They were so familiar, common even; those everyday scenes that regularly take place around the city. From one image to another, one would wonder and try to figure out what the artist saw and captured through the lines and colors, to decipher what the artist’s artworks meant to him and to his audience. Obviously, he’s an experienced artist whose signature in katakana was a dead give away of his affinity to Japanese culture while in Manila Ukiyo-E: Hidden Beauty exhibit he declares his deep connection to the city’s simple folk and their way of living that leave him in awe every single day.

The creations of Marius Black, Marius A. Funtilar in real life, are marked by clean and neat lines in painted illustrations that unapologetically reveal a skillful illustrator with a rich background in comics production. An avid comic book reader at a young age, he created his first comic book in third grade under the title Marbles. In high school, he shifted to reading manga and came up with Satan High, a comic book loosely based on his campus life set in satire.

Later in life, he took up a bachelor course in Painting at the University of Sto. Tomas, where his skills were honed with scholastic instruction. “My hunger and passion to create worlds and characters enhanced my skills further when I was taught proper human anatomy and painting with oils and watercolor along with composition and art theory.”

HASA hand painted artprint 9 x 12 inches Marius Black 2019

After college and for the next 20 years, Black had been creating comics in different styles and genres and had taken the independent route in publishing one shot stories (Someone Else’s Life, The Black Rose, The Scars on his Wrists, The Man from the Planet of the Masochists), comic book series (Marble Mutants, War Marbles, Satan High, Clowder, Delivery Boys, Umbrella Ronin, Samurai Takeover, Yakuza Boy) and a gag book titled Black Comedy.

Black also founded KuroSaku, a tandem art group with his wife Guada, to further explore his artistry.

A fan of manga, anime and Japanese culture in general, Black stumbled on Hokusai’s The Great Wave and took serious fascination over it. “It wasn’t a picture, it was a drawing or a painting, no…it was a print, but even then, the waves moved and were still at the same time. After that I consumed Japanese Ukiyo-e (wood block prints) and tried imitating and mixing it with my own art.” As he immersed further to contemporary wood block art—Jed Henry’s and David Bull’s interpretation of fictional characters in Ukiyo-e prints, for example—that prompted him to come up with his own unique prints.

In his bid to claim to the art scene, Black wanted his art prints to be accessible in terms of content and value. “Something affordable, yes, but still high in quality, that can still be considered fine art done by a skilled artist.” At that time, he didn’t know how to make or carve wood blocks. “I didn’t have time to learn or create something similar to be able to mass produce a print easily. But we did have our inkjet printers, so I thought I’d modernize the woodblock printing technique.”

His own process, his adapted technique in producing art prints, starts with printing a photo, tracing the outlines, penciling, inking, scanning and printing the illustration on watercolor paper, and finally painting it with watercolor, gouache, colored markers and even highlighters.

Black labored overnight on his first seven Manila Ukiyo-E artworks and managed to sell one the very next day to his great surprise. “This was a real revelation for me. Back then I thought I should paint artworks on big canvasses, price them very high, and only sell and show them in galleries.That day changed my life. I realized art was art regardless of how big or small, or how cheap, you sell it, or where you sell it. If you paint something you like and other people also like it, it’s good art and people would actually pay to have to enjoy it or share it with others.”

In the same manner, he also discovered that his subjects need not be high brow to make up an artwork. He used to paint famous characters, celebrities, beautiful women, gods and monsters alike, images of pain and pleasure, portraits and self-portraits of people, dressed or nudes. “But never had I painted the people I always see when I walk the streets going home.” Ironically, he had a stash of photos at his disposal, just waiting to be seen in a different light, to be rediscovered as his muses.

“I also take lots of photo references when making comics, and so I had my own stock photos folder. I scanned through some shots and found lots of people in the streets I’ve taken (photos of) just because I found them beautiful and interesting. I decided I would go with these photos, because by that time I had found several pictures of people that I’d like to paint,” he added.

These images seemed to be taken in random, but his photo collection is Manila’s slice of life, where charm and chaos intermingle with the everyday urban drama. Relieving those scenes on paper, Black seeks to reconnect his audience to those moments, to the elements present, and goad them to find beauty in the unfiltered and unadulterated reality.

“Who knew painting the people I encounter every day, the strangers and familiar faces I see in our streets and alleys and trains, would actually be in my artworks, that would propel me into painting something with depth, that painting people from the candid photos I took would be my way of saying that I admire them. Who knew my appreciation for beauty in everyday people would be appreciated by other people.

My goal in making my Manila Ukiyo-E artworks is not to give people an escape from real life, but instead to show everyone a reflection of the place we all live in from a different perspective. And maybe through art, vivid colors, admiration and inspiration, we can make a little difference. Even if at first, it’s just in our own minds.” And those are now imprinted on paper thanks to Black.

Manila Ukiyo-E: Hidden Beauty, a solo show of Marius Black, Art Exhibit was held at the Sigwada Art Gallery from June 14 to 16. The event also coincided with the book launch of Manila Ukiyo-E Stories Book 2 and Art Book. Interested parties may check facebook.com/ManilaUkiyoE.