We were lucky to catch up with Kim-Duyen Park recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim-Duyen, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

As a child I love to create a lot of things and I was known as the art kid. The first time I sold an artwork was when I was in elementary school. I would make little craft things like of bead lizards and my clients back then were my classmates. They would pay me quarters for making bead lizards for them. I felt happy that I got paid for making art. In middle school I would make craft items too. I made this fuzzy creatures out of pom-poms and added googly eyes to them. Classmates wanted to buy from me. I guess they wanted them as a pet I am assuming. In high school I started to post my drawings and art online on Deviantart. I got some commissions from regular people. It was exciting to work on drawings where I got paid. It was consider my part-time job in high school even if I didn’t make a lot back then and still learning about the world of income.

Kim-Duyen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. I also like to draw slice of life webcomics about my daily life and random thoughts that I’ll post online. I also like to draw cute things, work on my online shop or art commissions that I may have. I went to college for graphic design. I graduated college in 2017 and I didn’t start drawing webcomics until 2 years post-college. I wanted to be able to do something that is for me and a personal project. I remembered in high school I had so much fun drawing slice of life comics about my daily life and random thoughts. I mainly shared with my friends and posted on my personal Facebook for others to see like family and other people on my friendslist back then. I didn’t draw much in college because I got busy in school and other life stuff going on. I decided to make slice of life comics again and posted online in 2019. I didn’t expect anyone to read or look at my comics. It does make me happy to hear there are people who said that they related or found comfort in my comics and art. I think drawing comics and art is a great way to express yourself. It makes me happy to know that my comics could leave a positive impact in a stranger’s life.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing other people’s reaction or seeing your art completed. In the past working as a graphic designer it was cool to see finished work being completed and being used. I made posters, web banners, prom tickets, t-shirt items and much more. It was cool to see! I think one of the depressing projects that I worked on in the past was creating someone’s funeral program. As for my webcomics it is rewarding to see other people’s reaction. Some people have told me they related to my comics or said my art is cute. There been those who said they learned something from my comics and I like to hear about people’s insights. There also been times that I had strange comments and messages. I never understand why some people get riled up or take a panel or the webcomic out of context.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think what illustrates my resilience is that I keep making art and trying my best to improve. I believe it is important to work on your craft. If you’re doing art as a working artist or as a career I think it is still important to create personal art for yourself. It sometimes might be hard to not compare yourself to others, but I think it’s best to compare your art to your past self to see the improvements in your art. I believe everyone is on their own journey. I also told myself that if I stop what I am doing I’ll never be where I like to be one day. I also really admire my best friend who draws for herself everyday. I really like her resilience and I told myself that we can challenge ourselves if we keep trying. It is also great to have similar friends who can remind each other they are doing great and push each other to work towards our goals. I do think that it is important to surround yourself with those who are positive and wants what is best for you and not those who see you as competition or jealousy. I believe in community over competition. It is also okay to take breaks from art and drawing too. Everyone deserves a break so that you don’t burn out.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimicreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimicreative/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KimiCreative
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/kimicreate https://www.etsy.com/shop/KimiCreativeShop

Image Credits
Personal photo was taken by: https://www.dianenierenberg.com/