Ep 19 - Building Platforms with Teoh Yi Chie
In this episode, I speak with Teoh Yi Chie, an urban sketcher, artist and YouTuber in Singapore. Teoh creates content at a prolific pace to meet the diverse needs of his audience - art tutorials, draw-alongs, art supply reviews, and useful insights into the art that inspires him. We talk about the many ways that creators can interact and engage with fans in the new "creator economy". In his work, Teoh is able to merge his natural curiosity and his passion for making videos and art. What has he learned from following his curiosity in this way? How has it helped him satisfy his own interests as well as that of his burgeoning audience? Follow Teoh's work on IG, or visit his website - https://www.parkablogs.com/. Also check out his wonderful YouTube channel!
If you enjoyed this episode, show me your support by buying me a coffee. Follow SneakyArt on IG, or visit the website (www.sneakyartist.com) to catch links and transcripts for all episodes.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to the SneakyArt Podcast. I'm your host, Nishant Jain, and this is a podcast where I have conversations with people who draw or paint their worlds from observation. This is a valuable habit in today's world, whether you are a full-time artist or a hobbyist. Picture it as setting up a positive visual feedback loop inside your mind, something that makes you better able to appreciate your environment, find beauty in everyday things, and inculcate a therapeutic activity into otherwise fast-paced, low-attention lifestyles.
In this episode, I speak with Teoh Yi Chie, an urban-sketcher and prolific YouTuber, based in Singapore. Teoh's work is fascinating because of how many subjects he covers, and the clarity with which he speaks about them. On his YouTube channel, he does art-tutorials, reviews of art supplies, and talks about the different places he finds inspiration from as an artist. His videos are for everyone, whether you are skilled or unskilled, talented or untalented. As we discuss, the act of drawing or painting is not about skill or talent, no matter how important you might think either one is. It's about finding joy, and exploring the rich mines of our own creativity. His YouTube channel attracts thousands of subscribers, and is always the first art-related channel I recommend to people. There's so much to learn, and Teoh is the very definition of prolific in his work. Everytime I visit his channel, I find some new and wonderful things.
A big reason for speaking with Teoh is the fast emerging creator economy. This is a setup in which content creators and fans are able to connect directly with each other, without the interference of traditional gatekeepers like media institutions, creative agencies, publishing houses, or art schools. Today, just like you are able to choose between Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu, you can choose to directly support the creators whose work you value. And in turn, creators are able to connect with their fan base, get direct feedback and generous support for their work, and also create work that aligns more closely with their interests and that of their supporters. Both sides benefit from this very real two-way relationship.
But if you're an artist, to thrive in the creator economy is not straightforward.
You have to be more than just a good artist. You need to make good art, consistently over a long period of time. Over this long period of time, your art has to connect with lots of people around the world. It has to connect with people in deep and meaningful ways. Your work should impact and improve their lives. And sometimes that isn't just about the quality of the art or artist. It is about the different ways you, as a creator, package and share your work. It's about the different ways you speak about it, and therefore the different ways you invite other people to engage with it. Engagement, access, and communication are key features of the creator economy. Some of these are jobs that in the traditional economy are done by people other than the artist. They are brand managers, social media consultants, marketing experts, and institutions in your field, whether it is a publishing house or a fine-art gallery or a creative agency. In the creator economy, with the great freedom to connect directly with your audience comes the great responsibility of taking upon these jobs yourself, or at least being very closely involved with the execution of them.
This is what Teoh does across his social media. You can see his urban sketches and other art on Instagram, you can read his thoughts and experiences on his blog, and you can watch his excellent videos on YouTube. Links for all of these are in the shownotes by the way. And if you're really serious about learning from Teoh and supporting his work, he even has a wonderful Patreon page with an impressive fanbase.
In this episode I wanted to understand how he has come to do all these things so well. My motivation for this episode is also selfish. I need to understand and do these different things myself. I have ambitious plans for this podcast, and for SneakyArt this year, both of which require me to build a similarly symbiotic relationship with my audience.
This brings me to my BuyMeACoffee page where I offer supporters different ways to consume my content, to connect with me, and to follow my journey of self-education to be an artist. For this episode, I want to thank the following supporters who bought me coffee this month - Missy, Ron, Molly, Zainab, Jim, Cathy, and Shailesh. I also want to thank the members who support my work every month. You are fast becoming a long list, but let me do this quickly. Thank you, Vinayakam, Anne, Mark, Russ, Sanket, Santosh, Dinah, Mark, Etienne, Becky, Ruth, Melanie, Emma, Marta, Ellen, Megan and Ashley. Your support helps me continue my work as an independent artist and podcaster.
If you enjoy my work, consider joining this first wave of supporters. We are exploring a rapidly evolving creator-fan equation. And to join, all you have to do is buy me one cup of coffee every month. It's that easy. If you're interested in seeing what this is all about, follow the link in the shownotes to see my BuyMeACoffee page.
Coming back to this conversation with Teoh, I try to understand the fuel that powers his prolific work. I am delighted to find that from doing so many things, Teoh has a lot of useful ideas and practical advice. Once we really get into it, I suggest you take notes.
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Teoh was inspired to draw as a child from manga comics like Dragonball. A lot of the art he drew before becoming an urban sketcher was just re-drawings of comic book scenes. They discuss the value of reading and observing the art of Japanese comics.
Mentions Louis Cha, master of Chinese kungfu comics.
Teoh talks photos vs sketching when on location.
Photos are inferior because the human eye can see more and see better than an image. But photos are convenient, in times of bad weather and if you cannot be at the location for other reasons. And it is good for practice.
Teoh talks about the value of experimenting and practicing with different media. Nishant adds that pushing out of the comfort zone can be challenging, but is also important for learning new things.
Nishant asks about Teoh’s popular YouTube channel, how it started and how it has evolved.
They talk about Teoh's Patreon, and how it works for him as well as his supporters.