Phantlism

Kool Kat Surviving Small Talk

The Kool Kat: I'm based in London oh, its recoring now. Yeah, I'm based in London, But I'm currently in

Nigeria for a summer vacation. I'm seeing my family and everything

Phantlism:That's so awesome that's great.

The Kool Kat: thank you! But I'm doing my final year of uni in London. Then I want to move to America or

like Spain for work, but let's see how it goes.

Phantlism: yeah

The Kool Kat: I'm waiting on my host to join the call. Then we do the whole process. Oh, yeah, she's here.

Cool ha

Phantlism:Yeah, no rush, no rush.

The Kool Kat: Hey, # Hello? hmm I guess she's not here.

Phantlism: No rush, no rush. Maybe there's some technical stuff.

The Kool Kat: Yeah. You know, in life, patience is key, so I'm relaxed.But are you based your whole life in

New York, or you moved somewhere else?

Phantlism:So I'm originally from Beijing oh Hello. I'm originally from Beijing, China, and I actually just

moved here for undergrad.

The Kool Kat: Oh, niceee

Phantlism: Yeah, and then I'm here for grad school, so I've been here for like six months oh I mean, six

years already.

The Kool Kat: Oh, wow. That was really cool. Yeah. Okay. But like, how was the move from Beijing to New

York initially?

Phantlism: To be honest, it's not big of a change for me because also Beijing is like a big city, kind of

similar to New York in a way. So I feel like the change wasn't that drastic. And I'm lucky enough to be in like

an international school in Beijing, so language wasn't much of a problem.

The Kool Kat: Oh, sick. Cool. So now we can commence into the actual interview. And for me, be yourself,

no pressure.

Phantlism: Okay, sounds good.The Kool Kat: So the first question I want to ask you, its a VERY BIG QUESTION.

Question 1

If you had three wishes, how would you spend your wishes?

Phantlism: That's such a funny question. Let me think. Like, can it be like... Any kind of wish? Like how big

can the wish be?

The Kool Kat: Anything you want. No, no, like what's it called again? Like monkey paw effect, a whole

wish.

Phantlism: None. Okay. Okay. I want to have superpowers for sure. Because yeah. And I don't know

which superpower, but probably something that can like help me learn really fast. Cause I still don't know

how to drive. I don't really want to learn it, but if I do have the power to learn everything super fast, then you

can like learn how to drive and everything. Ummm, three wishes. Yeah, these are great questions. My

second wish were probably, I don't want to sound cheesy, but somehow to solve the climate crisis, because

I feel like there's impending doom that is upon us all the time. I really don't want to sound cheesy, but...

The Kool Kat:its not cheesy, please speak your mind

Phantlism: Yeah. Yeah, because also I've been listening to like audio books about like early humans. And

the more I think about it, my hot take is that human civilization maybe is a mistake. I mean, it's not a

mistake, but we might've been happier as hunter gatherers.

The Kool Kat:I think so too.

Phantlism: So yeah, this way we can like restore the natural balance. So, but anyway, second wish

somehow to make earth reverse the environmental crisis somehow. And my third wish.

The Kool Kat:Take your time. It's a big question.

Phantlism: Usually other people use the third wish to ask for more wishes. Honestly, I don't really know.

The Kool Kat: You can. There's no rules.

Phantlism: But what's the fun of the game if you ask for more wishes, you know? I mean... The thing is,

like, a lot of the wishes, like, I probably will wish for, like, a well-paid job that can let me do whatever I want.

But the thing is, I feel like, like, I'm privileged enough that, like, if I continue applying, maybe changeeconomy, like, the economy issue in, like, America, change the recession. Okay, okay. It's so stupid. I know

it sounds so stupid.

The Kool Kat: No, please don’t say that's it Like, in my household, I banned the word stupid because no

one is stupid here please be yourself

Phantlism: ha ha Okay, okay. Yeah.

The Kool Kat: So the economy, and like, I guess, regresses human society to, like, primal days. And third

one, powers.

Phantlism: Yeah, superpower. Superpower, yes. Yes. and the ability to learn everything super fast.

The Kool Kat: Okay, cool. That sounds good. Oh, hey, #. You good? Cool….. Technical issues, my bad.

Sorry for that well my question for you was,

Question 2

When it comes to applying your imagination to a professional sense, how do you overcome the

feeling of burnout?

