Today we’d like to introduce you to DONG QIU.

Hi DONG, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
This is an ordinary story, and everything seems to be very logical. I have loved painting since I was a child, and I have shown some extraordinary painting talents in the small town where I live. My parents were very happy and sent me to learn professional painting skills. When I was a child, I almost painted in and out of class. I also liked to read books, comics and picture books related to painting. At that time, I didn’t think painting was difficult. It felt as simple as speaking. My mind was filled with all kinds of fantasies and was about to overflow, so I decided to record them all, and naturally began my journey of painting creation.

As I grew older, read more, broadened my knowledge, and changed my environment, I found that there were too many choices: comics, picture books, illustrations? The trial and error along the way finally made me choose illustration. Fortunately, in the second year of my work in illustration, I received an invitation from a very famous movie poster, and I completed it well. At that time, there was a big wave of forwarding on the Internet. In the following years, I worked hard and diligently, and I had a deeper understanding of the illustration industry. This year marks my tenth year as an illustrator, and I still have a lot of things I want to draw: comics, picture books, graphic novels. Maybe my choices will gradually increase?

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would like to say that I am lucky, I can cooperate with good projects and have a certain amount of exposure at the beginning of my work, but I believe that it takes practice to catch this luck. Is it smooth? Maybe. There are definitely difficulties. When I first started working on illustrations, I was unfamiliar with the workflow, how to communicate with multiple people, how to deal with emergencies at work, how to deal with unreasonable modifications, how to balance personal creation and commercial cooperation, etc. These were not small difficulties for me. I felt like I was reborn, but this time, it was not my parents who nourished me, but my colleagues, work, and myself. I summed up all of this in one sentence: style should be refined, life should be purified, and when it is difficult, you should take a breath.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a freelance illustrator. My job is to conceive and draw illustrations according to the needs of the brand. It also includes communication and writing, research and inspiration collection, modification and adjustment, project management, business cooperation and promotion, copyright and contract management, etc. I am best at drawing promotional posters. The most well-known one is the illustration poster of the Chinese movie “Song of the Phoenix”, which was drawn by me. It is also a major turning point in my work.
I don’t think there is anything special about my work. The only thing I can talk about is probably the “creation”. It is sacred and private. It is an exciting and painful process to create something from nothing, just like giving birth. It is not only a display of technology, but also an expression of thoughts and emotions. Through creation, I can explore the unknown, discover myself, and communicate with the world.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
You can contact me by email or private message on the online platform, and add friends or meet to chat in more detail after the initial confirmation of cooperation. You can also follow my social media accounts, follow the latest exhibitions and art festival events, and buy my original merchandise. This is my personal website: https://qiudong-art.com/ will also have my contact details on it.:)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://qiudong-art.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diamonster09/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/diamonster0
• Other: https://weibo.com/u/1773643104