US-based Cebuano artist shows off skills in realism art

“Saturday Morning” by Edgar “Gary” Carabio | Photo courtesy of Edgar Carabio

MOALBOAL, CEBU — A Cebuano artist who is now based in Florida, United States is now taking the spotlight in social media for his skills in realism art.

Edgar “Gary” Carabio, a freelance artist, posted on his Facebook account on Saturday evening, May 23, 2020, his “realism” oil on canvas dubbed “Saturday Morning.”

As of 9:45 a.m., Monday, May 25, 2020, his viral painting garnered 3,330 shares and 5,331 reactions from netizens.

Carabio said that “Saturday Morning” is one of the paintings that will be exhibited during his solo exhibit in Dunedin, Florida on December 2020.

“That painting is for my third one-man show here in the US in Florida. My first and second were in Minnesota,” he said.

CONCEPT

Carabio, a native of Bantayan Island, Cebu, shared to CDN Digital the story behind the concept of his painting.

“The model is my daughter. She went to her friend’s apartment for a sleepover with her other friends and that was Friday evening,” he said.

“Then the following day after I picked-up my wife who works at a nearby hospital, we dropped by to pick her up then we went to that diner on the painting on our way home,” he added.

The 53-year-old artist said that while waiting for their food, he grabbed his phone and took a photo of his daughter.

“I find the photo very interesting because just by looking at it you can tell that there’s a story behind it,” he added.

Unexpected

He also said that it took him more time to finish the painting because of his another project.

“I started the early stage of the  painting I think March then I didn’t finish it because of another project,” he said.

Although it wasn’t the first time that his works went viral online, Carabio said he still never expected that “Saturday Morning” would be a hit.

“I never expected that viral thing because I thought expose na kaayo to kay sige ko post sa early stage sa painting,” he said.

(I never expected that viral thing because I thought I put too much exposure on it especially when I posted the early stages of the painting.)

Among his viral posts include this realism portrait of the last mambabatok, Whang-od Oggay.

The portrait, which he said he accidentally deleted on his Facebook account, garnered 12K reactions and 8K shares.

Carabio, a member of Pastel Society of America (PSA) and International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS), said that his paintings today focuse more on “everyday life or the common ‘tao’ (person).” /bmjo