Phantlism: I feel like Yeah, I've been thinking about that question a lot.. Yeah, I think in terms of that, I feel

like a lot of my creative imagination comes from kind of like inspired by real life. So... And also it's difficult

working in the creative world because you're basically commodifying something that you're doing in a more

personal sense. And I think the reason I chose illustration because there's a good balance between like

making money, like for clients, drawing for clients versus doing my personal work. And right now I just

graduated from grad school. So I'm the state where I'm looking for jobs. And, you know, the market isn't

great. So I'm trying to do more freelance work. But at the same time, it takes time for like clients to trust you

and everything. So I'm doing more personal work. And I feel like a lot of my personal work is just based on

what I see and what I experience. So I recently did this one drawing which I'll upload soon about a bunch of

about a bunch of ducks um go into a giant duck tank to kind of travel around i guess can i share?

The Kool Kat:Yes, if you don't mind

Phantlism: um yeah uh i'll send requests no worries

The Kool Kat: yeah please for sure i love art

Phantlism: uh let me open my system so i think zoom ughhhh

The Kool Kat:take your time please take your timePhantlism: thank you thank you So I need to reopen it, but I'll send it to you. But anyways, it's inspired

because I recently been watching a lot of videos on ducks. So I like the differences in call ducks and runner

ducks. THEY LOOK SO DIFFERENT!, like their size and everything. But going back to the question, I think

a good way to balance this is basically like have creative time, like where we actually draw stuff, but at the

same time have other time where we can relax and just walk around everything.

The Kool Kat: It's like a good balance between the two makes sense.

The Kool Kat: Cool # your question?. One second…

A former Kool kat stalls

The Kool Kat: I never looked into ducks that much. I only know about Daffy Duck. That's my own

experience with ducks.

Phantlism: I love Daffy Duck too. He is so uhinged.

The Kool Kat: ha ha

Phantlism: Yeah. I wish I could share a screenshot. Let me download the photo to send it to you. Just

downloading this photo to send in the chat, and I see the question Zoom is so difficult sometimes.

Phantlism: So yeah, that's the difference between a runner duck and a call duck.

The Kool Kat: AHHHH that's so cool. That's really funny. Oh man, that's really cool.

A Former Kool Kat sends in her question

Question 3

What are the distinct differences between learning in university versus this aspect of being self-

taught?

Phantlism: that's a good question. “What are the distinct differences between learning in university versus

this aspect of being self-taught?” I think, first of all, I am very lucky to have the opportunity to go to

university, but I feel like honestly a huge part like at least our school I think it doesn't really focus on the

drawing itself it focuses more on the like business aspect and like the form aspect of the craft for example

like but I learned comic and comic class. They don't really teach you what to draw instead, like basically

what to write, how to write the story. I mean, they kind of teach you how to write a story, but they teach you

like the structure of a comic book. Like for example, how the text and image work together and shouldn't

repeat itself like that. But I feel like a huge part of like, after university and even during university is self-

initiated. So I feel like it's importan that you need to read, like, it's mostly self-initiated. Like, you need to

want to draw, and you need to, like, actively, like, read other people's comic and see what you can learn

from it. But I think the reason why I like my studies at university is it kind of gives me a structure of, like,

how to basically, like, write a comic. Like, for example, the text and image. At the same time, it's a good

way to give me structure in terms of time, like a timetable and stuff.The Kool Kat: ohhh ok, cool. My question for you is

Question 4

When creating a fictional universe, what are the elements that help you to tell a good story? And

not anybody else?

Phantlism: For me, I think it's the character. I'll be more specific. I think because everyone, even right now,

is a result of their own experience, which is based on the bigger universe. So I think writing a nuanced

character is really important to me. And at the same time, I like to be hyper-specific about the character.

For example, I might think about how they grew up, what their family is like, what their room is like. What

led them to become who they are? So yeah, in my recent comic, yeah It's like a kind of a sapphic story

based on like a futuristic world where Earth ran out of fossil fuel. So it's kind of sci-fi, but very soft sci-fi. But

like I started off with the character, like where they grew up. And then afterwards, I added in like more

related to the world because they like influence each other.

The Kool Kat: Cool cool.

Question 5

Would you say you carry those aspects of collaborating into your career? Or would you say your

character reflect more about yourself?

Phantlism: I feel like definitely I have a self-inset character in a lot of my comics. But at the same time,

like when I design a character or imagine a character, I will often base them on someone I know. Maybe it's

a way they talk. And it really helps me write dialogues. And it's like a good figure to base upon. That's why I

really like to talk to my friends and just, you know, creepy way to observe them and see how they talk.

