Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Nguyen.
Hi Michelle, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a Vietnamese-American illustrator and designer, having been born and raised in Orange County. I currently work as a freelancer, such as being a freelance graphic designer for GungHo Online Entertainment, as well as having been able to work on a handful of other exciting projects for various clients.
As a child, I have always loved doodling and drawing whenever I could – whether it be on my notebooks, homework assignments, or exam papers. I grew up in the era of the Nintendo DS, more specifically being obsessed with the Pokémon franchise. One of my most vivid memories from my childhood is that I would always create little drawings of my classmates’ favorite Pokémon to give out, as well as designing my own original characters that I would imagine to be a part of that universe at the age of 10.
I felt that from a young age, I have always been intrigued by the fantastical and loved seeing how creative writers and artists were with creating worlds beyond ours in their work. In a way, seeing how imaginative some of the creators of the games and literature I interacted with as a child inspired me to be creative in my own way.
However, as I grew up, I still loved to draw, but it became more apparent to me that art wasn’t exactly a desired field to aspire towards as I never really heard of anyone around me pursuing it as a career. As I got more occupied with school, I drew less and less – until I reached 11th grade and impulsively signed up to be in an AP Studio Art course.
From there, my love for art had reignited and it opened up a world I didn’t realize I had missed. This led me to apply for art school the following year during college application season, leading me to enroll in the Laguna College of Art and Design. Those four years had passed by fairly quickly (especially due to the pandemic), but that all now leads us to where we are today.
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?
It certainly hasn’t for me. Although I am fortunate enough to currently be in a place where I have been able to find some work and have many people who are supportive of me in my life, there have definitely been hurdles I have had to jump over to get to where I am today.
As I have mentioned before, I feel like the arts are not a field that is really encouraged and almost looked down upon. One of the biggest struggles I can think of off the top of my head would be the unfortunate stereotype of having a family who questioned my decision.
My parents were both immigrants from Vietnam and definitely didn’t have the easiest life having left their home country to come here to America. I remember they weren’t exactly on board at first when I told them I wanted to pursue art as a career – I don’t blame them at all, as it was almost unheard of to them for a Vietnamese person to become an artist, much less a “successful artist”. However, after seeing how passionate I still was, they gave me their approval. I did face criticism from my relatives and family friends throughout my time in college, but my parents still remained one of my biggest supporters regardless. I am forever grateful to them for how they have always wanted the best for me.
Eventually down the line, I was able to focus on just my own growth but in a way, this led to one of my other biggest challenges being an internal struggle with myself. As much as I loved learning in college and sharpening my technical skills, it became a battle when there were times I couldn’t see the results I wanted to see from myself.
In such a competitive field, there were many instances where I felt like I was falling behind. Combined with the current state of the industry and how many lay-offs occur, there were many times I had stopped and questioned if I was going down the correct path. Thoughts and feelings of anxiety were almost always in the back of my mind most of my academic career, wondering if there was even any possibility of someone like me finding work and if the sacrifice was worth it.
Although some of these negative thoughts do win over my mind on some days, I have always had to remind myself to not worry about things before they have happened. I feel like it’s very easy for artists to psych themselves out and I am definitely guilty of this. I do have to remind myself of the original reason why I decided to pursue art- which was just because I loved creating tangible things with my own hands and being able to connect with others through my work. Sometimes, it does get easy for me to get lost in my own head, but remembering this helps keep me grounded and refocus on my goals.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I went to school specifically for Illustration for Entertainment Design, but I try my best to dive into as many avenues of art as I can!
I mainly work digitally as an illustrator, particularly being fond of experimenting with various color schemes and having more of a style influenced by traditional painting. Outside of my digital work, I love painting with watercolor in my sketchbook as I feel like this medium helps me work more loosely while simultaneously quicker as well. I really enjoy drawing portraits that are more detail-oriented, such as focusing on details such as the pattern of the clothing the subjects wear or the accessories that they wear, or more narrative scenes of characters interacting with each other.
I have also done work as a graphic designer, particularly enjoying working with vibrant color schemes or experimenting with compositional layouts to create more dynamic layouts. Most of my graphic design work as a freelancer has been for promotional work, and it always brings me joy being able to work with others to bring out their vision.
When it comes to the work I post online, I mainly draw fanart illustrations of my favorite characters from various franchises! It is a great way for me to relax while still creating art, as well as challenge myself creatively to reinterpret these characters in my own eyes. Recently, within the past year, one of my good friends invited me to share a table with them as an art vendor at various conventions here in Southern California – it has been an incredible learning experience, but it definitely opened up a new world for both of us as well. It is incredibly fun being able to talk to other people who enjoy the same things that we do, and unbelievably heartwarming to hear people express their interest in the art we create in person.
With most of my work in general, I would say I like to try to capture whimsical yet cozy moods. I try my best to capture the intimate connections between characters when they interact with each other within an illustration or be conscious about the color schemes I choose to use and how they would make the viewers feel.
In a way, I don’t feel as if I have one specific specialty as there is so much more I would love to learn. To me, I view the different fields of art as different languages – it’s really amazing how you could use different mediums to convey various messages and moods. I feel like I am always a student at heart as I love to constantly be learning and it’s my goal to become more proficient in various aspects of art, in a similar sense as how many would like to learn more languages and become multilingual.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
To look around instead of looking up.
As I have mentioned before, due to the competitive nature of the art industry, it is very easy to compare yourself to others and many may try to pit you against others who aspire towards the same field as you.
It does get disheartening after a while, as I feel like it puts a barrier between fellow artists from trying to understand each other and learn together to only viewing each other as competition.
One of the things I love about art is broad it is – you could be a painter, an illustrator, a concept artist, or so much more! I have had the joy of meeting a multitude of amazing artists from different fields throughout my life, and I have always found it incredibly inspiring how despite our different specialties, we all share the same goal of wanting to grow as artists and to just continue creating art.
Instead of viewing the art world as a staircase, where we would have to continuously keep climbing in hopes of reaching the same level as those we put on a higher pedestal, it would be much more rewarding to look around at all the amazing artists who exist alongside you and learn from each other. I would have to credit a handful of my close colleagues and professors from college to be my biggest sources of inspiration to my art career, as just simply seeing them being passionate about their work inspires me to continue forward with honing my own craft.
I have been fortunate enough to have met an amazing and talented group of friends in college, and we all act as each other’s support systems in a certain way. Many of them believed in me even when there were times I didn’t believe in myself, and they gave me the strength and motivation to keep going. Without them, I’m sure I wouldn’t be the artist or person that I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://michellenguyen.art/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tabooclasm
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-nguyen-24a1a8192/
