INSPIRING ARTIST: Peng Ven, Wong

Hi Everyone! This is a new fun series that I'm doing to feature artists that I feel are exceptional and inspiring. I thought that it'll be fun and awesome to interview artists that are successful and motivational allowing me to have a deeper understanding of the industry with their insights. The bottom line is, its always good to learn from others, not to mention, the "others" being great people.

For this week, I thought of many great people and the first most obvious one would be my close friend, Peng Ven, who is one of the art directors at Scrawl Studios Singapore. Their clientele includes Nickelodean, Cartoon Network, YTV, ABC, Discovery, etc.

Even though he is working full time at Scrawl Studios, Peng Ven sketches every now and then.

Rabbits: You have an education in animation at Singapore. Was it a subconcious choice? Did you parents raise any objections?

PV: Things went pretty smoothly for me. Maybe because my parents somehow lost their hope in me. (hahaha) All they ask is "are you sure?", "YES!" I answered.

Rabbits: Being an art director at Scrawl Studios, what is your daily schedule like?

PV: (disclaimmer: experience in scrawl as an art director maybe differ from any other studio)

 
I work differently in 2 different department - development and creative

In development.
I have to determine the style and direction that an animation should go for. Here's the process: 1. Read the script and characters write up. 2. Go thru lists of animations in my brain or art research folder.(you need to build your library through animation and movies you watched) 3. Pitch my idea to the boss see if they agree with my views 4. Repeats the cycle if something is not working.
 
In creative.
I lead a team of artist and animator. I have to plan my time and devide the work among in house artist and freelancer, making sure I do not go over the budget and do my best to meet the deadline. Besides planing and scheduling, I have to work with the clients and project managers to come out with the art style / animation that is suitable for the project.

Rabbits: Could you talk about your drawing/ painting process?

PV: When an idea struck me, I will jot it down in sketches. When I finally have time, I will go through them figuring out which one I'm interested in and  turn them into finished pieces. I always use either photoshop or flash to color my art. There is no reason why I choose to use either software. It really depends on the mood I am in and what style I want during that moments. 

Rabbits: How do you constantly keep yourself inspired and motivated? Where does your new ideas come from?

PV: I get all my inspirations from playing games, reading comic and watching movies. That simple.

Rabbits: Did these influences changed over the years?

PV: Nothing change. I still continue to play and watch them whenever I can. The only change would be my art style as I am expose to more games, animation and comics as the years goes by.

Fan arts of video games and comic characters.

Rabbits: What kind of advice would you give young artists right now who wants to be a character designer?

PV: Dont be too stubborn is the key i guess. With that u will learn alot from other artist. Research is very important. But at the end of the day, whether your character design can see the light depends on the client. You will be surprise when they pick the ugliest design you drew instead of the version u like most. 

Rabbits: If you have the chance to go back in time to talk to the younger you younger self, what kind of advice would you give?

PV: I don't think I will say much to myself. I kinda like what I am doing now. hahaha.

Rabbits: Are you working on anything independent right now?

PV: Maybe a few plans on taking over the world, otherwise, No.

You can check out more of his artwork HERE.

Share on Tumblr