasalita ako ngayon sa harap ninyo ay kumikilos at nagtutulungan na ang mga publisher, manunulat at ilustrador upang itulak ang hangganan ng panitikang pambata sa labas ng mga pahinang papel upang sakupin ang pahinang digital, sa pamamagitan ng electronic books at applications para sa tablet computers at multi-media enabled smartphones. Dala ng limitasyon ng aking pananaliksik,  tiyak kong marami pa akong mga bagay na nakaligtaang banggitin na magbibigay-kabuluhan kung bakit ganito ang hugis, kulay at anyo ng ilustrasyong-pambata sa Pilipinas ngayon. Ngunit ito ang natitiyak ko, na sa pag-inog ng mundo at pagsabay sa pagsbulusok ng teknolohiya, di paiiwan ang ilustrador na Pilipino at Pilipina.

Maraming salamat po!

Almario, Ani. “Re:  List of Adarna House’s Illustrated Children’s Books 2000-2011.” Message to the author. 22 September 2011.

Almario, Virgilio S., Ma. Elena Paterno, Ramon C. Sunico, and Rene O. Villanueva, eds. “Bumasa at Lumaya: A Sourcebook On Children’s Literature In The Philippines.” Anvil Publishing, 1994.

Habulan, Ani. “Re:  List of Anvil Publishing’s Illustrated Children’s Books 2000-2011.” Message to the author. 23 September 2011.

Heller, Steven. “Sourcebook of Visual Ideas.” Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1989.

Male, Alan.  “Illustration: A Theoretical and Contextual Perspective”. Ava Publishing SA, 2007.

Ong, Frances. “Re:  List of Tahanan Books’ Illustrated Children’s Books 2000-2011.” Message to the author. 26 September 2011.

Papa, May T. “Impluwensya at Inspirasyon.” Survey. 27 September  to 10 October 2011.

Pirmejo, Joseph. “Re:  List of Bookmark’s Illustrated Children’s Books 2000-2011.” Message to the author. 29 September 2011.

“Nextness 101:  Why you (and your brand) should be on Tumblr” http://nextness.com.au/nextness-101/nextness-101-why-you-and-your-brand-should-be-on-tumblr/  (Accessed 4 October 2011).

“The FORUM Roundtable discussion on how can a university best serve the arts, and how can the arts best serve the University” [The Forum – July 2011-August 2011 – (Vol 12 Issue 4) http://www.up.edu.ph/upforum2.php?i=77&pg=120&pgidx=&pgmax=1&issue=43.  (Accessed 3 Oct 2011).

Russell Molina revisits Childhood.

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Best Reads, Don Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature, National Children's Book Awards, PBBY, Russell Molina

Russell Molina writes and illustrates books for children in between deadlines at work as a creative director in an advertising agency. His work, both as an illustrator and writer of children’s books, has won him accolades from the PBBY, the Don Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature, and the National Children’s Book Awards.

RUSSELL MOLINA:

I have deep respect for children. They are original thinkers and creative geniuses. I write books for them so once in a while I get to visit that wonderful place inside their heads where true imagination resides. There are no rules there. No boundaries. No limits. I write for myself so I can grab that rare opportunity to become child-like again. I write for children so I can say “thank you” for letting me into their world.

(Above) “Tuwing Sabado” has won, for Russell, both a Don Carlos Palanca Award for Literature and a Best Reads citation from the National Children’s Book Awards. (Below) Russell’s desk. Russell asked an organizer-maker to customize a 14-pocket inspiration board. He hangs this on the wall in front of his desk. “So anything and everything that inspires me, I put it here,” he says. “Usually I have postcards, poetry, pictures and clippings in front of me. It helps when I create stories and commercials. Saya!” (Photos courtesy of Russell Molina.)

The best job in the world.

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May Tobias-Papa

My son’s school is making a survey of the parents’ jobs.  I just happen to think that I have one of the best jobs in the world. I am so blessed.

Also did a sketch of my husband at work, for the same survey. =)

 

The Imaginarium of Mr. Robert Alejandro

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Robert Alejandro, the sketching backpacker

Robert Alejandro is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer who keeps himself busy with projects from clients such as HSBC, Ayala Land Inc., and R.O.X. On the side, Robert continues to design and create for the family-owned Papemelroti chain of specialty shops. Robert counts art, design, the Philippines and learning as his passions.

ROBERT ALEJANDRO:

I love children’s books. I always have and so it was a natural progression.

A long time ago, I did question myself if my illustrating children’s books was a worthwhile activity. I was wondering if it served only the very few who could actually afford the books. That was till I was invited to a “street library” where books which me and my friends created were shared to kids who lived in poverty (books were brought to the children in big bayongs for an afternoon of reading and sharing). This experience convinced me that I was on the right path.

Found objects find new life as materials for Robert Alejandro’s art.  A prodigious blogger and sketcher, he fills numerous sketchbooks with whimsical and ingenious sketches, mostly of people, birds and places constructed around ephemera he picks up from his travels. (All photos courtesy of Robert Alejandro.) Find more of the products of Robert Alejandro’s wicked imagination here. See samples of his design and illustration projects here.