His real name is short, but difficult to pronounce or spell, so he tells friends, “Just call me Longlong for short.”
Longlong was one of the art directors in the advertising agency where we used to be on our toes 24/7 to deliver excellent work to clients. He was one of those who could draw figures on tiny squares (called storyboard) and make them move (simulate movements) and move (evoke emotions) the beholder.
Those were days of grace when we worked with Matisses, Renoirs, Monets, and Cezannes. They had no computer icons, images, and apps; just sheer, incredible talents. With a flick of a pencil or a brush, Longlong, et al. could tell a compelling story—stories, rather, since they had to do more than three studies per product per day.
I sought out Longlong for my first storybook, Fly, Malaya, Fly (co-authored with my son, JR, who penned the initial story) that was scheduled for publication. He lent his magical hands gratis et amore and did the illustrations. After that, our paths hardly crossed again.
But the pandemic served as a most unlikely venue for us to meet big time—on social media. He has been whipping up sketches, daily, of everyone in our old workplace.
Under the hashtag #RoughPulido (translated as roughly polished), he has turned sketching into a nostalgic trip. Every day, former colleagues try to guess who the featured person is—it’s great, but hard, to remember. There is a gap of at least 20 years since we all saw each other.
Here is how he remembers me:
One of us, Hurley, made a collage of all the sketches thus far. Longlong makes us all come together again (the biggest square is that of our big boss, Sev Alcantara).
Though we are all physically apart, Longlong’s #RoughPulido summons up memories of: huddling in a brainstorming room, bumping into each other on corridors, debating over deadlines and concepts, and holding each other up in a crisis.
“. . . encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)
4 comments:
Hi Ms Grace Chong. Thank you for recognizing "Longlong"
I coudn't agree more that decades ago, without gadgets and techs, Longlong's job to make stories on a paper and pencil wasn't easy, but he did it with his talent passionately plus ofcourse, with the circle of great friends.
Indeed, "Rough Pulido" brings back memories.
Thank you, Marcus Pesquira, for dropping by. Those days were, as I mentioned in the blog, grace days, when artists depended on their innate gifts and not on downloadable gizmos today. I wish Longlong would continue sharing his art through ArtThrobs on FB.
Those were the days when skill and talent soared freely, just like Malaya.I'm so proud to count extraordinary people like you and Longlong as my friends. :)
Unfortunately, those days are gone forever. We'll just have to accept the new abnormal and learn to fly soon, too.
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