Future National Artist Mono, age 4, a Line sticker prodigy
The Line App, born in Japan, has had great success with its cute cartoon message stickers that allow users to express their feelings with a single click (and thus avoid the hassle of all that soul-searching).
The stickers are an important part of social discourse in Thailand and we’ve produced several leading sticker artists selling their creations online, but none as interesting as Kanyapak “Mono” Saengsith – who’s four years old.
Yes, the kindergarten pupil in Phu Wiang, Khon Kaen, has become something of a precocious sensation with her “Phi Ta Bo” sticker set featuring a blind ghost with hollow eyes. She actually drew and painted the whole set by herself.
Mono’s father, Theerapong Saengsith, says his little girl has been drawing cartoons for half her life. (It occurs to us that Stephff – The Nation’s French editorial cartoonist – ought to watch his back when we’ve got homegrown talent like this coming up.)
“Mono has loved drawing and colouring since she was two,” says Dad, “but she drew and painted just like any other kid, and we wouldn’t call her work stunningly beautiful, you know. Anyway, she just loves to draw and we love to see her doing it.”
In fact the family has dedicated a whole wall in their house to her creativity and imagination. They don’t just hang her art there – Mono actually draws and paints on the wall.
“She can draw and colour anything she likes on that wall and we just let her do it,” explains the delightfully tolerant and duly proud father. “There are fine drawings and also just smudges of paint, and that’s fine too. Mono loves using watercolours mostly because it’s fun mixing the colours to get different shades.
“We love to see the ideas she comes up with. We support her in being creative – we just let her explore her imagination.”
The Phi Ta Bo character was entirely Mono’s idea. “I helped her a bit since she’s very young,” Theerapong says. “It’s quite normal for a four-year-old to smear the colours outside the outlines while colouring, so I just made sure the smudges were taken care of.
“Then, seeing Phi Ta Bo in colour, I started to think about sharing Mono’s work with the public so that anyone who likes cartoons and art could enjoy it.”
Dad uploaded the full set to the Line Creator Market, seeking the nod to sell them from the Line Sticker Store. “We sent 40 drawings in early December and we got the approval to put them in the store on December 17. Now we have people in Canada, Japan and the US downloading my little girl’s work!”
The kid must be making a fortune. “The profits aren’t very high,” says her old man, “but it doesn’t matter because we’re just really proud of Mono’s love for drawing and colouring. Any child can learn easily if those close to them just make them feel comfortable. Once they gain confidence, kids can really show us what they’re capable of!”
