Meet Deborah S. Kang | Storyboard Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Deborah S. Kang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What sets me apart from others? Literally everything! My background, family, culture, countries, career journey, languages and weird way of thinking are what makes my storytelling unique and special. How many Brazilian/Korean/American Storyboard Artists are there? And how many can tell stories that way I do? Everything that I have gone through and experienced so far are portraited into my boards and opened my mind. Getting to where I am today was a hard journey, having to move countries and start from zero is a challenge by itself but it also makes us tougher and stronger, I learned to not compare my progress to others but compare my past self to my present, if there is progress that is what matters. I want all the immigrants out there to know that we are together and our stories will one day be hear as a Storyboard Artist I will make sure of that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Experiences are all about food for me and since I am multicultural i want to show Los Angeles but also Seoul and Sao Paulo! Since they are all part of me! Let go around the world! Sao Paulo you have to try Feijoada and visit the Masp Museum, also try our Pastel de Pizza (fried dough with cheese and tomato inside) and Sugar Cane juice. In Seoul you have to visit the streets markets like Gwangjang and try all home-style food, fried pancakes and soups, ride a boat at the Han river and visit Seoul forest. Los Angeles is iconic and easy! visit the grand central market, walk in old town Pasadena and go hiking at the Griffin Park just to see the animation sign is a must! Come over and lets eat and explore all !

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
During my art journey, which by the way is still ongoing, I must praise my family and friends. Weirdly enough their awkward support helped me push the fire within me and try harder. I have a very odd art career, I actually didn’t know I wanted to pursue art, like any normal minority immigrant in a country in which you are undeniably an outcast I pursued the standard career choices, law school, business and even architecture, however i always felt like something was missing and being an extroverted person drawing and telling stories have always been a passion of mine. My family wasn’t very supportive in the beginning and my friends were very surprised, it was a risky choice, giving up a stable career path to move countries, leave everything I know and everyone I know to try a new dream of becoming a storyboard artist. I struggled in the beginning, adjusting to a new language, culture and system, however coming from a multicultural background myself I adjusted fairly fast and soon my parents worries pushed me to work harder and try everything possible to make this dream come true. So far I don’t regret anything and I hope to keep showing everyone and proving to myself that this was all worth it.

Website: https://www.deborahkang.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deboobskang/?ref=35eijzo…

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debby-kang-b59a091a3/