The Kool Kat: I mean, that's not bad ha I mean, I do the same. Because even when I write my own stories,

I like to record people talking and just imitate that to dialogue. Nothing wrong with that.

Phantlism: yeah I think it's the best way to write, like, you know, non-dialog-y dialogue, like how normal

people talk.

The Kool Kat: Exactly! I'm making more, a bit, like, exaggerated. By the way, if, like, I'm this slow, because

I'm in Nigeria, and i have very bad Wi-Fi, so my bad.

Phantlism: No worries, it's good

The Kool Kat:My question for you is that

Question 6

Your work comes off as very adolescent and very,but more so coming of age like what are the

things now you do that inspire the kid version of you?

Phantlism: that's so cool i think that's a really good question um i feel like okay so it's a really big question

so i'm gonna try to answer it the best way possible um So for me, recently, I've actually been thinking about

how people's art style might have developed much younger, if that makes sense. One of the people I talked

to said, if you draw something, everyone likes it, but you don't like drawing it, maybe it's not a part of your

art style. Because it's something that should be an aspect of it should be innate and enjoyable to you. So

the more I think about it in terms of craft, like when I just graduated high school, I remember I drew a lot

with like watercolor and ink, you know, and in college I started drawing traditionally, but the more I started

drawing i realised i did not enjoy it. I get really stiff sometimes, especially when drawing line art. Oh yeah,

that's my program advisor.

The Kool Kat: heyyy

Phantlism: I am taking advantage of the studio before I have to leave, move out. I think an aspect of that

is, you know, like to kind of see what you actually enjoy, like what topics interest you even when you're

growing up. That kind of thing. Like, I don't know. I drew a lot of comics before, like in high school, with like

exploring like forests and stuff. So I'm happy to start drawing that again.

The Kool Kat: Oh, nice. Would you say like you're very like outdoorsy as a person? Like, do you like hiking

and like camping and stuff?

Phantlism: I am not, that's the thing. I think I really enjoy it. Like recently I've been more into it. I actually

took a trip to Washington and the trees are really big.

The Kool Kat: OH NICEEE

Phantlism: But I think even before I really like, you know, walking. I really like walking and I really like

animals, like looking at them from afar and stuff.

The Kool Kat:I have a saying. I always say that jogging is for chumps because walking is the best thing to

do.

Phantlism: Exactly, exactly. I jog too, but don't tell anyone.

The Kool Kat:I Sorry about that ha ha

Phantlism: That's okay

The Kool Kat: My last question for you is that

Question 6

As a cool person that you are, when your not drawing? What do you do in your free time to makeyou more relaxed

Phantlism: Oh, that's a good question I really like Canadian geese. So since the pandemic, I've been

walking very long distance to look at geese. And now the interest has expanded to swans and ducks. But I

really like looking at big birds. I don't even interact with them. I just really like looking at them. And besides,

I really like talking to people. In general, I think it's really relaxing talking to my friends or just getting to

know someone like someone else. But I don't like to do it in loud environments because I get overwhelmed.

And yeah, lastly, I think I just, I've been really enjoying playing Animal Crossing.

The Kool Kat: I don't play that much. But I tried to play one time, but it wasn't for me. but it's a really cute

game I fuck w- opps I really like it.

Phantlism: The thing is, I was so attached to it at a point. I haven't played in for a year only, but I was so

attached to it at a point. My boyfriend was like, you know those villagers that just lines of code, right?

They're not actually your friend. And I got really devastated, but that's okay.

The Kool Kat: I mean, it doesn't matter. It's what you enjoy, really. Because my girlfriend loves Amir

crossing. But it's not for me. But I like her still.

Phantlism: But you know, YOU CAN FISH. You can't like, you know, there's so much to do. And every

month there's a new thing that happens. Like, for example, right now there's new bugs in the world. I'm very

invested in this.

The Kool Kat: I'd love to go into your world one day, and play with you.

Phantlism: Oh, yeah, yeah!

Question 6

How did you go about creating your style there and watercoloring the way that you do?

