We were lucky to catch up with Emily Huang recently and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I recently illustrated a childen’s storybook. The author initially reached out to me after finding my art on Instagram. I was very flattered because I’ve never pursued such a large project before, while juggling a 9-5 job. To learn more about the project, the author shared with me the manuscript for the storybook and I learned more about their story behind the storybook. I started imagining how the illustrations could look like. After many back and forth communication and pauses due to life happenings, we agreed to move forward with the illustrations.
The storybook is about a fawn who lost its mother. However, the fawn finds comfort, love and protection in its surrounding nature, such as the sun, meadow, wind, birds, and flowers. As I started sketching my ideas and painting, I was so honoured to be part of the author’s journey in sharing such a beautiful and intimate story that was on their heart for a long time. I think we can all relate to this story, even as adults, that have experienced loss or know of someone going through such an experience.
Emily, 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?
Since I was young, I always enjoyed drawing and painting. I would draw every day and my parents finally placed me in art lessons on Saturdays so I have a creative outlet to further explore art. They thought, perhaps I will pursue an art and design degree in the future (I ended up studying something else!). Out of all the art mediums, I enjoyed watercolor the most. After many years of art lessons, I stopped as life got busier. Ten years ago, I found myself painting again as a hobby and decided to create an Instagram account to share my art. Back then sharing art on social media wasn’t as common, so it was very brand new to me. From, there people started to ask me to commission paintings for them whether that is their pets, a building that holds memories for them, or landscapes. I continued to pursue art while juggling a 9-5 job day job!
Over the years, my art style continues to change and I’ve incorporated more art mediums into my paintings besides watercolor, such as gouache and markers. My interest today is focused on painting animals and buildings. I particularly enjoy painting buildings because they can speak to history and a community, evoke memories and nostalgia. I like to paint buildings not how they look exactly in real life, but to include texture, non-angular lines, different shades of colour to add some personality to the paintings. Otherwise, as my old art teacher would say, you might as well take a photo of the object than to paint it if they look exactly the same!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
It’s rewarding to be able to share my art with people, whether it’s because they relate to the paintings or because I was able to capture their thoughts and reflections through art. Being an artist on Instagram has it’s ups and down, but I have been able to connect with and meet many artists online and in person that I wouldn’t have been able to if it weren’t for these social media platforms. Having this creative outlet also allows me to paint as a way to slow down and express myself in a fast paced world.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn (and still unlearning to this day) the need to constantly produce work in order to be an adequate artist. At some point, I was painting everyday while working a 9-5 not because I always wanted to but because I pressured myself into thinking this is what being an artist means. At one point I was staying up late to paint something before going to bed, while having to wake up early the next day for work. The more work I produced, the better I am, or so I thought.
One day it finally dawned on me that this isn’t sustainable and it’s silly that I fell into this toxic mentality where I was constantly comparing myself to other artists. Producing my best work is when I feel free to paint, not when I push myself to produce simply for the sake of producing work. I regularly ask myself if I’m painting for myself or if I’m painting because I’m comparing myself to others.
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