It was said, “You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it is enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness.” My friend, my young friend, never give up when you are tired, uncertain or frustrated! Try to believe! The ordinary people are usually happy because they lack ambition. They have no mountain to climb or assume that they are already on the top of the world. We, the ambitious ones who never settle for less, are unlucky, as we always find a reason to struggle, strive and do better until what is the ideally best, or until we fully utilize the talent that God has given.
For an inborn gifted artist, the moon danced with the stars on the night when he was birthed. The young comic artist in Hong Kong Pen So(蘇頌文) laughed, “I believe that every person is born with a particular kind of talent. The question is whether you have explored it and are insistent that your career battle must be won!” Pen always talked calmly, persuasively and systematically.
Do you know the trend of ‘ACGN’(animation, comics, game, novel) as a pop art? It is now a common way to combine the 4 elements into an artist’s work.
Pen was recently waxed and shining. He was victorious in acquiring the Silver Medal of Japan International MANGA Award in 2022 out of 77 country contestants. Pen liked to make black and white drawings out of what he feared most: natural catastrophes.
This young artist is always confident, positive and well-organised with his thoughts. Pen said with a smile, “I was just an ordinary guy with unimpressive school examination results—except the subject of art. My parents love beautiful things as they are in the fashion business. My elder brother is a web designer. My whole family cannot run away from creativity. Comics are the power and desire for me to feel and imagine. Unfortunately, I, by mistake, thought when I was a teenager that the subject of product design would be the nice compromise through which I could make a good living and yet satisfy a yearning for my artistic pursuit. I went to Hong Kong Design Institute, Kwon Tong to study commercial design and finally graduated in 2008. I got immediately a job offer from a company which made licensed Japanese character products. Yes, I dealt with commercial cartoons and figures every day but it was not what I enjoyed!”
I asked, “Why?” Pen chewed on his lip and answered, “Hmm, commercial stuff can be repetitive and boring. I created but only subject to the approval of my clients. I earned some money but felt an emptiness in my soul. I indulged in playing video games every night after work. I finally told myself, ‘Hey, you should accomplish for greater things in life!’ Accidentally, I discovered a comic course by the great master Ma Wing Shing(馬榮成). The course aimed at incubating young comic illustrators in Hong Kong. I applied for it in post-haste.”
He happily remembered, “In union, there is strength, Master Ma led his pupils very well. My classmates and I organized exhibitions, publications, talks and even sales relating to comics. True change is the rebirth of the way that I really like. In 2016, I finally decided to change. I almost used up all my savings and published a very exquisite but ‘strong-flavour’ book of drawings titled Hong Kong Disaster. The book received great responses and I got numerous awards. I told myself that I should have the courage to cease my commercial practice. So, I closed down my design firm and set up a small studio in Kowloon Bay concentrating the artistic creation of my comics on Hong Kong streets, old buildings which had vanished and people’s livelihood activities—all in black and white.”
I asked, “Now, game recognises game. You are regarded by the trade as the most promising alternative comic artist in Hong Kong. How would you feel?” Pen was sealed up in thought, “The key to making things happen in life is just one word: persistence. Persistence has a high mortality rate but you still have to try if you do not wish to end up in being wiped out. I once gave up comic art by accepting myself as a mere commercial designer. I got good money. But, I hated to see my soul turning its back on me by accusing me as a coward! I will not make mistake again. Comics have a strange but important place in my life and I do let it be my spiritual guidance. The persistent desire for comic achievements is capable of giving me the encompassing power not to fear. I will regret by the time when die if I simply mess around with my talent now. Although I become cynical about what I am doing: black-and-white comic art is becoming more and more the interest of cultural minority and the market shrinks every day. Since comics are my destiny and I will not go against it, I will only win the match by working harder and harder in future. This is what I mean by ‘persistence’.”
I am interested, “Do you set a goal for yourself?” He paused, “I want to make an animated feature film one day as me passing another milestone on the road to success. Of course, it is a very impossible dream but I hope with the combined forces of luck and persistence, I may cause it to happen.”
Well written, well drawn and well printed, the black-and-white comic books of Pen So have been an antidote for his fans and myself, when we are terribly paralysed by stress. At the sight of good comics and animations, I feel reborn, from the childish inner to the senile outer again…
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