PERSONAL NARRATIVE:

My name is Veerapatra Jinanavin and I was born in Thailand. I grew up in a middle class family, my mother is working with Thai airlines and my father died when I was 11 months old. My parents were never interested in Art but I really liked drawing and painting ever since I was little. I still don't know when I started to draw; it was always like I already knew how to draw.

When I was in my first year at elementary school, I found the thing I had been seeking all my childhood, Manga (Japanese Comics). Since then I have been a big fan of Anime and Manga. They have been an integral part of my life. However there was no scope in Thailand at that time, Anime was not popular internationally. So my mother was worried about my life because I spent a lot of time drawing cartoons, instead of studying Mathematics, Geography, History or English; Animation to her was a waste of time. When it was time for me to go for higher studies I had hard time making decision because there was no Animation school in Thailand. So I decided to study Fine Art instead. It was fun. I got a good foundation in traditional fine art, especially paintings and drawing.

During my university years my interest shifted toward landscape and portrait oil painting. I did not pay attention to animation because I wanted to be an artist. After I graduated university, it was not easy to become an artist in Thailand and my mother wanted me to get a job. I did not have any idea what kind of job I could do. I only had fine art painting skills so I thought for many months which job can utilize my fine art skills. I eventually thought graphic design would be a good fit at the time and it seemed my art background could be helpful towards that field. However, I did not have any computer skills so I decided to go to a private graphic design school. I learned graphic design for six months. However I was unhappy with my studies so I was looking for something else to do. My friend showed me how to use 3dmax and it made me very excited. I tried to learn animation. During my time in the tutor school, my stellar skills gave me the chance to be an assistant teacher in the school. At the same time, I was able to work on many freelance jobs such as making movies and cartoon animations. During those two years, I felt I learned a lot about the software but I never learned animation because in my country animation is not important. Thus, I could not find a school that taught animation so I saved enough money to come to USA and study.

Currently I am doing my MFA in character animation at the Academy; I am focusing primarily on character animation. Animation is a big challenge to learn but it is very fun. I have a good opportunity to improve my animation skill at the Academy.

After graduation, my goal is to get a job in the Industry as an animator and to develop and expand my animation skills. I would also like to continue producing my own short movies.