SLICE OF LIFE 2 | Fishee Tho
Doodler of skulls, illustrator of chaos.
NOTE: Since the release of this interview, Fishee has changed his online handle to "RawMawArt." We have updated his socials to reflect this change.
Fishee Tho (pronouns: He/Him) is a Chinese-Malaysian Illustrator known for creating sick-ass art that goes beyond the limits of human composition — literally and figuratively. His elaborate sketches can be found in the deep trenches of crimson environments seen in many of his pieces on social media. If you dig deep enough, you’ll also find some original stories from Fishee himself, namely “Dogfight” and “Detective MIA.”
Upon rehinging my jaw and recovering from seeing so much of Fishee’s art, I knew I had to find out where and how he got his desire to draw. Going out of my own comfort zone, I reached out and had a chat with Fishee himself to see how he would respond. To no one’s surprise, his answer to that was quite elaborate, detailed, and very insightful:
Fishee: huh.
How do I say this
I don’t really have an answer for that, i just knew I wanted to draw
Viv: LOL
A real tear-jerker, I know.
Okay, silliness aside, Fishee’s ACTUAL inspiration for his illustrations and concept art came from none other than Doom 2016, a first-person shooter game and reboot version of the original Doom series first developed in 1993. A huge fan of the franchise, Fishee took a deep dive into Doom’s concept art, observing how and why they designed different aspects of the game.
Fishee: there’s a lot of hidden details that you don’t even…that’s not even shown in the actual story of DOOM
Well there’s barely any story in DOOM, honestly
For example, did you know the cacodemon and the pain elemental may be related for more reasons that you think
Not just because they are floating eyeballs, but like
If you look at the cacodemon’s leg, it has 3 claws on its front limbs and 2 on its back limbs.
Viv: Oh
Fishee: but for the pain elemental, if you notice, the jaws of the face is actually composed of its limbs.
Viv: its LIMBS?!
Fishee: yeah, and the 3 front claws and 2 back claws matches up as well!
Like they don’t even tell you anything
I just love seeing little details like that
It’s so cool, but no one even knows about it.
He also mentions another piece of media as his inspiration, one that is probably more obvious when you realize the theme of skulls, bones, and flesh scattered throughout Fishee’s portfolio: Attack on Titan.
Fishee: [The anime] plays around with the distortion of the proportions
And also, when you actually look at it, the muscles sometimes don’t make sense at all, but it’s just cool to look at.
So that’s the main inspiration
It’s human bodies, but I just kinda fuck around and like, make up shit
Don’t we all? In the world of creativity, I’d say fucking around and making up shit in your creative medium is part of development — building your character, if you will.
And in case you’re wondering:
Fishee: I read the manga
Viv: Oh! Did you watch the anime, too?
Fishee: Uhhh
I watched the anime until season 2 or 3
And then i read the manga
I went back into season 4 just for the good bits
Viv: Good strategy
But even with these incredible works made, Fishee didn’t jump head-first into pursuing art as a career. At least, not initially. He first went into school to study computer science, specifically into cybersecurity. But as time went on, he realized the passion he had for art didn’t exactly transfer onto software engineering.
Fishee: So ever since secondary school, I always dreamed of going to an art school. But I never really bothered explaining to my parents until the time actually came.
And they didn’t take it very well.
I don’t wanna say it is understandable, but they don’t understand the industry very well, and they’re not familiar with it at all. And they never even heard anything like that
For them, a safe future is very very important, and I think a lot of Asian people can relate to this as well. Not that it doesn’t happen to other races in the world, it’s just very apparent with Asian people.
I fought for a very very long time and I kept explaining how the industry works, this and that, for nearly half a year.
After that, I went to an education fair, where there were different colleges and universities.
I’m not trying to be petty and say that I only want to do art or whatever, but I was genuinely trying to look for other things that I’m interested in. Nothing is picking up my interest at all.
When I saw The One Academy, my eyes like, lit up immediately.
I was like, “Yes, that one.”
