A 20-year-old student in Pangasinan has reworked some of his shirts he barely wore into art pieces through bleaching as a hobby and potential source of income.
Prince-Vester Canilang Relayosa, an incoming third-year Physical Education student of Pangasinan State University-Bayambang campus, said he started customizing his old shirts for a hobby under the “new normal” amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
“Nag-start lang ako roon bilang pamatay oras dahil sa pandemic, halos walang magawa. Habang nanonood ako sa Tiktok, nakita ko na may nata-tie-dye. (It started as a hobby because of the pandemic, I have not much to do. While watching Tiktok, I came across the tie-dye),” he said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday.
Relayosa said he got inspired with the idea of tie-dying so he started experimenting with his own clothes but it did not work on his shirts which were mostly black colored.
“Hindi naman kumakapit ang dye sa black shirts. So sabi ko bakit (hindi) subukan ko kaya ang bleach. (The dye won’t work on my black shirts so I thought why not try bleach instead),” he said.
Relayosa added he also learned how to draw portraits with his dorm mates when he was in his first year of college.
“Noong may face-to-face classes pa, tuwing hapon kapag umuuwi ako sa dorm, kapag dadaan ako sa sala namin, nakikita ko sila (dorm mates) na nagdra-drawing. Kaya na-inspire ulit ako na kaya ko rin mag drawing. (When we still had face-to-face classes, every afternoon when I got back to our dorm, I always saw my dorm mates drawing. I was inspired to do the same),” he added.
Relayosa said when the pandemic began, he started earning money by accepting commissions on portrait drawing from his friends and recommendations.
“Since meron na akong background sa portrait (drawing), naisip ko, may potential kung gawa rin ako ng portrait sa pag-bleach ng t-shirts. (Since I have a background in portrait drawing, I thought, I could also do a portrait in bleaching shirts),” Relayosa said, adding his trial output turned out to be “nice”.
His portrait bleaching arts of the American professional basketball player Derrick Rose and the ‘Greek Freak’ Giannis Antetokounmpo took him eight hours to finish the pieces.
Relayosa said he is now open to accept bleach shirt projects from PHP500 up to PHP1,500 depending on the details of the picture.
“Yung kikitain ko rito, ipupunin ko at ibibili ng laptop para magamit ko sa online classes kasi yun talaga ang goal ko ngayon –ang makabili ng laptop, iba pang gamit sa school at pang-tuition na rin. (Whatever I will earn from this, I will save to buy a laptop I could use in my online classes. That is my goal to buy a laptop, other school materials, and for my tuition fee),” he added.
Meanwhile, Relayosa advised aspiring artists to pursue dreams by discovering their innate talents through constant practice.
For project inquiries, interested clients may send him a message on his Facebook account. (PNA)
Photo Credit: facebook.com/prince.relayosa
