Check Out Yijiang Dong’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yijiang Dong.

Hi Yijiang, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hi, I am Yijiang and I go by YJ. I never thought I wanted to be an artist or designer until I entered college. My mother is a traditional Chinese artist, however my interest as a child was more in music, so I didn’t spend time learning to paint from my mother. My father, on the other hand, was a businessman who often dealt with various architects and designers. So, even though I didn’t really start studying art and design until college, my parents had more or less influenced me before that to become who I am now. In my freshman year, I studied interior design at Syracuse, which is a beautiful university. I especially love Syracuse winters; the snow covering the campus is beautiful. However, my freshman year was not so enjoyable, and the knowledge of interior design was boring and uninteresting. Moreover, during the spring semester, we were all suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic that forced everyone to leave the campus. I went back to China after that and lived a tired life of waking up in the middle of the night to go to class every day. But luckily I met a lot of friends in the illustration department. I am encouraged and inspired whenever I see their creative and amazing pieces. That’s why I decided to change my major to Illustration.

At that time, I heard that New York is a city with a strong art scene and there are many famous art universities here. When I actually came to the city, it proved to be true. I visited a lot of museums and galleries in New York, and I was blown away by seeing many art masters and their works. I eventually chose to transfer to the School of Visual Arts in New York. During the three years I studied at SVA, I met skilled and responsible teachers and friends in various fields of design and art. Of course, my own painting skills also improved a lot during this period; I mastered color theory and became more proficient in various painting mediums, including electronic painting, acrylics, watercolor, and printing. Of all the skills an illustrator needs to master, I think storytelling is the most important one. In addition to this, I have developed a strong interest in animation, which is no longer just about static images, but also about how to make the story “alive”. That’s why I chose to study animation at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and I’ve been working hard to become a storyboard artist until now.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it is definitely not an easy way to go. Learning to paint is a long process, and it is difficult to make great progress in a short period of time. For example, even the simplest straight line requires a lot of practice to be able to draw the line straight without a ruler in a short period of time. When I first started learning to draw the human body, the process was always frustrating, especially when I saw my classmates around me always drawing fast and well. I questioned myself countless times whether I would never be able to catch up with my classmates who had been learning to draw since they were young. But thank goodness I eventually persevered or I wouldn’t be able to see myself now. The second problem came from the concern of my parents; my father, a businessman, would have preferred that what I was learning now would help him in the future, and thus help the whole family.

However, studying art is different from other business or science subjects, and I cannot help my father directly. In my father’s words, the income from painting is not so stable, especially if I want to become a freelance artist in the future. My mother also mentioned that not everyone can be a famous artist. I agree with this, and I think that the commercial value of an artist depends very much on whether the artist is known and accepted by the public. After all, artists need to survive. That’s why so many artists work so hard to run their social media accounts. The artist’s dilemma, on the other hand, is that many times the content that the artist creates is not always accepted or liked by the general public. Therefore, how to balance self-expression and commercialization of one’s work is also a major dilemma for artists. It’s not like an artist can just draw anything and someone will buy it.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am currently a graduate student studying animation at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. I will accept commissions for illustration and visual development, and I am working on a storyboard right now. I am best at character design and character illustration. I think one of the things that makes me most proud of myself is that the characters or images I create always bring warm and wonderful feelings to people. I often feel that there is enough ugliness and darkness in the world, and I hope that my work is not so much a grandiose wish to rescue anyone, but just a little hope and warmth in everyday life. I don’t think it can be separated from my observation of things around me and my own imagination. I enjoyed drawing and creating new characters and placing them in a fantasy world created, and I never got tired of pursuing novel ideas and visualizing them. Seeing strangers on the street, I often can’t help but fantasize about their lives, their dinners, clothes, and living rooms. Everything and everyone in this world can inspire my fantasy and artistic creation.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I would say even in public, I try to be as true to myself as possible. Yet perhaps there remains some small misunderstanding here. Oftentimes, I will only post the final product of my work on social media and rarely show the creative process halfway through. Perhaps people think that creating a body of work is an easy, natural thing for an artist to do. However, an artist is not going to show their struggles on social media. Some works, even if they don’t seem that complicated to the viewer in the end, are in fact the result of painstaking research by the artist every step of the way, from the line drawings to the final coloring. On top of that, although I always try to show the good side of the world in my work, I myself am not always optimistic. I am often anxious, and I often fall into a state of meaninglessness about life. But painting saves me in a way and pulls me out of this state of despair.

Pricing:

• Anime character portrait: 200 USD
• Realistic portrait: 300 USD
• Single-person illustration: 800-1000USD
• Multi-Person Illustration: US$1000-1500
• Visual development: Above 2000 USD

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yijiangdongart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yijiangdong_art/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yijiang-dong-810427236/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Super_yjman
• Other: https://www.artstation.com/superyjman

Image Credits
Yijiang Dong