We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hope Wang Xi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Hope Wang thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project for me is creating a children’s book about animal abuse. In the end of my undergraduate years, I gradually started to consider what can I bring to audiences with my cute drawing style. I have been telling that my illustrations are cute. But I’m longing for something more than cute. So for my thesis project, I decided to use my cute style to draw a relatively sad and dark story. I have three cats in China as my pets. Stray animals are abundant and neglected in many parts of the world. I wish to do something for them. So I came up with an idea of creating a story that a stray dog, who had a car accident, went to the heaven, and finally back to the earth. He experienced a lot and had been disappointed to human. But in the end he still chose to believe in human and had a happy life with his owner who saved him from the car accident. The puppy’s choice is like most of the animals. They have such pure hearts and accompany their owners for their whole lives. Even they’ve been betrayed or hurt. They still expect love and offer their love.
I’m glad to create this story and finally have made it into actual books. I wish everyone who reads this book can have some feelings or thinkings.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My love for art started when I was a child. Letting my imagination flow freely, I would draw a story from beginning to end. No matter how many twists and turns stories like Cinderella may have, they always conclude with “They lived happily ever after.” In 2019, I was admitted to the School of Visual Arts, where I was encouraged to use bold colors and try various styles. It allows me to create stories involving simple yet beautiful scenes within fantastic worlds that house charming people and creatures.
I decided to apply for the MFA Illustration Practice at Maryland Institute College of Art after my graduation from SVA. Firstly, I want to develop critical thinking skills to apply to my artwork. Today’s world is fraught with crises and uncertainties. Wars, environmental disasters, and pandemics can destroy everything created and cherished by human beings. If I use a cute style that I am familiar with to depict real-world issues that are sad, heavy, and even cruel, the huge contrast in my work would provoke some thoughts and stir the audience. Secondly, I would make more significant differences in society by adopting different mediums for my work. I spent much time in my breaks working at internships in China, designing WeChat emojis, characters as the city spokespeople, and a Wrapped 2021 Event in Bilibili Shanghai. I worked with people in different fields using different mediums. Through my studies and internships, I have recognized the expressivity of art through the combination of different mediums and fields. A single illustration might have limited effects. But my works can produce more benefits for society if I develop them into handmade books, animation, and 3-D technology, as it may increase interaction and participation from spectators.
In my years at SVA, I took many elective classes related to printmaking and books, such as Silkscreen, taught by David Sandlin, Risograph, and Children’s Book, where I was introduced to create prints and bind them to an actual handmade book. I made three completed handmade books and zines in these classes and plenty of prints of illustrations and endpapers. My favorite one is a Riso printed children’s book, a sweet but dark story about abused animal. This was a try I made that used a different medium and a cute style, trying to convey more than the illustration itself and arouse every reader’s awareness of animal protection.
Before I entered SVA, I had barely created digital illustrations. I found it hard to balance traditional and digital mediums. However, these classes provided me with approaches to creation, as they blurred the boundaries between digital and traditional art, which allowed me to make children’s books with digital techniques while containing the sincerity of handmade artwork. Compared to mature and proficient skills, sincerity makes inspirational artwork. I wish to be a recorder, using my brushes to witness beautiful things that deserve my total efforts, whether the era is perfect.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Before I entered the School of Visual Arts, I had never thought of studying abroad. Learning art in famous Chinese universities is as challenging as the national entrance examination, which can be very cruel. Due to the large population base, the exam has become the fairest and only way for many Chinese students to change their lives. For students who choose an art major, they need to pass some of the school’s art exams first, which are assessed and scored in drawing, gouache, and sketching. These students are then ranked nationally to qualify for admission to those schools, with only the first few hundred selected out of hundreds of thousands of students each year. I put in a lot of hard work to become one of these lucky individuals. In my last year of high school, with the support of my parents, I made the brave decision to leave my hometown and travel alone to the capital, Beijing, in search of better educational resources. In the art training studio, I started drawing in the classroom at seven o’clock every day and attended classes until eleven o’clock at night. I often stayed up until the early hours of the morning to finish the daily assignments. These studios in Beijing have strict management. I needed to share accommodation in dormitories ranging from four to eight people in the same room. I could only rest one day a month, and even if I fell ill, I needed parental permission to take a day off. Nevertheless, this rigorous training was undeniably effective, enabling me to build a solid foundation in just a few months. It allows me to create works more freely and safely now.
Those eight months were a testament to my bravery and perseverance, regardless of the outcome. I will cherish and remember them.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
The first thing I’ve learned is to find my own style or comfort zone where I feel satisfied when drawing. When I first got into illustration, I looked at numerous works of famous illustrators that I admired (I still do!). However, it’s easy for some people to unintentionally imitate or be influenced, losing their personal identity, which I believe is essential for illustrators. Finding one’s own style isn’t easy, and I’m always on the lookout for it. I think it’s vital to do that early on to avoid confusion and improve my skills.
The second lesson hit me when I was in China, working on missions. I learned that it’s crucial not to rush into finishing an illustration without finalizing the draft first unless I’m absolutely sure about it. In the past, I used to start working on the final illustration right after creating and sending out a draft, but I soon realized that redrawing and making changes were common and time-consuming. Now, I know that preparing well and finalizing the draft before proceeding ensures better results and saves me time and effort in the long run. This lesson also applies to large projects we participate in, like thesis project. Being well-prepared at the beginning avoids feeling uncertain and unsatisfied during subsequent refinements, leading to more efficient results.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hopexi0101.com
- Instagram: hopexi0101
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wang-xi-aa89a6263
Image Credits
My (Hope Xi) illustrations