We recently connected with Yubo Duan and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yubo, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Since I was a kid, I’ve been into doodling, like copying characters from anime. From the time I was in junior high school, I spent all my after-school time drawing as a way to rebel against the busyness and emptiness of school.
By the time I got to college I had my own time, and that’s when I had a sense of finding the style I wanted, and studying and shaping it!Perhaps the most important skill for a creator is to be able to take pleasure in the process of creating, and that is the greatest talent of all. It drives us to find references and polish the script …… do all the very hard things.
One of the more difficult aspects of polishing the style is balancing life and creativity. Creating is a personal endeavour so we need to invest a lot of energy, then we need to have money to support the creation. Maybe it’s a job, maybe it’s a part-time job in a different field ….. In order to keep creating, I have to reconcile my life, I can’t just focus on creating, that would make it carry too much significance, which makes me can’t start lightly.

Yubo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My initial business activity was contributing to publishers. It was also my first book, called ( young girl under Moon.) It was a tutorial book for traditional Chinese painting techniques, and after that, I was contacted by a number of game companies and publishers in the Eastern style and Chinese tradition. I provided illustrations for two books one after another, ‘Biography of Su Shi’ and ‘Poetry’. And I also collaborated for game IPs with a strong oriental flavour such as ‘Yin Yang Shi’, ‘Nine Songs’ and ‘Xuan Yuan Jian’. My works are mostly modelled on ancient textures, I have learnt the texture of rock colours and porcelain slate paintings, trying to restore historical scrolls with strong and powerful textures.

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

One of the most rewarding moments is the moment the work is finished, and the other is the moment I receive a comment. Completing the work gives me a sense of trust in myself, and receiving comments from readers makes me feel like I’ve successfully interacted with the world.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

As my own opinion. Artists, by nature are storytellers. All society can do is listen carefully, treat them fairly and impartially, and use a grading system to ensure an audience for their work. Allowing all stories to happen is the first step to thriving art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.weibo.com/u/5073900972
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%E5%A8%A5%E5%A8%A5-%E7%94%9F%E9%A3%8E%E7%A7%8B-22a9b0324/

Image Credits

生风秋 娥娥