Artists paint fine portrait of city

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Dabbing his paintbrush back and forth, Warso Sugriwo gives a life of color to a pencil sketch of a couple on a new canvas -- all the while glancing at his guide, a photograph clipped on the top- left side of the frame.

The photograph comes from a married couple about to commemorate their 25th wedding anniversary. They have ordered an oil painting from the streetside portrait painter, who offers his craft on the sidewalk of Jl. Melawai Raya, South Jakarta.

"I never went to a formal painting school," the 32-year-old from Cilacap, Central Java said. "By the time I knew (I could draw), I was already earning money by painting congratulation cards for my friends and relatives."

Finishing high school, Warso set off for Yogyakarta -- the country's capital of the arts -- to try his luck, broadening his skills by learning from the local artists in the city's popular tourist street of Jl. Malioboro.

"I spent some four years there, offering portrait paintings and body tattoos for Rp 15,000 (US$1.6) to passersby, before I finally decided to take a chance in Jakarta," he said.

In the capital, Warso first painted the city's faces near his home in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. He then sought better opportunities by joining the well-known portrait painting community in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, for two years, before finally joining Melawai's community of 10 streetside portrait painters in 1996.

Melawai painters offer their paintings between Rp 250,000 ($27.7) and Rp 400,000, depending on the materials of charcoal pencil, pastel crayons, or oil paint used. Besides Melawai and Pasar Baru, several portrait painters can also be found along Jl. Pintu Besar Selatan, near the Kota railway station, in West Jakarta.

Of the hundreds of portraits he has painted, Warso particularly remembers that of Indonesian movie star HM Damsyik, among a list of other celebrities he has worked for.

"He used to come by himself to order his paintings from me," Warso proudly said.

Warso says the portrait painters in Melawai have noticed that their customers, particularly Japanese and Korean tourists, have been in decline since the May 1998 riots, while the prices of their materials, which the painters usually buy in the Jatinegara market in East Jakarta, have been slowly rising.

Yansarudin, Warso's colleague from Yogyakarta, hoped the city administration would do its best in improving security in the area and providing the painters with kiosks.

"I'm sure the kiosks would help revive the 'art of tourism' in the area," he said. "It will also help improve the community's image, as many customers suspect we are scam artists ready to rip them off."

Yansarudin was also sure the art of portrait painting would not be diminished by the recent technological advancements in photography and printing.

"Portrait painting adds an artistic touch to a photographic snapshot of a memorable moment," he said, as he made some final touches to a charcoal painting of an adorable, smiling baby.