This is me looking very weary in my singlet after a tiring day a few cups of coffee in my office cum studio in Multimedia University. I seem to be the only lecturer that likes to return at night and work till the morning. It is an old habit that is difficult to die amongst cartoonist. We are unable to concentrate in the daytime because you get many calls and messages and that disturbs you chain of thought.
Manual Sketching
Almost a dead art in Malaysia. Every artist in order to save time will immediately resort to the Wacom and do a digital image, but for the traditionalist like myself and a few others especially must put pen to paper. There is no better feeling than a direct contact.
I learnt inking a traditional way. After a sketch is done, we will proceed to do the inking. It is an art, in fact a fast dying one. There are so many new techniques now that artists used by deploying the Photoshop. But, like I always believe there is more than one way of telling the same story, hence creativity is not bound by what we know, holding a pen and reducing it to a piece of paper. If time change, so must we.
The box of watercolour will tell you whether you are old school or you belong to the new generation. This entire work that I spread on my work table are work created entire by hand, paper, ink and water colour. Nothing more. There is no technology or software involved.
Once the entire process is completed, we sent the artwork for printing and this is a proud cartoonist with the normal printed media. Something that perhaps our new generation may not be familiar with. This prints are the prints that paid for my electricity bill, my petrol bills, my food and sent my children to school. I could not be more grateful to the people that gave me the opportunities.
Digital Age
This is the world that is familiar to many. This is also the world that the current animators, illustrators and cartoonists are used to. It is the digital age. Well, I can't say all is bad, in fact by using technology we can save time and effort. The only thing is the entire idealisation comes from the slow process drawing the traditional way.
Living by the Deadline
I really think besides earning money from Steemit, there is no job in the world that will say, do as you please. I live by a strict deadline and you can see how my calendar works out on a monthly basis. Life is always a mission of meeting deadlines. The stress of having to meet deadline makes the entire creative process stagnate. At least for me.
Why I Choose Steemit
Most of my steemit posts are creation that I did on the spot after my brain is fully stuffed with work related stuff. I need to break from the cycle and that is when I start caricaturing my friends and try entering contests. It gives me a break and a breath of fresh air.
