Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Giant Inside Our House (Part 2)

Here are the rest of the illustrations for a children's literature "Ang Higante Sa Loob Ng Aming Bahay" by Raymund Garlitos:

2009-02-09

"Mano po! Mano po!" ang sabi nina Ate Linggit at Kuya Utoy
sabay kuha sa dambuhalang kamay ng higanteng hawak na ang malaking kutsara.
"Ikaw, Matt-Matt, di ka ba magmamano?" yakag sa akin ni Nanay,
tinutulak niya ako patungo sa higanteng nakangiti sa akin.
"Mmmmmaanno ppppooo ... " sabay kuha sa kamay niyang singbigat
ng basketbol at singlapad ng pamaypay na abaniko at inilapat sa aking noo,
sabay karipas ng takbo patungo sa nanay ko.
Nagtawanan silang lahat sa aking ginawa.
"PARANG NAKAKITA NG MULTO ITONG SI BUNSO," sabay bunghalit ng tawa
ng higanteng parang kumakahol na asong mataba.

2009-02-11

Ngayon, alam ko na kung bakit itong si Nanay,
si Ate Linggit at Kuya Utoy,
ay malapit ang loob sa higanteng ita sa aming bahay.
Siya ay higante hindi dahil sa laki ng kanyang katawan
o lalim ng kanyang boses kapag nakikipagkuwentuhan.
Siya ay higante dahil sa tawa niyang dumadagundong sa lakas,
dahil sa ngiting lagi niyang ipinapamalas,
dahil sa haplos ng mahinahon niyang palad,
at dahil sa tatag ng mga balikat niyang malapad.
At ngayon, habang kami'y nanood ng TV,
ang hiling ko'y lagi na lang dito sa aking tabi
ang higante na nakatira sa loob ng aming bahay,
na mula noon ay tinatawag kong "TATAY."
By the way, I made these illustrations as part of my membership application to Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang I.N.K.). The piece by Garlitos is a fascinating story and I recommend everyone to read it. The piece in its entirety can be downloaded here: http://pbby.org.ph/downloads/pbby_ang-higante-sa-loob-ng-aming-bahay.pdf.

I found the story to be quite challenging to illustrate since the story culminates in a revelation that the giant is actually the kid's father. The illustrations should also be able to evoke this revelation. That's why in the most of the panels (except the last one), the "giant" is only shown in parts and from behind, never revealing his face and entirety. I also tried to preserve the reality that the "giant" is not really a giant, while integrating the fantasy that the "giant" is so, mainly because of the wild imagination of the kid. If I had more time, there are more key scenes which I wanted to illustrate.

It's time to send these babies to the mail. Hopefully, these illustrations pass the screening process.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good illustrations. The deliberation is on the 21st. Hope to see you on the ORSEM.

INKie