We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jia-En Ho a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jia-En, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
This was a struggle for me for most of my life. I would often compare myself with other artists, and while this could sometimes be inspiring, it usually made me feel demotivated about my own work. It became very easy to emphasize what I was lacking in, rather than what I did well. Over time, I found that the key to building confidence was focusing on my own journey and celebrating my accomplishments, no matter how small they are. Everyone goes through their own path to success, and to put down my achievements simply because they don’t seem as impressive compared to what others have done would be unfair to myself. I discovered it was important to look at myself holistically and take into consideration everything I’ve done up to this point. Reframing my perspective in that way helped a lot.
Having a good support system also matters. I feel incredibly grateful to have a group of artist friends who I can rely on and go to for advice. They provide an external point-of-view, reminding me about my good aspects at times when all I can think about is my flaws. We support each other when we’re down, and cheer each other on when we’re doing well. A wholesome community like this has helped me tremendously in maintaining my confidence and self-esteem.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a bit of a generalist – I enjoy making things like short animations, little doodles, and motion graphics. Above all, I’m most interested in playing with shapes to portray familiar subjects in unique ways. I find it exciting to see how I can push forms and make each piece of artwork more striking than the last. In addition to that, I’m drawn to telling compelling stories to connect with people. Being a Southeast Asian, who doesn’t often see such representation in the western animation industry, I believe that every story deserves to be told so we can highlight more voices. I combine these two passions in my work to create appealing narratives through visually fresh designs.
After recently graduating, I’m looking to try new programs and explore different mediums in order to expand my wheelhouse. I’ve recently gotten into doing more motion graphics work, and I’ve been finding it a lot of fun working in After Effects. So far, I’ve been coming up with small projects to get a better handle of the program, like animating a bird migration visual, or making a lyric video to one of my favorite songs. It’s been very fulfilling and I look forward to trying out more new things to grow as an artist.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think one of the most important qualities to have is resilience. There are a lot of things that can happen in life and demotivate you, but being able to keep going despite it is incredibly valuable to your journey. I’ve worked on projects before where things just weren’t clicking, and it felt like a lot of work was needed to get things right. My thesis film was one such project, as I remember my professor wasn’t satisfied with some of my initial character designs and felt they could be pushed further. In response, I did several redesigns and discussed back and forth with my professor. I was worried about whether I was going in the right direction; landing on a final design felt so out of reach. In the end, we finally managed to agree on a design, and it was ultimately a lot better than how it looked at the beginning. I was happy I put in the effort to make it the best it could be. When you come across a similar situation, just trust in the process and don’t beat yourself up too much. Running into hardships is something everyone goes through, and we come out better people when we push through them.
It’s also important to have a good work-life balance. Too often we can get caught up in our work and end up neglecting things like our health and social life, and this can lead to burnout. I fully believe that being happy and healthy results in better quality work, so I really want to prioritize these aspects. While in college, I made sure to strike a good balance – I made time for hanging out with friends, going birdwatching, and went to bed around the same time every night. I was able to finish all my work on time, while not jeopardizing my wellbeing in the process. Establishing a good work-life balance can be difficult initially, especially with the constant pressure of deadlines, but doing simple things can help a lot, such as creating a daily routine and making sure you stick to it. Designating times for work and relaxation can go a long way, and will ultimately help you in the future.
The last quality is very simple – the ability to ask for help. Ultimately, I found that I’ve learned the most from my peers, and I wouldn’t be where I am right now without them. We aren’t alone in this creative journey, and there are so many inspiring people around us who are willing to lend a hand. After graduating, I was at a loss at how to navigate the industry and look for work. I decided to reach out to artists I admired, to ask them about their careers, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were happy to give advice. It was insightful to learn about their journeys and I feel more prepared navigating my own. The community around us is truly very welcoming; all we have to do is reach out and start talking to people. I would heavily recommend attending networking events, joining organizations, or even simply reaching out to people online to ask them a few questions about their work. These things can help a lot in your artistic growth.
