Behind the Comics XVIII - Pixin

This time 'Behind the Comics' continues with an insight to the work by Singaporean artist Weng Pixin, who contributed to š! #15 'Cats'.

Weng Pixin // *1983, Singapore. Pixin is from sunny Singapore. She loves to draw comics inspired by memories and desires. When she isn't drawing, Pixin loves to watch television, read books and hold her cat like a baby.

Visit her blog: www.rollinghometoyou.blogspot.sg

Pixin: Hello! This is the area I live where tons of construction work is going on all the time. Singapore is a very small country. Due to limited land area, there is a constant motion of destruction and construction to use every space possible for the economic growth of our small nation.
 

Imagine the noise of bulldozers knocking down walls, concrete crashing, cars and trucks honking, stilettos clicking on every sidewalk. Hence I introduce to you, my corner: Where I blast music to the right and to the left, I watch YouTube videos. I use my noise to over-ride the noise outside.
 

The nation’s emphasis on economic growth has led to much unhappiness among the citizens. Many bought the dream that “If I achieve academic success, my life will be secure and happy.” Obviously that dream turned to nightmare for many people who stopped thinking a basic question: “What do I want?”
 

My comic work comes from this dysfunction. The inability to think for ourselves, to be honest with ourselves, to speak up and the unnecessary pain it causes.
 

When it comes to the process of comic-making, it is open-ended. Sometimes I plan a lot, sketching and laying out the details I want to achieve in each panel. Example below is the sketch prepared for This Fifteen-year Friendship…, a cat-piece for š!#15.
 

Other times, I work in a very loose improvisational manner. I make mistakes as a result of that. Like in the picture below, I screwed up the text needed for the picture. I will re-ink the correct text and clip it to the page. When the scanning process begins, I will sort everything out over at Photoshop.

I have this set of brushes for the past 2 years now. When they break, I will tape it together and use it till they really need to die. I feel for objects and try to keep them close to me as long as I can.
 

This is a sneak peek of my current comic project. A story about a girl who is in a loveless relationship. She struggles to be honest but has no courage to do so. There are lots of gaps, hesitations, thought bubbles where all her true feelings and opinions are expressed.

Thank you for reading this!

We're very thankful to Pixin for giving this interesting insight into her work! If you enjoy these 'Behind the Comics' features, then stay put, as next week it'll continue with Warren Craghead's report!