<Holding Hands> Author Vanha Lee Interview
Meet the Trending Author
vol. 233
[Holding Hands]
Author Vanha Lee | Naver Webtoon
Gasp!! I keep hearing weird noises and things are floating around...
...Could it be a ghost...?
Then, accidentally holding the ghost's hand
Ah~ It wasn't a ghost, it was my boyfriend 💕
A youth sketch full of love shining like a rainbow🌈
The interview with Author Vanha Lee of <Holding Hands>,
starts right now!
[INTRO]
Q. Author Vanha Lee! Thank you for agreeing to this interview! Before we begin, could you briefly introduce yourself?
A. Hello. I'm Vanha Lee, the webtoon author who serialized <Holding Hands> on Naver Webtoon.😄
It's already been a year and a half since I debuted as an official webtoon author!
Looking back, publishing a slice-of-life webtoon called 'Bread Crumb' on Naver Best Challenge around November 2018 was the beginning of my webtoon life.
About 5 years have passed already, and it's somewhat surreal that I'm doing an interview as a full-fledged webtoon author.🤭
This is my first interview, so please take good care of me.🙋♀️
△Bread Crumb (Left) Holding Hands (Right)
[About Vanha Lee]
Q. The new year has dawned. If you have any resolutions for 2025, please share them with us!
A. I have a lecture starting in March, so I'm currently preparing the lesson plans.
Successfully running that lecture is my short-term goal for now.
Also, I've spent over two years working constantly in tension and anxiety without resting properly,
so my long-term goal for 2025 is to rest well, eat well, exercise, and lightly prepare for my next project. :)
Q. How did you come up with the pen name 'Vanha Lee'?
A. I really love Van Gogh's works.
So I took the middle name 'Van' from Vincent van Gogh and tried to make it sound Korean.
There were many candidates, but the name Vanha Lee (Ban Hari) somehow rolled off the tongue well, so I ended up using it as my pen name.
They say you succeed if you casually make your pen name, so I just made it without much thought, and it doesn't have a deep meaning.😅
Still, I like it because my pen name matches the lovely vibe of my works well!
△The author's love for Van Gogh
Q. In your post-completion thoughts shared on your author page, you expressed joy about returning to the life of an ordinary person(?).
How have you been doing lately? Have you picked up any new hobbies?
A. I heard that authors who lived busy lives down to the second often feel empty during the sudden free time after completion, thinking 'Wait, what do I do now?'
Likewise, after living with a fully packed 24/7 schedule, I suddenly had an overflow of time and didn't know what to do.
So, for now, I'm trying to find and live by my original routine.
Based on regular wake-up and bedtimes, I'm meeting friends I couldn't see, going to places I wanted to go, and fully enjoying things I wanted to see.
Thanks to that, I can even feel my face getting chubbier!
Besides that, since I have a lot of time, I've slightly increased the frequency of workouts I've been doing steadily, and I'm getting medical treatments I couldn't get because I was too busy.
During serialization, I wished for free time so badly, but now that I have it, I'm living so busily as if I have a disease where I'd die if I stayed still.😅
But there are still so many things I want to try that even ten bodies wouldn't be enough!!!
Q. Please tell us about any comics you liked or works you still enjoy reading!
A. The ones that come to mind right now are 'Kimi ni Todoke', 'Ouran High School Host Club', 'My Little Monster', 'In the Clear Moonlit Dusk', 'Haikyu!!', etc...
There are too many to list them all. I also like black comedy series like 'The Simpsons' and 'Adventure Time'.(I often studied English with them, too.)
For webtoons, 'Return of the Blossoming Blade', 'No Home', 'We on the Water', 'Unlucky Mansion', 'About Death', etc... I really enjoyed reading them.
I generally like all Disney and Ghibli animations. Since I basically like philosophical works, I really love movies too.
Recently, I watched the movie 'Look Back' and was deeply moved. So many come to mind, but I can't write them all down.🤭
Actually, because I'm quite flexible and accept things without prejudice, I don't really have the concept of a 'number one favorite' work.
I like everything called 'art', including paintings, sculptures, and performances. Anything that can give me inspiration is welcome :)
Q. Do you have any media you often watch or music you play while working?
A. During storyboarding, sketching, and typesetting, I used to play instrumental music or work in silence.
Those tasks are the most demanding and require a lot of attention for me, so if I hear lyrics or jarring sounds, I lose my focus.
I think I mainly listened to classical or jazz music.
There are many musicians I like, but lately, I often listen to these two songs: William Bolcom's 'Graceful Ghost' and Hiromi's 'Mr. C.C.'.
