The M.A.D Project - Make A Difference!

This week I have been blessed to have met 2 noble souls from Europe - Kamal and Nija. Together, they initiated a project called M.A.D (Make A Difference) which aims to rectify the stereotypical outlook on Islam in the eye of the Western world.

In hopes to change society through education, they both left their day jobs, set out to Muslim populated countries to document their findings, and bring it back to their homeland.

I was deeply moved by their intention and it inspired me to help them out in what I do best.  

Here is hoping that they return safely from their next trip to Egypt because I can't wait to collaborate with them in the future!

Check out their website: The M.A.D Project or follow them on Facebook!

Eid al-Adha

I call upon people of the Book to set aside our differences through respect and remind ourselves of our Abrahamic roots. Happy Eid al-Adha.

No Free Drawing

I've been drawing people during my lunch breaks at the restaurant I frequent as of late. Some of you may already know that I also participate in the O.I.C Portrait Day at the Red Dot Design Museum every once a month. Sitters will get to choose whichever drawings they like and pay for the ones they take home with.

So one day I decided to just give the drawing to the subject - for FREE! The result? Not only didn't I receive a thank you, I was given the look like I wanted to sell insurance.

The following week (today), I encountered the same group at the same restaurant. Guess what, they crept out as I was ordering my lunch. As soon as I was done with my meal, I noticed them checking out if the coast was clear as if I was a stalker!

Maybe people have completely embraced that nothing in life is free, but man..
Maybe I SHOULD have walked up to them and ask if they wanted to buy the drawing instead, huh? So, verdict: Free Drawing FAIL.

Mawlid

Happy birthday, Ya Rasulullah. How I wish you were still around to help fix our people from continuously tarnishing ourselves.

It pains me terribly to see the world today, especially the stigma - no thanks to misguided jihad extremists and ignorant preachers :(

Vertical / Horizontal

Strengthen your relationship with the vertical line foremost, for it will repair any broken lines in the horizon. Feeling spiritual at 4 AM.

The Lonely Muslim

UPDATE: Lee Kuan Yew's remarks deeply offensive to Malays

Today, I read an article on Lee Kuan Yew's honest opinion from his book "Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going" which brings me to yet another chapter of heartache in this foreign land:

Lee Kuan Yew urges Muslims to 'be less strict'
(Click link for full article)

"I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration -- friends, intermarriages and so on..." he stated.

I strongly disagree with this. It's a very third world mentality coming from the man that made Temasek into one of the world's most expensive island to get by.

Case in point, my late great grandmother came from Mainland China. My aunt married a Chinese man whom fathered my 3 cousins. In addition, one of my cousins is dating a Chinese girl for 7 years. But then they're all Malaysians so I'm not sure if this applies to Singapore.

From *my* humble observation, since I first set foot on Singapore, Muslims here are already 'less strict' than from where I come from. I am neither holier nor more pious than the next Muslim in the mosque but (no offense meant) I do see tattoos everywhere, public consumption during the fasting month and nobody would care, and their dietry laws do not go hand in hand with the Holy scriptures. Alcohol consumption among Muslims isn't a shock factor. So I don't see how Muslims in Singapore can be less strict than they already have, and I'm not quite sure where these problems come from. Then again, I have only been here not more than 3 years and a half. I did not live long enough to see the rapid growth glitched by a wrench that is Islam.

In fact I went through a culture shock and even got involved in an argument because of the openly racist humour that I didn't quite agree with. Being the only Muslim in my social circle at that time, I can get overly sensitive.

I believe that his main issue is with the conversion of faith. Apostasy in Islam is almost miniscule when it comes to intermarriage - the spouse is usually the one to convert to Islam in order to tie the knot.

"People get educated, the bright ones rise, they marry equally well-educated spouses. The result is their children are likely to be smarter than the children of those who are gardeners," he said.

Tracking back my family tree, my late grandfather was an uneducated construction labourer with 9 children. Miraculously, without any taxidermy avant-garde cross-breeding, my 9 aunts and uncles grow up to be successful, educated people. Again, what do I know? I don't run a 1st world country.

With all that said, I can't entirely point fingers to Kuan Yew alone. Muslims at this day and age are our own downfall. How can we bring back the glorious days of Islam pre-Crusade period when all we do is squabble and agitate at the slightest provocation? Extremists with misguided jihad for terrorism only display the exact opposite of what Islam is about.

