I'M KNOWN AS GOLDSICKLE ON THE WEB. FEW PEOPLE KNOW MY REAL NAME AND EVEN FEWER KNOWS ABOUT MY OTHER ALIASES, BUT THAT'S ALL I'LL TELL YOU.

I LIVE IN MALAYSIA, AND STARTED GETTING HOOKED ON THE NET A FEW YEARS AGO, AROUND LATE LAST CENTURY. BEFORE ALL THAT, I ALREADY HAVE A DEEP INTEREST IN MASTERING THE JAPANESE METHOD OF CREATING COMICS AND ANIMATIONS. I KNEW 'MANGA' AND 'ANIME' LONG AGO, BUT I SPONTANEOUSLY HAVE THIS SUDDEN INTERSEST IN MASTERING THE TECHNIQUES.

THE DESIRE RUNS DEEP. I WANTED TO ACHIEVE A LEVEL WHERE MY ARTWORKS ARE BEYOND 'FANART' OR 'PSUEDO MANGA'.

IT'S BEEN 7 YEARS SINCE I STARTED MY SELF-THOUGHT MANGA TRAINING BY MOSTLY REFFERING TO GOSHO AOYAMA'S "MEITANTEI CONAN". I ALSO USED OTHER REFFERANCES, SUCH AS YOSHIHIRO TOGASHII'S "YU YU HAKUSHO" AND KOSUKE FUJISHIMA'S "AH! MEGAMI SAMA" (WHICH HELPED A LOT).

IT'S REALLY HARD TO PRACTICE THE JAPANESE 'MANGA' FORMAT IN MALAYSIA, THANKS TO CLOSE-MINDED PEOPLE AROUND WHO BELIEVES THAT "JAPANESE COMICS ARE FOR KIDS", OTHER PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT "ALL JAPANESE COMICS ARE DIRTY/ VIOLENT/ CHILDISH" AND WHO COULD NOT FORGET THE XENOPHOBIC LECTURERS IN MY COLLEGE WHO TOLD ME NOT TO USE THE "JAPANESE STYLE" BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING NOT LOCAL, AND FOREIGN.

WHEN ASKED HOW COME THEY'RE NOT SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT MALAY CARTOONISTS PRACTICING THE AMERICAN-INFLUENCED ILLUSTRATION METHODS, THEY'D GIVE A POOR EXCUSE ABOUT "COMICS AND ANIMATIONS ORIGINATED FROM THE U.S., SO IT'S OKAY". DAMN HYPOCRATES.

MY ANIMATIONS LECTURER ESPECIALLY, IS ONE HELL OF A DISNEY WORSHIPPER. HE'D BABBLE ABOUT HOW DISNEY'S NUMBER ONE, AND NO OTHER STUDIOS CAN TOP THEM WHILE INSERTING STUFF ABOUT HOW CHEAP ANIME IS IN HIS LECTURS.

"Disney will always be No.1 in the world. No other studios can compare with them and the ONLY thing that the Japanese has to offer is 'AKIRA'." -Zaky (DISNEY WORSHIPPING LECTURER)

I DON'T THINK THIS GUY HAS BEEN WATCHING "MONONOKE HIME" WHICH HAS BEEN REALEASED THAT TIME. IF I WAS STILL IN THAT COLLEGE TODAY, I'D TELL HIM ABOUT HOW HAYAO MIYAZAKI'S "SPIRITED AWAY" OUTSOLD "TITANIC'S" WORLWIDE SALES IN JAPAN ALONE! HAH!! TAKE THAT, DISNEY WORSHIPPERS!!

I'D LIKE TO FURTHER MY STUDIES SOMEWHERE, BUT I DOUBT THAT I'D FIT ANYWHERE HERE SINCE THERE'RE MORE 'DISNEY WORSHIPPERS' ROAMING THE COUNTRY AS ANIMATIONS LECTURERS. ONE GUY AT THIS COLLEGE CALLED LIM KOK WING INSTITUTE SAID THAT: "Any idiot can draw manga."

IDIOTS ASIDE (I MEAN THE LECTURERS), WHAT YOU SEE IN MY GALLERIES ARE MY CURRENT ARTWORK LEVEL. HOPEFULLY THEY'RE WHAT I'VE HOPED TO ACHIEVE, IF NOT.... I'LL HAVE TO PRACTICE SOME MORE, THEN.

GOLDSICKLE