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

Alright, Yang 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.

For me, the most meaningful project must be my first attempt at a picture book project. It originates from the affection for my kitten and the close connection between human beings and pet animals.
The story is about a cat in heaven works hard to get a ticket to return to the real world. He goes back to the little girl as a stuffed toy. Although the girl’s parents can’t see and don’t believe it, the girl knows that her kitten comes back to see her. However, as the kitten’s body becomes more and more transparent, the girl realizes that it’s their time to say goodbye. One night, the kitten left quietly, leaving a note with cat paw prints.
My cat Sesame has inspired me of the creation of the story. Compared with other pets, he has been with me for the longest time, including the most stressful time of my schoolyear. I hope this companionship will last forever, but I know everything has an end. When it comes to death, I am overwhelmed by fear and unrest. I dream whether they would come back as little ghosts, even for a short while. My experience, together with my friends’ feelings towards their pets, have inspired me to create such a short story, where people and pets are happy and care about each other. Although the ending comes with some melancholy, it still left some hope for imagination. I hope my story will console people who deeply love their pets.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am Yang Qian, a Chinese illustrator who is now studying in Atlanta, GA. I focus on children’s books and always have a deep love of storytelling through my artworks. I love to combine digital media and traditional watercolor together to create meaningful and engaging visuals that touch the hearts and minds of children and families around the world.
After I got my bachelor’s degree in financial management, I started to become less interested of those terms and figures. I was troubled about what to do in the future. Then it occurred to me that since drawing is something that I have held on to since I was a child, maybe I can try to learn it in depth and make it my future career. I made the decision to chase my dream of being an artist. I spent months working on my works of art and finally got the chance to study illustration.
I use my imagination and passion to evoke warmth and emotional connection. Although I like to create children’s books, I’ve always tried to draw something that would touch and warm both kids and adults, something that they will remember.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist means that I have full freedom to convey my feelings, thoughts and dreams through my drawings. I could take every audience into the world in my imagination. The most rewarding aspect for me is the deep emotional connection with my readers. It’s a wonderful experience that people resonate with my works. All my friends, whether they had pets before, were touched after they read the story of the kitten and the little girl in my picture book. That makes me feel that people can share their experience and feelings, and my story could find meanings in others’ lives.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Tom and Jerry holds a special place in my creative journey as an illustrator. Since I was a child, my dad bought me all the Tom and Jerry discs and we would spend hours watching them again and again. Even now I can still remember the plots in each episode.
The characters design in this cartoon is fantastic. All of them use exaggerated expressions and body language to communicate their emotions without dialogues. This has inspired me to focus on character design to tell the stories that kids would understand immediately, which is important in children’s books.
It also has imaginative plots and wild ideas in it, which always makes me excited every time. As a children’s illustrator, there’s no doubt that I imagine all the time. Fantasies that seem unrealistic to others can become part of our work.
This cartoon has simple graphics but powerful visual style. I learnt from this that sometimes less is more. This has influenced how I balance simplicity with details in my own illustrations, making them accessible while still rich in meaning.
As an artist, I like to be open to everything in the world and keep learning. I would keep creating artworks that resonates with children and adults, allowing them to experience the joy and wonder of storytelling through my art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yangqianart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yang_qian_art?igsh=MTgzaTYyaHk2bmZkdw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086176965598&mibextid=LQQJ4d