SHOWCASE
/ ARTIST / 2024
| ARTIST: | WATSAK |
| COUNTRY: | Thailand |
| EMAIL: | wattanasak.chi@gmail.com |
| CONTACT: |
www.watsak.com www.facebook.com/watsakpage/ www.instagram.com/watsak/ www.webtoons.com/th/creator/07ag7 |
| Hello my name is Tong. For my art works I'm under a name, Watsak. I'm a comic artist, an animator and a creator of 'Maihua Comics'. It is a story I created that centers around 5 siblings of plant/human creatures and one human who lives together with them in secret condominiums in Sathorn area of Bangkok, Thailand. My current main medium of work is web comics. I also do animation to support the story and also merchandises such as a book, keychains, notebooks or art prints using Maihua stories and characters. | |
Maihua Kanji Comic - Chapter 32
This is one of chapters from a comic book that I self-published and sell through art fairs and shop consignments. It is a collection of 4-panel comics which derives its story from Japanese Kanji letters which I find fascinating and inspiring. I also wrote in Thai and Japanese for the comic panels. I picked a letter through random selection which occupies most of my work method since it gives me such surprising excitement and also limit myself to work within given prompt.
Maihua Kanji Comic - P'Ngot Spread Page
This is a spread page that introduces a collection of comics that are grouped by the main characters of the story theme. It was hand-drawn in a direct drawing fashion, meaning I tend to sketch as least as possible or not at all in order to produce such fresh result and sometimes it creates this 'happy accident' of lines and pictures which makes the work fun, interesting and alive.
Semiq Walk
This is one of various characters created from a Universe I created called 'Maihua' which means 'Heads of Plants' which inspired from potted plants I have at my condominium corridor. From that, the characters kept growing from my personal experience and inspiration. For this character it was inspired from musical note, the semiquaver note, which I then named her 'Semiq'. It was around a time that I studied guitar and piano lessons. The character was created with Toon Boom Harmony software in a rigging method. It was a personal project to explore a character personality influence how they walk. For this character, she's a determined person, so I made her walk in a very abrupt and confident way.
Maihua Comics Series: Chaiglang Crystalizing Thoughts
This page is from a long format comic that I currently produce and publish on web comic platforms and social media. I do like this piece very much since it is at a time when I started to merge various methods I learned along the way of comic making. Be it direct drawing, or drawing from reference. I discover the dance between looking at reference and also let your imagination roam free to create something out of expectation during the making of this page. I used inspiration from tree roots but merged that with the pinkish color of human brain since this room is a magical room that has network of passages to different location which was categorized by the definition of words and languages.
Maihua Comic Series: Chaiyai is Challenged
This page shows a storyline that is one of 6 storylines I created for the Maihua Comic long comics which is published online. Each storyline will have its own theme and main character. I tend to work in an experimental fashion meaning there is no fixed method in my process. For this series, the main character is Chaiyai, which is the oldest brother of the Maihua siblings. I only know that the theme would be about health, exercise and neighbors who live together in the same condominium with Maihua siblings, but I don't have any specific plot laid out before my works begin. Later on, I started to think about rough moments that might happen for each chapter but still am open to any change when the time of production arrives. I tend to use 'free-writing' as a method of coming up with story, meaning letting my writing flow without knowing where it ends to come up with story ideas.
Line Sticker Halloween Theme - Khun Gra Dang Nga
My works tend to flow through various media. I produced this animated sticker to be sold through Line Application Sticker Store. I was inspired from my trip to Japan during Halloween season with my mother. During the time, I also created illustration to tell stories of Maihua Characters travelled to Japan as a mean to fictionalize my real life experience into comics.
Line Sticker Halloween Theme - Yinglek
This is another piece of the Line Application Sticker Halloween set. I created 8 pieces dividing them into two categories, characters who dress up in Thai and foreign ghost legends. For this piece, I enjoyed challenging myself to draw humanoid character which I found lack in skill so I used it as a mean to practice as well. For this piece, I enjoyed also experiment using various space in the area to create sense of depth.
Comic Journal
This piece shows the other side of me that does not involve Maihua characters and stories. It is during this time of mine that I don't travel much as before when I was younger that I want to make use of my experience and travel if only I get a chance to go somewhere nearby besides my room. I created this piece as a practice also to gain confidence and enjoyment in drawing from memory and imagination. It really is different than drawing from reference which I find both of them has their own usefulness. I incorporated memories I found impressive such as time with my mom, my online writing club or a trip to galleries with long lost friend.