Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christian Chang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christian, appreciate you joining us today. Is there a lesson you learned in school that’s stuck with you and has meaningfully impacted your journey?

I used to have a surprisingly myopic view of what it took to become an artist. I think I just wanted to believe that if I worked hard enough to master my craft, things would work out smoothly. But in art school, I was caught off guard by how many other skills we were told we’d have to learn alongside art. In hindsight, I guess that should have been an obvious fact, but even after being told that skill alone wouldn’t get me far, I still had a difficult time grasping that idea. Being an easy person to work with, getting things done on time, just being polite and friendly. I knew intellectually that these things mattered, but I don’t think I quite understood how important people skills were. Another concept that I spent most of my time in school struggling with was doing things for the sake of doing them. Joining a competition, submitting work to a publication or show, emailing an artist that I’m a fan of, tasks that come with a risk of rejection were things that I avoided. It took me a while to internalize that the worst-case scenario is not nearly as bad as the regret of not trying.

Christian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Korean-American illustrator, born and raised in Southern California, but currently based in Brooklyn, New York. I became interested in art at a pretty early age, and luckily my family was supportive enough to support me, which I realize is a great privilege. I thought that I hated history until I took an art history class in high school. I loved that class and I realized that adding “art” to anything immediately made it more engaging and exciting. As for my illustrations, I like to disengage viewers with a seemingly bright or playful image but incorporate more contemplative or darker elements that hopefully catch people off guard. I love art that has a sense of depth, both in terms of technique as well as metaphor, so I try my best to create compelling images that also hint at something unspoken. With anything that I make, my hope is that, whether or not they like it, they can feel my heart and the bits of my personality that find their way into it.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There are so many resources that colleges have but don’t advertise, so I wish I had done some more research earlier to take advantage of those things, but I think the resource that I had never even considered was other artists I look up to. I always thought of other artists and illustrators as celebrities, and of course, there are a lot of them who are, but there are also a ton who would gladly answer an email asking for advice. It took me some time to see that these people are just like everyone else, and if you’re nice and polite there’s a good chance that they will reciprocate those feelings.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My main drive, at least at the moment, is being able to do what I love to support myself and the people I love. I guess that sounds very vague and cliche, but to be honest, my image of success was just that. I hear over and over again how unpredictable life is, so I don’t feel the desire to tell people my specific goals. I tend to keep things close to my chest, and I feel like having a general idea of where I want to go while keeping an open mind and going with the flow is the right path for me. Hopefully I’m not completely wrong.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://changchristian.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianchangart/
• Other: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/cchang/