Today we’d like to introduce you to Wen Dou.
Hi Wen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi guys, I am Wen Dou. My friends always call my English name Lisa. I am a visual development artist at Ringling College of Art and Design. Before I applied for Ringling, my choice was actually to prepare for the Chinese National College Entrance Examination. I studied at Beijing No.13 High School, which is one of the top-tier high schools in Beijing and famous for its high quality of education. It can be said that a lot of science and liberal arts talents gather there. Fortunately, I met many of my good friends there, too. When I was about to apply to a university in China, I found that there wasn’t any major that I wanted to work on as my future career path. I felt very confused about my future. I shared my thoughts and feelings with my teacher, and I told her that I wanted to follow my heart and work in the art industry. I was hesitant to step into the art industry because a lot of people around me said that the art job is unpredictable. But suddenly, when I was brave enough to speak out, that moment made me realize I knew the way.
My love for Disney has been in my heart since childhood! I’ve always been a big fan of Disney and Pixar! My favorite character is the little mermaid Ariel, no one else! When I was young, like many girls, I loved to draw princesses, but I didn’t think about I wanted to work for Disney. I was too young to understand anything. It wasn’t until I was in junior high school, Frozen had just been released at the time. I watched it and I got a spark that I wanted to work at Disney Animation Studio! I was dreaming that one day I can work in such a prestige company and cooperate with many excellent artists on a great animation feature! I was really excited that I had found a goal in my life. In the homework essay, I wrote, “I know I will work at Disney Animation Studio one day.” Now, after going through so many job applications and interviews, when I flashback, I can feel how brave I was at that time, and I really admire my courage even now. Back in junior school, when I wrote a whole essay about” my Disney dream,” my teacher told my mom about it and let me “be realistic and not indulge in fantasy.” Of course, I didn’t listen to him because I believed I can make it happen and I had a lot of confidence in myself! For now, I am very happy to say that although I didn’t get any position at Disney and even have a new goal now, I am sure that teacher would be surprised if he knew my mentor James Finch is a Disney visual development artist who has worked on Frozen. James is a super-talented, generous artist. Talking with him and being taught by him is kind of a little dream come true for me.
When I came to Ringling, I realized that there are so many talented people. My bestie Nathan Kwan was one of the most talented people in my eyes. When he showed me his portfolio during my freshman year, it was the first time I got to know what visual development is. I really envied him for having his own portfolio and having great Photoshop skills because I knew nothing at that time. Our friendship has lasted for more than 4 years now, I hope we can be good friends for a lifetime. When I started my sophomore year, I experienced life’s biggest attack that caused a massive impact on my life. Almost all the bad things have come towards me. During that time, I spent all of my time and energy learning knowledge about visual development. Finally, my efforts paid off! I was really fortunate to receive the interview opportunity as a design intern from Blue Sky Studios in my sophomore year, which was a great encouragement to me and almost saved me from the emotional collapse that made me want to give up on myself. So I really appreciate Blue Sky Studios for being the first company to give me a chance, even an interview opportunity! After that, I was really fortunate to work on concept designs for a feature animation pitch being developed by former Blue Sky Studios senior director Matt Munn. He is very talented in script writing and has great storytelling skills, with more than 20 years of experience in the animation industry. From then on, my art career gradually became much better. I have received many interviews from major studios, and I really appreciate those opportunities. The most important thing is that during the process, I gradually found myself and my love for myself. The girl who was passionate about the animation industry and had confidence in herself has come back!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have been through a lot of obstacles during my time at Ringling. It’s not just about my career, and it’s also about my friendship. Although this problem is common in our life, I attach great importance to this relationship in my sophomore year. I really cherished my friendship, but it is a pity that I didn’t manage it well at that time. Now when I think about it, I am still sad for myself for going through that tough experience. Besides that, I am more grateful for their leaving. Without that tough experience, I would still be immersed in the happy life of Ringling and completely forgetting that my life is not only composed of friendships, my career is also a huge proportion of my life. I told myself over and over that I was everything I need, and I still have a dream to achieve! After that, I went crazy about studying in general. I made a very detailed plan to get an internship offer from a major company in my sophomore year. Although it sounded unrealistic, I had huge courage from nowhere. I was extremely focused on improving myself and making my portfolio.
After the class, I would learn additional knowledge of Photoshop to improve my ability and even stay up late to finish a painting, which must be high quality and a piece that I can put in my portfolio. Because I was too tired to keep drawing and studying, I slept on the desk many times at night. Mentally, I was very harsh on myself, which is really unhealthy. I would over-critique myself too much and hate myself for not being good enough. I didn’t take good care of myself because obviously, I was mentally stimulated by the previous trauma. Eventually, I received a little reward because of my stubbornness and strict demands on myself, and I got an interview from Blue Sky Studios in my sophomore year! It was a redemption for me as a sophomore student. At that time, I was truly proud of the little achievements I had made. In this “out of control” experience, I learned the true meaning of “surpass yourself” and “compare with yourself, not with others.” I would like to share with young artists that do not compare your paintings with others; you need to encourage yourself and have enough confidence to create something unique in your own painting.
