THE AGE OF KALESAS AND DINOSAURS: My Art Story in a Nut Shell Part 1

As far as I can recall, I believe I was a muralist at age 4. I used to draw on our rented apartment walls whenever my father, Frank Hilario, would not have enough scratch papers to give me. He was a writer and editor and had lots of access to paper.  Of course, I always got spanked and cried whenever I do this but never seemed to be wise enough to learn the next time around.

I recall that I drew a lot of dinosaurs. I was a fan and was obviously influenced by watching the hit 70’s TV show “The Land of the Lost”.   

This was the original Land of the Lost. Most people would know the movie that Will Ferrel starred in.

I would also draw a lot of native kalesas (horse-drawn carriages) but would have them equipped with all the comforts of home.  Yes, these were top-of-the-line kalesas with all the nice furniture and appliances that you can find in rich folks homes at that time.  

•Kalesa, an oil in canvas painting with a size of 36 x 48 inches. Done by Dante Hipolito*.

*Born in San Andres in 1959. Hipolito is known as a hyper-realist artist.He studied in PWU , 1977-81 . Among his batchmates were hyper-realist Chris Mirang and Carlo Magno. In the mid-80's, he worked as an illustrator at Kalaro publishing doing a magazine for children under editor Lorna Kalaw Tirol. After a short stint as a seaman in Singapore, he went back to work as an artist at Adformatrix Agency, and then at FCB Intl. In 1993, he worked as art director for a Saudi Arabian sdvertising firm, and was active with Pinta Pilipino Art Group.

Our family was never rich so perhaps, looking back, this was my way of fulfilling our needs and was a reflection of my aspirations.  But even then by using the lowly kalesa as my basic structure, I reflected that this is because I was still grounded in reality that we were poor and that we moved houses a lot.  In fact, I can recall six apartment changes when I was growing up.

ELEMENTARY

During my primary years in school, I always get invited to draw for the school. I only know how to use a pencil then so all my drawings were never colored. I remember one drawing of Jose Rizal, the Philippines' national hero, displayed in front of the school during Rizal Day. That was a proud day for me. Below is the exact picture that I copied.  I don't know where my pencil drawing is now.

I also made my own comic book heroes and comic books when I was in sixth grade.  I rented them out for 25 centavos to my school mates. I sold some of them for 5 pesos which was good money already back in 1984.

I don’t know where my comics are now.  Wish I can get some back.

  

HIGH SCHOOL

I submitted artworks (that I never got back) and took the entrance tests for the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA).  It was three days of examinations at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. 

The Cultural Center of the Philippines

The first day we had the standard written exams. The results were released in the afternoon and those that didn’t pass were not entertained the following day.  The second day was another series of written exams plus an interview. Again, many were sent home.  The last day was for the practical tests at UP Diliman.  I thought I was a pretty good illustrator at that time but those with me were light years ahead in skill and talent.  I never received training in any medium and that was my downfall.  I was pretty raw. Only 10 visual arts scholars were accepted out of the hundreds that applied.  I was waitlisted but none of the 10 backed-out of the opportunity.

I instead finished my secondary school at UP Rural High School in Los Baños, Laguna.  Truth be told, I would have not entered any school at that time had it not been for my mother who pushed and helped me with all the requirements.  You see I was so dead set at studying at PHSA that I never bothered to apply to other schools.  I was even feverish while taking the entrance exams at UPRHS. It was good that I passed.

In school and at home, I doodled a lot when I get bored.

Posting part 2 and 3 soon...