Vicente Silva Manansala lived in Macabebe, Pampanga.

His paintings are the best and were

celebrated as the best of the barrio and the city together. One of the paintings that really caught my eye is
the Luksong-Tinik or Jumping over Thorns. This artwork was just putting me under a wave of memories
when I was young. I always play this game with my neighbours who I’ve lost touched with because some
of them have to move and some we just grew apart. Looking back I miss being a kid who doesn’t really
think about tomorrow or what career I would choose. I missed the days where my only problem is just
making sure I jumped high enough without touching the thorns.

My painting, the Online Class is inspired by Manansala with a twist of what’s happening today.
The painting have a cultural subject style because as you can observe from the 3 subjects they are all
wearing masks, the two subjects are now socially distanced, and they are now learning in an online
setting. These are the changes brought by the pandemic. Children are supposed to be out and playing,
however due to the safety protocols it’s not possible. The painting is 16 cm wide and 18 cm tall. The three
subjects together created a triangular shape. As the subjects spreads out in the painting they created a
stable form. In addition, they also have an equal distance from one another symbolizing the lack of
connectedness in these times. We can also see the solid lines in their face masks, echoing in each
subject that can help unify the composition. Next is the color, we can see an explosion of it in the
background as they blend with one another. However, there are portions where the colors did not blend,
red for example. This symbolizes that people have a hard time adjusting to what we call the new normal
and online class.

The painting shows how children are like in the middle of pandemic. Because the virus can
transmit from person to person, we should stay socially distanced. Amidst in this pandemic holding back
schools can take a toll on the country as well as the students. To compensate, the government developed
a system where school is done online. However, this system isn’t effective to anyone. There are students
who don’t have access to internet or doesn’t have any gadgets. It was very hard for them to adjust in the
new normal. In addition, people voluntarily quarantine themselves in their own homes .In that age,
children should explore the wonders of playing outside. I missed being a kid, when I remember of the
good times it will always bring me back when I played with my friends, whom children stuck in their
houses because of the pandemic tend to not have unfortunately. I want them to have that nostalgic
feeling when they see Manansala’s painting like I do. In these challenging times, we should always follow
the advise on the health experts and take some sacrifices for the greater good. Because maybe—just
maybe—if we put our face masks on every time we go outside, just like the 3 subjects on the painting,
one day we’ll wake up in a coronavirus-free world.

Vicente Silva Manansala lived in Macabebe, Pampanga. His paintings are the best and were
celebrated as the best of the barrio and the city together. One of the artworks that caught my eye
is the Luksong-Tinik or Jumping over Thorns. This artwork was putting me under a wave of
memories of when I was young. I always play this game with my neighbors, who I've lost touch
with because some of them have to move, and some we just grew apart. Looking back, I miss
being a kid who doesn't think about tomorrow or what career I would choose. I missed the days
where my only problem is just making sure I jumped high enough without touching the thorns.
My painting, the Online Class, is inspired by Manansala with a twist of today's happening. The
painting has a cultural subject style because, as you can observe from the three subjects, they are
all wearing masks, the two subjects are now socially distanced, and they are currently learning in
an online setting. These are the changes brought about by the pandemic. Children are supposed
to be out and playing. However, due to the safety protocols, it's not possible. The painting is 16
cm wide and 18 cm tall. The three subjects together created a triangular shape. As the subjects
spread out in the artwork, they created a stable form. They also have an equal distance from one
another, symbolizing the lack of connectedness in these times. We can also see the solid lines in
their face masks, echoing in each subject that can unify the composition. Next is the color; we
can see an explosion of it in the background as they blend with one another. However, there are
portions where the colors did not mix, red, for example. This symbolizes that people have
difficulty adjusting to what we call the new standard and online class. 
The painting shows how children are in the middle of a pandemic. Because the virus can transmit
from person to person, we should stay socially distanced. Amidst this pandemic holding back,
schools can take a toll on the country and the students. To compensate, the government
developed a system where the school is done online. However, this system isn't sufficient for
anyone. Some students don't have internet access or don't have any gadgets. It was tough for
them to adjust to the new normal. In addition, people voluntarily quarantine themselves in their
own homes. At that age, children should explore the wonders of playing outside. I missed being
a kid. When I remember the good times, it will always bring me back when I played with my
friends, whom children stuck in their houses because of the pandemic tend not to have,
unfortunately. I want them to have that nostalgic feeling when they see Manansala's painting as I
do. In these challenging times, we should always follow the health experts' advice and make
some sacrifices for the greater good. Because maybe—just maybe—if we put our face masks on
every time we go outside, just like the three subjects on the painting, one day we'll wake up in a
coronavirus-free world.