We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Han Lee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Han thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I started learning Visual Development and Storyboarding in a deeper way after I chose to major in animation at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Before that, I had been doing mainly painting and illustration, furthermore, I wanted to work in the film and animation industry. So, I started studying visual development and storyboarding in a deeper way. In order to speed up my learning process with the knowledge I have now, I researched a lot of great artists’ work and tried to get a strong inspiration. The most important thing was to draw and practice a lot, which helped me in my work. The essential things I felt were the composition and proportion of elements in the frame, as well as an understanding of perspective, and the storytelling of the artwork. I think the obstacles that have prevented me from learning more about my field are self-confidence and laziness. I think they were a big obstacle for me because I still need to learn more and grow, and I felt I needed to be hard on myself.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello, my name is Han Lee. Currently, I am studying animation with story and concept at SCAD as well as I am a visual development artist and story artist. What got me into this industry is I had been doing mainly painting and illustration at the first time. However, since I watched the feature animation film, I wanted to work in the film and animation industry. So, I started studying visual development and storyboarding of animation in a deeper way. These positions belong to the pre-production and production of feature animation. Also, it turns a script into visual images. So, my work is designing frames, storyboards, and characters. The most important thing is my work should deliver the story, and mood to audience. I am studying different styles to make my work more attractive to people. I believe that studying different art styles will be a great strength compared to others
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I would like to work in as many different positions as possible in the animation industry, each with its own strengths, and I have a specific personal goal to grow myself by completing projects with a variety of different people.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I think a good resource would be the photos that I took. If I could go back to the beginning of my journey and start over, I would have visited different places I hadn’t been before or traveled to different countries to document and take photos of my journey. Writing stories is the hardest part of learning animation and sometimes I have a hard time generating ideas. Sometimes I try to find ideas for my stories, and when I do, I think about the places I’ve visited and the memories I have of them, and I try to find some records or photos that I’ve taken to remind me of those memories. Sometimes I look back and wonder why I didn’t take more pictures or keep more records. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hanlee2110.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hanlee_2110/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/hanlee2110