After that, during background or line art work, I watched anything regardless of the genre.
During the final touch-ups, maybe because it was right before the deadline, I can't really remember what I played. I just remember sitting in one spot without moving, working straight for 48 hours.
△48 hours here... right...?
Q. When planning your first long-form series and conceptualizing the overall story, were there any parts you struggled to resolve?
A. The story and panels for the beginning, climax, and ending were already somewhat set in my mind when I started, so it wasn't too difficult.
However, the progression leading up to those panels and the timing of ending each episode were always a challenge for me.
If done poorly, it had the side effect of making the episode too short or too long,
so during the early parts, I keenly felt 'I lack the ability to pace the story...' and pulled all-nighters every day, crying while working.
I suppose it was fortunate that I had save files (buffer episodes).
Still, seeing how I do it smoothly now, I guess I've become quite used to the things I learned while crying back then.😅
Q. Looking at the monologues when the characters' emotions deepen, we get a glimpse of your everyday thoughts on love.
Could you share a brief philosophy of yours regarding first loves and unrequited loves?
A. Is the definition of first love the person I liked for the first time? Or the person I truly loved?
Love is timing, as the saying goes.
The direction and speed of one's heart, one's attitude towards life, the passion and effort for a dream—all these have timing,
and when applying this to life, you could say everyone has their own stages in life.
In other words, when my lover and I meet at different stages in our lives, it would be expressed as bad timing.
Therefore, accidentally meeting another person, having the right timing to share feelings, and completely trusting and understanding each other,
is an incredibly noble, radiantly shining, and beautiful thing, I believe. Namely, whether it's a first love or an unrequited love, love is timing!
△Where is your heart?
Q. Looking back after finishing your first work, please tell us about your hardest moment and the moment you felt 'I'm glad I became a webtoon author!'
A. The hardest moment was every moment.
Working is very tough, but at the same time, it is very fun. It's an ambivalent feeling.
Parents raising children often say, 'Giving birth and raising a child is very hard, but an even greater happiness follows.'
I think works are similar. That's why when authors reach the finale, they say the bittersweet relief feels like letting a child become independent.
I guess I finally understand what that means.
The moment I feel glad I became a webtoon author is when I see the readers' reactions.
Whether it's a negative or positive comment, seeing readers immersed in the story is the most fulfilling compliment for an author.
[About <Holding Hands>]
Q. I know this is your first officially serialized long-form work. How did you feel when the official serialization was first decided?
A. When I heard that the manuscript I submitted could be serialized, I couldn't believe it and was so happy.
On the other hand, an anxiety of 'Will I be able to finish it well until the end?' came at the same time.
I thought the debut opportunity would take longer, so it coming faster than expected made me glad yet nervous—a complex and subtle feeling.
Looking back, I have a little regret, thinking 'It would have been nice to just purely enjoy and celebrate the moment serialization was confirmed...'🥲
Q. I think what drew me to <Holding Hands> was the warm atmosphere radiating from the characters.
To think a peach-like freshness and the warmth felt from healing genre protagonists could coexist!
I believe the power of the art style and color palette played a big role in this effect. Was there any particular aspect you paid special attention to while building your unique style?
A. I think I paid a lot of attention to various things like directing composition, the sparkle of light, the direction of the wind, the characters' expressions, and the coloring during final touch-ups.
In the beginning, I hadn't fully grasped the sense of composition, so the comic felt a bit bland,
but as I worked and experimented with diverse compositions, dynamic expressions, and directing that makes you feel the direction of light and wind,
and actively making visual attempts according to the emotional lines, I think my current art style emerged.
When doing final edits, I think I used stronger colors than expected.
I felt that I had to add colors to the point of wondering, 'Isn't the saturation too high here..?' to bring the readers' emotional lines up to the surface along with the colors.
△The three-dimensional atmosphere of the two created by light and shadow
Q. An invisible male lead!! I think he's a more charming character because it's uncommon.
Won appears in the story in three versions (fully transparent, semi-transparent, and solid real-life version). Did you face any difficulties while working on this?
A. I thought, 'Since he's invisible, I don't have to draw him, so serialization will be a breeze~ La la?'
Instead, to express the invisible being seen, I had to go through an extra layer of editing, which turned out to be quite a hassle.
Even the male lead's speech bubbles had to undergo another round of editing, so it ended up being a very labor-intensive process.
I tried to cut corners to work a bit less, but the workflow only increased, which made me sad 🥲
△Solid Won VS Transparent Won
Q. Were there any key points you considered important when designing the characters? Or if there were any celebrities you referenced, please let us know!
