Tanky Tan – The Local Artist
As a child, everyone aspired to be a cool and magnificent person. As we grew into adulthood, most of us settled on a mundane job and got into the rat race — squeezing in the bus, chasing the MRT to go to the office — just to make a living.
Nowadays, children dream of being a YouTuber to become an influencer, swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal, astronauts to discover the 2nd living planet or a soldier of Wings of Freedom to free the citizen inside the wall.
Whatever it is, we want our job to be the job of our dreams. For Tanky, when he was a child, he wanted nothing but to become a comic artist.
You might be thinking: “How about comic book writers like Stan Lee, Frank Miller, manga artists like Hajime Isayama, Hiro Mashima? How can I become a famous manga artist?”
Becoming a comic artist or manga artist is not the easiest career. Solely having passion isn’t enough. You should be prepared to overcome many challenges to become a recognized manga artist and be sought after.
In this week, we have Tanky, a Singapore comic artist, to share with you his journey of becoming one of the amazing comic artists we have in the industry today.
Tell us more about your story.
Currently, I am making illustrations and comics that tell the stories I want to tell. I grew up reading Japanese manga, and because of that, I developed a passion for drawing. Aside from drawing, I was also inspired to write original stories.
Please share with us the most memorable challenge when you first started and how did you overcome it?
I’ve always struggled with injecting my voice into my works.
Sometimes I manage to achieve that; other times, I don’t.
I try to overcome that by creating questions to prompt myself to think hard about the message I hope to convey and how I want to deliver that message.
Over time I noticed this is very much at the core of storytelling, whatever form it takes.
I need to know what I want to express before I start working on a piece.
I’m getting better at it, and I’d love to become good enough to be able to write original stories someday, finally.
Who is your primary audience, and how do you reach them?
People who enjoy looking at drawings and reading manga/comics. I try to reach them through social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
What motivated you to create a website?
A homepage serves as a landing site that enables visitors to understand what I primarily do and get in touch with me if they feel that I am the right fit for collaborating on their ideas.
Also, a website is my online portfolio. Whenever clients ask for my works, I could just send them my website, www.tanky.sg, they can immediately browse through all the works that I’ve done.
> Visit Tanky Website
> Visit Tanky Instagram
What has been the most exciting part of the journey after digitising your business?
I’ve seen an increase in enquiries for the kinds of illustrations that I created. There is no doubt that digitalisation has brought me more opportunities.
Besides, putting my artworks online is also one of the ways of documenting my comic journey.
What are the 4 things that you wish you would have known earlier when starting your comic artist journey?
1. A clear understanding of what I want to do and how to position myself in the industry.
2. All crafts are connected. Work on understanding the fundamentals and see how they’re applied across different crafts. Because, the stronger your understanding is, the more enjoyable the process of creating becomes.
3. Having a solid plan, and going through the plan with someone qualified to provide constructive, relevant feedback.
4. Staying focused on the plan.
The most important thing is the joy of learning and growth and the joy of pursuing these goals. I truly believe that we need to chase after and realize our dreams boldly.
Please share your positive experience with Exabytes.
Exabytes have enabled me to create a presence on the Internet with my works, which has helped me connect with clients, collaborators, and supporters.
Share Your Success Story with Exabytes
The success of Exabytes is built on the success of the clients it serves. “Success” can mean different things to different people. We hope to achieve through these stories that make up “OurStartupJourney” to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs, business owners, and individuals to pursue their big ideas despite obstacles and challenges.
If you wish to share how you have contributed to the betterment of others online, get in touch with us.
