ENGLISH CORNER

Face Drawer, One Unique From Malioboro

With their hands, the faces are eternal.

On this Yogyakarta’s side of walk way there are only four face drawing places. Ornaments and batik dress sellers who covered up the place make the face drawer  not really eye-catching from the street sides. But the domination doesn’t make them desperate. It is colouring the variety of Malioboro livelihood. From time to time they still survive. The atmosphere in malioboro is like artery of the face drawer. Not surprisingly, they begin spreading along malioboro, approximately since the 80’s. Daryono, a face drawer from Kendal, Center Java, taking his step a head. In the beginning, he did not draw the face. A various job for him  was not a big problem. He started his business from selling key – chains, Idul Fitri card, to making a card with beautiful poems inside. He sold various things before become a drawer. But then after seeing  somebody else who became face drawer, this man who has five children was interested in trying. He started stepping his feet on the street that extends distantly before him. The bait was prepared and a net was  spread out. Moving slowly, his business developed. Because of it, he felt surer in becoming a face drawer.

For the first time moved from one place to another place. But then since 1990, when Malioboro street side was declared officially as a place for economic activity, Daryono got his permanent place . Why he choose the face drawer as his job? According to him, becoming a face drawer gives him  satisfaction . Drawing human faces is sometimes difficult, but in the other way, it seems like we  turn our hand, easy. That is the art of draw human face. There’s a secret desire in giving soul to the picture, as a face drawer. To make the paint has a soul is very difficult. “For example, if there is a mistake from its peering look, that mistake will show that the person has a different characteristic and impression” Daryono argues.  According to Adriano, is not automatic that a person, who can draw a scene, will be able to draw a face too, and vice versa. Sometimes, they can only paint either a scene or a face are two objects with different levels of difficulty. The challenge from drawing of human face is that we have to compare it with a life object. In a time, when someone draws a face, he needs to look at the detail of his face object. “I think, if we often paint a decorative model, we will feel bored,” says Wawan Sujarwo, who becomes a drawer since he graduated from senior high school. For him, who had felt as a “lesehan” face drawer, draw a face or decorative model have the same level of  interest.

  But then one by one, they buy the place. In the other way, the densification of street vendors are not without a root. There is a reason. Directly or not, monetary crisis, which continues until now, has an important role to make them, in a great numbers tried to find a job. The increasing of primary needs made the people must do penny – wise activity. Like or dislike, the face drawers in malioboro have to face it. The demand of drawings, decreases so deep. The people have to be more careful in fulfilling their needs. Finally, almost all the drawers change their way of life by a change of job. They use this way just to keep the oven warm and their plates served. Actually the income  from selling the paint is not too bad. One drawer with another drawer has different price. There is a drawer who gives a standard price Rp. 90.000 for a picture of size 28 cm x 55 cm. Another painter can give a price Rp. 20.000 or Rp.45.000. The difference of difficulty level and operation process is the main factor that fixed the price. If the objects use a picture for a model, sometimes the exact anatomy is no longer clear. The variety of the price is not only from the operation process but the drawer  name also influences it.

 The more famous the drawer is, the higher the price he puts on his works. But the fame of drawer is not without a reason. The quality of his painting is the standard people will use to judge his skills. That is another factor, which makes a drawer famous. The quality of the drawings is measured from the similarity degree between the drawings with a real object. The variation of drawer’s income level, makes them always ready with their trestles. They have to be ready and accept under paid. But if the request comes in floodingly, they can gain up to   a hundred thousand rupiahs, even until a million rupiahs. But if bad-luck day comes to them, there is no income of that day. Because of that, the drawer  in malioboro, not only gain income from selling the drawing but they also sell ornament or another accessories. Likewise Daryono, besides selling the drawings he also serves body tattoing. Beside that, he and his children sell key-chains. Difference from Daryono, Wawan sells decoration flowerpot to add his income. Long-life process of life on the street, build their mental stronger from the other. This strong mental is shaped from hard life that is not easy to conquer. They succeed with hard struggle, and started from the lowest. Malioboro street is a numb-witness which accompanies the drawer to survive in a hard life. When the Maghrib echoes, when the street lamp show its light, the drawers are still waiting for faces who wants to be eternal through their scratch of pencil. ( Rias Andriati )