Illustrator Interview: Kora Dandan Albano

With Ms. Gidget Roceles Jimenez

Kora Dandan Albano shares with us her joy in working with Gidget Roceles Jimenez in their book, All About the Philippines (Tuttle, 2015). She has some tips for budding artists on the use of watercolor as medium for art. Read on and you might just learn a thing or two about watercolor painting!

I love your spreads for the book, especially the ones on the end pages. Why Banawe and Pahiyas?

 

Sagada and Pahiyas spreads were actually inside illustrations for the Travelling Together and Fiesta sections. But he editors decided to use them as end papers for the book.

Your control of color and water is amazing! How do you do it? Any tips for aspiring illustrators and artists who are using this medium?

 

Watercolor is an unforgiving medium. So careful planning is important. Hindi pwede yung attack ka lang ng attack. Calculated lahat - from the amount of water that you mix into the paint to the degree of dampness of a pre-wetted paper -  lahat iniisip at pinaplano muna. Sa una parang ang hirap, pero if you’ve been using the medium for over 25 years like me, it becomes second skin,  instinctive na.

For me, there is no substitute for a good  drawing, so I always draw my pencil sketches on plain paper first, adjusting and revising until I’m happy with them. Then I trace them on quality watercolor paper using a light box - this is to avoid damaging the paper with too much erasures. Arches and Canson Montval watercolor papers are my favorites. I always paint from light to dark. Highlights are leave outs – kung ano yung kulay ng papel, iyon ang whites or highlights sa illustration. I don’t use white paint as much as possible.  I build up my images one layer at a time. Like in the Sagada spread, I painted the first layer of clouds first, then while letting that area dry, I tackled the first layer of the greens of the rice terraces next, and so on and so forth until the entire paper is covered with first layer of paint. Then I work on the next layer, starting at the parts that are already dry.  I move my drawing board a lot while painting. I even paint some parts upside down sometimes. Normally it takes about four to five layers of paint to finish an illustration.

More tips: 

> Always clean your mixing plates to avoid muddy mixture of paints. Huwag manghinayang sa paint. 

> Always use fresh water for washing and dipping your brushes. Replace the water when using a different hue. Like, if you are painting a part that is yellow and your water is already blue, you will end up painting it green if you don’t replace your water with a clean one.

> Sketch pad papers are not watercolor papers. Don’t use them.

> Invest on good quality watercolor paints. I use Winsor and Newton, and Holbein paints.

> If you want to be good in watercolor, paint in watercolor most days of the weeks, at least 2 hours at a time.

At the book launch or All About the Philippines

Describe the experience of working with Gidget and Tuttle.

We were a good team! Just like with most of my children’s book projects, I only worked closely with the editor/coordinator of this book. I really appreciate it that Terri, the editor from Tuttle in the U.S.,  involved me from the planning stage of the book up to the edits. For this project, Terri and I exchanged about 250 emails between us and each one I got from her is a “feel good” email. Her reactions to my submissions were always -  Awesome! Fantastic! Wonderful!

Though, Gidget and I knew each other, we never met to discuss the project. It is only during the edits that the three of us worked together via email, proofreading and making sure everything is in place. But it was good to know afterwards that Gidget really loved what I have done with our book. Looks like, even if we didn’t discuss a single illustration while I’m doing them, our vision for the book were practically the same.

What is your dream book?

I want to write and illustrate a book about my childhood in Bulacan.

Photo source: Grabbed from FB with permission from Ms. Albano and A-gel Ramboyong.

Author Interview: Gidget Roceles Jimenez

Ms. Jimenez at the launch of All About the Philippines

Gidget Roceles Jimenez, author of All About the Philippines answers these questions for this blog's author interview feature. All About the Philippines was launched in National Bookstore last August 15, 2015. Ms. Jimenez writes poetry and non-fiction books for children. Her book, Can We Live on Mars? (Adarna House, 2009) won the National Children's Book Award Best Reads of 2010. 

How long did it take you to write All About the Philippines?

Tuttle Publishing contacted me at the start of 2011 about the possibility of writing this book. After a long process of deciding what we would include in the book, it took me about a year to research and write the book.

What was the most challenging part of writing the book?

I think the most challenging part of writing the book was trying to decide what were the most important aspects of presenting authentic Filipino children growing up in such different parts of the Philippines. I was very thankful to have the input of the very knowledgeable team of Charlotte and Kiko Benitez to make sure that my information was accurate and relevant.

Author and illustrator together: Gidget Roceles Jimenez and Kora Dandan Albano

Describe the experience of working with Kora and Tuttle.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Tuttle. My editor Terri Jadick from the  Tuttle Office in Vermont was a joy to work with. Though I had limited interaction with Kora while I was writing the text, it was wonderful to see how beautifully she complemented what I had written.

What is the book you wish you had written?

I honestly cannot say that there is a book I wish I had written because I love my favorite books exactly as they have been written. Among my favorites are those by Douglas Wood and Jon J Muth whose picture books have life lessons for all ages.

Photo source: These two photos are from Ms. Jimenez. Permission to post was granted by her.

Book Review: All About the Philippines

Here comes a new book about the Philippines! All About the Philippines: Stories, Songs, Crafts and Games for Kids is written by Gidget Roceles Jimenez and illustrated by Corazon Dandan Albano. It is part of Tuttle Publishing's All About Series where countries like Korea, Japan, Indonesia and China are included too.

The book is visually appealing. Ms. Albano's illustrations, done in watercolor, is clean and cool to the eyes.  It is sturdy and smelled like gum and vanilla. The layout of every spread is uncluttered. There is balance in the use of space for the text and the illustrations to complement each other. The book's size is ideal for little hands to hold, to cradle and to lay down on one's lap. What truly amazed me was Ms. Albano's renditions of the Pinoy tourists in Banawe and the Pahiyas Festival on the flaps of the book. There is so much color and events going on in one spread denoting festivity and community. It is a book that I immediately warmed up to.

Ms. Jimenez is crafty in using the stories and experiences of Mary, Jaime and Ari, to represent the three biggest island groups in the Philippines and beading together the diverse qualities and characteristics of our archipelago. There is history, geography, language, songs, art and cultural norms and traditions that bespeak of the varied ways in which Filipinos live and love.

I am proud to recommend this book to every school library, local and off shore, to keep in their collection as valuable reference and source book for Filipino children and young people of the world who wish to know the Philippines. There is Google to turn to, but with a well produced book such as this, the internet can wait. Congratulations to Ms. Jimenez and Ms. Albano on this wonderful collaboration! And to Tuttle Publishing for staying true to its mission of bringing the East and West closer to each other.