Roque Lee aka Roxlee

Roque Federizon Lee: A Little Humor Goes A Long Way

Nov 22, 2010 / F-2

Text by Bryan Garcia

Cesar trudges up a steep hill. He huffs and puffs and works up a sweat as he slowly labors his way to the summit. Cesar is shocked to find out that the trail he was following doesn't lead to a breathtaking view, instead it comes from a giant roll of tissue paper belting out ply after ply of the soft paper.

Everyday situations intertwined with absurd ideas that create an elemet of bizarre humor. These are the creations of visual artist, cartoonist, indie filmmaker and animator Roque Federizon Lee, commonly known among his peers simply as Roxlee. Together with his brother Mon Lee, this artist made his name with a daily comic strip entitled " Cesar Asar".

Roxlee's transition through different modes of artistic expression was a gradual progress that arose from the purity of his love to create. Growing up in Naga City, Roxlee was enamored by the magic of comic strips by famous cartoonists like Larry Alcala and Nonoy Marcelo. "It all began with comic strips. I just made funny drawings and it all started from there, " Roxlee shares.

Roxlee the Cartoonist

Roxlee went to Manila to study architecture at the National University. However, he chose to forego college to focus on his already existing stint as a cartoonist for Jingle Magazine. "By that time, I was already in love with comics. It was far from what we did in architecturewhere straight lines were really the focus," the artist recalls.

Whilw working on his strips for Jingle, Roxlee formed the initial idea for his strip "Cesar Asar." "The idea for the character of Cesar Asar came from a real person from our hometown in Naga. He also had a similar mustache as well as the other features of the character," Roxlee shares.

From as early as 1980, Roxlee was already contributing Cesar Asar comic strips to Manila Bulletin, a stint that would span for two decades. This sequential art is more or less an extension of the artist's personality. From the witty twists, the loosely composed figures and the satirical plots, Roxlee illustrates the plight of Filipinos with humor.

The artist admits that keeping up with a daily strip was a challenging endeavor. "It's difficult to sustain ideas for that long. However, ideas have a tendency of reproducing. When you start on something, it just grows by itself," Roxlee says.

Roxlee the Animator

Aside from his consistent comic strip contributions, Roxlee also ventured into animations, establishing a name as one of the pioneers in independent filmmaking. This transition came about as a natural progression from his craft. "It started because there's always an urge. If you make comics, the tendency is to make it move. I feel like something is lacking if they don't move," Roxlee shares.

Roxlee's journey towards filmmaking and animation started in 1984 with "The Great Smoke". The film was a combination of stop motion two dimentional illustration combined with photos and images gathered fron books and other materials. The six minute short film was tied together by a musical score done by a band called Elemento specifically for the project.

Using super 8 films to render his works, the artist filmed, illustrated and edited the work on his own. Working on a shoe string budget, Roxlee even reveals using expired films to cut costs just to get the project done. "During that time I couldn't find any one who was willing to help so I deed everything on my own, I just had to satisfy my lust to create," Roxlee recalls.

Among the short films that brought recognition to Roxlee was his work on "Juan Gapang" which won for him the Gawad Urian award for Best Short Film in 1989, and his film "Tito's Wedding which also won for him the Best Short Film in the 1995 Metro Manila Film Festival. "I like film and animation because they involve multi-media. You can produce whatever you want with it," Roxlee shares.

Although the independent film scene has picked up, it was far from what Roxlee and his peers had to deal with during their indie filmmaking days. "The challenge then was getting an audience for your work. We showed our works at bars and sometimes even at a friend's garage and we were the only ones watching them." Roxlee recalls.

However, the artist appreciates the hardships they went through because nowhe can see the fruits of their labors being harnessed by the next generation. "Indie filmmaking for us back then was loike climbing a mountain. We were armed with bolos and carved our way into the forest to make a trail for future generations to use," Roxlee says.

Roxlee the Painter

After Roxlee's comic strip discontinued in 2000, the artist has undergone another transition, this time to the more conventional medium of oil paintings. Similar to his works in sequential art, Roxlee maintained the graphic images that he is used to manipulating and rendered them to his new medium.

Roxlee preserves his comical orientation by painting situationsthat revolve on social commentary hidden under the cover of wit and humor. Much like his cartoons, the artist uses elemets that when juxtaposed create a surreal world often reinforced with dialogues to emphasized the weight of his works' message.

Roxlee has established himself as one of the true icons in the local art scene.  His contribution to the comic world has helped the industry evolve in such a way that enabled young artists to see the freedom and the simplicity of purveying an idea through drawing. Likewise,his ground-breaking works in animation have opened up doors to thousands of aspiring artists looking for a fresh and versatile mode of self expression.

Although the artist's plight has been far from pretty, there is one thing that is indespensable all throughout his career. "You always have to have a sense of humor while working, otherwise it's going to be very difficult," Roxlee says.