In the drawings of Sundae Kids, a couple chats, flirts, teases and comforts each other, getting into the occasional spat and then making up again. All the seasons of love appear in their comics, and practically everyone can find a familiar scene from their own dating life.
The people behind Sundae Kids are themselves a couple. Kavin Thienvutichai and Pratchaya Mahapauraya met in college, where they both studied graphic design. In their final year, Thienvutichai came up with the idea for the comics. They worked on them together while they each had a job on the side. After two years, Sundae Kids officially became their full-time job.
“看！我是你的礼物呢！”
“……这……你也是我的未来。”
“不喜欢和人打交道吗？”
“不，我只是不喜欢和人说话。”
“……”
“但，你不一样。”
在 Sundae Kids 笔下，平日的甜蜜、斗嘴、相依相偎，也包括偶尔的争吵和无奈的分分合合，情侣之间的温暖日常被悉数画下，甜甜的漫画里，仿佛每个人都能够找到恋爱中的自己。
殊不知，Sundae Kids 是一对组合：由长居泰国曼谷的 Kavin 和 Pratchaya 情侣二人共同经营。两人在大学里学习平面设计时相识，大四那年，Kavin 提出了创建“Sundae Kids”的共同帐号，由当时还在兼职的二人自己打理。成立第二年，这个账号正式成为他们的主业。
As a couple, they get material from their own relationship and turn it into a sugary-sweet comic. “We express our love through the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, even the food we eat,” they say. Details like these may not seem that important, but they make up the majority of a relationship. “Readers sometimes write to say that a comic resonated with a story from their own lives. Many people like our work because they’ve experienced something similar.” The couple hopes that readers will feel something from reading their comics—in particular, love.
作为一对插画家组合，他们有时就撷取发生自己身上的片刻，来成就一副副温馨的漫画。“大多数时候，电影、音乐、书籍，甚至我们吃的东西，都在表达着爱。” 这些琐碎的小事看似不重要，事实上却占据了感情生活的绝大部分。“有些读者来信说这很符合他的生活故事。许多在页面上喜欢我们的人，也可能是因为他们有类似的故事。”两位主创希望每一个浏览他们插画的读者能通过画去感受到更多东西，至少，去感受爱。
The couple spends nearly all their time together, inside and outside of work. But they rarely run into significant creative differences or get into heated fights. “The most important thing is that we trust each other,” says Mahapauraya. “Each of us will think of three to four ideas, and then we’ll discuss them and choose the best one. Then Kavin will do sketch the thumbnails and think about the layout best suited for this situation.” Next, Mahapauraya refines each frame, Kavin then handles the coloring, and she will put on the finishing touches. “It’s really hard to find someone who understands you in both work and life, but we can make it work, and we feel comfortable working together.”
很难想象，Sundae Kids 每天都一起工作和生活。但这对朝夕相处的艺术家，在创作过程中却很少出现巨大的分歧和激烈的争吵。“最重要的是我们彼此信任。” Pratchaya 坦然说道。在一幅画的创作过程中，两个人会先商量主题、对话和喜欢的场景。“我们每个人都会想三四个点子，然后再讨论，选出最佳的一个。然后 Kavin 承担绘制草图的角色，例如每个分镜中的故事、最适合的角度，诸如此类。之后再由我将绘制最终的艺术品并发送回 Kavin 进行着色，最后，我将处理最终的细节。” Pratchaya 说，“我们觉得通常来说，很难找到既能在工作上也能在生活上能理解彼此的人，但是我们却可以，而且相处得很自如。”
Maybe what’s allowed them to build such a loving relationship and draw such heartwarming comics is their mutual respect. Lovey-dovey stories aren’t all they do, though. “We don’t want to overthink what we’ll become in the future or where we’ll end up tomorrow. Being a full-time illustrator is not easy in Thailand, but we’ve made it, and we’re really grateful.” Aside from their gratitude, they hope to help give the Thai illustration community a boost. “It’s an online world with no geographical boundaries. We want people to check out our work, no matter who they are or where they come from.”
也或许正是这份对彼此的尊重，让他们一路走来都充满爱意，连带笔下的故事都温馨洋溢。他们用 Sundae Kids 的笔名画下了想讲述的一切，并不仅仅是情侣故事。“我们不想将自己局限于将来会变成什么样。在泰国，作为从事全职的插画家来从来不容易，但 Sundae Kids 做到了，我们很感激。”除了深感荣幸之外，他们也希望这成为改善泰国插画社区的一部分。“这是个线上的世界，没有地理的分界。我们希望让人们自由浏览，不管他是谁，又来自哪里。”
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Website: sundaekids.com
Instagram: @sundaekids
Facebook: ~/sundaekidsillustration
Contributor: Chen Yuan
