In 2017, fledgling artist Enon de Belen had her painting purchased by the co-owner of the bar hosting her art exhibit.
“She said it resembled her friend. She bought it to give as a gift to her,” Enon vividly recalled to PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal).
Enon didn’t think much of the incident until three years later when the recipient of that painting reached out to her inquiring about her rate for commissioned watercolor artworks.
That person works in the entertainment industry as a TV and film set production design director.
Enon was told that a movie starring Alessandra de Rossi and Empoy Marquez was in the planning stages.
“She explained to me the plot—that Empoy is a coffee painter from Baguio and he paints female portraits. I was like ‘Oh cool, nice,’” recounted Enon, who had no idea where the conversation was heading.
“She then asked me if I would like to do the paintings for the movie. ‘Seryoso?’ I cried to myself. Of course, I was down for it so I answered, ‘Game.’”
That movie would be the romantic drama, Walang KaParis, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video and is available for viewing in 240 countries and territories worldwide.
READ: Alessandra de Rossi, Empoy Marquez turn on the feels, tears in Walang KaParis
“NEARING A DEAD-END PATH”
Enon is from Angono, Rizal, and is a registered nurse. She practiced the profession for almost two years before deciding to detour.
Enon shared, “I luckily landed a job in a hospital here in Angono right after I passed the board exams in 2007.
“Overall, it was a tiring but fulfilling job, getting to help people.
“But it’s something I know I am really not good at compared to my colleagues.
"Plus, the pay was not competitive. I decided to leave the hospital because I was bullied by a doctor.”
Enon’s next stop was the call center industry where she worked as an agent periodically for eight years from 2008 to 2016.
Giving nursing another try either here in the Philippines or abroad was not part of Enon's plans.
“It’s really not in my heart," she said candidly.
But there's also this nagging fear of wandering aimlessly, with Enon remarking, "I was nearing a dead-end path at a very early stage in my life.”
ACCIDENTAL ARTIST
Art was not a constant presence in Enon’s life growing up.
Her early recollection of engaging in art was in school during her elementary and high school days.
Enon never fancied herself as an artist, making her foray into the art world all the more surprising.
However, the monotony of her everyday routine led Enon to discover a hidden talent that would become a passion.
“I am not doing anything in my life besides coming to work and going home. I was into photography then, but that’s it,” she looked back.
Hope came unexpectedly after the call center she's working for encouraged its staff to bring items that they like in the office to keep them preoccupied and engaged during downtime.
Enon, for whatever reason, tried her hand at sketching to pass away time while at work.
She remembered, “While most of my officemates brought books, I brought with me a magazine, a sketchbook, and a pencil.
"And I sketched pictures of celebrities I see there. So that was one of my training grounds."
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TAKING THE PATH LESS TRAVELED
Armed with a newfound hobby, Enon was soon scouring the internet for inspiration for her next art project.
A self-taught artist, Enon admitted, “I studied sketching and painting by getting inspiration from Pinterest and watching videos on YouTube. Bunga ako ng social media.”
She continued, “After trying sketching, and because I browse on Pinterest too much, I think nakuha ng algorithm ng Pinterest yung interest ko, it showed me pictures of paintings.”
Enon discovered how hard oil painting is but didn’t want to give up completely, having bought materials already like canvas and brushes.
“I really wanted to try painting, so I thought of watercolor. That’s what we use back in elementary, right? So I thought it was easier. But it’s not," she realized.
“I just continued doing it because it’s something that I already have [materials]. Sayang naman kako kung bibili ako ng bago.
“I painted everything I find interesting, so lahat — food, scenery, portraits, flowers, everything.”
Added inspiration would come courtesy of the Australia-based artist and former video jock Ala Paredes, the daughter of OPM icon Jim Paredes of the popular pop group, Apo Hiking Society.
Enon read in Ala's blog how she would sketch self-portraits every day for a year and capped it off by staging an exhibit that showed her progress as an artist.
"Every day after work, I would set up my work table, take a picture of myself, sketch it, and paint every day with watercolor," said Enon.
