Meet Diansakhu Banton-Perry | Character Designer and Comic Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diansakhu Banton-Perry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diansakhu, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Art has always been a huge part of my life. I’m one of those kids who’s been drawing since they were 5 years old! My parents have always been very supportive of my art and encouraging my growth. My mother sent me to art camps, took me to after school classes and always spoke to my teachers about incorporating drawing into the my assignments. In high school, my improvement became more self focused and I created work that I liked and that I wanted to continue with when I went to college. But even in college I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do, and it was only towards the end of college that I realize that I wanted to work in animation and comics. Drawing is just a part of who I am, and it is always on my mind. Creating something that others can enjoy is very fulfilling for me, and there’s no turning back from that. I surrounded myself with other artists and peers who’s work I love, and their encouragement means very much to me. Being an artist will always be fulfilling to me, but I also have a perfectionist personality, so at times it can be very stressful. On the flip side, having a community of other amazing designers, animators, and illustrations helping you grow, and supporting your work makes it worth it!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
A lot of times I think about my ‘career’, I feel like it hasn’t started yet. Even though I’ve been drawing for a living for about two years, it still feels as if it’s just by chance, and I haven’t gotten to where I need to be. At this point, I’m trying to find work that fits my style the best. I believe that the strongest aspects of my work comes from the way I draw characters. Their expressions, and their interactions, which is why character design is so appealing to me, and why I’m in comics at the moment. The path to that is always changing! I don’t think anything has been easy so far! And I doubt it will get any easier. Maintaining your love of drawing can be very difficult when it becomes your job, especially since you need to compromise on how you draw, or what you want to draw. Being in an artist community has probably helped the most with quelling anxieties about that sort of thing. I’ve learned that your peers are a very important part of creating and moving through your career, especially in art industries. It’s about who you know, and who knows you! Even though that can be a glib thing, it’s also about getting to know people your age doing what you’re doing and connecting.

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?
I’ve only visited L.A. once so far! And it was actually also a week long trip! We had a very full itinerary since we were trying to really learn about good places to live, and what commutes could be like when we moved there. The food was by far the best part of the trip, we went to Koreatown and Little Tokyo and got some amazing curries, and ramen! I am vegetarian, so one cool place we were recommended was called Monty’s over in Echo Park. It was incredibly delicious. Probably the most quintessential American meal I’ve ever had! In Little Tokyo, there’s a ice cream chain Somisomi, I think that does taiyaki soft serve with such good flavors. These are places I absolutely need to go back to. We really took advantage of my love of driving and went all over the place.

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?
There are so many people in my life who have nothing but supportive. It’s difficult to even pick one person over another. I suppose recently when Covid started, I took a chance on working freelance so I wouldn’t expose myself. And during that time some one working at Powerhouse as a Character Designer offered a free remote mentorship, and I was selected! Being a character designer in animation has been my main goal since graduation. So this was such an amazing opportunity. And it really helped me understand what is needed to land a job in the industry. Her name is Jess Lackey and she’s working on other projects now, but I was able to meet her in person when I visited L.A. ! It felt like such a relief to have someone currently in a job that I aspire get, have such confidence in my work. Breaking into to industry felt even more possible meeting Jess!

Website: https://diansakhuart.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/diansakhuart

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diansakhu-banton-perry/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/diansakhuart

Image Credits
Emely Pascual