Hey sorry for such a late reply. The crazy school deadlines are finally over. I really appreciate your feedback. In fact, the darkest time of my life came after the book got published. I can't even pick up that book to read because I know how much issues there is in it. It clearly shows me my weaknesses straight in my face and forces me to change a lot of things of myself. I guess this is the only benefit I get and I think it's worth it, despite many other things. Without this, I might still be living in denial. Right now I'm picking up everything from scratch... things like perspectives, colors, anatomy, composition and developing a style etc. With regards to Japanese manga style, I don't deny that I'm still kind of stuck to it even until now. I've played around with other styles (some of them are quite unique or less common I would say) but at the end of the day I still return to manga style. The reason is not because it looks cool or nicer whatsoever, but the very refined, effective way of stylizing reality. I'm not sure if what I said makes any sense lol. Some manga artists can really draw appealing and natural-looking manga drawings without trying too hard. Some of them can stay true to their style with high accuracy and consistency. The characters they draw can be modeled in 3D without much problem... unlike some other manga characters which really lack the 'form' and basic building structure (these are some of the aspects greatly emphasized in the West). I faced this problem in the past when I didn't know what foundation means and I always felt guilty when I drew. I could only handle the 'surface'/'superficial' looks but not the underlying basics. But now I've learnt a lot from my teachers and peers and I am redoing manga style from the foundation and not from mere copying. It allows me to draw more confidently as I've figured out an idea that works for me on how a style is constructed (proportions + the way the features are rendered = a style lol!) Also, who knows, I might develop a new style soon! I don't know how far I can go, especially seeing so so so many great artists out there, but I'm having a lot of fun in this journey so it doesn't really matter. Haha... Oh yah I haven't read Troy Chin's Resident Tourist. I'll get it from my friend soon. I've read his Loti though. I think the static 4-box structure really works for this comic. It's very cute and sweet and really reminds me of my primary school life as well as what it is like being a Singaporean.

Hey Jingxuan! Nice to see you here. Your Lament book is totally awesome. AWESOME. LOL