Roman Carlo R. Loveria

YOU CANNOT judge a book by its cover. But no one can deny that unless the writer is a best-selling author like J.K. Rowling or C.S. Lewis (or other such writers who do not even have to spell their first names out), a book will not catch much attention on the shelf with just a blank page on its front.

For this very reason, writers seek the aid of visual artists to help attract readers to their work. Consider it an icebreaker, an appetizer hinting of great things to come.

For prize-winning artist and UST College of Architecture graduate Jose Miguel Tejido, literature and the visual arts complement one another. “Art lets the ‘unsaid’ come into the scene, where the artist can put in mini elements based on his own interpretation, like little side comment jokes, allusions and even foreshadowing clues to a next scene,” he said.