(SPOT.ph) When the fan art contest for Venom—the latest superhero (or should we say anti-hero?) film starring Tom Hardy—was held, over 3,600 submissions were sent in from around the world. Among over four thousand entries, seven Pinoy artists were picked as finalists by online creative community Talenthouse and a team led by Hardy himself. And now, from those seven Pinoys, Jeuz Sumangil's entry was selected along with the works of four others from Ecuador, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States, respectively. The winners each received U.S. $2,000 for their winning works.
Currently taking up Multimedia Arts at the University of Mindanao, the 22-year-old Sumangil talks about his award-winning work in a press release. He shares that while he was excited to work on the project, he thought he wouldn't be able to finish it given his school requirements. "Kasi pag sinabing Venom character, ang unang maiisip mo talaga is mabangis, malupit, kaya nakaka-excite i- illustrate. However, due to my school load, I wasn’t able to immediately create [my work]. Good thing with Talenthouse, the deadline [was] a month after the invite, giving me enough time to finish my entry."
Sumangil, who only started creating digital art in November 2017, also says he didn't expect to win after seeing the other entries. "The submissions were really impressive. You can see from the entries that some of the artists are already professionals, with complete top-level tools." Still, he had hopes that his concept—though simple—would stand out. "While other entries had busy and elaborate ideas, I made mine purposely minimalist. I observed in past contests that the winning designs were simple and didn’t go to extremes, but rather relied on strong concepts and proper execution."
He also talks about the process behind his artwork, which he started by watching the Venom trailer multiple times for ideas. He then thought about "illustrating Venom as a shadow, a metaphor for a person’s dark side." He continues, "That’s why I illustrated Eddie Brock (Hardy) looking at his hands as if clueless, lost, and wondering what’s happening to him. However, Eddie’s shadow is in the form of Venom, who in contrast is smiling and perfectly aware of what’s going on." He adds, "I haven’t seen the film, but based on the trailer, I think the film is about facing, accepting, and embracing your dark side."
After winning the contest, Sumangil plans on using the prize money to buy new tools so he can improve his work. "I’d probably invest in my tools, like upgrade the specs of my laptop, buy a pen tablet to speed up the process because it takes so long with just using a mouse."
The highly anticipated Venom revolves around Eddie Brock (Hardy), a journalist trying to uncover the story of The Life Foundation and its owner, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). During his research, he comes into contact with the alien Venom, who then merges with his body, takes control, and gives him supernatural abilities.
Venom opens in cinemas on October 4.