Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Chu.
Karen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was in the first grade, each student made a film sharing what they wanted to be when they grew up. Six year-old me peered through my overgrown bangs and described my airtight plans be both a writer and an artist. I was going to write books to buy art supplies, then sell enough art to write more books, and then sell books to buy more art supplies… the cycle continues. Sometime later, my family and I moved from the U.S. to Hong Kong and I mostly forgot about what I said in the video. Over a decade later, I stumbled across the video in an old hard drive. I was amazed! Even after all these years, I had managed to stick to my passions and found a career that combines art and stories – animation!
I didn’t decide to become an artist. Growing up, I just made art because I liked it. I just wanted to draw cool things and draw them well, which often meant drawings cats or dragons or Naruto fan art. I was also lucky to have supportive parents, despite coming from a culture where an artistic career is often considered unsustainable. After they gifted me the cheapest versions of Photoshop and a Wacom tablet, I began posting digital art on a weekly basis, and it’s a big reason why I mostly work digitally now.
I only realized that I wanted to be an animator sometime in the last two years of high school. I was in theaters watching an animated movie with friends and suddenly realized the unique magic that animation brought to the screen. I grew up watching movies and cartoons, but for some reason, it finally clicked that animation was something I wanted to pursue. Now after graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design, I’m an animator working here in Atlanta and with ambitions to be a storyboarder working in feature film.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?Some of the struggles I faced were having faith in
my own abilities, making the most of my time, and finding the confidence to step up as a leader. Many times I would see someone’s amazing work and I wonder if I had any skills at all. This also happened when I watched other people confidently assimilating themselves into important networking situations, while I was awkward, clumsy, and quiet. Although it’s not wrong to be unsatisfied with one’s abilities, thinking about how inadequate I was often demoralized me to the point where I just wallowed in my self-pity instead of doing anything else. I learned that sometimes you just have to accept yourself, flaws and all, and believe that you can get better. Then, take the steps to do so.
That’s why it was also important for me to fight one of my greatest weaknesses – poor time management. In order to improve, I needed to allow myself to do so with the time I had. While I was at SCAD, going to extra live model sessions, focusing more time and effort into assignments, and joining clubs to bring myself out of my shell. By my final year as a student, I was the club president of our drawing club as well as the director for my senior film. Through these, I learned how to take initiative, communicate with and set reasonable expectations for my teams, as well as find the confidence to present my work in front of strangers. To this day I still struggle with all of the above, but now I try to find ways to improve instead of losing faith in myself.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with your business – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a and what sets you apart from others.
I’m a storyboard artist and 2D animator who is also skilled at digital painting. I work mostly digitally using programs like Adobe Photoshop and Toon Boom Harmony to bring entertaining content and characters to life. I’m perhaps best known as the director for my film Flower Girl, but I was also lucky enough to work with a team at Primal Screen to create a YouTube short for Nickelodeon called Portal Chase 2: Save the Pizza, which now has over 3 million views. I currently work at Bento Box Entertainment in Atlanta as a character animator.
Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
I think the arts field is a great place to enter as a woman. Especially for those in the 20s and under range, it seems like there is an influx of many women pursuing their artistic careers seriously. Many female artists have found success by sharing their personal experiences of womanhood through art on social media and turning them into inspiring messages for other women. There is certainly a large audience for it!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://karenkayun.com/
- Email: karenkayunchu@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chucolatewaffle/
Image Credit:
Karen Chu
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
