Steem-Cartoon - Introduction Post

Hi Steemians!

I am @afique. It has been some time since I write exceeding 2 sentences. I seldom socialise verbally or in written from. I prefer socialising through visual. I am here to share some visuals. I guess I am very much an introvert. I am trying my best to write this post. I guess I convey my thoughts better in drawings than in writing.

My elder brother is @orenisme. He exposed me to the art of drawing. He has been my mentor and more talented than I am. In my field, mentorship makes a big difference. I had my adventures in the woods and I draw with my brother and my other family members. I thought if I am so much into it, might as well let this be my calling.

When I was 13, my brother became a cartoonist/comic artist. I took up formal art lessons for 5 years right after high school. Eventually took up an offer in a magazine company. I do freelance projects too. I am now a concept artist in an animation studio.

That's a little summary of my life so far. Honestly I don't know where to begin or how to tell it. I love the narration in visual art and yet I am not very fluent in writing my own. Narration is powerful. It bridges the gap even with a stranger. This is a recent illustration that I did, in a step-by step process.

1. First, I draft my idea on a grey canvas. The idea I want to depict is a boy from a floating island full of cassava plants(potato-like plant). The cassavas or "ubi kayu" as we called them, are common sight here in Malaysia. Our folks used to tell us that during the war, cassavas were our people's main source of food because the edible part of them would grow underground and the occupying troops did not know this fact.

1. On this steps, I added some orange hue to the sky and add some more details, plus a second character on the last picture. I decided here that the main character would look very determined on his small floating mound of soil. I was inspired by a lot of stuff while making this piece but the most obvious influences are Kubo and the two Strings, and Treasure Planet.

3)Lastly, I mostly tinker with the color settings, and painterly sculpt the second character into a scared blue jelly figure. I flipped the image a lot to ensure the balance was right. But my main objective here was not the technical stuff but the key element that must be present in order to reach the viewers in a more personal and deeper level; narrative!

The interpretation of this piece is up to each their own. And this is perhaps my main goal. But I always look at it as an optimistic metaphor for every transitory stages in our lives. The kid was leaving his home island by freeing a small soil from entwined roots and began his new oddysey. Just like us steemians in our venture into steemit, which maybe one day we may call it, our new home.