Hello, I’m River Ha.
I create small ink drawings with a fountain pen.
I started drawing when I was very young. Years later, after a long period away from it, I picked up a pen again in 2022 and found that the same feeling was still there. Drawing makes me happy, but it also gives my attention somewhere to go. When my thoughts feel vague or restless, the act of drawing brings me back to what is directly in front of me.
I draw directly in ink without sketching first. Most drawings begin without a fixed final plan. I start with one line and allow the image to develop through attention, instinct, curiosity, and the decisions that follow. Fear is part of that process. I still hesitate before certain lines and wonder whether the next mark might take the drawing somewhere I did not intend. I have gradually learned to let that uncertainty remain beside me and continue anyway.
That is where much of the creativity happens. Unexpected lines create new directions. Mistakes become part of the structure. What begins without a clear destination slowly finds its own balance between irregularity and order.
I have loved fountain pens since childhood. I especially love the feeling of a metal nib moving across textured paper, the slight resistance under my hand, and the flow of ink following each movement. It naturally slows me down and draws my attention into the present moment.
I also record the drawing process as it happens. The camera stays still while the drawing develops, preserving the hesitations, decisions, quiet moments, breathing, and sound of the nib on paper. There are parts of making something that words cannot fully describe. The process can.
Right now, much of my work is going into I’M HERE, a collection of 111 drawings and my first major drawing project.
Outside drawing, I enjoy running, strength training, meditation, and quiet time with myself. In different ways, all of these practices teach me to pay attention, stay curious, and keep moving through uncertainty.
I draw, I care deeply about the work, and I want to keep doing it for a long time.