(Despicable) Artistic Me

          Last March 24, we had the privilege of meeting Professor Mel Silvestre of the College of Fine Arts, a children’s book illustrator. He showed us some of his works. Sir Mel joked that he isn’t and hasn’t been an illustrator for a while now because the last time he did the art for a children’s book was in the early 2000s. Personally I don’t think that disqualifies him; once an illustrator, always an illustrator. I think that is the beauty of writing and drawing –stories and artwork live long after their creators do. Since most of Sir Mel’s work had been done at a time when there was very little money for printing and reproducing colored pictures, much of his illustrations were made using pencil. The simplicity of his creations did not lessen the value of the story, if anything it added to it. I was particularly impressed by one of his illustrations of the body of a boy in the basket of fish. It is a very heavy topic and one that has to be dealt with properly when presenting to children and so what Sir Mel did was create the outline of the boy’s body using the fish. It was a very clever technique, if you ask me.

            I was also impressed by Sir Mel’s foam masks and costumes. I liked the Storm Trooper and Darth Vader ones the most. The attention to detail was simply amazing. He also made little Angry Birds toys for his sons. He said that that way they can play the game without having to use gadgets all the time. The minute Sir Mel brought out his creations, the crafty side of me just wanted to get to work. We were taught how to make tiny minions using different colors of plastic foam. I made a traditional yellow minion but with a pink jumper instead of a blue one. Sir Mel divided us into groups to share the glue that Teacher Hazelle provided. It was fun feeling like artists for a while. I didn’t get to finish my minion but I brought it home with me and Sir Mel even let us bring home little pieces of foam with us to use. He also gave us tips on where we could find materials in case we ever wanted to make foam costumes too. It was a very fun experience to get out of the classroom and have a workshop-type session. I have always dreamed of becoming a published children’s author someday, but for the first time in my life I considered becoming a children’s book illustrator. I’ll be honest; I’m not particularly good at drawing (which is probably why I never saw myself becoming an illustrator) but after working with Sir Mel, I realized that there are different mediums that can be used. Perhaps it isn’t only about natural skill when it comes to drawing but also about creativity. You can use puppets, make collages, or sew dolls to use – the possibilities are endless!

            I’m so glad Teacher Hazelle gave us this unique opportunity. It’s too bad she didn’t get to stay the whole class period, but I’m sure we’ll have other chances to get out of the classroom as a class. Lastly, I’m very grateful to Sir Mel for allowing us to work and use his materials and for taking the time to show us that we too, can be artists.