"I record my process in time-lapse and upload it on Instagram. And to my surprise, people came following my account."
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Enon started conducting workshops on watercolor painting, going around places in Metro Manila such as BGC, Makati, and Parañaque, to provinces like Cebu and Davao.
Buoyed by the success of her art-related endeavors, Enon quit her day job to focus instead on her art and workshops.
Enon would soon find out that the success of her initial workshops was no indication of future event outcomes.
Some of her succeeding workshops didn't attract enough participants. There were even times when no one would sign up, leaving her empty-handed.
Her mother previously questioned her decision to quit her job in favor of doing art and workshops.
Enon's mom's exact words were, "Paano kung sa mga susunod wala nang pumunta?”
She thought to herself, “Hindi, hindi. Hindi mangyayari yun. Kaya ko yun."
Looking back to those tough times, Enon said, "Conducting workshops was my only source of living. I don’t know what to do, I was so depressed. My mama was right."
She continued, "There were times when I would print out resumes to apply to call centers again and go back to that dead-end job.
"But I don’t know why whenever I do, out of nowhere, someone would always buy an artwork from me. And so I take them as a tinge of hope.
"It’s like something is telling me to not quit."
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MAKING IT TO A MOVIE
Not hanging up her pencils and brushes turned out to be a good decision after all.
For the film Walang KaParis, things just fell into place and Enon's style fit the demand of the narrative perfectly.
Empoy Marquez portrays the character of Jojo, a street artist and mime performer who, for years, is puzzled by the identity of the mysterious woman in one of his early artworks.
One day, a woman named Marie, played by Alessandra de Rossi, appears seemingly from nowhere and claims to be the subject of Jojo’s sketch.
Said Enon, "You know how I have been painting female portraits for years? Yung effect na hanap nila for the paintings, that was what I was doing for years.
"So, aside doon sa mga paintings na gagamitin for the story, kailangan nila ng kunwari marami nang paintings si Empoy. And I have gazillions of it in my portfolio.
"And so when the set director asked me if I have any other female paintings, I just pretty much handed over my entire one-year’s worth of work. Sobrang sakto."
She continued, "Since Empoy was a coffee painter in the movie, and I am a coffee drinker myself, I stayed true to the director’s vision and used coffee to paint the portraits.
"I just used coffee-colored watercolor with it to add more depth of color to the paintings."
Painting with watercolor is no joke and there's little room for mistakes, so Enon had to be careful but precise, to say the least.
"The set director and Direk Sigrid [Andrea Bernardo] were such perfectionists, which I understand kasi ganun din naman ako.
"I was asked to do a lot of versions of Alessandra’s portraits until I get it right. Pati yung mga horses sa carousel. Madugo."
It was all worth it in the end.
"With all the revisions that I was asked to do, when I saw the movie, I immediately realized why they were so meticulous. The paintings were pivotal in the story," said Enon.
"And honestly, I didn’t understand the story entirely because I was so busy spotting my paintings in the film.
"I wasn’t really expecting anything grand, but I do know that there will be close-ups because they asked me to make work-in-progress or unfinished versions of the paintings to show that Empoy is painting it in the movie.
"But I didn’t expect that a lot of my works will be shown that much."
Enon's favorite scene is the moment when Alessandra and Empoy are wearing mime costumes with the Eiffel Tower in the background and her artworks are in the same frame.
Another favorite is the scene where Empoy unfolds the painting with the framing focusing on Alessandra's portrait made by Enon.
"It was when I started to become emotional because all of my hardships dawned on me. The days when I had nothing, I had no money, I had nowhere to go, all the nights that I cried — it all paid off.
"It’s so surreal to think that my works are immortalized in a film.
"I never imagined that it would come to this. Never in my wildest dreams. It made me proud knowing that I made my friends and family proud. And I made my mama proud."
As for her words of wisdom to aspiring artists, Enon, who is also doing sculpting, has this to say, "Work on being really, really good in your art. And stay true to it. Don’t do it just to impress. Do it for you.
"It’s impossible for people to not take notice.
"You have to do a conscious effort to fall in love with your art over and over."