I would die for Islam but I won't blow myself up to make a point. That's suicide, man. No amount of virgins in heaven would welcome you in the afterlife for that :P

Up to this day all these bad news on Islam are self-inflicted, and they overshadow the good. So please, brothers and sisters. Before we lable the stigma as Islamophobia, let us all do our part in portraying the true teachings from the Holy Qur'an. To end my entry, a quote from a hadith:

"Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded."

Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38"

Peace be upon you.

EDIT: Why I Decided To Go Solo

Edit: Due to e-mails, messages I've received (some agreed, some well, not so nice), I will remind that this is neither directed to every studio out there, nor written out of spite. This is just my opinion based on personal (past) experience. I understand that not all organization is the same. Artists, enthusiasts and studio runners please don't get rubbed in the wrong way. I sincerely apologize if you did. I know a few professionals who feel the same, but I just chose to be vocal about it and bear full responsibility for amplifying my thoughts.

While it provides income stability, a studio setting does not help - at least for me - mental stability where artistic growth is concerned. There's a price to pay for that monthly pay cheque: a goal one has to strive for in the interest of collective creative direction.

With modest amount of experience I have working in studios, no matter how many times I've heard a studio promoting to celebrate individual identity/diversity (so far), eventually the measure of how good an artist is would always boil down to either who can paint "that certain way" as realistic as possible, or, whoever renders painstakingly detailed imagery until every excruciating specifics on the subject is visible. The list goes on, but these "qualities" summarize as only technical prowess.

Eventually, it would lead to those who carry that technical skillset will have higher value in comparison to other artists. More often than not you'll see artists getting emotional and disciplinary issues start to emerge. Also, Not forgetting celebrity artists who know they're THAT good and feel that they deserve to have special treatments. Boy I'm done with that.

I don't speak for everyone. I understand those skills are important on entry level but in my very humble opinion, details and realism only bring visual stimulation so far (and I am very much sick of it). I chose not to paint in such ways because they are the very superficial qualities in comparison to seeing a hot car or a beautiful woman. (I'm not helping myself here by grouping cars and women in the same sentence)

It's also the reason why I deliberately avoided digital art magazines today. Because seriously, how many times must I see this repetitive, perpetual portrayal of chicks with big guns, chicks with mecha, chicks with dragons, chicks with chicks.... now that's actually a nice image... WAIT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT! Moving on...

I posed this question to myself at a crossroad: Dream or ricebowl? I chose the former, and here I am now on my own, working hard to make my choice a hybrid - Dreambowl.
Edit: But who knows if in 2 years I'm living in a cardboard box I'll just have to go for interviews.

In the words of George Frederic Watts,

"I paint ideas, not things. I paint primarily because I have something to say, and since the gift of eloquent language has been since denied me, I use painting; my intention is not so much to paint pictures which shall please the eye, as to suggest great thoughts which shall speak to the imagination and to the heart and arouse all that is best and noblest in humanity."

For me, it has always been form and content. This will lead to another long discussion - it's my favourite topic in visual representation. Maybe next time but for now, I'll end this entry without being off-topic.

Art Block (Reprise)

It seems like it's a consistent cycle that an art slump blocks my creative flow. I have a lot to voice out (and express) but I suppose I'm not as gifted as my [fine art] contemporaries in projecting those mental images into visual composition.

Perhaps it's because I've been consistently working in the commercial side, answering to art directors and suits that I've gotten rusty to tap into that.. "zone".

In a meek attempt to unclog, I took a break from all commercial works today and screwed around with some collage. It's nothing to be proud of. In fact, I feel that I'm even more at lost with whatever it is that's going on.

Anyway, they are uploaded as means to document my process of, for lack of a smarter word, searching.

Aging.

Is this the sign of old age? I'm not easily impressed with anything anymore. Whatever movie soundtracks out there today aren't exciting enough, no good new music (bands etc.), movies sucks overall, no more wow when i see comics and paintings by artists today, and I think art is dead, list goes on.

Not that I make the best art or record the best music. Hell, I'm still struggling to be half decent an artist and I don't even direct films. But man this feeling sucks ass.

The line in Dogma comes to mind: "When you're a child, the glass is small, so it gets filled up easily. As you get older, the glass gets bigger, it takes more to fill it."

RAAAAANTTTTT.

The 99: Muslim Justice League of Avengers ASSEMBLE!

I am posting this with full responsibility and expectations on impending clash of discourse. But here goes.



