A passion for creativity

Bahrain-based Filipino artist Jerry Donato hopes to bridge the gap between Western and Asian art and turn his conceptual comic pictures into a career with Walt Disney Studios.
By day, the aspiring artist works as an illustrator for marketing company Memac Ogilvy, but when he leaves the office he indulges in his true passion.

The father-of-two, from Adliya, said: “My creation is concept art and a lot of it is based on Filipino mythology. I take a different approach to the folklores but I don’t go away from the real concept of the myths, I just mould a character based on the stories.

“The art that I produce in my own time is the style of work I have been doing since my teenage years. Using a brush and ink, I create comic characters and sometimes even portraits. It is very different to what I do at work.

“I really want to work for Walt Disney Studios, that’s my dream, but for now art is just my hobby as it doesn’t always make money, so my day job is my priority.”

Jerry is a graduate of fine art, major in advertising from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. During his studies in 1978, he won an award at the Science Centre of Philippines for creating a children’s book that revives the forgotten tales of Filipino culture through illustrations.

He started his art career working part-time jobs illustrating storyboards for advertising agencies, but it wasn’t until he moved to Bahrain and became an art director that his passion started to grow.

“My parents used to always tell me that when I was a toddler I had already started with my passion, drawing all over the walls. I really fine-tuned my skill when I became 12, but when I turned 17 I actually joined the comic characters industry.

“I draw when I have the time just to hone my talent. It can be frustrating at times but I’m extremely happy while I’m doing it.”

Jerry explained that although he is the first and only Filipino artist to have his work displayed at Beit Al Quran, his art isn’t always interpreted the way he hopes. Many potential employers even went to the extent of telling him to move to a country where his style would be better appreciated.

“In Bahrain, illustration is targetted more towards young children. My art is very different to what you would normally see in the kingdom,” he said. “I have tried to publish my art in different magazines but a lot of the time there has been no interest in it.”

However, there are quite a few who have taken a liking to his work. Jerry recalled one of his proudest moments when Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, an artist himself, was admiring one of the illustrations and wanted to buy it.

“I noticed he kept going back and forth looking at it,” he said. “I was so honoured and shocked that I just gave it to him at no cost.”

When Jerry was 17 he joined the art scene in the Philippines taking part in usual ‘art meetings’ with the biggest names in illustration, and although he picked up a number of illustrators as his influences, his love for fantasy showed a unique and unfettered imagination. His lust to experiment has produced work that tells stories through the most unusual and creative characters.

Jerry said: “My inspiration comes from comic illustrators from the Philippines such as Alex Niño and Nestor Redondo. I am a huge comic book fan and collect Tarzan, Weird Western Tales, Superman and Batman. These illustrators are amazing and have inspired me to push myself.

“I have always been interested in human anatomy, movements and facial expressions; comics exaggerate all of these aspects.”

Jerry’s children, Jerimiah, 17, and Jeraldine, 27, have followed in his footsteps and have also studied to become professional artists that he hopes will one day live his dream and become recognised worldwide.