Creator of the Amerindian
type named "Ukala," Alcala lavishes detail on his comic strips.
by Oscar Rojas
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Alcala owns a hi-fi set which he
jams with high-brow records, has invented what he calls a "fountain brush."
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Tearsheet from Alcala's
strip series shows his
careful craftmanship, love
of masses and detail. He
likes American muralists.
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Alfredo P. Alcala,
who is thirty-two, introduced the American Indian in the world of Filipino
comic-strip. Alcala is, of course, the creator of "Ukala", who was a sort
of Hiawatha and "Last of the Mohicans". "Ukala" was translated into the
movies and it made Alcala. Since then, Alcala has finished some forty serials
and novels for the vernacular comic-strips.
Alcala lives with his wife and their children
in a little house with a big hi-fidelity phonograph in Sta. Ana. Alcala
was born in Talisay, Occidental Negros. Before he was two, the family moved
to Manila. Alcala was never able to finish more than the seventh grade.
As a boy, he wanted to be a stunt man. Alcala never had any formal schooling
in drawing, either. He had been successively sign painter, carpenter, and
iran-art designer.
Today, Alcala spends most of his time at
work. He finishes three pages a day working alone. His favorite artists
are the American muralists from whom he has borrowed his lavish attention
of masses and flowing detail. Alcala begins working in the evening and
knocks off to sleep as soon as it is daylight. The rest of the time, he
spends tinkering with his high fidelity set, which he loves. He likes listening
to quite high-brow symphonies.
He has lately tried his hand at serious
painting, and has done several canvases that remain to this day unexhibited.
Besides his drawing board, Alcala, who has
a mechanical turn, constantly keeps chisels, hammers, screwdrivers. He
has invented what he calls a "fountain brush." This is simply a fountain
pen having a brush, instead of a steel nib for a point. He wants to have
it patented, seeing great possibilities for it. It saves plenty of time,
Alcala explains, and he thinks of all the hard-pressed artists all over
the country, who would appreciate a craftsman who could save them a little
of that. |