Even with his desire to pursue art, Fishee’s parents wanted him to take the “safe route” and pursue a career in engineering instead — fields like cybersecurity and the like. But he knew it just wasn’t for him, for a variety of reasons, especially this one:
Fishee: My maths is kinda bad, so that kinda makes things worse hahah
Obviously I was upset, but I didn’t notice how broken I was until my mom talked to me.
Cause she noticed that I was visibly upset for a few months, like very very down
No passion, no nothing at all.
My mom couldn’t bear to see me like that, so she offered to listen to what i have to say (even though i’ve been talking about it for like, the past six months.)
Viv: LOL
Fishee: She didn’t really understand me, but she was like, “Okay, you know what? You seem like you’ve done your research. I trust you.”
And that’s when I finally got through to study art
And I'm thankful for my mom for noticing and allowing me to do so. I can't imagine doing something I don't love.
Viv: Yeah…
Yeah…
I have no words to say except…I totally understand.
And you’re right, we all have had this similar experience of wanting to pursue one thing, but your parents want you to pursue something else.
Like I’m from the diaspora, so my parents moved to a different country, which meant survival was the top thing. You have to make money, you have to survive, whatever
So I can understand the need to have a more financially stable career, but also I think cybersecurity, software engineering, computer science…those are careers that they just know make a lot of money.
Fishee: Yeah!
Like IT and stuff, yeah
Viv: And the ones that they hear about the most, cause everyone’s doing it.
But when they hear about art, when they hear entertainment, acting, etc
They don’t know it as much, so they’re just like “You’re not gonna make a lot of money, you’re not gonna do well” and then they get stubborn lol
Fishee: Yeah
My parents are still under the impression that artists will only become famous if they die
They are THAT old-fashioned
Viv: *GASP*
Fishee: That’s why they’re very very against it.
They’re still under the impression that I have to make a piece and then sell that piece
Viv: lol you become Piccaso and make one piece and then sell it for $500k
You’ll be set for LIFE
Fishee: Hahaha
It was a tough road for him, but he managed to reach a point where he was able to switch his studies from computer science to art. And thankfully he did, because it was this decision that led him to create some incredible projects during his time at The One Academy (TOA), a private art and design college in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. One of these projects is “Blank Slate,” a short animation created by Fishee and several other artists who also attended TOA.
And when I say several other artists, I really mean several other artists.
Fishee: We had 27 people. We had illustrators, we had storyboard artists, we had animators, modelers, riggers, etc
It was a full-on production
Fishee: So I was the head of story for “Blank Slate,” since it’s my story. I was in charge of the storyboarding, the colorscript, as well as the final animatic — which is what you see here, lah
Fishee describes the process as being rewarding, but busy. Conversations and arguments between him and other people were inevitable, and part of the development required some “lowkey rotoscoping.” Between getting approval from lecturers, shooting video references, and receiving feedback, it’s safe to say that this project was a labour of love — in the most literal sense.
Although “Blank Slate” received positive feedback for being well-made and clean (almost “too clean,” really), the animation was unfortunately canceled due to a lack of manpower. Fear not though, because Fishee does plan on continuing its development. You know who’s going to be sitting at the front for that premiere when it happens? Me. 100%.
And rightfully so, because Fishee’s art talent doesn’t just stop at conjuring human-shaped flesh sculptures. It’s his method of creating them that is truly magical.
Fishee: i remember one time someone commented about my sketches
It was a very good word to describe my sketches — they said it’s very efficient.
As in, I don’t waste my time circling around just to find that stroke
I know where the stroke is, and I just draw it.
Viv: So you can just look at a piece of paper, imagine the drawing that you want, and know exactly how to get there?
Fishee: Yeah something like that
The ability to bring your vision to life may come naturally to some, but for others, it’s a skill that requires practice. In one of Fishee’s classes, he got exactly that, and he chose a good subject for it too.
Fishee: [I] had this class called “Production Sketch,” and I used the Monarch Titan from Titanfall for my project.