Phantlism: That's a good question. I think I started drawing watercolor in high school and as recently I've

been like reading more stuff with ink. Like I really like a lot of the independent comics in the underground

comic scene. Let's see if there's something here. I'm in the studio and they have like these big cool like

book racks. So let me see. But yeah, I feel like for watercolor I've always been drawing it but I've been

trying to combine it with ink because I realized watercolor sometimes it doesn't get that dark. I think it's just

an exploring process. And the reason why I layered watercolor and ink on separate paper for my thesis is

because I don't want to make a mistake and not be able to go back because it's still a pretty new medium

for me.

Question 7

Do you make a lot of mistakes using watercolour?

Phantlism: I think I do. I do a lot of the time. For example, for ink art, like if you look at my ink art, I make

so many mistakes. A lot of the time I even use whiteout to kind of like fix some things where I fix it digitally.

I feel like that's why I like drawing line art traditionally better than digitally because for digitally, I always

erase and try to make it perfect and it ends up really stiff. These are really great questions.The Kool Kat: Thank you, thank you, we try! I'll ask you another question for our artist

Question 8

What's your favourite kind of cat?

Phantlism: Favorite cat of cat? Oh, I love this question. Okay, so I like, I don't know breed, but I just like

stray cats with like, you know, tabby kind of stray cats and they're really strong. That's why I like healthy

cats. I used to have a cat before. I like cats with personality and it looks like something's wrong with them.

Like not in this like physical sense, but in the brain. Like, yeah. So there's this cat in the building I live in, in

the laundry room. He gets into, he's really friendly with people, but he gets into spite with other cats. It's just

so funny. And my neighbour upstairs, he always has to rescue him, like pull him apart. The thing is, this cat

in our laundry room, he always loses. And he's such a spoiled cat too. He's an outdoors cat, right? But he

has three plates of food, two plates of dry and one plate of canned food to be upgraded every time. And he

never eats the dry food unless he's starving. So I really like him. And he's not neutered. So is it kind of a

little problem? I think it's a problem. But he's just really funny looking. His name is Salam.

The Kool Kat: awww do you know how old he is?

Phantlism: I think he's like two or three. He belongs to like the super. But yeah. Oh wait, let me show you a

picture. And he has collars that he changes every day. But at the same time, he changes his collar right,

but he is so dirty because he's just outdoors every day. And during the spring, for a while, we didn't see him

at all. And there's rumors that he had a girlfriend.

The Kool Kat: Oh my god. Oh, he's so cutee.

Phantlism: Yeah, but I stopped petting him because I realised he might have tics, but this is him getting

fed canned food by my neighbor.

Question 9

where's the unique parts of your process when creating?

Phantlism: That's a good question too. I like your questions. I feel like, so I post reels of the inking part,

and I think, but also I think the most unique part comes from planning it, because I don't put the plan online

but like the thing with my writing, it's all over the place. So I think I usually have like my boyfriend or

someone look over it and tell me what's confusing. And the editing part is like this big of a story and goes

shrinking, shrinking, shrinking. And I think that's the part I enjoy the least, but also I think it's the most

unique part. The way that like, I'm a little scatterbrained sometimes. So it's nice to have like, quoted to a

whole story.Question 10

When making a comic book, would you? Would you add a character you don’t like for the sake of

the story?

Phantlism: I think all the characters are flaws. Like, I really like, like always, my main character is written in

a way that they have so many issues and you don't agree with a lot of their decisions. But I don't think

there's any characters I really dislike. Because I think all of them have a lot of flaws. Wait, I actually have

one of my books here, if I can find it. Sorry, give me a second. Yeah, this is one of my books.

The Kool Kat: Oh, niceee

Phantlism: Yeah. So... This is the main character. She is... She's, like, funny. She's, like... It's kind of, like,

based on me. But... It's so silly. But I think like, I kind of written her to be kind of like, aloof and kind of

confused all the time. So she makes a lot of mistakes. And one of those story, like she's a Chinese kid

being thrown in an American school. And she just saw this other Asian kid. And she's like, oh, she's

Chinese. I need to be friends with her. But the fact is like, she's from California and she gets reported for

stalking her. And the other kid is like, Yeah, it's just like, she's very ignorant, but I think that's a charm of her

character because how ignorant and confused she is.

The Kool Kat: Okay, COOOL. I'm just really impressed right now. I'm really happy to see your work

Phantlism: Thank you so much.

The Kool Kat: Anytime, anytime. I mean, 'cause- I'm just impressed right now. when i see arts, my brain's

actually just explodes. but

Question 11

Would you ever pivot to making kids' books actually?

