TWIDI will celebrate its 10th birthday in March. A few months after, it'll be callupish's 16th birthday. That's how long these two passion projects have been with me. Currently, both of them are on the backburner. There's a thought loitering in my head for the past two years. The thought of how my relationship with art has changed since it became a career. Don't get me wrong. I'm still able to find the love and joy that fuel my art-making. So far I've kept as true as possible to what speaks to me most, as a young adult and an artist. But going professional has made it clear to me how important it is to my soul to maintain that integrity, and to keep it from being swallowed by jadedness and cynicism. And there's been a lot of those shadows lurking at the edges of the last two years (though I'd argue they existed some time before 2016). (more…)

For the past few months I have been thinking about my political role as an artist. It is very strange to be at the point (both maturity and career-wise) when I must assert my intention as a person who tells stories and produces images/words for the world at large. I believe words and images have meaning, therefore they have impact. But what does impact mean on my own terms? (more…)

One of the guiding principles of my storytelling is empathy – empathy as both the creative factor and the takeaway. It's a hot topic in publishing nowadays: everyone talks about how books are key to helping one understand or see others in this world, how one can see the other is just "a person like them". This is all very important and a goal worth pursuing, and I do see it as part of my responsibility as a writer. Yet I think I operate from a different conception of what empathy is, as a writer and reader. This is what today's post is about. (more…)

"Where do you get your ideas from?" "How do you choose which book to do?" The short answer is, I don't know?? Or rather, I can't explain it. Or RATHER, I don't think the real answer will be helpful, or even make sense, to anyone else except me. (more…)

I recently published a mini-comic for Malaysia's Independence Day (or Merdeka, as we natives call it), which can be read here. Besides the standard raw emotionality that has become a trademark of mine, it was my first attempt at code-switching and bilingualism in comics – a bilingualism that is key to the understanding of the story and emotionality of Bahasa, rather than a mere translation of one language into another. (more…)

Some of you may know I write historical fiction. Some of you may also know I've been chipping away on an Alexander the Great graphic novel. (Which this concept art is for) My role as a historical graphic novelist has been stewing in the back of my mind for a while now. Actually, the stewing began when I first thought of The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya, but I already know my insights from that project. Be actively thoughtful. Be self aware of how your own biases and societal context influence your storytelling. Recognise the people before and around you. Use your power to bring up voices. Understand that the work of being a responsible author lasts beyond the final page of your story. (more…)

Writing a graphic novel is hard. There are a lot of things to juggle; afterall, you're making the equivalent of both a film AND a novel! Fortunately, now there are a lot of resources, suited for different genres and needs. Back then, in the olde Wild West days, when I was a newbie, I didn't have any tips that explained how to make the kind of graphic novels I wanted to make. So I made my own, deliciously called the Onion Method. (more…)

How does a comics creator do their research for a graphic novel? Well, nobody quite knows tbh – unlike thumbnails or scriptwriting, the research process (collecting and turning information into a story) is rarely talked about in comics. Unless you hang around academic circles, or work in a genre like science or historical, you wouldn't think about research as a concern. While not necessary, learning how to do research well is a powerful and important skill to have. I believe that when creators obtain better research skills, their storytelling benefits. It's not just about knowing where to find sources... it's about critical thinking, increased awareness of self and society (and how both impact the stories we value), transparency, and thoughtfulness of intent. (more…)

In the last 7 years since launching my side-hobby-then-career into storytelling, I've changed a lot. As I approach my mid-twenties, now is a good time for me to step back from the fast-paced rat race attention economy, to consider what I've learned, and how I want to move on towards a more thoughtful, more amazing thirties. (more…)