Drawn Together: Unedited Interviews
Apol St. Maria
Interviewed by Nicola M. Sebastian
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m 28. I graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication from the University of the Philippines. I started my career in advertising as an Art Director in Publicis-Manila until December 2006. I then moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for two years—also as an art director for TBWA\Vietnam. I am currently a freelance art director for DM9 Jayme-Syfu. I recently wrote, illustrated, and published my first ever komik book, Alamat ng Panget & Many Other.
How and when did you discover your love for art, and what was the moment that made you decide to pursue it full-time and get into illustration work?
My father, who is also an artist, had lots of comic books when I was little, some of them are still with me. They were mostly horror comic books and magazines, except for Joe Kubert’s Tarzan. My favorite titles then were Eerie, Creepy, Vampirella and The Witching Hour. But one book really struck me—which I consider the most influential in my art style and love for drawing stupid/cute-looking creatures and animals—is a 1970 children’s book by Jose Aruego entitled Juan and the Asuangs. It’s about a boy’s brave quest to save the barrio’s dogs and chickens that were kidnapped by a manananggal.
Since I started doing digital art, my favorite experience came in 2005 when I won 2nd place for the art contest sponsored by Fully Booked. It was for Neil Gaiman’s visit here in Manila where he personally chose the winners. I had dinner with him and he drew in my sketchbook. That was also what helped me get a gig in doing album cover designs, which was also a dream for me. As for my career as an art director, our work from TBWA\Vietnam for Lego got into the D&AD book this year.
The world within your works is a beautiful, crazy place, full of fantastical, nonsensical creatures that defy reality and reason. How are these creatures born? Where do you find the inspiration to create this imaginary world?
My creatures were born the day I learned how to draw them. That was when I was three. My oldest piece was a drawing of a monster’s face (they can be seen at tarapmaiaols.deviantart.com). Those creatures remain the same to this day, only now, with the help of technology it’s much easier to create a universe out of one’s imagination. I just wish I could remember what the world of creatures looked like when I was a child. Well, I try.
Your art is like the illustrations of a modern-day, urban fairytale. Your works seem to tell a story. What would that story be? Is there any sense to your nonsensical drawings?
Most of my illustrations were done at random. It’s so difficult for me to describe because for me, it is what it is. That’s also the case with my komiks, I always start with drawing a character doing something random and make a story out of it.
What if your pencil could actually create a world of your own? What would the rules be, what creatures and people would live there, what language would be spoken, what would one see there?
Hmm. I’m sure there will be a chicken there.
Walk us through your creative process: what are the thoughts, emotions, bad habits, or odd rituals that go on in the act of making art? Is that process different when you’re doing commissioned work as opposed to making art for yourself?
When doing a commissioned work, I always use what I learned from working in advertising. That is, to simply meet the brief and try to do something you haven’t seen before. Sadly, clients (especially in advertising) usually prefer the stuff they’ve already seen.
My fondness for digital art started when I was working in Publicis, I did most of my personal art on my free time there. I was very lucky to have very supportive colleagues back then.
What’s a day like in the life of Apol Sta. Maria?
I spend a chunk of the day in front of the computer, doing work and/or surfing the Internet. Aside from that, I also play bass for my band called Halik ni Gringo, and we practice every weekend. And lately, I’ve been busy promoting my komik book. On our free time, my girlfriend Sam and I love to play with our six imaginary cats named Yoyogi, JR Funny, Leonpowe, Akkilokipok, Shimi, and Ringo.
What do you do when you’re not dreaming up fantastical alternate realities? Is there anything else you enjoy or have a passion for besides art? Or do you perhaps have an alternate ego during the day, like Superman?
I would really love to travel the world. I’ve been only to some Asian countries, and I’m planning to see the rest of the world and watch all my favorite bands before 2012. And if the world won’t end by then, I’ll go for more rounds.
Who are the artists that inspire you?
In no particular order: visual artists Tim Burton, Mark Ryden, Jose Aruego, Gary Baseman, Louie Cordero, Avid Liongoren, Cynthia Bauzon-Arre, Mike Allred, Dave Mckean, Tim Biskup, Jan Svankmajer, James Jean, David Shrigley, Loretta Lux, Nagi Noda, Henry Selick, and Stefan Sagmeisterand. I also like writers Neil Gaiman, Chuck Palahniuk, and Alan Moore.
So, what does the future look like for you? Any upcoming projects, collaborations, or new directions that we can look forward to?
When I left the country for Vietnam almost three years ago, that’s the only time I realized how great our arts scene is. Here in the Philippines, wherever you go, you are bound to meet another Filipino artist who can do whatever it is you can do—that’s how talented we are. So for me, it’s payback time, it’s time for me to share what I learned from being away. My komik book Alamat ng Panget & Many Other was a way for me to deal with homesickness and missing the art and music scene back home. I plan to do more comics in the future and, hopefully, finally start painting, as I’ve been planning to do this for more than 10 years already.
