Life & Work with Jinning Wang of Arcadia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jinning Wang

Hi Jinning, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always loved drawing since I was a child, but my parents preferred me to become a teacher or a doctor as they had planned, so they were not very supportive of my exploration of drawing at first. But my passion for painting did not diminish, instead I wanted to prove even more that I could support myself through painting. Under my persuasion, my parents were willing to give me the next chance to try and sent me to an art institution to study, and I eventually succeeded in getting admitted to one of the best art academies in China. After four years of study in the Academy, my aesthetics and ability has been improved more, but I realized that I seem to be difficult to get more progress, I think maybe because my eyes are not wide enough, I should go to a more distant place to see, so I came to the United States to study illustration, I’m very happy that my three years of postgraduate study in the United States of America in the illustration of the experience, so that I can see more about the illustration of the new possibilities and new styles, and also let me deeper explore more of my life and artistic possibilities.

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?
My journey down the path of illustration has not been easy, first of all my undergraduate degree was in animation and making animation was great fun, but not the way I wanted to express myself. When I was determined to walk on the path of illustration, I realized that although I had a love for illustration, I still had to face the anxiety of not making progress and being confused about style. At that time, I was also full of uncertainty about myself, illustration is a lot of personal expression, so the most important thing is to know yourself, so in the process of creation is also a deep analysis of yourself, when you one day find that you already know yourself well enough, those difficulties on the road of creation will also become solved.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a freelance illustrator, I specialize in fantasy and mythological themes, and I like to use line and color in my personal creations. I’m most proud of the sense of atmosphere my work is shaped by, they give my work a unique sense of storytelling that makes me unique.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Contact illustration in the past few years, more and more feel that the foundation is very important, for those who are just starting out, must seriously practice about color, generalization and human structure related knowledge, only a good foundation can make your creation more free. If there is a stage of anxiety or confusion, this is a very normal thing, because it shows that your aesthetics is improving, just temporary ability has not yet reached the height of your aesthetic. So it’s good to be quiet for targeted training and to meet some illustration friends to encourage each other to improve together! In short, perseverance leads to victory!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jinningwillustration.com
• Instagram: jinningw1122

Image Credits
Illustrations and packaging Jinning Wang created,
pictures of Jinning Wang’s graduation show.