The Japanese Lady

I met this Japanese lady at a cafe in Ipoh.She was alone and so was I.Then we started talking and I found out that this lady is a cartoonist who chose to make Ipoh as her 2nd home.

Satoka Murayama, 38 and single chose Ipoh because of her dogs.Strange but true."I brought two dogs from Japan and Ipoh is  suitable for dogs.I can take them for walks because this is a  cosy neighbourhood.  The cost of living is low too.I cannot live in a condo in Kuala Lumpur because my dogs need to be free."she said.

Satoka is a talented cartoonist and she has many comics sold in Japan and are translated to Thai  and sold in Thailand  too."I have been a cartoonist for 14 years and now I want to stop and do creative retailing online. I design background for cartoons and sell them. Most cartoonist find it troublesome to create and design the background like jungles,mountains etc.So they buy from me and they just add their own cartoon to the background. " she explained.

This talented lady is ambitious and intends to make more money through her creative design for cartoon magazines .To do one comic of 30 pages is very tough.The cartoonist have to prepare dialogues and create a story for the comic.Just drawing a cartoon character is hard ,let alone adding dialogues that are witty and catchy but if their book gets published she gets paid RM500 for a page and imagine the amount of 30 pages.Attractive indeed and Satako has done more than ten books."When people buy my books,I get paid a certain amount too" she said.She meant author royalties for her book.

Seeing is believing and she took me to her house.It is icredible and because she cannot read nor write in english,she has to do her online business in Japanese and for Japanese.There are too many cartoonist in Japan and it is a competitive market . Satoka does not consider herself as a professional cartoonist because there are many others that are much better and they get about a thousand ringgit per page.

She showed her wacom tablet and how she creates a background in the world of cartoons with the 2D method ."This is what I do every day after my morning walk with my dogs " she said.Although she is alone ,she loves her life in Ipoh and she has made a few friends that has taught her to speak in english.

2D art is often defined by its medium and composition. Media used to create 2D art may include anything that can make a mark on a flat surface. Each medium brings its own unique qualities to a work of art.
Composition of 2D art is critical. This includes line, form, color, repetition and balance, in that order of importance. Line and form shape the appearance. Color brings out shapes and contributes mood and depth, among other things. The two principles of repetition and balance impart subtle moods. These elements arranged in two dimensions can even create the illusion of three dimensions.

Does she make money by selling her image of backgrounds  online?

"Yes most of the cartoonist will just concentrate on drawing the cartoon but not the background. They have to hire another artist to draw the background and it can cost a lot.So they buy mine.They can get a background of forest,houses and many more from me online."

Satoko is an independent artist and how she makes a living through art is admirable. Hopefully Malaysians can try making money online like what she does.She only sells to the Japanese because of the language barrier. She hopes to go international when she master the English language.