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I just added a new completed project to the illustration category, the TeacherMates in the Philippines project. A few months ago, I was approached by my high school friend Mela, who was taking up her MA in Stanford University, to illustrate some scenes for a couple of Filipino e-books to benefit school children in an underdeveloped community (visit the project site here to learn more about the project).
This was a small illustration job that I looked forward to doing. Right around the time before Mela approached me with this project, I was thinking of doing something that was uniquely Filipino, something lacking in my work. This project was the perfect antidote.
We have Aling Nena’s tindahan/sari-sari store, which is a sidewalk storefront selling candy, canned goods, soda, condiments, detergent, etc. The kids in this scene all sport tsinelas or flip-flops, which Filipinos opt for as lounge wear long before those overrated Havaianas came into the scene.
And what could be more Pinoy than our ubiquitous mode of public transport– the jeepney? They’re noisy, clunky, and sometimes flamboyant or garish in decor but they are a convenient way to get around if you don’t mind traveling in a metal beast of pollution.
I scanned in my sketchy pencil drawings and went straight to Photoshop for color, opting for a monochromatic background so as not to overwhelm the stories these illustrations are attached to. The two e-books I was assigned to illustrate were simple, straight-to-the-point stories which, for me, seemed to be set in idyllic small and rural towns in the Philippines, so I tried to convey that simplicity in my drawings.
Looking forward to more projects with a Filipino flavor, given the chance. See one more image related to this project here on its illustration page.
