Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Yu.
Hi Steven, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember but didn’t take art seriously until 2010. It was at that point in my life, after being pulled away from art for so long, that I realized I wanted to be a comic book creator and illustrator, and so in 2010, I began my journey.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, absolutely not. I didn’t grow up in a family where art was nurtured, despite the hidden artistic talents my family had. Maybe it was the immigrant mentality of being practical (whatever that word means), but my family didn’t really embrace creative pursuits.
I have also had creative friends, but the majority of them were involved in TV and films. No one I knew at the time were doodlers (as some of my comic book and storyboard friends call ourselves), and I really had to search hard for that community.
I am an independent artist, which means there is a lot of business admin and marketing that I myself have to do, on top of looking for work and/or sometimes getting a day job.
One of the biggest challenges as an independent comic book creator is that you are creating original work that no one really asked for. You will have to do your best to push your work out there in hopes that the message of your work resonates with an audience. If creative expression was an economic model, it would be supply first and build the demand next; which makes it really tough to build your “brand”, or art because you’re not answering a consumer problem but creating for the sake of artistic expression.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am currently creating the graphic novel series, “JOAN”, a medieval punk western loosely inspired by the real-life history of Joan of Arc. I self-published the first book, “JOAN: VOL 1” in 2021 and now working on the second volume set for release in 2024.
The reason why this book matters to me so much is that it’s my most ambitious foray into comic book auteurship. It really has nothing to do with the real-life Joan of Arc, and it’s got nothing to do with religion; it was created because I was really frustrated with where I was artistically and professionally with my life back in 2017, and I wanted to do something that was authentically me. Artists are taught to have a voice, and I wasn’t finding that back in 2017. I was working for so many people, doing so many client projects, and while grateful for all of the work, I was hungry to create something with my own unique vision.
I’ve always felt that trying to fit in somewhere never really worked for me. In the end, it was always about going in the direction I thought made the most sense for me.
I grew up on a hodge-podge of movies and comics. Spaghetti Westerns, Hong Kong martial arts movies, anime, manga, western comics, and video games all inspired my creativity. I’ve also experienced other creative professions like filmmaking, screenwriting, stunts, storyboarding, and comics – so why, in my own creative practice, was I limited to just one way of expressing?
The comic book medium is ultimately what I’m using, but within that, I can mix up as many things as I want to. And JOAN has all of those things I grew up on: it’s a duck press of many genres and a homage to those things I love so much.”
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was pretty passionate about the things I enjoyed, to an overly obsessive degree. I’m one of those people that if I like something enough I can indulge in it over and over again. Songs, movies, TV shows – I’ll put it on repeat. I don’t know why! Maybe it has something to do with understanding the artistry behind something. Maybe on the 5th or 6th viewing, I can understand why something was created so well that I can use that technique for my own visual stories.
I was born in Taiwan and came here when I was about 6 years old, but was still connected with my cultural heritage via family members, food, and TV. I grew up on anime like Doraemon, Tenchi Muyo and the Streamline OVA’s like Fist of the North Star and Wicked City. Speaking of which, I remember my dad renting Wicked City, not knowing what it was, and having us watch it as a family. Awkward! And I also read a lot of manga and Western comics. I don’t know why, but there’s hardcore division amongst the two mediums, but I think it’s okay to read everything. Indulging in more art forms from all parts of the world is an awesome thing to do! I’ve learned so much from watching/reading in other people’s creative expression!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sydstudiopresents.com
- Instagram: syuartist
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWGLhYmFbSRYNzmzVXc9VnA/about
