A Thomasian Engineering senior’s swirling realities with art
by Anna Larraine Rienton
If it is Pablo Picasso who remarked that “to know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing,” it is easy to assume that what he said is a law of art. Before attempting said dictum, we accept its surreal impossibility for the courage it gives us to actually start drawing.
Among those brave, imaginative souls who listened to Picasso’s sentiment is Nathanael Jonas Rodrigo, who clung onto the words like ink on paper.
When the hashtag #artPH began trending on Twitter around August 17, the microblogging site became a platform for Filipino creativity.
It was quite refreshing to see a trend of a hidden gem in this grapevine of currently miserable news that it rapidly captured the attention of the online world. Thousands of artworks ranging from traditional pencil to paintings and mixed media to digital art, proved that the Filipino art is not dead.
It is well known that the engineering program is difficult and demanding, so it is natural that people will flock around the impressive feats of graphite made by a fourth year electronics and communications engineering student.
When asked about how he makes time for his art, it is a big factor if you are truly passionate about it.
“Nakakatulong naman talaga kung gusto mo yung ginagawa mo,” Rodrigo added, “so kahit na medyo minsan ang hirap isingit sa oras, magagawan at magagawan ng paraan.”
His fondness for copying things was an onset from childhood coloring and tracing books. Starting from cartoons and anime, Jonas stated that it was a daunting experience transitioning from simple-made lines to intricate detail in an online interview with Dion Greg Reyes of GineersNow.
Perhaps, Picasso was already subconsciously influencing him all those years ago. Perhaps not. But in his narration from the same interview, he reflected that, “one day, something came up to me and I had the inkling of courage to try.” If he did not dared to take the leap, nothing would have ever change.
Through the years, it developed into the complexity of applying layers and layers of shades and techniques in both his pencil and digital artworks.
Spurred on from past artistic courage, he continues to discover different forms of art to devour. Currently, his beau is photography. Akin to his traditional portrait drawings, it continues his style of capturing human subjects and turning them into works of art.
“Keep working on your art, it doesn’t have to be great. It just have to be something from you,” Rodrigo said.
Jonas’s unending aspiration of having his own creations of oil paintings and pure, imaginative concept art is a reminder to every Thomasian that discovering other realms of our respective enthusiasms shouldn’t be a problem; we just have to start without thinking.
Jonas’s works can be seen on his Instagram account at @jonasrodrigo.
