Charles of Luminary Studios showing a figure sculpture to a student at a Bloominary Figure Painting Workshop in Manila

Luminary Studios · Manila

Charles
Luminary

Sculptor  ·  Painter  ·  Workshop Instructor

Anyone can sculpt it.
Not everyone can make it
feel alive.

Luminary Studios is the one-person practice of Charles, a sculptor and painter based in Manila, Philippines. Every piece starts as an idea — a trophy, an original sculpture, a cultural icon, a character rendered in permanent form — and ends as something that earns its place in a room.

What began as an obsession with craft has grown into a full studio practice: producing one-off commissions for collectors, receiving national recognition, and teaching the art of finishing to the next wave of sculptors through hands-on workshops across the city.

Charles believes the real art isn't in the sculpt — it's in the paint. Every color call, every shading pass, every final coat is a deliberate decision. The goal is always the same: make it feel alive.

40+
Sculptures Completed
3+
Years Active
10+
Series & Styles
8+
Workshops Taught

The Craft

What actually happens
in the studio.

Hand Painting
Most of the hours live here. Skin tones, shadows, fine detail — built up coat by coat. No transfers, no shortcuts. Just a brush and however long it takes.
Airbrushing
The airbrush gets to places a brush can't: smooth gradients, ambient glow, the kind of light that looks like it's coming from inside. It's what separates painted from finished.
Figure Sculpting
When no existing kit or print gets close to what a client wants, I build it from scratch. Clay, foam, putty. Whatever the form needs.
3D Printing + Finishing
I print at high resolution and then spend just as long cleaning it up by hand. Sanding, filling, priming until you can't tell it came off a machine. The print is where it starts, not where it ends.
Custom Commissions
You come with an idea and I figure out how to make it real. Trophies, character pieces, cultural tributes, personal ones. I don't really filter by category. If it's worth owning, it's worth doing properly.
Workshop Instruction
I teach figure painting in Manila through Bloominary. Eight sessions in. Watching someone land their first smooth gradient or finally nail an eye — that part doesn't get old.

In the Room

Teaching the craft,
one workshop at a time.

Students painting at workshop tables Workshop figure with brushes