“Can you teach me to draw?”
Its conception was almost an accident: Ezra Weigel, a photographer in Cebu, was struggling with drawing in art school when he began asking his friend, artist Christian Villanueva for lessons. When Christian started posting photos on his Instagram, a few people became interested in joining in. Christian saw this as a golden opportunity for something communal, and asked a few of his friends, including Ezra, if they could create an initiative. Shortly after, they contacted fellow artist peers to expand the idea further. The idea was to create something non-profit, and a space not just for artists, but for everyone.
“The spirit of Drawing Class is inclusivity.” Christian says. “I want to use the tool of drawing as a metaphor. We can all come together in art - it doesn’t matter who you are.”
Communal art practices are hardly new in the Philippines. Different art forms, such as sculpture, pottery making, tattooing are often included in tourism packages across the archipelago. Streets in Cebu are full of colorful graffiti by local artists who occasionally hold live graffiti painting events, despite these often being frowned on by local government officials as vandalism. In NatDem circles, it’s called “Prop Work”, where activists and workers gather to paint placards, make effigies and other materials used in protests. During the 2022 election season, an influx of art bloomed amidst presidential candidate Leni Robredo’s candidacy, with arguably the most recognizable one being Tarantadong Kalbo’s “Tumindig”, which started as one cartoon drawing of a fist and burgeoned as a spontaneous online art spectacle. It’s hard to separate art in the Philippines from its politics, if it even has to be.
The founder and mentor of Drawing Class, Christian Villanueva, is queer, disabled, and Filipino, which means that in the art world populated by cisheterosexual, able-bodied, white men, he sits on the margins. His identity is inherently politicized: a week before Drawing Class’s eventual inception, Christian was speaking out on how ableist the education system is in the Philippines. As a disabled person, Christian is directly affected by the lack of student-centric curricula and disability inclusive education. His experiences and viewpoints naturally bleed out in the lessons in Drawing Class.
Drawing Class’s mentorship is in good company: artists in residence Paulette, Belle, and Victoria are formidable young women artists in their own right who also contribute their knowledge and assistance to Drawing Class. Ezra Weigel, now our photographer in residence, offers insight and documents the happenings in the class environment. I am very honored to be tapped as Drawing Class’s writer in residence, and I have so many ideas on bringing the vivid world of our little art class come alive in blog posts and articles here on our Substack soon. In the past three classes we’ve been joined by an array of personalities: queer men and women artists and art enthusiasts, as well as individuals who just enjoy drawing and find it meditative and therapeutic. During the sharing portion of each session, we all get to know each other a little bit better: personalities bleed into the way we shade our drawings and how we interpret the themes of the activities, we get a glimpse into everybody’s histories in how we understand form and composition.
“I want us to feature more queer and women-centric works, I want disabled people to join in. I want to provide accessibility and better alleyways when it comes to things like this.” Christian tells me (in all our conversations referring to Drawing Class as we, us, ours).
artwork by Belle Maurice (Instagram : @pulpnite)
The focus, according to several of our conversations, is how we can turn Drawing Class into an inclusive initiative devoid of the commercial constraints of contemporary art, of the elitist limitations of academia. In an excruciating period of time where several of our freedoms are threatened, it is extremely important to have a space where imagination is encouraged, not trapped, and where artists of whatever level are uplifted and supported.
The curriculum is based on the knowledge from Christian’s career as a young artist and intuitive and playful exercises recommended by the artists-in-residence in charge.
The first class was based on “Drawing on The Right Side of The Brain” by Betty Edwards, a book that can give confidence to anyone - artist or not. The second session was inspired by American artist Georgia O’Keefe, and her mentor, Arthur Wesley Dow on the importance of spaces and composition. A special session was conducted on November 1 to commemorate the death of Chad Booc, a queer artist and activist. Christian encourages attendees to suggest themes, practices, and other activities to try out in the next classes.
Written by Celine German Lagundi
Photos by Ezra Weigel
To support our humble initiative, you may follow our Instagram page at @drawingclassfoundation and reserve slots for our next classes. You may also donate for materials and other costs through:
GCASH :
09206314159 Christian Ray Villanueva
Drawing Class Representatives on Instagram
Founder
Christian Ray Villanueva @butchlng
Artists-in-residence
Victoria Tanquerido @neuebiki
Belle Maurice @pulpnite
Paulette Neri @polet.png
Writer in residence
Celine German Lagundi @celinelagundi
Photographer in residence
@mister.sir.man
Thank you for participating and all those good words you said for my son Butching.