My Life in Art

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When I first started my life in art, there are a few people that I look up to. The interns that I took have often asked me how me who are my inspiration in art and how I keep my momentum going. Being an animator, it is never an easy task to keep my personal motivation and my team's motivation to be always at the optimum level. There are times when our income and reception is not that good.

For me, I find my inspiration in Frank Miller and you will see there are some similarities that I incorporate in my comics and style. If you are familiar with the comics such as Sin City, 300 and Dark Knight not in the movies but as a comic strip, Frank Miller is your household name.

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The man himself and his story telling and art...

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This is a man who has single handedly revived the characters that we thought was buried with time. This is one person who has merged both story telling with his grappling and very instinctively a Miller style drawing. Not many comic artists at that time are able to do both story telling and drawing but Miller is one artist that excels in both area.

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Take for instance the style that he creates for Sin City. This is the inverse method of colouring that is so special to him and the comic Sin City. The has made black and white so sensational that it almost became a pop culture.

For example, the famous icon for Marvel Stan Lee made his name as a writer, the creative man that created the characters and give a live to them. Miller has a slightly different twist. He is known as the writer for hire and he crosses between DC and Marvel to ply the trade. Those who are familiar will know how he revived the character Daredevil. The battle to capture the comic market worldwide between Marvel and DC has always been epic, just like the battle between Coke and Pepsi.

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(The man behind Marvel's success)

The Colossal Battle

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Frank Miller is so influential that each time he crosses from one comic to another, there will be a huge following and it is not surprising to see the same style in Marvel is repeated in DC and vice versa. What makes Miller special is the panelling in his drawing and the way he tells his story which is characteristically his. It is difficult to duplicate his brilliance.

Comic Influence

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I used to frequent comic stores and collector's flee market for rare comics and for some people that I regard as Industry Leader in my field of work. There is one comic book house very close to my house and this is the place where many comic book collectors congregate and exchange their personal collection.

This is one marketplace that I frequent which is close to my house and you get to see many old comic and collector's items during their Saturday sale.

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My first foray into the art scene was inspired by comics and the strongest influence was Batman. That is why you can see many batman parodies in my drawing.

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How I wish to Progress

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I am quite saddened that many printed publication has seen decline and people these days are more contented to play the games and watch movies than appreciate the art and story telling for each story. In the past, we study the writer, their drawing and the entire creation of story. I still remember, I know each character in Batman by heart and each change in the artist will see a slight change in the styling and method of colouring. All these are very peculiar to the author and artist. But this art has slowly see its decline. People these days are so keen to ask when will the next movie be released. There is no appreciation for the comic and the literature that sets the entire storyline.

If possible, I would like to bring the style that has rocked the comic world in the 70s and 80s. Those are the days when comic are given their due respect. There is art in the story telling but instead today, things have changed so much that the story telling becomes better depending on the actor that holds the role or how much budget is giving to its marketing. This bad for the industry because there is no real value in development of character and style. There is also no development in story telling which is one of the most compelling factor in comic story telling.

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credit to @zomagic