Visualising love

Love and healthy relationships give people strength and happiness. With that in mind, artist Kornsarin Pattarasopak, better known as ReenP, shares positive energy through illustrations. Her followers appreciate the use of male and female characters, accompanied by sweet or encouraging messages.

"I draw images because I want to feel relaxed. I hope my followers who are exhausted will feel better after seeing my illustrations. I create characters and stories related to healthy relationships because people can connect with that. My followers do not have to be couples as my drawings are intended to promote love and and I hope viewers will feel encouraged after seeing them," said Kornsarin.

Besides illustrations on social media, viewers can also see Kornsarin's current exhibition "You Go To My Head" -- inspired from her ideas about missing someone -- in a virtual gallery at artbakery.in.

"When I miss someone, I imagine that she is in a room in my head. That room is luxurious because she is like a princess or she might be hiding in a corner because I sometimes try to suppress her from my thoughts. I created illustrations from these kinds of ideas. The exhibition begins with a person coming into someone's head and eventually leaving," explained Kornsarin.

"You Go To My Head" is Kornsarin's first virtual exhibition, so it is quite different from her previous displays at physical galleries.

"Not many Thai artists create virtual exhibitions, so I had to figure out on my own how to work on it. In physical galleries, visitors follow a route that is created for them. However, a virtual exhibition does not have a specific route. I tried to create illustrations with simple and clear messages, so viewers can understand them easily. If there is a complicated image, viewers can immediately leave the virtual gallery with just one click. This is different from physical exhibitions where visitors are in a venue and take time to understand an exhibition. To create a virtual show, an illustrator should have a plan. When I made a mistake in an image, it messed up the whole exhibition and I had to reorganise everything," said ReenP.

Kornsarin created 11 digital images for "You Go To My Head", with Blossom and Sparkle as the highlights. While Blossom portrays an image of a girl surrounded by flowers, Sparkle depicts a male character with colourful fireworks.

"Blossom and Sparkle are the most detailed illustrations in the collection. They both feature a person with his/her eyes closed which represents the beginning of imagination before someone enters our head. Flowers represent beautiful memories and fireworks are meant to brighten a gloomy day," she explained.

Since Kornsarin is known for her positive vibes and illustrations, her followers expect to see optimistic images which is why at times she feels pressure when her work includes negative aspects.

"Two other illustrations, Let You Go and Free Your Mind, feature a male and female character. I understand that my followers do not appreciate negative messages, so I tried to create images that could be interpreted in many ways. When a follower questioned why a character did not have a happy ending, I explained that these two images depict that a person left at this particular moment but might return again," she said.

"However, I had to change some images because they came out too negative. For example, Heal is an illustration about making someone smile. I created an image of a clown or Joker, but the result was gloomy as the character wore masks, suggesting pretentiousness. So, I decided to draw another image since I want people to smile when seeing my work," she added.

Kornsarin graduated from the Faculty of Decorative Arts in Visual and Communication Design at Silpakorn University. Due to her lengthy experience in the advertising industry, the freelance illustrator knows how to get her 400,000 followers on social media to engage with her content.

"I am happy to illustrate, so I kept working on drawings and later was able to figure out my style. Many people recognise my cartoon characters so I always try to create new content. Lately, I have noticed that people are watching my videos more than looking at my images. Hence, I have tried to create more comic videos. I also know my followers are young professionals and they like to send my images to their boyfriend or girlfriend before going to bed. Thus, I post my illustrations on social media around 7pm to 8pm and the next day, I see many likes and shares," said Kornsarin.

Positive energy can bring positive results. Kornsarin has found that her positive images and messages bring happiness to her followers.

"Many people have told me that my illustrations make their relationships better, especially long distance relationships. They usually send my illustrations to their loved ones and my image speaks for them. They are happy to feel warmth and love through my work. Single people have also said my images help them rest their mind and helps give them encouragement," said Kornsarin.

Since virtual exhibitions are still a new concept for Thais, Kornsarin hopes people will give the exhibition a try.

"I hope Thais can experience this virtual exhibition and understand more about it. It is a new option and a good step for the illustration industry," concluded Kornsarin.

"You Go To My Head" runs at artbakery.in until Friday. Visit Instagram @artbakery.th and @reenp for more information.