Basically the assignment was to dissect the design of a certain character that you like
And i went extra and I went and did a whole ass mecha
here’s where the magic happens
The base sketches
You actually have to understand the full 3D form of every single thing.
It’s insane
Viv: JEEZ
What the hell
RIGHT DOWN TO THE FINGERS TOO
OH MY GOD
Fishee: Yeah! It was fun. It was so exhausting, but I had fun, so I don’t care.
Viv: Yeah, you probably did a lot of research and references, right?
Fishee: Yeah it’s insane
This was done like, more than a year ago already
Viv: Do you look at this and think to yourself, “Oh my god, I made this”
Fishee: Yeah
I’m like, “Huh??? I have no memory of doing this.”
Viv: LOL
As someone who is capable of writing multi-page fanfics within a two-hour sprint without recalling any of it a few hours later, may I say: relatable. Absolutely relatable.
These foundational skills and hours of hard work can be seen throughout Fishee’s artbook, “Chaos and Order.” Not only does it showcase his incredible skills as a concept artist, it also reveals a process of art that’s all too familiar to creatives, even those outside of the art field.
Towards the end of the book are character designs and stories from Fishee himself, including “Dogfight,” his original IP.
Fishee: I haven’t done a lot of work on it because I’ve been really busy for the past year
But TL;DR synopsis of Dogfight: apocalyptic world, and humanity managed to find one piece of clean land to build on
But because the space is very limited and people got overpopulated, they have [to build the city vertically].
Let me find some concept art for you.
That’s like one of the ones I did so far. the only environment piece for Dogfight.
Viv: Whoa!
Fishee: It’s like cities on cities on cities, and it’s just a weird mess now.
The whole theme of Dogfight is like, very high tech but regressing humanity. Regression to the point where you’re animalistic and the whole city is an ecosystem of predators and pray and all that jazz
Viv: Oh because there are limited resources!
Fishee: Exactly.
The city space is inspired by Kowloon City
It’s the same idea, but massively scaled up.
Viv: What are the little modules/units outside of the city?
Fishee: So the blue thingy is a radiation filter, the large mushroom-looking one is an air filter to clean the surroundings.
It’s like an effort to expand the space, but it’s not really working. It’s just an effort, it doesn’t really do too much.
Viv: Yeah I see, because air is also a limited resource.
Fishee: yeah
You can imagine what the lower sections of the city look like
Waste is gonna be all over the place
Viv: OH MY GOD
The cities on top, because you’re closer to the sky, you get fresher air
Fishee: Yeah!
That’s why when you structure things like that, the way you survive and everything just changes.
So it’s very foreign.
Viv: I like this concept a lot, I think this is cool
“Dogfight” is also a cool way to describe it because
No pun intended
It’s a dog-eat-dog world
Fishee: Exactly yeah!
That IS the intention.
And the thing I said about regressing humanity
There is a…
I’m just thinking of naming it dogfight for the association but i’m not sure yet
But let’s just say there’s a criminal association called dogfight and they manage branding for criminals
So the branding for the criminals are animal titles, because in this world, all the animals are extinct
“Most”, not all
Most animals are extinct, and people take on predator titles as a form of branding.
And the more popular or more ferocious your animal is, the higher your price is.
The better your branding, lah
So like if you have someone like “Tiger” or “Crocodile,” people know you’re hot shit.
And only one title can have one holder at a time. So that’s what makes it…how do i say
Legit, i guess
Because if you manage to hold a really popular title, that means you’re actually serious business.
Viv: so it’s almost like there’s a class system in a way, but it’s not rich vs. poor, it’s predator vs. prey
Fishee: Yeah
Viv: It’s like national geographic but with humans
Fishee: Yeah yeah yeah
Exactly, because there’s nothing left to fight each other but us
Viv: That makes me wonder how people travel in the city, what type of cars can be driven here, etc
Fishee: The thing about the cars…I am planning to omit the idea completely.
