Kids’ creativity is judged by their teacher. I hated drawing class when I was young because the teacher always said my work wasn’t beautiful. And I was graded accordingly.

I chose to study advertising because I wanted to be a creative. I thought it would be exciting to be behind all the cool ideas you see in ads.

I was scared off by the reality of the advertising industry. When I visited an agency, all I saw was stress. I thought if I do this job, it will be the death of me.

Meeting M.L. Chiratorn Chirapravati [leading Thai illustrator] lit a fire in me. It taught me that it was possible to earn a living as an illustrator. But I still didn’t believe that I was capable of achieving that dream.

No one’s stopping you from being what you want. People always complain to me that they want to be an illustrator but they studied the wrong thing, like engineering. That shouldn’t stop you. Just go for it!

Don’t reject your studies. No matter what it is, you can always learn something from it.

I’d had enough of the education system. I was fed up with doing homework and the whole grading system. So I promised myself that for my master’s degree, I would only study what I wanted.

The turning point was when I went to England to take a short advertising diploma course. I asked myself if that was what I really wanted to do, and I realized that I really wanted be an illustrator.

You’ve got to master the basics first. The university professors were highly critical of my watercolor techniques. Even if I took another year of classes, it wouldn’t have helped. I nearly dropped out altogether, but I didn’t want to lose the money I had already paid so I persevered.

Address your weaknesses. I tried all sorts of techniques to complete my illustration assignment. I started cutting up colored paper and arranging them piece by piece until I had finished my project, which was two books of fables. They were later printed as actual books and I’ve been lucky enough to keep getting jobs ever since. That’s more than 12 years ago now.

Being able to do what you love is the greatest thing ever. That’s what my dad told me when I asked him if he wanted my help with the family business. I’m thankful that my parents let me study what I wanted, even though they were completely clueless when I told them I wanted to be an illustrator.

People always confuse illustrators and cartoonists. Cartoonists are people who have a story to tell and draw that, but I’m just an illustrator who is happy to draw anything that people ask me to.

Every professional encounters problems. Many people see my profession as a happy one, sitting in Starbucks all day long drawing, but there are tough times when I have to redo my work over and over again.

Illustrating is a commercial art, so you will never completely express everything that you want to. You need to be creative but willing to compromise, too.

Joy can be found in the simplest things. I love paper. I love reading. I love drawing. There is not a single day in my life that I don’t touch a piece of paper.

I find it so beautiful when pieces of paper are cut up and spread out on a table. I take pictures of it to keep. I also love to glue it all together in a collage style. This led to my new art project, “Pa-Pang,” which is the most passionate thing I’ve worked on in ten years.

My other passion is eating. I love to eat delicious food. I’m also obsessed with collecting recipes. But the funny thing is I don’t know how to cook. I don’t even know how to use a gas stove!

Bad romance puts me in a dark mood. I cried for months when I broke up with my boyfriend. It seemed like there would be no end.

Outside troubles affect you only if you let them. One day when I was lying on the floor, I noticed that my heart was still beating and working like all the other parts of my body. It made me realize that I was still alive even though I was really sad. I stopped crying after that.

My job is amazing. I don’t need to wake up early. I’m just a normal girl who feels happy every time someone takes pleasure in my work and pays me for it. It also gives me the chance to make merit by drawing things for charity campaigns. It’s so cool!

I want to draw pictures to be displayed in hospitals. Illustrators obviously want people to look at their work. As staying in hospital can be boring, it would be a great feeling to cheer people up with my characters. 

I don’t drive. I just don’t want to deal with bad traffic or finding parking. Using the BTS is so much easier. Buses and taxis here are dangerous. But if these forms of public transport could be improved, Bangkok would be heaven. I seriously wish we had more big old trees, though.

The important thing in life is to realize that everything is uncertain. You’d better prepare for it.