Meet Jiarui Jiang

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jiarui Jiang.

Hi Jiarui, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Currently, I am a freelance illustrator who graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art’s MA Illustration program about a year ago. I have mainly focused on children’s illustrations, picture books, and narrative book illustrations. Before devoting myself to illustration, I was an animation student and studied animation courses for four years at the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts in China and Hanseo University in South Korea. During that period, I realized the fact that I was bored with animation – so I decided to apply for illustration as a postgraduate major in my senior year, and this is how I started my story at MICA. It was there that I first came into contact with the field of picture books and quickly fell into a passion for creation. Within a year, I created five children’s picture books of different types. After graduation, I continued to create and began to explore the possibilities of the book form, such as covers made of clay. Now, I still regard this field as my career goal and am cooperating with publishing houses in different countries.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The hardest part for me was probably the months after graduation when I moved from Baltimore to New York and faced the prospect of not being able to find a job. The skyrocketing rent and daily consumption have become a huge pressure for me. At the same time, my family is still trying to persuade me to give up drawing as a formal career. Coming to a new city also means losing old friends. But everything gradually got better with perseverance. I continued to create new things and won some project invitations by getting awards in several competitions; I signed a contract with an agency and gradually became a freelance illustrator as my main job. As the old saying goes, things will get better as long as you don’t give up.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I mainly create picture books, children’s illustrations, and narrative illustrations. I like to use jumping colors and all-natural elements in my works – insects, animals, plants, and children. Maybe some people have been reminded of the crocodile in my series of pictures called The Long Long Thing, this piece was just a daily exercise at first, but it eventually became the beginning of this series. It also received a Finalist award at this year’s Hiiibrand Illustration 2022. Another winning entry at this year’s 3×3 Illustration Show is Toucan Girl. This one was created during the dark period after I graduated – I hope that through the girl in the painting, I can return to the rainforest where people feel safe. Plants are like a shelter for me. Where you can turn yourself into a person without labels. I also like to write my own stories, jingles, or short poems. For words, most of my inspiration comes from my wild imagination and perception of the outside world as a child. Children are fearless. The borderless world in their eyes will always touch me. I want to show the memory of the world at that time in the form of illustration works.

Any big plans?
I’m currently preparing to apply for a second master’s degree. Maybe this is a big change? I want to learn more about children’s literature and picture books. If everything goes well, I will start a new journey next year. If not, it will be a more interesting challenge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jiaruijiang.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiaruii_jiang/