Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sen Ho. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Sen, thanks for joining us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?
I had always thought I was running out of time, especially while being on a visa I was afraid that if I didn’t get my “dream job” by graduation that I was essentially done for. As junior and senior year came around I found myself scrambling to change my portfolio to be the most commercially viable by following industry trends instead of following my own heart. At the end of college I felt completely burnt out, I had chased dreams that weren’t mine and had completely lost myself in the process.
It took a couple months after graduation to figure out that I had lost my way, and instead of burying myself in more work that didn’t feel spoke to me I had made the decision to step back from art from a while. Re-connecting with the things I love, old and new helped me slowly crawl out of the pit I had lost myself in, and as a result of that a new life and passion for art had re-ignited in me.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
It’s funny because I my first introduction to the arts was through photography, simply for the reason that I wanted to take pretty photos for my Instagram and get more likes. I never realized how deep the rabbit hole truly went. I would like to that my photography teacher’s Mr. Jackson for showing me how art could move and change people. However, growing up I had played lots of games and always had a love for animated television series and movies. The feelings and emotions, combined with a sense of fantasy and exaggeration is what made me change my mind into pursuing illustration, so I could follow in the footsteps of those who inspired me from the very beginning.
I’m currently working in advertising and editorial, working as a graphic designer. On the side, I work as an illustrator hoping to share my personal experiences and the lives of others through my work, life truly is beautiful and want people to see the beauty in it as well.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
You don’t have to always listen to what other people tell you to do!!! I can’t emphasize this enough, there were plenty of times in my career where I was told that my art was simply not good enough, or that the path I was going down wasn’t the correct one. The worst part about it, was that I let it get to me, and I followed a path dictated by others and not me.
That being said, it’s always great to take others advice, but to take it with a grain of salt, and understand what elements of it can be incorporated into your own life. If you do things in accordance to what others think, are you really living your own life anymore?
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I absolutely LOVE it when I finish a piece and find out people love it and relate to it! Seeing people’s faces light up when I give them a finished work of art brings me an indescribable amount of joy. On top of that, I love solving a problem or learning something new that I didn’t think I had the ability to do, it’s a great confidence boost.
That being said, if you see someone make something you like, please tell them!
