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Modern Philippine Artists Our Kids Can Look Up To

by Kevyn Gohu
February 4, 2022

In light of National Arts month, these young Philippine artists deserve our kids’ admiration too!

Artists, writers, illustrators, actors, musicians, and dancers, deserve praise for their dedication. All their lives, they’ve continued to hone their craft despite the many discriminating prejudices. It’s their passion for art and their artwork that kept us entertained throughout the pandemic. And if your kids want to get into art or learn an art style, they can learn from these people too. Here are some modern Philippine artists our kids can look up to.

1. Kanonushi

For your kids who love Dungeons and Dragons and need inspiration, they can check out Kanonushi‘s work. His style focuses more on realism and can look like it was oil-painted on a canvas. This Philippine artist draws a variety of both fantasy and realistic characters. Sometimes, he even does an art style known as “chibi” where characters are turned into small, cute individuals that look like kids.

2. Abigail Diaz

Also known as Serafleur, Philippine artist Abigail Diaz focuses on creating impressionist art. She also does a variety of characters from different franchises like characters from Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy VII, Avatar: Last Airbender, and even Disney characters. Her style is more romantic impressionist which explains why a majority of her painting strokes are soft and focus more on human expression.

3. Jap MKL

Artist Jap MKL focuses on a more comic-like art style. He uses his art to showcases events that are occurring in the Philippines. His art style ranges from being extremely detailed to more abstract art which boasts his flexibility as an artist. He also does some lore weaving for some of his artworks which makes his portfolio interesting not just to look at his illustrations but also the stories behind them.

4. May Ann Licudine

Known by her artist name “Mall”, Philippine digital artist May Ann Licudine has artworks that give off sweet Studio Ghibli vibes. She not only illustrates but also does photography but shares her story with other artists especially about her partial deafness. She also does graphite pencil art and other mediums, even filming her artistic process before displaying the final product.

5. Margaret Morales

Specializing more in watercolor, Margaret Morales focuses on creating gorgeous portraits of women. She even has her own exhibits and sells prints of her work. At the moment, she has an upcoming exhibit that will be showcased in Tokyo on September 16, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. She also sometimes shares a film of herself drawing her artworks to showcase the process.

6. Gel Jamlang

If your kids want to start using watercolor, they can look at Gel Jamlang‘s works. This Philippine artist focuses more on more abstract art of objects rather than people. But, he’s drawn a few illustrations that are more realistic looking. If one were to look closely, you can see that he’s taken some of the Philippine art styles of bright colors and more elongated figures to tell a story.

Philippine Artists – whether digital or traditional – need to be recognized!

Although they don’t use the usual traditional oil and canvas, these Philippine artists deserve admiration for being able to bring things to life. They can weave stories with their colors and illustrations which help our kids grow their imagination and enhance their sense of beauty. Especially if our kids want to one day design their own video games or write their own book, these artists are what inspire them to keep chasing their dreams of one day being able to create art.