Hannibal Ibarra Redux

Hannibal Ibarra, one of the low-key komik artists here in the Philippines, is renowned for his watercolor works on faeries and other creatures culled from Pinoy mythology like the Tikbalang. Details of his biography or even of his listed works are scant and wanting. This probably adds to his mantle of obscurity as an illustrator (for most people outside the komiks circle), but nonetheless, his works are being collected and are highly sought after by Filipino and foreign sequential art aficionados. Even if his' is a niche market, acquiring one of his works is already worth the price, and collecting his masterpieces is a delight more because of the aesthetic pleasure it brings to the viewer rather than the possibility of immediate financial return.


It not for the bragging rights of owning a work by a Filipino master that makes one smile, but to see the lines, the balance of the subjects and the gradual mottling of colors held together by a professionally made frame gives you that giddy feeling of well-being. His watercolor work as seen below is further enhanced once it was placed inside a frame- a work worthy of anyone's gallery.