I came across this article today and let me cut to the chase:
I am a Muslim growing up being fed with Western pop culture media primarily cartoons and comics every morning, and the later half with influences from the Eastern side of the world through anime and manga. Having said that, upon reading about Muslim Superheroes - those two just don't sing. It's not in the culture even. While I love superhero comics to a certain extent, I stand firm that the idea of khaliphs clad in spandex does not fit within the context of Islam.

It's embarrassing to see servants of God with Allah's 99 attributes spreading the Da'wah and Islamic values while they themselves look like they can't be taken seriously. Imagine a superheroine wearing her Hijaab (head scarf) flying around town. Would she take 5 every time for prayers? Perhaps then they can explain about the prayer for Musafir (travellers). Still... *facepalm*

The Japanese have their Ninja and Samurai that they are proud of to this day. The superhero genre has long been a trademark of Western identity. Why not explore and exploit the possibilities of the origins and rich history of Middle Eastern assassins? Ubisoft surely paved the way on giving it a contemporary approach through Assassin's Creed.

Yes, we do believe in supernatural beings in fact Djinns are mentioned in the Qur'an. This is where I would say the approach of Karas - a supernatural being who fights evil in the realm of the spirits, thus can't be seen by the naked human eye - is more suitable and relative. How does punching someone in the gut or emitting a Holy beam to a supposed infidel villain in public make it any different than the terrorist who believe in their attacks?

Coincidently I am also working on a personal comic project regarding this theme of superheroes and Islamic faith by combining both world of Retrojak and Black Light. I spent weeks rationalizing on how to make it work. I agree with an artist friend Corey Lewis' stand on how we should just let lose and enjoy the fun of storytelling. This however just takes it to a different degree. Come on it's already selling the idea of a religious superhero team. A MUSLIM superhero team, no less! If that's not serious then I guess I'm just getting old and becoming more uptight about trivial matters.

With all that said, I understand this is probably one of those novelty business models created to bring down the Islamophobia in the face of the world but... I don't know man, to me it just.. doesn't fly. Regardless, I will contradict myself here by giving a pat in the back to the creator of The 99, Dr.Naif Al-Mutawa for his attempt to perform his Da'wah. President Obama gave a shout-out to this guy in his speech, okay?. He still has my respect, make no mistake about that. Who knows if sales go up then he has proven me wrong.

I may have a sense of humour of an undertaker but Muslim superheroes sounds funny to me.

Link: The 99's Official Site

Al-Jazeera Time

One for the stupidity:


Two smarts versus one narrow:


Verily, I'm embarrassed, upset and continuously feeling depressed with this issue... How will the use of the term Allah confuse Muslims if we read the Quran? Get your 'iman' checked, please :(

SIGH.

I really don't do this to my blog/journal but this brings pain to my heart:

4 Malaysian churches attacked in "Allah" dispute"

I'm a Muslim and basically a loner in a foreign country. I'm also not in Malaysia and I haven't been following the current events, as if that's an excuse. I do not know if it was an inside job to instill hate towards Islam or if it was really committed by my fellow brothers. If it was, then they are obviously not doing what is being taught by the Holy book.

It is said here that the dispute escalated because the use of the Arabic term "Allah" in Herald, the Roman Catholic literature in it's Malay-language edition (which, the local Muslims believe that it may confuse Muslims and tempt them to convert to Christianity)

This is downright silly :( "Allah" is NOT exclusive to only Muslims. He is the one God that created all of us, if you need to be reminded. I don't see why this is a problem.

Islam is NOT in any way in threat! Brothers, this is not like a turf war. It's about faith and submission. First it was the Cow's head parade and now bombing churces? I might have missed a translation somewhere that promotes us to cause damage and inflict harm upon others.

For the life of me I still don't see the point of all this. In Indonesia, they have religious studies and they use "Allah" for God for all religion, not only for Islam. Hebrew spells Him as "Elohim" in the Torah! The singular "Eloah" is used in late Biblical Hebrew, in imitation of Aramaic usage. And this goes way back before Jesus and Muhammad. In Malay we call Him "Tuhan". In English we call him "God".

IT'S ALL THE SAME.

So.. we are squabbling and killing each other for the same Big Guy? Please, brothers. Have more faith in our religion. Have patience for the sake of Islam.

Instead of displaying how scary we are, let us check upon ourselves if we perform our daily prayers 5 times a day without fail. Please, stop bringing shame to Islam.

Their use of the term Allah for whatever their cause is do not put Islam in jeopardy. The bombings and massive killings are.

