Creating a New Community
There is a small group of artists that is slowly making their presence known. No whales, all minnows. It started from a minnow called @sireh who is assisted by another minnow (@perennial). This is a vibrant community that speaks not with words but with visuals. This community is colourful, interesting, diverse, dynamic and purposeful.
For those that are acquainted with us, we form this community as a support system for new artists and with the purpose of retaining good and budding artists within Steemit. The way we see it, the more talents are retained in the system, the community will grow by leaps and bounds.
Multimedia University, Malaysia
It is true that artists are a struggling lot. For those who swim in ponds, there isn't enough planktons for all and for those that made it into the ocean, could end up as supper for the big boys. Life isn't always rosy. That is why any opportunity to make the life of an artist a better one, we would seize the opportunity.
Multimedia University is located at Cyberjaya (aka Silicone Valley of Malaysia). @sireh is responsible to groom these future artists as in all aspects and one of the most sensitive but seldom talked about topic is on income. It is almost carved on the stones that any Asian parents would want their children to either be a Lawyer, Doctor or Engineer. I am a product of that Asian dogma.
But lest we forget, not everyone is born to write or save lives. Some are born to draw and some are born to play with colours or infuse humour into our lives. Try imagining life without Charlie Chaplin or Mr. Bean. It won't be the same.
Death of Printed Media
The industry that we are so used to in the 80s and 90s is slowly dying. I remember reading comics of heroes in printed form. We would usually wait for the next edition at our local newspaper vendor. Those were the golden ages of the comic industry in Malaysia. These days, comic relief is so readily available online and it is also available for free. The economy has evolved and we have to learn to adapt.
When @sireh first joined steemit, he told me that he has a motive. Besides trying to get to know @sweetsssj his ulterior motive was to source for viable and reliable source of income for creative effort. To gain exposure though facebook is possible but to monetize the exposure again is another ballgame. It is a tricky question to answer if time the age old question pops up,
'Can I earn by just drawing?'
The answer is yes, even in Malaysia. But the honest answer to avoid being misleading is, it takes a lot more effort than any other field. There is the recognition, the career building, the endless hours, the marketing, the story telling and the image.
Let Find a Shortcut
I remember that my mom used to tell me, boy, in life there is no shortcut to success. I agree with her, but there is a shortcut to quick pocket money and it has a name.
This is an attentive lot. @sireh told me that he would have failed in his duty as their lecturer if he does not expose his students to the onslaught of the real world. He took upon himself with this initiative that he has planted in his faculty of Creative Multimedia with a loose coalition of budding artists called Scroll. His second initiative was to keep the young talents motivated with the real possibility of earning a decent return for their work. His third initiative was to create a community that will give the support and prevent good talents from leaving the industry. The culmination of these gave rise to the tag #steem-cartoon that we fervently promote now.
The New Blood
It did not take long before we start to see the influx of talent. Some of their work has been visible through the community. Here are some of the many that has joined.
Let wake up to surprises every morning and make #steem-cartoon our daily read for visual funnies. It maybe an uphill task alone but if a community is rallying behind you, it is tough to fail. But please don't try to fail....
We are here for you! Make this community your community. Lets have tea or coffee in #steem-cartoon. Let's create a system of support for each other. Let's forget the mentality of 'SHOW ME THE MONEY FIRST'. Enjoy yourself and the income will follow suit. Trust the octopus (@sireh). Afterall, the went through tough life if having to scrub bellies for a living until a particular whale took liking into his scrubbing service.
Life is wonderful in this community. There is no rules, except enjoy yourself. There is no compulsion except you MUST enjoy yourself. There is no punishment for failing to post articles regularly. This is a free community where you hangout, find your life partner, make some money, forget tinder and laugh your hearts out. How can you not laugh when your superhero is as cute as Bat-Manta!
THIS IS OUR COMMUNITY, MAKE IT YOURS TOO
Oo so cute :)
Bunch of cuties.
I am very excited to see more and more Malaysian creative people on the platform 😊👏
You are also part of us olivia.
Really awesome what you're doing bro @perennial! I'm in 110% Support of #steem-cartoon and the expansion of #teammalaysia!!!!! Let's make Steemit an awesome place together.