A. I think I paid a little attention to the design chemistry between the two protagonists.
This is a behind-the-scenes secret, but during the initial conception, the protagonist's design was closer to Lee-hyun's appearance. Curly hair and a large Retriever-like style!
But after drawing him, I felt that Song Won's current appearance matched better with Young-yi, so he underwent revisions to his current look before being released into the world.
I didn't reference any celebrities; they are original characters from my imagination, so looking back, I wonder if there were many lacking aspects.
In Se-ah's case, I drew her recalling the image of my childhood middle school friend whose contact info I don't even know anymore.
For Yeon-woo, I was coincidentally walking near Hongdae when I saw a man with long, nice hair, thought 'That's it,' came home, and drew him right away.
△Quite different from now, right?
Q. In the afterword, you picked the entire Episode 1 as your least favorite scene. But I love the tremendous charm of Episode 1.
When Won magically appeared at the end, I felt like my whole heart was stolen.
Nevertheless, if you had a final chance to revise it, which parts would you want to fix?
A. Rather than changing the content, the composition, pacing of the flow, speech bubble placement, panel structure and spacing, art style, editing methods, etc...
Looking at it as I am now, there are a few things that are hard to look at, making me think 'Ah, I shouldn't have drawn it like that back then...'
But because it was like that, I think Episode 1 has even more charm.
I like Episode 1 now. Besides, there's a fun charm in reading it with that clumsy flavor 😄
△The start of a magical moment💕
Q. Watching <Holding Hands>, I thought the expression of the moments and emotions of feeling love was incredibly delicate.
I was in awe seeing the direction where the world seemed to be tinted in rainbow colors in a fleeting moment.
Do you have references or set criteria you follow when using effects or colors?
A. When I watch the sunlight casting shadows under a tree, the neon signs reflecting in a fountain, or the sparkles on raindrops on a rainy day,
I often find my gaze and senses unconsciously frozen, overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the moment.
I think I subconsciously expand and express the sensations I feel then. Put nicely, it's delicate; put badly, it's sensitive.
Perhaps to broaden the spectrum of sensations I can feel as much as possible, I love observing scenery, feeling the seasons,
and experiencing various things. I enjoy expressing those beautiful and trivial things I've felt along with the flow of light.
Because of that, I think my current color palette came to be.
△The two painted in light and color
Q. I think the message you wanted to convey through the story was seen more starkly through Won and Young-yi's respective traumas and the development of their relationship.
Besides that, messages about unseen sincerity and preciousness are melted throughout the work.
If there is a scene that most directly shows what you intended to convey, what scene do you think it is?
A. I think I can pick two scenes.
One is the scene where Young-yi stands alone on stage and overcomes her trauma,
and the other is when Won's mother offers heartfelt words to a young Won.
Everyone is born alone and dies alone. Feeling loneliness in that process is only natural.
But if you realize that the person you love, or you yourself, are always cheering you on, that loneliness would become quite a pleasant part of the journey too.
Among the people reading my work, if there's anyone who feels they are alone,
I want to tell them that this very moment is the opportunity to cheer for yourself.🌈
△Cheering for you all! Fighting!!
Q. He's a villain. Yeon-woo is a villain. A villain who just bewitches people so you can't even hate him.
In that sense, Yeon-woo's love story in the side episodes was so interesting.
Should I say it made me realize, 'Ah! Jin-sol was the spear that could pierce through Yeon-woo!'?
When and how did you conceive the character Jin-sol?
A. A bad boy naturally gets attracted to a bad girl, so the setup for Jin-sol was already decided from the moment I conceived Yeon-woo.
Although her character design was decided in the latter half, her rough background was already established.
The two characters turned out much more three-dimensional than I thought, and the art and directing stabilized a lot towards the end.
Thanks to that, many people found them more attractive, and I too felt it was a shame to just end their story in the side episodes.
△The bad girl who captivated the bad boy🤭
Q. Personally, I like Se-ah the most.
If Young-yi shows a lot of stable charm in her relationship with Won, I thought Se-ah largely shows the charm of a girl deeply in love.
What points did you focus on when designing these two characters?
A. If Young-yi had a serious love where she examined her inner self and carefully revealed her emotions,
Se-ah is a friend who loves honestly, fearless in expressing her feelings, yet not taking them lightly.
When you look at Se-ah, her honesty is such a strength that makes you wonder if anyone could be that lovable.
Furthermore, as people age, they become more afraid of showing their emotions, so watching a character like Se-ah
makes me feel like I'm returning to my youth, which makes me feel really good.
I think characters like Se-ah emerged as I actively portrayed the fresh youth of such high schoolers.
△Se-ah!! I'm rooting for you!!!
