The world of art and design today has leapt across many boundaries as artists constantly evolve conventional methods and ideas of art and create their own innovative brands of design. These artists are also applying these fresh ideas into different areas of art, one example being the fast developing field of graphic novels. 

Fans of the popular American series ‘Heroes’ will definitely recognize the vibrant and vivid drawings featured throughout the drama and the role it played in telling the story to the audience. It was these drawings that increased the graphic appeal of ‘Heroes’ to its fans and many hopeful artists who were inspired and enthused by the works of the creative team behind these graphic novels. 

Steven Lejeune, one of the talents that created these dramatic art pieces, will be collaborating with Limkokwing Borneo in bringing this form of artwork to the aspiring artists by way of a workshop that will be held in the Kuching campus at Jalan Nanas on the 23rd of January. 

A preview of the workshop will be showcased at The Spring this Saturday from 2pm.

“I was first inspired to explore the path of art and design when I participated in a workshop held by a famous French cartoonist in France, and I hope that by putting together this workshop together with Limkokwing Borneo, I too will be able to reach out to the aspiring young artists to delve further into developing more works of art of this genre,” said Lejeune. 

This collaboration between Lejeune and Limkokwing Borneo is seen to not only benefit the current Limkokwing students, but is also part of the efforts put forth by Limkokwing to reach students who are interested in the creative arts but are unsure how to go about realizing their ambitions. 

“Graphic design is a very dynamic field, and many people do not realize how diverse this area of study is,” says Rosedelina Mustapha, Programme Leader for the Faculty of Design Innovation. 

“Students often think that graphic design is limited to creating posters or creating logos. This is a very loose definition of graphic design, as there are so many other facets to this field. Students are trained in various aspects of design, and are exposed to other areas of artwork such as sculpting, drawing, typography and illustration,” she added. 

When asked about the relevance of graphic design to the creation of graphic novels, Ang Soo Boon, Principal Lecturer in Graphic Design at Limkokwing Borneo, said that graphic design is probably the closest related field to the designing of graphic novels. 

“There are many aspects between the two that are closely related, such as the creation of storyboards when drawing out the ideas of the artists, and the application of various methods such as life drawing and observation of the subject matter when creating the different characters of the novel,” he said. 

Students undergoing the Diploma in Graphic Design will be taught these skills throughout the duration of their course. Students will be exposed to modules such as Illustration, Creative Studies, Multimedia which will in turn perfect their drawing and creative skills as they proceed with the diploma programme. They will also be required to create a brand of their own and will be asked to conceptualize their ideas into storyboards and to come up with a plan to market and sell their final product. 

This is evident in the works of Siaw Quan Cheng, who is currently undergoing the Anglia Ruskin University Degree in Graphic Design at Limkokwing Borneo. Siaw produced a short graphic novel as part of his graduation work, and infused native designs and traditions together with modern artistic approaches into his creation. 

Siaw, who has always been fascinated by native Sarawakian designs, heavily used these influences in his artwork. “I have always felt that these native designs had very strong artistic characteristics and it has been an objective of mine to be able to develop and create a brand that kept the essence of these artworks while having modern influences that would appeal to society today,” he said. 

“The graphic novel I created was a platform for me to introduce both our youth and internationals to the native Sarawakian art and culture. With this novel, I will be able to include the native designs into the book while telling them the story of a courageous Iban warrior in a format that would appeal to graphic novel fans,” he added. 

Siaw also said that he was deeply influenced by the works of manga artists as well as the creations of the team behind the illustrations of ‘Heroes’. 

“It is a great honour to be able to meet with one of the artistic geniuses behind the creative illustrative team of ‘Heroes’. I hope to learn more about this genre of art from him, and one day be globally recognized for my own work,” he said. 

This is exactly what Lejeune hopes to achieve here in Kuching, as he has expressed his interest in sharing his experiences and skills with graphic and illustrative enthusiasts in Kuching. He also said that Kuching is an ideal place for him to gain more inspiration for his second graphic novel, which he is currently finishing. Apart from that, he also said that he is looking forward to be able to interact with other art buffs as they share thoughts and views on their artwork. 

Participants of the workshop can anticipate a three-hour session with Lejeune, whereby he will introduce them to the fundamentals of illustration such as sketching, creating caricatures as well as other techniques using pencils and technical pens. He will also share his artwork with participants and explain in full depth what is required of a graphic novelist and the marketability of this profession. 

For more information on the workshop, please call 082-248266.