By Shayne Elizabeth T. Flores

Far Eastern University (FEU) third-year Visual Communication student Isabela Marie Bautista won the ‘Digital Illustration Contest: Noli Me Tangere Characters’ with an artwork inspired by the GMA historical series ‘Maria Clara at Ibarra.’ 

In an interview with FEU Advocate, the third-year Visual Communication student shared that she referenced visuals from the hit GMA historical series to curate her winning piece.

“I was a fan of the series ‘Maria Clara at Ibarra’ so I used that series as reference for the clothing of the characters,” Bautista said.

Additionally, due to her interest in pre-colonial and colonial Philippines, Bautista also researched the given time period and analyzed Jose Rizal’s character descriptions.

Besting 11 other finalists, the Visual Communication student was awarded at the Nicanor Reyes Hall Exhibit Hall last February 11 during the Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts Art Collective exhibit.

Bautista’s winning artwork was showcased among other pieces by Fine Arts students in the exhibit, which ran from February 11-15.

The Noli Me Tangere art competition was launched during the second semester of S.Y. 2023-2024.

According to Bautista, students enrolled in the BFA1206 Figure Drawing 2 (Advance Illustration in Digital Arts) course were assigned a two-part formative assessment, one of which required them to create a digital book cover featuring the characters Maria Clara and Crisostomo Ibarra.

Despite deeming it unexpected, Bautista felt proud of her accomplishment.

“I was happy and surprised. I was not expecting that I would win. I also feel proud of myself. It felt like my hard work paid off,” she stated.

Bautista received a cash prize of P5,000 along with a certificate as her rewards.

(Photo courtesy of Isabela Marie Bautista)