*UPDATED*
Further Reading: Allah was originally a Pagan God

Adiwira + Friday (Prayer) Blues

Adiwira was originally a short story. I'm currently developing this concept for a one shot comic or a 5 story arc. We'll see what happens to it in the near future.



Today marks the 2nd week of work at my new office in the heart of the Lion city. Adapting to the new surrounding includes finding a nearby mosque for Friday prayer. With the help of streetdirectory.com I located a mosque at the UOB towers / Raffles Place MRT.

Upon reaching there I couldn't find any building that resembled a mosque, let alone one that has a dome. Puzzled, I scouted around - it was already 10 minutes past 1 and I still haven't heard the call for prayer. Eventually I tailed people "who look like they're going to the mosque" and to my surprise, I was at a small staircase entrance leading to an underground basement: The mosque is underground!! How cool is that?!!

But that fleeting feeling sank soon after the sermons began, when I saw people squeezing their way in as if it was a hidden refuge... An underground mosque huh?
Before long, flashes of news on the image of Islam to the world today gushes in :(

I just felt sad on my way back to the office.

Peace be upon you.

Nike said it just about right.

I was re-reading an old forgotten book off my shelves today - Conceptual Art by Daniel Marzona - and found an interesting quote:

"Your work isn't a high stakes, nail-biting professional challenge. It's a form of play. Lighten up and have fun with it." - Sol Lewitt

I believe that this is, more often than not, what makes the most of us get too afraid to let loose in our works. The more we are fed with input from fundamentals and other razz-ma-tazz that makes up preconceptions, we tend to forget to have fun.

Knowing the rules should give you the license to tip toe around the elements and principles. Screw the notion and never ending debate between conventional and non-conventional, thinking in or outside the box.

Stop being intimidated with your canvas and just WING IT!

TRIP_PY

Ga Ga - Do Do Do Do Do

Growing up reading comics, one of the things in japanese sequentials that fascinates me as a kid is the treatment of sound effects in manga. It still does! Even though the katakana characters meant nothing to me it still gave me the impression of... sound.

Up to this day, I still feel that japanese sound effects still work best beyond comparison. The characters themselves, are, well, works of art.

Okay. I'm babbling. I did this after work today - 12:51 - the antagonist of my free time comic, Ultra Jiddo.

I.....'m gonna have to change the title soon.

Smallville

Over the years my fandom towards the Superman mythology has grown tremendously, thanks to serialized television shows such as Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and recently, Smallville.

Back in 2003, Season 1 was so fun to watch I drew Clark Kent and Lex Luthor for my very own Smallville music compilation CD. Forgive the bad art.

The continuation was okay... until 3 and 4 went downhill. I gave up watching for a while until season 6 came, sat for a whoppin' marathon towards finale. Boy oh boy after 4 years of 'some-good-and-some-really-shitty-episodes' the show is starting to become interesting again!

When Kara appeared I got so excited I didn't think of what to draw and how to compose. I just let loose and wing it:


Kara Zor-El, 2007

P.S. Bryan Singer's Superman Returns is in a league of its own - a personal all time favourite.

Hilang

I tried and tried. I can't draw anymore. It used to be my escape. Now it's making me feel trapped. I've been staring at the same blank canvas for weeks. The drive to draw has simply gone. Composing image has become a phobia. Finishing up a line art starts to test my patience. I've lost my thunder.

Today, I forced myself to brave against it. To start drawing again. And I came up with a shitty piece:



A warrior blindfolded and his sword broken. I feel empty looking at it. I hope this is only a phase. Else I'd rather chop my drawing hand off than to live with this self doubt.

D

D... A drawing from memory

I finally watched Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Beautiful movie. I'm currently reading the first volume of the translated novel. Of course, being translated I won't experience the exact flavour intended to be delivered. But I'm sure it will still do justice to the original novel nonetheless.

For those who are not in the know, Vampire Hunter D is a novel series by Hideyuki Kikuchi, illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, one of my favourite artists.

Link:
Vampire Hunter D on Wiki

Spider-Man and Paul Insect

JUXTAPOZ Art & Culture Magazine (Issue #76: May '07)

I came across this cool magazine at Bugis Junction the other day after catching the premiere of Spider-Man 3. Cover artwork by Paul Insect. I need to start reading again. Also bought The Comics Journal which was a total waste of money for me. What the hell.

http://www.juxtapoz.com/ Juxtapoz Online
http://www.tcj.com/ The Comics Journal Website