BACOLOD CITY — Netizens were amazed how a “homeless man” was able to draw on a wall using only leaves as his material in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental.
The man, identified as a certain “Aikel”, got the attention of netizens when a photo of him drawing an ancient palace on a wall was posted on social media by 23-year-old photographer Clyde Elloren Tapdasan.
“Drawing po iyon gamit lang ang mga dahon na tumutubo kung saan saan (It’s a drawing using leaves that grow anywhere),” he said, adding that Aikel probably finished the artwork for about 3 to 4 days.
Aikel’s work is said to be similar to the Simala Church in Cebu.
Tapdasan posted the photos of Aikel and his art work on his Facebook account on Sept. 2 with a caption, “di man siya kagaya natin na may matinong pag-iisip pero meron naman siyang wide and tough high IQ, knowledge how to sketch on a wall, kagaya nito, using a leaf, no other materials (He may not be like us with supposed sane mind but he’s got wide and tough hig IQ, knowledge how to sketch on a wall, like this, using a leaf, no other materials).”
His post garnered 18,600 shares and 16,800 reactions from netizens, as of this writing.
In fact, many netizens showed their appreciation to Aikel’s creativity and talent, while some signified to extend help to him.
Tapdasan said he first spotted Aikel when he went to the bus terminal.
The second time was when Aikel passed by their house and asked for a glass of water, Tapdasan said, adding that their house is just near the Boulevard.
Tapdasan said that when his grandfather talked to Aikel, they learned that the latter also knows how to write Latin words.
Tapdasan said they have no idea how long Aikel has been staying in the area, as he would usually answer them far from the questions they’ve asked.
Tapdasan said one of the netizens commented on his post saying that Aikel is from Barangay Gamao in the city and had relatives there. However, the problem is Aikel probably could not remember them.
“Pinupunasan niya ulit ng dahon para po hindi mabura kasi maulan dito nung mga kasunod na araw na iyon (He wipes it with leaves for it not to get erased because it’s been raining for the past couple of days),” he said.