Cartoonist creates an easy course to learn art

Art is about harmony, if you learn about harmony, it becomes easier to appreciate life. This is the motto Wallen Pabericio lives by. An artist, not by education but by experience, Pabericio, who works as a librarian at Book Stop in Bur Dubai, conducts art lessons at the library.

Pabericio has gained most of his experience from working for Hanna Barbara Productions that produce the all-time favourite cartoons like Bugs Bunny and the Flintstones, among others. Unlike most classes, instead of following a set pattern, Pabericio adapts his lessons according to the abilities of each student.

"I teach in a different way. I let the student do his or her own thing, and then judgeing from every individual's capacity, I take it from there," says the 31-year-old cartoonist from the Philippines.

The classes, which are meant for children as well as adults, are divided into two separate courses. The first course is divided into three blocks and each block is scheduled for a month, with one session per week.

"Although the students are required to come here only once a week, I assign something for them to do every day," says Pabericio. "I try to make my classes easy to follow, thus helping a novice also to draw good pieces of art towards the end of the course," he adds. The first block of the course deals with training of the hand and drawing of basic shapes. Students are made to draw sketches at home every day. "This is not to tire their hands but to create a harmony between hand and mind by doing something repetitively," explains the young artist.

"Everything has a basic shape to which you either add or take away in order to arrive at the final picture," he says. Pabericio includes details like vanishing points and shadows into his lessons, which make the course easy to follow.

In the second block, Pabericio focusses on harmony and life. Through natural laws, composition and details, a student now steps upward from drawing to creations of art. Pabericio concentrates on teaching individuals how to draw every object in the same proportion, whether small or big.

He also explains an interesting rule of shadows. "A good drawing is one that can be as easily understood in black and white or a shadowy effect, as it is in colour. Ask yourself, 'If I make this painting in shades of grey, will I understand it?' Only then do you call the composition of the painting correct," he points out.

In the third block students learn to draw cartoons. "The world of cartoons is both real and unreal and is limited only by the imagination of the artist. I try to give the necessary learning to unleash this potential," he says. This segment constitutes drawing of age and expressions, pose and character along with balance and introduction to colour.

"If you see a muscular man with a cape and hands on his waist, you immediately recognise him as superman," points out Pabericio while emphasising the importance of posture, positions and character in a picture.

The second course helps in enhancing the knowledge of colours. "It is like watering the seed already sown," smiles the enthusiastic artist. He uses only five colours in his lessons, namely red, yellow, blue, white and black. "I teach my students how to make all possible colours by mixing these five basic ones."

There is also a reason for Pabericio holding art classes. "In life I have only three dreams - to become a pilot, a teacher and to drive a huge truck along the countryside," he confides. He also believes that life is short and some things are too good to keep to oneself, so he shares his knowledge of art with others. "Who knows, with my teaching, someone might make it big," he adds.