13 mind-blowing Malaysian DeviantArtists (with pictures!) [Update]

So the other day we did an article about how to identify a pure woman and while looking for a nice picture to put as our feature, we came across this beauty.

And we were like “Woah, who made this?” and we found out it was done by this dude on DeviantArt that went by the name of solitarium. And lo and behold, he turned out to be a Malaysian (according to his DeviantArt profile at least). So out of curiosity we kinda tried googling other Malaysians on DeviantArt. Just for fun. We were not prepared for what was coming.

What we found just kinda made us pause for a while….. BECAUSE THE STUFF WE FOUND WAS NOTHING SHORT OF AHMAYYZINGGGG!! Seriously! Before we introduce these awesome peeps let us show you one piece that really made us want to pursue this story.

Now you may or may not know about DeviantArt, the immensely popular website that provides artists or aspiring ones a platform to showcase their work. With over 32 million registered members and over 160 thousand original art pieces uploaded daily, this community that launched in August 2000 is now the place to go if you’re someone who appreciates art but prefers not to have to travel half way across the world to some funky museum to do so. Fyi they recently rebranded their website as well.

But enough of that, let’s now take a look at what Malaysian DeviantArtists have to offer!

Note: These are not arranged in any order whatsoever, neither are we saying that these are the best there are in Malaysia. We may favour one or two over the others but that doesn’t make any of them better than the rest. We’re all just people with opinions after all.

1. solitarium

So up first we have the man who got us interested in the first place, solitarium!

We tried to get in contact with him but to no avail. Aside from being provided his Instagram profile on his DeviantArt page, we know nothing else about him so if anyone knows him do let him know we really appreciate his art!

2. sXeven

Up next we have a series of ‘fantasy’ like art pieces. Great material for movies, games, comics, you mention it. First up we have this guy  whom we only know as sXeven.

Too much mind-blow. Cannot brain.

sXeven‘s been doing art since he was 4 years old (that is really, really young) but only got into drawing when he got his first comic book.

I guess the moment I realized I like drawing was after my dad got me my first comic book (it was a Spiderman comic). It dawned on me that I enjoy drawing what i find interesting and making up my own interpretations of it.

But though he is talented at art, he doesn’t see himself taking it up as a career at the moment because he prefers something a little less routine.

Usually inspirations for me tend to come from almost anything. Anything at all that I find interesting or I think i’m able to incorporate into a design I would usually sketch them down and try my best to make them work as a design.

3. poibuts

Next on the list we have poibuts.  Also known as WenJuinn, he has been doing art since he got his first crayon set but only started to take it seriously in 2007.

He started off as a graphic designer doing festival decorations and signage design but after 2 years discovered that he liked illustration better. He put in hours of practice after work but eventually decided to quit his job and tutor under a friend before deciding to enter The One Academy. He is now an independent artist after getting a diploma in Illustration and can be contacted at [email protected].

 I like to observe everything that happens around me daily and pay attention to all sorts of details, there is always something new that stimulates my inspiration. Best of all, is from travelling. And some of it from many forms of visual, like artbooks, movies, games and some great artist that I admire.

 And if you like this piece you really gotta check out how this was made (click to see how he did it STEP BY STEP)!

4. nahnahnivek

Alright, here’s one for all you DoTA fans (seriously, check out his DoTA pieces)!

Nahnahnivek a.k.a. Kevin Glint hails from Kuching, Sarawak but is currently a student at Claz’room Academy in Kuala Lumpur studying Concept Art and Illustration. He started drawing at 3 (not 3 years ago but 3 freakin’ years old, some of us at that age haven’t even learn to go toilet properly) but only started to take it seriously in secondary school and has been actively drawing for the past 5 years.

“My inspirations comes from the things that are around me. Sometimes they come from my dreams and deep thoughts. If I am out of inspiration I would usually go look for sci-fi and fantasy movies, stalk(research) around my idols work to inspire me.”

He can be contacted via email at [email protected] or via his Facebook page or DeviantArt profile.

