Christmas illustration in the Philippines
Last year a client approached me for an illustration of mall goers in a Christmas scene in the Philippines. Entitled “Paskong Pinoy” or Filipino Christmas, they asked for a number of items to be depicted in the art. This included a church, the company’s namesake mall or market, Filipino food items such as bibingka and puto bumbong, as well as the company mascot Wally.
WalterMart is a company that owns markets and malls in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. When they contacted me, they referred to the work by late National Artist of the Philippines Larry Alcala. He was known for his “slice of life” illustrations where he drew crowds of Filipinos in various contexts. I was familiar with his work, and had already made a few illustrations inspired by his art. You can see a few of them here.
After the project started, I began conceptualizing the art and listed more ideas. I proceeded with sketching, and once I reached an idea I liked I drafted the line work for review.
After the line work was approved, I proceeded with the final colors. To allow for flexibility in sizing, the client agreed that a vector-based artwork would be best. Vector art requires software like Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, or Linearity Curve, and involves creating art based on coordinate geometry. Roughly speaking, it shows the art based on numbers that dictate their positions on the digital canvas. This way, clients who request vector art can print the works on any size unrestricted by the “permanent pixels” in raster art used in non-vector illustrations.
Depending on the details of the art, vector art can take a bit longer to create and can be harder to revise. But whether an artist works with vector or raster art, submitting preliminary line work in raster is always best before proceeding with the final full color art.
When I make art that involves depicting a large number of people, I try to add a special character close to my heart, which is my mom.
In this latest piece, I gave my mom a less conspicuous place in the artwork. It is also way for me to make an artwork more inclusive. By adding my mom I also include people of different abilities, especially those who use wheelchairs and other means of mobility.
It is also therapeutic for me. Despite 4 years now since she passed, there are days it still feels like yesterday to me.
More slice of life art
See more art like this in a previous blog post. I have created slice of life art for a few other clients including World Vision and the Coalition of Services for the Elderly. You can see the art here.
I hope you enjoy my art! Following me on social media for more. Or contact me if you would like to explore having an illustration made for your organization.