Orchestra
‘KHEMTIT,’ AN ILLUSTRATOR WHO PAUSES TIME WITH ‘A RECORD OF MEMORIES’ THAT IS FULL OF SHIFTING STORIES, INTERESTS, AND EMOTIONS
TEXT & IMAGE: KHEMTIT
(For English, press here)
WHO
Khemtit
WHAT
Illustrator, Bangkok
Postman
WHEN/WHERE/WHY
Drawing and design have always been part of my life. After graduating from the Faculty of Architecture, I worked in an architectural office for several years. During that time, a question lingered quietly in my mind: what else could my drawings become? I used to work only with pen lines. Coloring felt unfamiliar. Colored pencils demanded too much energy, and watercolor was difficult to control. I had not yet found a tool that allowed me to draw as freely as I imagined. Then I bought my first iPad. I began practicing privately, without pressure. Around the same period, the many films I was watching became a major source of inspiration, encouraging me to tell my own stories. My early works resembled cinematic sequences, unfolding scene by scene, conveying atmosphere and the subtle relationships between people.
Singapore
A turning point came when I left my full-time job and spent three months living in Hua Hin. Mornings were for walking along the beach; afternoons were for drawing. I completed nearly forty pieces during that particular period of my life. Those works became my portfolio for the Bangkok Illustration Fair 2022, marking my first public debut as an illustrator. The warm response from viewers was transformative. For the first time, I realized that my drawings could communicate feelings to others. That moment became the beginning of my ongoing practice as an illustrator.
How do you define your own style of work?
Someone once described my work as ‘a record of memories,’ shifting with the interests of each phase of life: relationships, journeys, and passing moments. My images do not rush to tell a story. Instead, they pause time. Through light, color, nature, and mood, they gently guide viewers inward, leaving space for each person to fill the narrative with their own experiences.
Coffee
What inspires you, and what principles guide your work?
My interests evolve alongside life itself: personal encounters, social circumstances, and the work of fellow artists around me. Inspiration is never fixed, nor does it always begin with a grand concept. Often, a piece grows from small details in everyday life, like evening light, a fragment of conversation, or the atmosphere of a particular place.
Eames
Which project are you most proud of and why?
Pride is not attached to any single piece. Some works are defined by challenge and learning; others create space for experimentation and freer forms of expression. Each carries its own meaning.
More broadly, what truly brings a sense of pride is the moment when an image meets its audience. When someone pauses, steps closer, begins a conversation, or shares that a piece has touched something within them. Pride accumulates not from the artwork alone, but from the encounter between the image and the viewer.
Which part of the process do you enjoy the most during work?
Not every drawing contains a moment of ease, especially commissioned work that must respond to a brief. In those cases, the satisfaction often comes at the end, when the piece resolves as intended.
But in certain personal works, there are moments of flow. Sketching, outlining, and coloring unfold seamlessly, without attachment or hesitation. That state cannot be forced; it arrives on its own. In those moments, the work seems to lead the way, and the act of drawing feels most alive.
Night
If you could invite any ‘creative’ for a coffee, who would it be and why?
If language were no barrier, I would love to sit quietly over tea with Hayao Miyazaki and listen to him speak about worlds, memory, and the delicate details within his work. I would also choose Eiji Mitooka, the Japanese train designer who transforms ordinary travel into something poetic and immersive. Both create work that brings joy to people. I hope that, wherever my practice evolves, it too might offer that same sense of happiness.
Bloom