And with that we end our Fantasy series (for now). Now to move on to something different but just as popular….

5. ieka95

Honestly you have to admit that Anime is a huge thing in Malaysia and, as we found out, also a thing among Malaysian DeviantArtists. Check these out.

Preferred to be identified by her nickname, Ieka is a 19 year old computer science (graphics and multimedia) student at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She’s been a fan of Japanese anime and manga since she was 6 years old and started off drawing her favourite characters such as Sailor-Moon and Card Captor Sakura (who in her words are ‘cute magical girls’) in their dresses and ruffles fighting off the forces of evil. She is currently the lead illustrator at Dex Hexallion, a music group based in Malaysia and the Philippines.

“Fame is not what I’m aiming for. I just hope that it (her art) will always make my friends and others feel happy.”

Ieka can be contacted by email at [email protected] or through her DeviantArt profile.

6. pcmaniac88

Another anime based artist but sadly we were unable to reach is pcmaniac88.

Do visit his profile but a word of caution though, some may find his work to be a little….suggestive in nature.

7. Silverfox5213

Up next we have something a little more down to earth. As in not guns fighting pew pew flying stuff but stuff that is a little less extravagant yet not lacking in emotional appeal.

This guy’s work is probably gonna fill you with awe because you will probably go ‘Awwwwww’.

Don’t these just melt your heart? Dah lah mind blown, now heart melt also.

Although we were unable to reach him, Silverfox5213 was the only artist we could find on Google that had actually been featured on a news portal (apologies if we’re wrong about this, do let us know if other artists have been covered as well).

8. xuanlim

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….sorry. Still looking at the artwork. Not just because it’s Emma Watson but because it’s a really good piece of art. Really. No bluff.

We were unable to get in touch with xuanlim too 🙁 but there was a link to her website on her DeviantArt profile. More cool stuff there.

9. bramLeech

The next 2 are what we would call the ‘Mind Joggers’ due to the message they try to portray (at least we think they do!) through their art.

bramLeech, or Bram Lee Chin Horng, is a Generalist artist. He has done a huge amount of different types of work. Comics, concept art, 3D/2D animations and game art, 3D modelling, compositing and even children book illustrations, he’s done them all. He’s even done commercials (Petronas, 8TV, NTV7), games and childrens’ books.

I have been doing art all my life, since I have been able to hold a pencil. My mother told me that I would be drawing all day long on my grandma’s Mahjong paper.

What’s even more interesting is that Bram has also ventured into making videos. You can check out his YouTube channel here.

I am a big movie buff, I think I have watched at least 250 movies and studied many of them, in terms of storytelling, color and mood as well as camera movement.

Gotta admit he really is dedicated to his art.

You can contact Bram at [email protected]/[email protected].

My goal for these coming 5 years to is to make short films that are good enough to compete in international film festival and ultimately win myself an Oscar, some people might think that this idea is pretty naive and impractical but hey, never let anyone tell you what you can and what you can’t do.

10. YongL

YongL or Yong Lin is a digital artist and photographer from the land of laksa and free wifi, Penang. He is currently studying Animation & Visual Effects at Multimedia University which is fully sponsored by The Star Education fund but started off teaching himself digital art when he joined DeviantArt in 2011. His work is inspired by personal experiences, real life event and worldwide issues (as you can tell from his art pieces above, very philosophical in our opinion).

I just want to tell a story and express myself through art, to inspire the others regardless of medium whether it is a film, an animation, a photo essay or a series of digital artworks. 

Yong Lin can be contacted via his Facebook profile.

11. FeiGiap

And now we present to you the artist that did this.

Probably the one that had the most ‘Malaysian’ related pieces, FeiGiap is from Seremban but is currently based in Subang Jaya. He started off doodling in his textbooks in school (the writer did that too but never moved on beyond stick figures) and studied illustration in college.

My inspiration always happens when I am day dreaming, when I am driving alone or taking a bath. Inspiration always appears suddenly.

