Ana Senthil: Young Blood

By Denise Chang  •  in Design
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source: Ana Senthil

You’ve probably seen her artwork one way or another, either in print ads in between the pages of JUICE or on the walls of your favourite club. Recently, she’s also been doing artwork for some of the biggest events around town. Meet Ana Senthil, 22 year old graphic designer for Livescape and freelance creative artist.

Ana was that kid who drew nude ladies on tables back in high school. Though it isn’t strange to have a fascination with the female anatomy (who doesn’t, anyway?), it never occurred to her that her talent would get her to where she is today. If you’re thinking, “Oh poo, drawing naked women won’t get you anywhere,” we’re sorry you feel that way. But since we’re on the topic, Ana has a diploma in interior design, but she spoke of how being in an educational institute had constrained her creativity and limited her ideas – just the opposite of what an aspiring artist needed.

However, there was silver lining during her time in the idea factory they call an “academy”, this was when she had to purchase a Bamboo tablet. Discovering the ability of the technology was just the tip of the creative iceberg – Ana soon wished there was a ‘CTRL+Z’ function in reality. The response she received from her uploads onto social media was overwhelming, some likening her to SO ME, Ed Banger’s artist. Seeking mentorship from Mathias Rapp and VNRP, Swedish designer and part-creator of local favourites, Deer Society, Ana soon discovered that her talent was more than just scrawls on classroom furniture.

Her first project was designing a logo for amateur DJs from Mile High Sounds called the Dance Floor Service. The response was not what she had expected it to be, and today, Ana’s portfolio has expanded to include artwork for clubs such as Lust KL and The Establishment, Kimbra sharing Ana’s take on the “Somebody I Used to Know” on Facebook, winning Steve Aoki’s t-shirt design contest for his Deadmeat 2012 Tour (and got paid by Dim Mak!), and working and designing for other international acts. “There would be days on end where I didn’t go to class and my parents would see me on the couch with my laptop and tablet, refusing to move,” Ana recalls.

She’s inspired by pop culture, or “basically whatever influenced [her] at the time.” Meeting bands and DJs through her work with Livescape and hearing about their chaotic lives encourages her to draw more as well. Despite having bills to pay (Ana is moving out from her folks’ in the next month) and her own car to maintain, she mentioned being picky about certain jobs and not wanting to have her name on a project she didn’t believe in. And vice versa, JUICE is sure she wouldn’t have gotten all the jobs in her résumé had others not believe in her young blood.

Find Ana’s oeuvre of works at ihaveyoungblood.tumblr.com.