Viv: That’s fair, I was wondering how you’d be able to travel with cars vertically
Or just anything with wheels
Fishee: Right exactly
Unless your roads are vertical or some shit, idk
Viv: LOL right
And much like other artists, Fishee wants to send a message with his works, through the stories that he visualizes using his art:
Fishee: For Blank Slate, it’s less of a thing I want to say
Well actually, there is a thing I want to say,
I mean obviously suppressing your memory, that’s kinda fucked up and all that
Don’t do that
Viv: LOL
Fishee: But also, Blank Slate is more about exploring the horrors of
How do i say this
I feel that when you suppress your memory, you kinda lose a part of yourself and you kinda become someone else.
I’m not saying that you are the experience yourself, but [to remove] something that affects you so much, you become a different person
And when this person remembers again, you’re kinda inflicting harm on this person
I kinda see like, the murderer main character and the forgetful main character as different people, condemning another version of himself to suffer through remembering all that shit again, while he himself just gets away with it.
And so called “gets away” is just like, vanishing — like, stop existing entirely. And then let another version of you exist just to remember the whole thing again.
So it’s more about exploring the horrors of it.
Another thing, right — in media, if you have memory loss, it often happens out of your control.
But in this story, you have control. If you forget, that’s by your own choice.
Talk about COMPLEX. In the best way possible, of course.
So where exactly does Fishee plan on taking his creativity and art style? In our convo, he mentioned becoming a full-fledged storyboard artist as his goal, primarily sketching and putting his magical ideas on paper. In addition, he loves the idea of creating art for merch and collaborations.
With him going so far into his art journey, he’s surely got some sound advice for anyone looking to pursue art, right?
Fishee: …
Damn, I don’t know
I don’t know man, damn.
You know…you’re so real for that.
In all seriousness, let’s dive into his actual advice.
Fishee: For other people, right
I would advise that if you’re not serious, maybe just keep art as a hobby.
I see a lot of passion get killed by assignments because they don’t love school and all that jazz
And they just lose passion for art and then it kills their love for art completely.
i know some people in my year 1 semester batch…only three people graduated with me. The others are M.I.A
Viv: *GASP*
Fishee: yeah
Viv: Was it because of the amount of work?
Fishee: The workload is heavy
The One Academy is known for being very ruthless with assignments, but I would say if you love art enough
You would manage to power through
But nevertheless, even if it’s another college with normal workload, if you’re not serious, I would advise to keep art as a hobby.
Also, be prepared to do something that you don’t enjoy yourself
Because even though i like drawing, i don’t like…i would say 40% of my work in The One Academy, i really don’t like it
But you have to go through it because you have to learn the basics [and] at least experience it yourself.
And here’s a bonus piece of the convo pie, just because:
Fishee: Oh, that reminds me
I saw this video [that took place] in Chongqing, China, where this person was looking around
He’s on like, ground level. There’s buildings built on his level, but he walks over to like a ledge, and he looks down, and it’s a 24-story building that has a road underneath.
So the top of the building is a road.
And it’s just insane to think about.
Viv: WHAT
The dynamics of that seem so trippy
It reminds me of those glass floors on bridges and buildings
Fishee: Yeah but it’s not just the top of it that’s a road
It’s connected to other buildings as well
Like there’s a whole road system that connects to other buildings
I need to find the video hold on
OH I FOUND IT I FOUND IT
@travelih Chongqing is the craziest city🤯 #travel #explore #adventure ♬ Blade Runner 2049 - Synthwave Goose
Trippy as hell
Viv: OH MY GOD
OH
MY GOD
Needless to say, chatting with Fishee and learning about his art journey has not only inspired me to think about my own creative career, but it also reminded me of why I write articles like this. Not everyone’s path to creativity isn’t the same, but that’s what makes each of us unique. That’s what makes us who we are. And most importantly, that’s what makes all of us so goddamn awesome.
FOLLOW FISHEE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @rawmaw_art
TikTok: @rawmaw_art
Twitch: @fishee_tho
X (Twitter): @RawMaw_Art
YouTube: @fishee_tho