Phantlism: I do want to, but I actually talked to children's book editors. They said my humor is a little bit too

dark. I really don't think so, but if I get a chance, I would. But right now, they say my humor is a little bit too

edgy at times. Even when I try to make kids' books. Yeah.

The Kool Kat: I mean, like, I saw this kids' book recently. It wasn't a kids' book for kids. It was a kids' book

for adults. And it's, like, very edgy and, very, like, graphic. But it still has like Kids like appeal, but for adults.

Maybe that's the whole genre you can step into.

Phantlism: Yeah, I really want to do that.

Question 12

What is your favourite way to present your work?

Phantlism: My favorite way to present my work is definitely in like a book form, but that's somehow like, I

don't know if it's different in like the UK or like at least illustration. For here, a lot of like competitions that we

can enter, they favor, you know, illustration in general. So it's hard to put the whole book in there. So what I

do is I photograph a few pages and submit it as like an illustrated book, you know. But I really like to have

long form books in general because it's nice to hold it and to feel it.

Question 13

Would you say you're more of a digital creator or more so like you paint and draw with your hands?

Phantlism: I definitely enjoy the drawing aspect more, but I would say I am more like a creator because I

think for now I do all the writing and printing and everything. So yeah, but I definitely enjoy drawing the

most Cool. That's the fun part. But like even this book, like before I started inking, I had like several like

dummies, like small zines that represent what it would look like. And yeah, a lot of editing.

The Kool Kat: I won't lie, my questions for you are kind of over, but I would say one more thing before I

leave and before the call ends.

Question 14

For anyone pursuing the creation of comic books and illustrations, what are your words of wisdom

you would give people who are new to this genre of, you know, making content or creating?

Phantlism: Oh, let me think. Because I am pretty new to this world too, to be honest. But I think... So the

reason why I love comics the most is because it's very accessible compared to fine art. So a lot of people

choose like, even just use a copier machine to like scan your work and bind it into a zine. And I think the

good thing about comics is also that it's focused not just on the art, but also the writing. So in my opinion,

like if you're interested in comics, you should really just tell the story of what you want to tell and share it in

different places. For example, a lot of people put their comics and zines in coffee shops. So either way, I

think, and we're like selling on Etsy. I think these are all good ways to share your work.

A former Kool Kat makes a comeback

The Kool Kat: No problem. Do you have any more questions to

ask? Because i got nothing Okay, cool.

Okay, perfect.

Question 15

Do you have any latest zine releases?Phantlism: Oh, I do have another zine about this girl who thinks her mom doesn't really love her. So she

talked a bunch of talking geese about her and they promised her to find her a new family. And they started

to fly to the sky to migrate to find her a new family. And then in the end, on top of the city, she's like, I can't

go. She doesn't love me, but I love her. And she landed and she went home to find her mom. And her

mom's like, why are you coming back this late? Next time, don't come back at all. Don't make it for dinner.

The Kool Kat: HA HA HA

Phantlism: So I think that's the most unusual one. And the title of that thing is I Wish Mom Would Love Me.

It's so funny.

The Kool Kat: Do you sell your books online or it's all-

Phantlism: Yes, yes. I just opened my own Etsy shop. So, yes.

The Kool Kat: Oh, definitely buy one. It's really, really cool.

Phantlism: Yeah, no, I can ship one to you guys for free, too. Let me know.

The Kool Kat: Oh, sick. Please do!

Phantlism: Yeah. Just give me the, what do you call it? The shipping cost. Yeah, for sure. let me send my

Etsy to you guys.

The Kool Kat: Oh, please do. Your work is honestly so amazing. It's just so refreshing to see im excited!

Phantlism: Just tell me which one you want. I'll just give me your address and let me just ship it to you

guys.

The Kool Kat: Thank you so much. Wow.

Phantlism: your welcome.

The Kool Kat:You can't tell right now. I'm blushing right now.

Phantlism: Wow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Kool Kat: Sick. Thank you. well on my end. I'm done with the questions, honestly, but it was really

good talking to you. If # has any more to ask you, go ahead. But I'm just really impressed by your work and

your ethic as well.

Phantlism: Thank you. It was really nice talking to you guys. This was super fun.

The Kool Kat: Thank you. And have a good day. Keep on making amazing work and keep on being

yourself.

Phantlism: thank you and text me your address. Let me send something to you guys.The Kool Kat: For sure. Have a good day.