My Most Borrowed Illustration

 


Amirasolo and Other Essays

Part 3. In my Book

Essay 42. MY MOST BORROWED ILLUSTRATION

Of all the illustrations I did, The Wild Swans was the one most borrowed by bloggers. I'm flattered. But I'll be flattered more if the people who shared this image asked permission from me first, or better yet, from the real copyright owner, Reni Roxas, before posting this image on their sites. When I searched the internet, I discovered that when you googled Arnaldo Mirasol, around twelve blog sites will appear with the Wild Swans as cover photo. Last I checked, here is the list of those sites: Sacred Familiar, Watercolordreams, indigodreams, sweetpeapath, sosuperawesomw, Dangerous Prayer, illustratosphere, Altared Spaces, and  traveling ghost. Of these, only traveling ghost made it a point to obtain my permission.

So, Reni Roxas, publisher of Tahanan Books, must have chosen right when she picked The Wild Swans to add to her collection---instead of The Little Mermaid, which many consider as my best work. Reni said that she wants the Wild Swans because it can stand by itself, that is, it doesn't need any manuscript to define or explain it, or give it significance. Many agreed with her, because admirers of The Wild Swans see it as not just a "mere illustration": they almost always describe it as like a surrealist painting. Which is a compliment in my opinion, because surrealism occupies a high niche in my pantheon of artistic styles.

Today, the Wild Swans is turning out to be my most in-demand work too.There were  requests in the past from people who wanted me to do a copy of this illustration for them. But they baulked in closing the deal when I said that I must do the remake of this really big. This Illustration is rather diminutive in scale, you see---it measures only 10 X 12.5.inches. What I had in mind was do a version in oil on a canvas measuring 3 X 4 feet, or even 4 X 6 feet. Only Kartini Asia Gallery owner Nina Malvar and Pinto Art Museum's Dr. Joven Cuanang agreed that the remake should really be big. Dr. Joven even asked for 'the privilege to purchase' the large-scale oil version for the Pinto Museum. He said that it would be lovely to have it there.

Months ago, a writer---a poet primarily---who writes in Spanish and English sent me a message asking my permission for her to use my illustration for the Wild Swans as cover photo for her Facebook page. She said that it is meaningful in times like this, that it is beautiful and uplifting. I told her that the copyright to that work and all other classic fairy tales illustrations I did is owned by Reni Roxas, publisher of Tahanan Books for Young Readers. Reni bought from me not only the copyright, but also that very artwork and several others besides.

I added though that perhaps Reni won't mind because, anyway, the work won't be used for  commercial purposes. That is what is meant by 'fair use' in the copyright infringement laws, I think. I myself won't mind. I feel honored in fact that a published writer from Latin America would find my work worthy to be the cover of her Facebook page. I just requested that she write in the caption my name as artist and Tahanan Books for Young Readers as publisher.

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