Amely is a Malaysian creative freelancer who is passionate about fashion, figurines, and art who mainly creates vivid pieces with watercolor, color pencils, and digital tools such as Procreate. In-person, she exudes main character energy, giving us Wes Anderson meet Hayao Miyazaki vibes with bursts of color.
The talented artist also has an interest in modern typography, experiments with utilitarian streetwear clothing, and hosts workshops to share her knowledge with others. Amely’s recent work can be found on our “Cross The Line” series featuring her watercolor artwork of many faces that beautifully showcase the color of each individual.
During a photo shoot, we caught up with the aspiring artist to learn her thoughts between traditional and digital art, the beauty of watercolor, as well as some reflections throughout these years.
Tell us about yourself in 10 words or less.
1. Colorful.
2. Watercolor.
3. Drawing.
4. Cute.
5. Maximalist.
6. Lucky.
7. Indoorsy.
8. Gemini.
One color that defines who you are. Why?
If I can only choose one color, it would be pink. When I was a young girl, I didn’t like pink. I wanted to be cool like the color black. Once I grew up, I realized that pink color holds the childlike spirit of freedom, playfulness, and innocence.
Share with us the resolutions you achieved in 2021 and goals for 2022.
This year I was a freelance artist for many companies including the “Cross The Line” project for Kittie Yiyi. I am very happy to see my watercolor artwork on her pieces. This has been something I wanted to do for a long time.
Watercolor does not solely belong on paper. Next year, I hope to see more people learning how to appreciate watercolor and its art form to create their artworks on more products.
Why did you decide to use watercolor as the main medium for your artworks?
I studied illustration during college and learned the art of watercolor for three years. Watercolor needs water to complete an artwork. You cannot copy an artwork the same using this medium. Water flows, moves, and expresses itself differently. At the same time, I can never fully control how the water moves. I enjoy watching random water inks appear. This is a very interesting process.
What are your thoughts on traditional or physical art compared to digital art?
There are a lot of products today to help us complete an artwork whenever and wherever you are. This includes iPad and software such as Photoshop. To many people, hand-painting an artwork is very troublesome. If I create an artwork using watercolor, I have to bring paper, water, colors, brushes, and many more things. I hope to preserve the art form of traditional hand-painting. it’s something you cannot undo, each stroke of color stays there forever. Compared to digital, you can redo it multiple times. There are pros and cons to both platforms. Personally, traditional hand-painting is an art form that cannot be replaceable.
What got you interested in the art of Chinese typography?
Since young, I grew up in a Chinese environment and mainly communicate in Chinese. Modern calligraphy artworks that I encountered were only in English. At a time, I saw Taiwanese creatives use Chinese characters to create beautiful artworks. I thought, why do people in Malaysia only think of English words when it comes to modern calligraphy? I hope to bring in the art of modern calligraphy using Chinese characters and contribute to the Malaysian art of typography.
How did your art evolve throughout the years?
When I started drawing using watercolor, my goal was to create realistic portraits. I like KPOP and I wanted to draw my idol as realistic as possible. My art slowly evolved throughout the years. I started to express different styles and artworks using watercolor. In the middle, I thought the traditional watercolor painting was very troublesome and considered moving towards digital art. In the end, I realized the randomness that traditional art produces suits me better.
What have you learned about yourself or experiences in life from the process of creating art?
The process of creating art makes me happy. It’s healing to see myself mixing different colors to form something new. Drawing back in college or now for work always has a form of pressure. Through this process, I hope to also maintain the feeling of joy and happiness while I create an artwork to persevere and move forward.
What is in your mind when you create an artwork with the “Cross The Line” liquid eyeliner pens?
Colorful! It’s so hard to find a colorful yet vibrant eyeliner pen. I bought a lot of different eyeliners to use but the colors were not vibrant. Other than the basic colors, most brands have white or blue eyeliners. For “Cross The Line”, it’s so easy to buy one set and try all six colors. I love to draw my eyeliners with different colors. What’s more exciting to me now is I get to use these eyeliners as color pens to create artwork on my face.
Follow us at Kittie Yiyi Beauty on Instagram for more updates!
