“be consistent and keep trying and experimenting”
I spoke with artist and animator Ralph Khoury about his creative process and staying inspired. We also looked into:
• Ralph Khoury’s animations are inspired by life’s experiences, embracing experimentation and growth.
• He values different interpretations of his work, believing that viewers’ responses complete the artwork.
• Consistency is key—keep experimenting, have fun, and remember that finding your niche takes time, but it’s worth it.
Ralph Khoury’s advice?
always make sure to have fun
(Uncut and Unedited)
How do you come up with ideas for your work? Do you have a specific creative process?
It's a bit of a chaotic process, most ideas usually come from what i am going through during my week as i create a new artwork every week. Then to translate the idea through a visual form i usually get inspired by my surroundings, long walks around my neighbourhood usually help with that the most.
How do you hope your audience will feel or think differently after viewing your work?
So i really enjoy when i read different interpretations of my work, perspectives that i didnt think of initially but fits perfectly with what they're seeing, most of my work is simply me creating a visual around a certain universal idea that poses a question to the viewer and their answers i feel complete the artwork.
How do you ensure your work remains authentic to your philosophy while appealing to the fast-paced nature of social media?
i feel after doing this for almost 6 years, posting new work every week, it becomes easier to come up with new ideas, like training a muscle consistently, it becomes part of my thinking process as im constantly thinking of a new artwork to create, and i feel like these artworks are fun experimentations and a nice challenge to always stay creative and think in a different way. Some ideas might be better than others and they can always be revisited in a different way later on, but whatever i created was a good practice that leads up to the better artwork eventually i feel.
What do you think are the biggest benefits and challenges of sharing your art on social media platforms?
I feel it helps you find your niche as you have a huge pool of people that might enjoy your work, it lets you be more free in what you want to create instead of needing to adhere to a specific aesthetic and specific topics that only the environment in your geo location would be interested in.
Having said that i feel that until you find your niche it can be tough and discouraging as you might feel like youre putting out your work out there and barely anyone is seeing it, you start questioning if your work really is good at all to begin with, but its really just the problem of visibility and needing to stand out amongst the huge crowd of other artists that have the same easy access to this global network as you do.
How do you feel social media has influenced the art scene—positively, negatively, or both?
I believe it has influenced the art scene positively, as it put the rise of digital art into overdrive and let alot of creatives be able to garner an audience for their digital work, with one of the few ways of being able to display digital art being on your phone.
Who or what are the biggest influences on your work?
I feel like the biggest influences for me or what led to me wanting to create animations are the old cartoon cartoons that were on cartoon network like samurai jack courage the cowardly dog chowder and so on as well as hannah barbera cartoons like scooby doo and the flintstones, and disney animations especially the earlier ones, like the robin hoid one, im a fan of those old hand drawn animations as it shows a certain quality through hand drawn lines that is difficult to replicate with a computer, and that i try to recreate with my own work since mostly everything in my work is hand drawn on paper first then finalized on the computer.
How do you maintain your creativity and avoid burnout while constantly producing content?
I think its a balancing act of making sure u have fun while u create and not feeling like youre forced to create, i just try to pace myself as well as try my best to balance my life with other things like taking care of my health and maintaining my close relationships and friendships. Its a life long process and balancing act that changes with time i believe.
How do you approach storytelling in your work to make them both engaging and meaningful?
I think the stories i try to tell are things that alot of people around my age are also going through, im just expressing snapshots of my own experience and i feel we are all pretty similar in our human experience in alot of ways that my own experiences can be understood by many but with a slightly different perspective. I believe thats what makes them meaningful and engaging.
What are some common misconceptions people have about digital animation and the work you do?
Ive had some say that animations isnt real art which is a bizarre stance to have in my opinion, i feel like what im doing is creating moving paintings, by taking advantage of the animation medium and creating a same experience of understanding an artwork and idea in a few seconds of little movement as you would by looking at a normal static painting in a museum, another misconception i see is that alot of people think my work is Ai while its actually all handrawn on paper frame by frame mostly then colored on photoshop and finalized on after effects.
What is one piece of advice you would give to aspiring artists?
I mean what worked for me at least till now, is to be consistent and keep trying and experimenting, sometimes you have all the right ingredients but it takes you multiple tries, most times years, to figure out the right recipe that make all those ingredients work together. And always make sure to have fun.
I have noticed that what I create has been evolving. It is similar to a diary of work over the years and it is exciting to think that it is all happening subconsciously. It is a sign that you are growing as an artist and a person.
In Khoury’s words:
whatever i created was a good practice that leads up to the better artwork eventually
I love the meme that Picasso’s art got worse over time, it always makes me chuckle.
With that said, I shall leave you with this…
A woman went into a cafe in Paris and she saw a man across the room, who she recognised as Pablo Picasso.
She sits and watches for a while as he scribbles on a napkin before tossing it to the side as his coffee arrives.
She musters up the courage to go over and approach him…
“Monsieur Picasso”, she asks, “I love your work! Could I possibly have that little drawing you’ve just made on the napkin over there?”
“Yes of course Madame, that will be 10,000 francs”
The woman, outraged, replies “10,000 francs??! But it only took you 30 seconds to draw that!”
“No, my dear” Picasso replies. “It has taken me forty years to draw this in 30 seconds.”
It’s debated whether this is factual or not, but you get the point.
Cheers to that 🍻