Q. I saw that you posted historical drama versions of the male characters on your author page as a Chuseok special for 2024. This fuels my delusions!
If these friends met in the Joseon Dynasty, how would Won and Young-yi's first meeting be, and what would happen to Lee-hyun's unrequited love!!
If any fun imaginations come to mind, could you briefly share them?
A. Perhaps Master Song, who fell into a ditch while secretly climbing over a wall to go play, accidentally meeting Lady Young-yi who was passing by?
For Se-ah and Lee-hyun, I think it would be more fun to play out an impossible love story, like the daughter of a high-ranking official and her bodyguard.
Yeon-woo is a crown prince who never studies.
△Charming no matter the era~😘
Q. In your SNS and afterwords, you chose Lee-hyun as your favorite character, but strictly based on looks, who do you like best among Won, Yeon-woo, and Lee-hyun?
A. While I like Lee-hyun as a character within the story,
personally, I like tall guys with thin, voluminous, and soft straight hair.
In real life, I'd probably be attracted to Yeon-woo's looks. (Excluding his personality.)
△My pick too...///
Q. Looking at the afterword, you mentioned that you reduced the initially planned 80 episodes to around 50 for serialization,
were there any episodes or setups you sadly had to give up in the process of condensing the story?
A. There was an episode where they go play at an amusement park after they start dating, but I cut that episode entirely.
Among Yoo-young and Song Won's settings, Young-yi was okay with bugs but scared of ghosts,
while Won was terrified of bugs but unfazed by ghosts.
So I had planned an episode imagining them in an amusement park haunted house, but since it didn't heavily impact the story, I boldly took it out
to progress the story more compactly.
Q. Please let us know if there was an episode you enjoyed drawing the most while serializing <Holding Hands>!
A. Episode 40!! Drawing the pitter-patter rainy scenes was so much fun.
It took a lot of work, but I even squealed 'Kya~!' while drawing it. It was sparkling, so pretty, and made me happy.
△Thump-thump thump-thump...
Q. Ah… Lastly, I was really curious, what shampoo does Young-yi use…?
A. A shampoo with a subtle jasmine scent...?
△Will I get a boyfriend too if I use that...
[Outro]
Q. Even if it's brief, please let us know if you have plans for your next work or any stories you are conceptualizing!
A. I have one work in conception, but the content and subject matter are all a secret.
I don't blindly believe in it, but I went to a fortune teller, and they told me my luck would leak out if I talked about it, strictly forbidding me from telling anyone.😤
Let me say it again, I don't blindly believe it.😅
Q. We want to see you with various works in the future. If you become a veteran author someday, is there a genre or project you'd definitely like to challenge?
A. A long-form action series mixed with Korean mythology!
I want to challenge it, but I don't know if I'll be able to do an action genre in this lifetime.
My drawing skills are still lacking for action, and I feel like the research will take a long time... I can't even dare to start. Hahaha.
△Even Patrick Star's hands...
Q. Thank you so much for your hard work answering this long interview.
You must have received many affectionate comments and questions. Are there any memorable ones, or questions you regret passing by without answering?
A. A reader who was so depressed that they cried every night, couldn't sleep well, and just wanted to disappear
told me they held on every week just to read my work.
They said the happy feelings they felt while reading my work were so vivid that their depressing days are now a past they can talk about with a smile.
They conveyed huge thanks, saying my work had a special meaning to them, but I'd like to say that the one who should be thankful is me.
It's a fact everyone overlooks, but when you're depressed, both your past and your upcoming future all seem depressing.
Instead, when you're happy, your past and future look happy. People get swayed by emotions, but there's no need to necessarily let them control you.
Today's misfortune is bound to fade and thin out when tomorrow comes.
In the process of the reader overcoming it on their own and their scars fading, my work just happened to be there with them.
I want to tell them that it was a true honor for me to be part of that process.
Also, I remember receiving many questions about the clothes. Because it's rated for all ages, for moral reasons, I added the setting: "Clothes turn invisible the moment he wears them!"
It's a romance in its own right, so walking around naked would be a bit much.🥲 I wouldn't have dressed him if it were a gag comic....😏
Q. Lastly, if you have anything to say to the readers who loved <Holding Hands>, please feel free to share.
A. I merely melted a theme I wanted to do into my work and wrapped it up, but to hear that so many people laughed and cried with my story...
I am just deeply moved and grateful. I extend my thanks to all the readers who didn't forget and read it every Saturday.
I will return with an entertaining work in the future as well. Let's all stay healthy~~!! Thank you.💕
Thank you for joining us for this interview.
May you all find a beautiful love💖