Sooooo true! Full weight behind steem-cartoon
Fuyoh ! Awesome stuff 👍👍
Would not be possible without ur support!!! Lets head to whaledom.
Thanks @perennial ... you've assisted us along the way as our mentor and you deserve the biggest credit. I was dreaming of having this creative community for a very long time... Now, here in Steemit its turn out to be better than i expected... we are enjoying ourself here and looking forward for wonderful days to come... Cheers!
I cant pick the credit @sireh. Cant draw to save my life. Better bet at cooking though. U guys are superb. Nice working with u. Simple and effective.
Steem-cartoon and #teammalaysia. = 100% Awesomenessss!!
Yes aquaman!
lol!! :))
#steem-cartoon ftw! i'm in already...!
Yup... glad u're with us... thanks for regularly contributes to our #steem-cartoon ... you cartoon strips are truly awesome and i've seen your posts are generously rewarded...grats! steem on...
Go #teammalaysia. How can I get the shirt btw? :D
Its not for sale. Its given for free. When we meet remind me. I give you one.
Wah so nice! Ok ok when we meet! :D
Great! It's really a great opportunity and an interesting project! !! Good luck from Italy! :)
Wow...all the way from italy...its an honour. We wont disappoint u.
I'm looking forward to this
I am also looking forward to their drawings. They always surprise me.
this is great ...time to grow bigger ..terbaik arr @perennial and @sireh ..lanjerr baju weii..
Senpai @aurah. Lets have an ultra cool background from you....cant wait.
haha tgh buat sefuu..i will update soon.
Oh hey, I've seen a couple of those artworks on here, already!
I've been wanting to ask about the #steem-cartoon tag you guys have been using. Is it a new tag you're trying to promote? Or is it just for your group?
I wondered why you guys wouldn't just use the #comic tag, unless it was specifically for a group thing??
Anyway, I've been excited about the newcomers lately, and have found a decent number of people to follow from all this :3c
Hi platonicsironic. The artwork is reproduced to showcase part of the community building that we have been focussing on. The tag #steem-cartoon is inclusive and not exclusive. We invite all to use the tag and its not solely for specific group. The tag #comic may not be suitable for some artists which are in this community hence the more generic classification is used. Its too simplistic to judge this effort as a group exclusive initiative by a mere tag sir. If you look at the people who use our tag are diverse and it inclusives people that are strangers to us. In the end of the day its mere labelling. You are very much welcomed into this community sir.
Ah, I see! I haven't gotten a chance to just browse through the tag yet, but when I skimmed through it before, all the posts I saw were also #team-malaysia posts, so I wasn't sure.
So with the #steem-cartoon tag, it doesn't have to be a comic, so much as cartoon types of drawings?
It seems like a good tag to look at when I'm bored and wanna see cool stuff :3c
I'll probably use it in the future too, then. ^^)
I have a hard time figuring out which tags to use sometimes, but this seems like a good one. Has a bit more focus than some of the more generic tags.
Focus is good 🌟
Ah, thanks for explaining it to me, by the way! And... sorry if my comments are too long. 😅
Long comments shows real interest in engagement and to us its a good thing. Please do join us in the future. We love talents like urself here.
great effort @perennial @sireh more talents can be showcase here..this is a start for something really spectacular from malaysia!!..thanks for both of you for this exciting journey!!
We wish that many would consider this place as their community. Talent or no talent. You are welcomed here.
yep..well said braderrr..
Great job @perennial on your effort to build a community of artist.
@perennial Congratulations on the growing community! please call me.
You're doing an awesome job. As soon as I found out about Steemit I started thinking about all the artist who could use the platform and get support.
Pls come by. It is definitely your platform.
You are doing an amazing job!
thanks. do drop by more often and have your dose of daily laughter.
So glad to see this community started. Comic Creators / Cartoon Creators UNITE!!!!!!!!!!
yes...unite. thanks for the support.
ok.. i support uols.. kikiki.. terbaeekkkk
don't just support. join us. see u real soon
I'll do whatever it takes to get initiated into the community. You can beat me in.
Nice to see you here, I just joined a few weeks ago, it's a fascinating place but I find it frustratingly difficult to seek and find other artists. I've lived in Malaysia for nearly 10 years, working on a comic too, is there some way I can join your community?