See how happy accidents can
create inspired illustrations...
Growing up I remember my mother
occasionally taking my brother and I to
the bookstore to pick up books. Without
reading into any of them, I would only take
home the ones with interesting illustrated
covers, and instead of reading those books
I would redraw their covers. When drawing
became a habit to me, I started doing it
whenever and wherever I could. I am not
proud of it, but I think my first sketchbooks
were probably my school textbooks.
Motivated by artworks from animation and
videogames, I decided to pursue an education
in animation, and later concept art. Since then
I have been working in the film, videogame,
and theme park industries with film director
Raman Hui, production designer Guillaume
Aretos, and companies such as Walt Disney
Imagineering, and NCSOFT. I realized that
having a sketchbook on me wherever I went
was the best way for me to remember and
document ideas or the inspirations around
me. Even though most of the artwork
I produce is done digitally, I still enjoy
making thumbnails and designs on paper.
“I realized that having a
sketchbook on me wherever I
went was the best way for me
to remember and document
ideas or the inspirations
around me”
Inspiration and ideas:
My inspirations come from film, videogames
and photography, but most of the time they
come from taking walks. I find that taking walks
or short drives are a great way for me to free up
my mind to think of ideas inspired from nature
and the people around. Other times, I look
back at paintings or sketches by artists such
as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Joseph Wright,
Tom Lovell and Herbert Ryman. It’s always so
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2DARTIST MAGAZINE | Sketchbook of Waiji Choo
2DARTIST MAGAZINE