He’s been an illustrator for over 6 years and he’s been working on his scenery painting series (as above) for about 4 years. He is also the co-founder of Running Snail Studio, a studio that provides illustration services for advertising and publishing (seriously check them out) and can be contacted personally at his DeviantArt profile or [email protected].

I do hope one day my art concept can be applied into short animations, something like Ghibli and Makoto Shinkai film. It will be very cool I think.

P.S. The work of FeiGiap is also the personal favourite of our editor-in-chief.

12. Zeen84

We’re gonna end with these last two guys. Now some of you might be going “Aiyo, more fantasy stuff?” but seriously there were just too many good fantasy pieces that we just had to put in a few more.

Zeen84, also known simply as Zeen, is a 30 year old freelancer from Johor. He found an interest in drawing as a little kid and first stepped into the industry at the age of 22.

I was a bad student during school time, haha, because I kept doodling in my text book instead of studying.

He has worked as a storyboard artist, 2D animator,  and concept artist before embarking on his own as a free lancer. That is impressive, really. He finds his inspiration from comics and movies and is interested in trying his hand at creating his own comics.

Aside from his DeviantArt profile, you can check out his work on his other profiles here and here. Zeen can also be contacted via email at [email protected]. 

13. theDURRRRIAN

We would like to end with theDURRRRIAN (4 R’s) because he kind of announces himself to the world. Really, just try saying theDURRRRIAN inside your head. Sounds like his name is being announced for WWE match.

Aside from art he seems to have a way with words as well. Just check out the witty titles of his art pieces.

With a name like theDURRRRIAN you can tell this person is at least from South East Asia. Well Daniel Kamarudin is a Malaysian but currenly living in Brunei. He’s been doing art for about 4 years which started late in high school but only began to take it seriously in college where he studied digital animation at The One Academy.

I figured that if you enjoy your work it wont feel too much like a job and art has always been something i didn’t get bored from no matter how long i spend infront of a canvas.

He has a great interest in video games, comics, movies, etc, and hopes to see his work moving in that direction as well.

I want to have one of my friends play a game they enjoy, then I point at something on the screen and say “See that character? I helped design that”

Daniel can be contacted at [email protected] (that’s 4 r’s) or on his DeviantArt profile.

Pew indeed, fine sir.

But that’s not all! Still got sumore!

Once again we’re not saying that these artists are the best in Malaysia, we’re just CILISOS writers after all. But we do want to bring these people to your attention because we think they deserve it! We also want to note some of the other artists that we found but didn’t list here (because frankly, if we were to list them all, it would take a while) such as bonggo, bayanghitam, ivangod, TheOrcKid, nET4ward or even these other DeviantArt guys who were featured on another website. Also if you know someone who you think does great work as well, let us know in the comments below!

And if some of you sitting there, looking through this and thinking to yourselves “Hey, I would like to do that, but do I have the talent?” We’re hoping that you JUST GIVE IT A SHOT! Becoming an artist ain’t easy and to make a living out of it is even harder but not impossible! People like Boey and Emila Yusof have done well to make a living for themselves from their art.

And to help you guys even further, we got Emila Yusof herself to say a few words to you guys in the art industry!

Forget about those who were born creative, as far as I know they also learn how to draw from scratch. Nobody can draw at the age of 1 day. And if you think your art is childlike, there’s naive art genre.

She even gave advice on how to get noticed and to start to make a living from your work!

You gotta make a lot of art; get connected with people, ask for opinions, take critics positively, and make some more. Then promote your art on social media (offline contacts would be great too), build a fan base, join group exhibitions and start selling with lower/promotion price. Increase your rate annually. In my case, it took me about 3 years to build a fan base and to sell successfully.

So yea ugaizzz, do your best and keep going! CILISOS support!

*UPDATE* Ugaiz really osum la! We just wanna let y’all know that in the comments section are a ton more profiles of Malaysian artists submitted by our readers. So do check them out if you wanna see more good stuff! (we’ve also been told that our selection here does not explore many genres and we apologise for that)