Lakbayan - Up Close

This is my entry to the First Toyota Art Edge Digital Art Competition entitled, "LAKBAYAN" (Lakbay sa Bayan, Lakbay ng Bayan) This won the Grand Prize with a cash prize of PhP200,000.00, With the theme, "Toyota Driving Tomorrow-20 Years of Toyota in the Philippines", This topped the 500+ entries by artists from different parts of the country, Judged by an elite group, composed of some of the country's prominent name in the industry:

Final Judges:
- Pandy Aviado, Visual artist and former Director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Coordinating Center for the Visual Arts
- Ruel Virtucio, Dean of the iAcademy
- Jaykee Evangelista, Senior Art Director for Top Gear magazine

Shortlisting judges:
- Ross Capili, Visual artist, photographer
- Drew Europeo, Web designer and visual artist
- Nico Puertollano, Graphic designer, multimedia artist and film director
- Cesar Hernando, Visual artist, Digital Film Director and UP College of Fine Arts faculty member

- Dentsu Executive Art Director, Rowell See

The judges were chaired by Mr. Dopy Doplon, graphic designer, coffee table book artist.

It took me 3 days to complete this winning piece. All done in Photoshop CS and some vectors from Macromedia Freehand X with the help of Wacom Intuos 3. The picture is a collage of color splashes that makes a map of the Philippines and with the colors that symbolizes the rich culture of the Filipinos. As you move through the islands you could see different landmarks that represents the beautiful places in the archipelago, and different dialects that expressed the urge of traveling with silhouettes of people in different moods, Underneath the map is a set of letters that makes the name... Toyota. (Check out the other entries at Toyota's Site.)

Toyota Art Edge Winners by Manila Times

When I was in Manila last thursday for the awarding of the Art Edge Winners at the Shangri-La, Makati, I was interviewed by a representative from Manila Times, Perry Gil S. Mallari. Well, here it is:

Cutting edge computer art
Digital art competition announces winners
By Perry Gil S. Mallari, Reporter

With the availability and popularity of image creation and manipulation software in the last 10 years creating art using a computer was no longer a novelty among artists. The era of digital art is here and unless you’re an artist living under a rock, you have felt in one way or another the influence of computers in the process of art production. But while technology can hasten the production of art, it’s no substitute for genuine talent.

It is good to know that Pinoy artists are abreast with technology and they have already proven their mettle in the field of digital arts. As a case in point, top CGI (computer generated imagery) movie producers Disney and Pixar have a slew of Filipino artists in their employ.

Just recently, local artists who opted to trade their pencils and brushes to mouse and graphic tablets were given a chance to showcase their talents via the digital art contest Art Edge sponsored by Toyota Motors Philippines Corporation (TMP). The theme of the contest was “Driving Tomorrow —20 Years of Toyota in the Philippines.” Toyota chose to celebrate the anniversary of its two decades of operation in the country with an art competition. It explained that the move signified the company’s belief that progressive techno-logy has to be balanced with the development of other aspects of life, society and the environment.

Of the 500 artworks that were submitted from May to June this year, 23 made it to the finals and three were chosen as the overall best works of the competition.

Gilbert Semilliano of Laguna bagged the first place with a cash award of P200, 000 while Kristofferson Paunil of Cebu got the second place with prize money of P150,000. Third placer Mark Angelo Argarin of Valenzuela took home a P100,000 cash reward. The other 20 finalists were given a P25,000 consolation prizes each.

The panel of judges was comprised of representatives from Toyota as well as top industry practitioners in the realm of graphic arts among them were TopGear advertising agency senior art director Jaykee Evangelista, renowned artist Pandy Aviado and Ruel Virtucio, the chief executive officer of iAcademy, currently the top computer graphic art school in the country. All the entries were judged using the following criteria: 15 percent for originality, 30 percent for visual impact and appeal, 40 percent for relevance to the theme and 15 percent for technical content and composition.

(check out the actual post in this link)