i am intrigued with the works of klimt, munch, picasso, and in this case, ben cab. i am in awe with the lushness of caravaggio, michelangelo, boticelli and amorsolo. and several others works, unfortunately not been able to remember the names.

and i honestly don’t find the faces on the painting ugly. it has a unique feel to it, it has “character”. i guess i just have a broader perspective on the term “beauty”… and i guess it’s relative. so it’s not for anyone to just say as if final na “that’s ugly” or “that’s not real art!”…

if we’re talking about faces, then would the old day painted cinema billboards (i dont know what they’re called) be what you consider real art faces then?

i guess the real “ugly” part of this whole thing is someone not able to respect BenCab’s work, by scoffing at it, and stealing it.

maybe some people see more things in those paintings than what you could see? needing more exposure to more artworks, no?

on your child’s paintings, if i were a parent like you i would stop comparing and start developing your child’s talent instead. hopefully he/she’ll develop a life-long passion for it, have a unique style like BenCab, and garner praise and respect as well.

from what i’ve observed in movies, painters don’t need actual models for their paintings. the images come from their imagination. neither do it need to have actual people as models (eg mondrian, dali, pollock)

Artist as a profession that needs to be licensed/PRC-ed? i don’t know how to debate on i, but by first reaction, i almost choked on my ice cream. i don’t know, i guess it’s my common girl sense telling me, WTF?!

btw. Ms. Zafra… how about twisted 9? :)

or it could be that the painter is really good but his models are really ugly in real life?

if you are talking about art graduates of UP, UST etc as having enough academic credentials then let me also point out that a lot of so-called “elite” universities also produces doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, nurses, etc that graduate but fail to pass the PRC licensure exams.

having a diploma is not enough to prove your worth.

Hey, who knew, contemporary Pinoy art is worthy of an art theft na pala.

But on the other end of the spectrum, there are komiks artists who draw meticulous details and anatomies, and are being frowned upon by most people. If art is limited on the person’s ablilty to draw, then Coching and Ravelo would be National Artists, no debate necesssary. Caparas could’ve won, because he can “draw.” But then, there’s more to that.

Funny thing, art is.

he has to pass basic drawing, color, technique, paint, charcoal, etc exams. Once he pass all of these qualifying exams then he can draw or paint in any style that he likes.

i think artists today cannot draw realistic faces or scenes hence born the field of abstract art. same thing like impressionism as an out branch of realism.

on the drawings above, i can’t even say if the face is that of a woman or a man.

which reminds me of a doc on cable regarding a 5 year old girl famous for her abstract paintings. the reporter asked a critic what he thought of the abstract painting not telling him that it was painted by a child.

the critic went to explain about pain, experience, emotions, deep longing for love, etc…

then the reporter said that it was painted by a child so how can she express emotions when it was just playtime art for her. she was just throwing paint on a canvas.

“color or shape, but by the brush strokes, intricacy, the meaning, life and soul of the piece. and also by the artist who created it”

you sound a lot like that art critic.