Jeepney art and tshirts

September 18, 2022

I have a love-hate relationship with jeepneys. They take up road space but they’ve come to represent Philippine roads and transportation. Many are loud and pollute the air, but they’re affordable and accessible for both drivers and passengers of all walks of life. There are more “e-Jeepneys” on Metro Manila roads, but they don’t have the same aesthetic, look, and feel of traditional jeepneys.

Spongebob Jeepney — Jeepneys are also rolling pieces of art, like this Spongebob Squarepants Jeepney. Photographed in Quezon City.

Inside an e-Jeepney. Cool, clean, quiet, and doesn’t pollute.

Until someone figures out how to merge our love for the classic and accessible jeepney, with the comfort and ease of electric vehicles, we’ll have to work with what we have.

Jeepney Transformers!

As an artist, I like to use my imagination. Growing up I watched a lot of cartoons, one of them being Transformers. I would eventually ride lots of jeepneys, so I put the two together and illustrated a Jeepney Transformer. Like the Transformers I enjoyed as a kid, they’re powered by the fictional fuel Energon, so they’re pollution free!

With the first design, I tried my best to make it as true to form as possible. Meaning I designed it so that one day, if I ever made a physical jeepney transformer toy, it could be based on this design.

It will probably never happen since I can’t sculpt, don’t have a 3D printer, and don’t have the money to make a prototype. So I put the design on a tshirt.

See my Jeepney Transformer tshirt on Etsy.

Jeepney Transformer… samurai?

Next, I decided to take it to the next level. I also think Japanese history and samurai are cool, so I took jeepneys and transformers, and merged them into a samurai robot that transforms into a jeepney.

Jeepney Samurai Transformer, robot and jeepney form, with Baybayin brush for the word Samurai — A Jeepney Samurai Transformer in robot and jeepney form, with Baybayin in brush strokes for the word Samurai. Printable and tshirt here on Etsy.

Along with the art, I created a simple digital brush on Adobe Illustrator and wrote the word “samurai” in Baybayin. See a quick timelapse of this art on my Youtube channel here.

More Jeepney art

Last August has been all about Jeepneys. I made another jeepney illustration for a Filipino-American chef based in Washington DC. I added the chef’s family to the design to add a personal touch, and I was glad to know that they loved it.

Jeepney illustration for Mahal BBQ — A jeepney made in the colors of Chef Jerome’s Mahal BBQ. Learn more about the project here.

The family behind Mahal BBQ actually found me through an older jeepney artwork I made a few years ago called “Jeprocket”. It’s a jeepney that’s also… a rocket!

Jeprocket Jeepney rocket — A jeepney rocket, aka jeprocket, playing on the word jeproks.

Jeepney and the masa, or people

Universal Social Pension Jeepney for Coalition of Services for the Elderly or COSE. Learn more about this project here.

The thing about the jeepney is that it’s been around for decades, transporting Filipinos to and from work, school, and everywhere else in-between. When I worked on an art project with the Coalition of Services of the Elderly, they requested art that showed communities surrounding a jeepney.

Because of this, the jeepney itself has long been an important aspect of Filipino art and life. They might be large, loud, and dusty, but they’ve made their mark on the streets and in our psyche.

So that’s five jeepney illustrations done so far. I don’t see the jeepney going away anytime soon, so chances are I’ll be making more jeepney art in the future. Meanwhile see a quick timelapse on how I drew my Jeepney Samurai Transformer.