Hi, I'm Arai, an 18-year-old artist from Malaysia. I've been interested to make a zine since 2021 but after playing around with some ideas, I decided to make it a reality this year. I believe the zine making process is something do-able despite knowing I'll be preparing for my O-Levels or SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia/ Malaysian Certificate of Education) throughout the production. It can be a bit of a handful to juggle my life between school, work, and me-time, but it's possible.

As for my experience, of course, I've always loved drawing from a young age, but it wasn't until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic which gave me the urge to brush-up my skills. I was surrounded by peers who could draw well, and I wanted to be just like them. That's when I first started to learn anatomy and other art theories thanks to the Internet. 

By 2021 to this very moment, I'm already confident with my ability to produce illustrations well enough to make myself satisfied by the end product. I've joined numerous DTIYS (Draw This in Your Style) challenges and art competitions. For me, winning is subjective. What matters most is that I enjoy the process. (Illustrations on the left side are all from late 2021 with the third drawn on Photoshop - my first drawing software on PC since 2020!)

The achievement I value the most throughout my artistic journey is the fact one of my relatives decided to commission me. Since it was my first commission and it was outside my comfort zone (and a challenge between me and my cousin), I proudly took up the challenge. That's when I realised I could draw backgrounds, despite being time-consuming. The price offered was a big value to me, which is MYR100. It may be small to other 'experienced' artists but as a student, it means a lot to me!

I'm the founder of Team Kori (est. June 2021/January 2023), which is a team that plans to make zines long-term as it is our passion after all. There are 3 permanent mods (including me) which will host zines such as the ongoing 'The Fool's Chaos Office', a SFW (safe for work) zine revolving around Genshin Impact's Fatui Harbingers in an Office AU where I am seen as the Head and General Mod (currently in the formatting period).

We're considering to make another zine in 2024 dedicated to either Dr. Stone (Caelestia), one of my favourite anime/manga franchises of all time or another another Genshin Impact zine starring your favourite four people of Sumeru aka 4ggravate (Quattuor Vex)! If this project were to be a success, who knows we might make an appearance in Comic Fiesta on that same year?

It's better to have plans other than not planning at all. Even if it doesn't work, remember that Allah knows best and has even grander plans for us up ahead. Just wait and see :)

What I can provide for zines:
- Making Google Forms/spreadsheets for handling data
- Posting posts on social media sites
- Attempt to give advice for art + written works (even though I'm not the best at it)
- Emotional support <33

Other zine projects I'm involved in:

• 'Thread of Fate', a Founders of Konoha-centric tarot zine as a contributor for their digital side zine (page artist) [COMPLETED]

• 'Quattuor Vex', a modern college AU zine starring 4ggravate (both Haikaveh and Cynonari ships) as a mod (Head and General) [interest check over, on hiatus until March 2024]