A Child Forever
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Dominic Agsaway is always second best to none
Agsaway’s fertile imagination did not happen in a day. Growing up in a farming community in Bulacan, he and his friends had the world at their fingertips. “Trailers used for transporting rice were turned into ships,” he remembers, “going through the seven seas.” They never ran out of things to play with. The stream was always waiting to be splashed, and there were kites for them to fly.
But it was in drawing that he could do all by himself. At one-and-a-half years old, his parents took a photo of him doodling on his mother’s stationery. His parents were very encouraging, providing him with books to read and dream on afterwards.
In 5th grade, Agsaway joined a poster-making contest. Everybody was rooting for him, but he did not win. He was excused from class that afternoon. Feeling dejected, he went to the cafeteria and reflected if he still would like to be a visual artist someday. A high-school teacher approached and told him that his poster was great. He lit up. “Practice more,” she said, “When you get to high school, maybe you can be an illustrator for the school paper.”
A few years later, he did become an illustrator for the school paper, and he won several regional art awards. He learned from thereon to be positive because there would always be someone who would appreciate his artwork.
He studied fine arts, majoring in advertising, at the University of Santo Tomas. His thesis adviser, Winnie Reyes, taught him the rudiments of children’s book illustration. While still in college, he joined Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK), a group of visual artists dedicated to illustrating children’s picture books. After he was officially accepted to the group, he was elated that he was finally running with the big dogs. But being Ang INK member was not enough. He still had to have the passion and dedication to be a children’s book illustrator. No worries. The innate drive to succeed never left him because he is now one of the most sought-after children’s book illustrators in the Philippines.
These children's books are three of Dominic Agsaway's favorites.
What is the creative process in illustrating children’s books?
Agsaway tells me: “An artist usually immerses in the world of stories that needs to be illustrated. Experiencing what the protagonist had encountered greatly helps. Movements and gestures can easily be referenced from a visual artist’s reflection in the mirror.” Humor in the illustrations gets the children’s attention, he adds.
He is very particular about how shadows and lighting play with the mood of a scene, which helps in the tone of an illustration. In choosing the right color palette for a book, an illustrator should make sure to read the story and know the setting. Sometimes, the time setting is an important factor to figure out the mood and what colors should be used. For example, if the story’s setting is after a class, orange colors would be used for a happy mood or a gloomy bluish tint if it were a sad tale.
Agsaway basically draws his illustrations by hand, which he loves because he is creating something really nice. However, he uses technology to improve his illustrations. Mixing traditional art and technology produces harmony, he says.
Among the children’s book that he has illustrated, Ngumiti si Andoy (Andoy Smiled) (2013), written by Xi Zuq, is the closest to Agsaway’s heart. Winner of Philippine Board on Book for Young People (PBBY)-Salanga and PBBY-Alcala Grand Prize and National Children’s Book Award--Best Read for Children, the book is warm and whimsical. In the book, a boy interacts with the statue of the hero Andres Bonifacio. “I like the character Bonifacio,” Agsaway notes. “He seems like a guy you can hang out with.”
Ang Mainggiting Kuting (The Envious Kitten) (2016), written by Eugene Y. Evasco, is one of Agsaway’s favorites because his illustrations were inspired by his late kitten, Mingming, who was his companion for three years.
When it comes to details, Sakto Lang (Just Enough), written by Joshene Bersales (2020), is top on Agsaway’s list. All his creative juices were squeezed when he was doing peculiar illustrations of a spider family with human social issues.
Agsaway is a superlative visual artist, and he produces masterpieces. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his commemoration of my long friendship with my Finnish pen pal, Satu, in Dance in the Sky: Philippine Eagle and Whooper Swan. Filled with wit, humor, and motion, he shows the national birds of the Philippines and Finland wearing native costumes and dancing together in the friendly skies.
Dancing in the Sky: Philippine Eagle and Whooper Swan by Dominic Agsaway, 2020, digital art on matte, 16" x 20". (Finnish American Heritage Center)
Dominic Agsaway’s unique style has made him stand out in any endeavor he undertakes. In illustrating children’ s books, he has the magic of making stories fresh, new, and interesting, animating characters and settings for children to enjoy. He knows children very well because he was once and is forever a child!
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Dr. Rey de la Cruz
Rey E. de la Cruz, Ed.D., Positively Filipino correspondent, writes from Chicagoland when he is not loving the arts and traveling in seven continents. He is the author of the children’s book, Ballesteros on My Mind: My Hometown in the Philippines, which also has Ilocano, Spanish, and Tagalog editions, seven songs, and a film. His baby book and fourth-grade Tagalog diary are in the collection of The Newberry, an independent research library for the humanities in Chicago.
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