Thursday, April 12, 2007

Guhit Pinoy Brief History

Members of Guhit Pinoy are mostly from the comics industry, animation, book publishing and a few from ad agencies from the Philippines.

The first wave of Filipino comics illustrators who came here in Saudi Arabia during the early 80s are those hired by Saudi local advertising agencies just after the construction boom. About that time the infrastructure in this oil-rich country was almost done. It was then followed by the business growth in the region that was rapidly changing the landscape up to the present. This was also the time when international ad agencies started doing their shares in the market.

Among the first hired Filipino illustrators were George Besinga, Ernie Patricio, Mel Versoza, Nilo Praico, Val Pabulous, Nes Gelito, Pons Amurao, Freddie Fernandez, Ismael Esber, Vir Torres, and Max Merto. All came from the Philippine Komiks Mainstream during the 80s and the 90s when the industry was about to die-out. The second wave was composed of illustrators from different sectors of the industry. The third wave of comics illustrators were recommended by fellow peers. They were Sonny de los Santos, Many Pantaleon, Joey Salvador, Gil Magtalas, and among others.

The demand of Filipino illustrators is still on-going. We dominate the market and we are respected around ad agencies. Here, we are informally known as "The Filipino Mafia" of the creative community. Later then we officially organized and named our group Guhit Pinoy. (Pinoy is a shortcut slang of the word Filipino). Since then with a little help from our friends online, we have now members around the globe. Our objective is simpleā€¦to boost the morale of our fellow Filipino Illustrators and artists world-wide. World Class ang galing ng Pinoy! Join us all in that quest!

  • komikero Journal


  • Special thanks to Gerry Alanguilan for introducing Guhit Pinoy on his Komikero Journal.

  • komikero