Simon Lee is an educator and creature art director for feature films and games who has lectured all over the world and taught professional artists for over a decade. Here tells us how becoming a father at 38 moved him to become a professional artist, and how his art career has shaped his evolution as a person.
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CB: Where did you grow up and how has this influenced your art?
Simon Lee: I was born in Beijing, China, and lived there until I was 10. Then I lived in Hong Kong for another 10 years before settling in the United States. My art is closely related to my life, so every cultural influence that I was ever exposed to has shaped my artistic language and expression.
(Image credit: Simon Lee)CB: What, outside of art, has most influenced your work?
SL: My art has always been a response to my life, so in a way art itself was least influential to me. Experience has always been the key driving force in the evolution of my art.
CB: Are there any works you saw that changed everything?
SL: I’m a self-taught artist. I started sculpting on my own at age five, but growing up in a traditional Chinese family, the notion of becoming a full-time artist never entered my mind. I went to business school in college and majored in marketing. When I was 38 years old, I became a dad, and that was the wake-up moment for me to decide to truly value my passion and become a professional artist.
My first project as a professional was as a concept designer for Guillermo del Toro, which started a decade-long explosion of self-reflective artistic growth and discoveries. In a way, the artwork that triggered all that was my child, the best creation I could ever create.
(Image credit: Simon Lee)CB: Can you tell us about your first paid commission?
SL: My first paid commission was a resin model created for the Shiflett Brothers. I did it when I was still a web designer and hobbyist sculptor. It was a representation of who I was at the time. I see all of my artwork that way: an almost photographic record of a moment in time from my artistic journey.
CB: How does your art differ now?
SL: I used to take days, weeks, and sometimes months to create a single piece. Now I can create something in minutes. I don’t see my art as a singular being but rather as parts of a flowing stream. So the older artworks show where I was, and the current ones show where I am. I don’t place too much attention on my work, but rather on what my art is telling me about my life.
(Image credit: Simon Lee)CB: Is making a living as an artist all you thought it would be?
SL: For me, living is living. By diving deeper into my art, I delved deeper and deeper into my life. In my world, becoming better in one requires being better in the other. I can honestly say my art has made me a much better person.
CB: What advice would you give to your younger self to aid you on the way?
SL: My advice would be to keep an open mind. To get better at art, you’d need to look outside of art. Expand your horizon, for art is both a reflection and a reaction to life.
CB: How has the art industry changed for the better?
SL: There is no absolute good or bad; that’s always relative to the person you’re talking to. For me, the industry just is, and my place in it. It’s like an ocean: there’s no good wave or bad wave, just waves. The question really is whether we can ride the waves. I certainly can.
(Image credit: Simon Lee)CB: What character or scene that you’ve painted do you most identify with?
SL: All of them; they’re all an extension of me. Just like I identify with all my fingers, they all serve a purpose.
CB: What’s your next step in art or life?
SL: To continue growing as a person. Education doesn’t end with school graduations or begin with class enrolments. I learn every day about life and myself. I have the technical skills to express myself artistically and use my art to communicate my emotions constantly. I want to keep growing and share my discoveries with as many people as I can.
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