From then on, I finally realized that I am a talented visual development artist. During the Covid epidemic, I believe many artists, especially graduates, have gone through quite a life test. I experienced the pain of finding internships.I didn’t hear back from Blue Sky because the studio shut down immediately. There really were not that many opportunities, and a lot of companies froze hiring, so I spent all of my efforts on improving my skills and making art for Matt’s feature animation pitch project during the pandemic period. I had the pleasure time working at Byte Dance Inc as a visual development intern Byte Dance is a famous internet company that owns TikTok apps. I was lucky enough to get their internship offer and worked on several animation project, I worked with a large team of production designers and animation directors. We faced challenges and overcome a lot of obstacles. Due to the highly collaborative team, we received a lot of achievements, which helped me gain a lot of professional experiences in the animation industry. In many times of achievements and rejections, I understand the true meaning of “working hard”. I understand that hard work is not necessarily lead you to success, but if you don’t work hard, you can’t even get a chance to succeed. I clearly understand now that I am working hard because I hope I will not have any regrets when I look back at myself 3-4 years later. Success is the result of day-to-day efforts, but the purpose of working hard is not only for success but also for the future even if you realize that you don’t make it happen, you can still feel peaceful and calm. And then, move on, and continue to gain the courage to enjoy your beautiful life.
I am always thankful for those bad experiences because their existence can only inspire me to move on! When I go through it, I always think “I must not be beaten down. I might have nothing now, but I have myself and I know I will make it happen. I am everything I need”. I am very clear about my goal, “Be in the right place with the right people doing great things.” I even posted my thoughts and motivational messages on the wall, so I could always look up and see them. This kind of motivation can always remind me don’t forget to study hard after taking some rest. As an artist I would tell myself, do not to be too harsh on myself. In fact, over years, I have found out that there are very few things that can be achieved through only hard work. Efforts may not always be rewarded, but going through difficulties and accumulating experience in the process of trying can help you in the future to solve problems better, and it can also become a valuable asset in life. Today, I believe I am more than what I have become.
I feel that although the animation industry is very competitive, the people I have met so far are all very nice and generous. I am fortunate to have the Ringling faculties, good friends like Nathan, great director Matt, and my super talent mentor James helping me come this far. I have made many excellent friends in the field of art! I am grateful that their existence has confirmed my goal to participate in great animation production!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love using photoshop to do visual development relevant artworks, like character designs, prop designs, and story moment painting. I always focus on the color to support my storytelling of the painting, and I think that’s what I specialize in. So far, I am pretty proud of my storytelling skills and the way I handle the color. Starting a new painting, I will find inspiration first, whether it’s a film or oil painting that inspires me or maybe something from nature that I have captured in my life. When I find the spark, a concept will pop into my mind. And then, I will start to make some rough sketches or develop a character outline for the story that I want to convey to the viewers. During the process of creating characters, my character design tends to reflect different personalities of people. I will use the expressions, the shape language, and the character poses to tell the story. I feel like it’s my responsibility to bring those characters to life, and for me, that’s one of the best things about being an artist.
Besides that, when I am in the process of coloring, I will test the color palette and break it down into different color thumbnails. For the brushes, I tend to use brushes that have scenes of unique textures. After I complete my artwork, I will ask my mentor or friends for feedback and see if I can improve it furthermore. I often feel lucky to be an artist. It’s really fortunate to have such great talent that I can use visual art to express my emotions to the audience and convey the story I want to express. I want to give a fun example of when I was having a zoom meeting with James. He was reviewing my painting Rain Kiss and said, “Wen, is that you? looking outside of the window and watching this romantic moment?” I was surprised; he was the only one who pointed out that the girl is me. So I shared the story behind it, and it was actually a true story that I saw a couple running to each other and kissing in the rain when I was sitting in Starbucks. That’s a wonderful moment, so I capture it and use art to freeze this moment.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Yes! As an artist, I often watch movies for inspiration. This year is pretty important for me, so I watched a lot of inspirational movies and great animation films. If you’re at a low point and looking for some strength, I would highly recommend The Greatest Show Man, The Pursuit of Happiness. Ratatouille and Soul are both inspiring to me after watching. Especially what Remy said, “Always believe in hard work and a little luck, it’s only a matter of time before I’m discovered.” When I am watching movies, I not only focus on the camera shot and storytelling from the movie but also learn the power of perseverance from these diverse characters. After watching the movie, I also gain a lot of power to live a good life. Music also helps me a lot with inspiration. I like ‘This is me’, ‘From now on’, and’ never enough’. I can say that I love all of the music from The Greatest Show Man. Recently, I have been listening to Taylor Swift’s new album Midnight! Bejeweled is my favorite!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lisadou.me
- Instagram: lisaaaa_wd
