Mauro Malang Santos commonly known simply as Malang, is a prominent and award-winning cartoonist

Cartoonist

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

, illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, and fine arts painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 from the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

Family background

Malang is the son of Dan Santos and Juliana Malang. He is the husband of Mary San Pedro, with whom he had four children, including Steve Santos and Soler Santos. Steve and Soler are painters as well.

Education

Malang started learning how to draw from Teodoro Buenaventura, a private tutor, when he was ten years old. He studied at the Antonio Regidor Elementary School in 1934. He attended Arellano High School in 1941. For one semester, Malang studied at the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines in 1946. He stopped attending formal school at the age of 19 in order to work for the art department of the Manila Chronicle newspaper. At the Manila Chronicle, he apprenticed under Liborio "Gat" Gatbonton, a Filipino cartoonist. During 1972, Malang attended art classes at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 under a three-month scholarship

Career

At the Manila Chronicle, Malang created Kosme, the Cop, Retired, the first daily comic strip in the English language

Philippine English

Philippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog.English is used in education,...

 for the evening edition of the newspaper. In 1955, Malang established the Bughouse, a gallery specializing in cartoons. Malang established the gallery together with cartoonist colleagues such as Liborio Gatbonton, Larry Alcala

Larry Alcala

Lauro Zarate Alcala , also known as Larry Alcala, was a well-known editorial cartoonist and illustrator in the Philippines.He was born on August 18, 1926 to Ernesto Alcala and Elpidia Zarate in Daraga, Albay...

, Hugo Yonzon, and Elmer Agustan. In 1966, Malang launched the Art for the Masses, a project that brought printmaking

Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...

 of artworks to a larger number of artwork enthusiasts at affordable prices.

Awards

In 1957, Philippine Art Gallery founder, Lyd Arguilla, included Malang in the Twelve Artists in the Philippines-Who's Who. In 1958, the Art Directors Guild of the Philippines conferred Malang the Award for Editorial Design. Malang won in competitions sponsored by the Society of Philippine Illustrators and Cartoonists. In 1964, the Society of Philippine Illustrators and Cartoonists named Malang as the Artist of the Year. Malang won awards in the annual art competitions held by the Art Association of the Philippines, namely for his Street Fight (second prize, 1951), Traffic (third prize, 1953), The Yellow Sky (honorable mention, 1959), Quarter Moon (second prize), and Gate to Intramuros (honorable mention, 1963). In 1963, Malang was included as the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines. In 1981, the City of Manila awarded him the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan (literally "Arts and Culture Guide") award.