We recently connected with Maya Sherin Khalil and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Maya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I started my creative journey when I was 13 years old. I fell in love with drawing and started taking it seriously at that age. Because of that, it transformed into a passion I knew I wanted to continue and go through in my professional career. So, at 15 years old, I told my parents about this idea I had; to sell guitars with hand drawn musicians on them in the Middle East. Luckily, my whole family loved the idea and helped me with it by investing in it and starting out with five guitars and some accessories I could also customize for smaller orders. We then opened an online shop for a limited time where we sold off these designs and guitar pick necklaces.

I don’t think I’d want to have it any other way because before I graduated high school at 16, I already had figured out what I wanted to do in college and what kinda career path id want to pursue! This love then evolved into 2D motion and now, 3D art as well today! Everything that I had the blessing and luck of doing as a teenager, set me up for a not-so-shaky future as I had already known what I wanted to be.

Maya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi, my name is Maya Khalil! I’m a passionate Egyptian 3D and Motion artist who wears many hats in the creative industry. My work spans 2D and 3D design, graphic design, motion graphics, CGI, and game development.

As a two-time Telly Award winner, I’ve had the honor of receiving silver and bronze trophies for my animation and 3D work, competing against major corporate giants and talented musicians. I love incorporating my cultural heritage into my projects, and I’m dedicated to empowering others in their professional journeys, particularly Arab and North African women, as well as other minorities who may face challenges in finding opportunities.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think the one thing non-creatives seem to always get wrong with our field is that we make a lot of money. I’ve met people who’ve told me they joined the field because it is easy money and an easy job compared to any other job when it can’t be more incorrect. Truth is, all jobs are hard! But, to specifically talk about my field, I think people underestimate the abuse and lack of respect we experience in the daily whether it is from our audience or even AI enthusiasts. I think there’s no such thing as a non-creative because we all have our own journeys and we express our experiences in our own way from fashion, to social media aesthetics to decorating your room etc… but the one thing that I think folks outside of our field wouldn’t truly understand is, the reason art resonates with the public is because it is either man made or organic (nature)! A machine learning tool like AI should not be a replacement of laborers who are passionate about what they do but rather an accessible and ethical tool that helps you with tedious workflows NOT the creation process!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The best thing you can do to support artists is to pay them for the services they provided for you and always credit them if they inspired your work! We are a community not competition regardless of how many people say otherwise. There’s a lot of underdogs who unfortunately don’t get the same opportunities as someone else because either they lack the connections or the voice and platform to take credit for their work. And I think what some people may not know is that the industry is big enough for everyone and there’s no such thing as “it’s either them or me.” At the end of the day, it’s the concept and execution that gets you noticed by industry professionals, not who’s work you claimed and made the public see first!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mayakhalil.com
• Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/mayakhalil.c4d