7AT1STROKE – that’s seven questions a day for comic artists and illustrators. This time: Jing Liu.
Born in 1971, Jing Liu is a Beijing native now living in Davis, California.
Why did you start drawing?
Drawing is my long-term hobby, and I find it easier to express abstract ideas with illustrations.
How would you describe your style?
I would like to call it infographic non-fiction. My first major in college was mechanical engineering, which played a role in my drawing style.
Which topics are particularly close to your heart?
History is another long-term hobby. It helps people understand how historical circumstances condition any given event, and look at any given event from different perspectives.
How do you find inspiration?
Historical images are a major inspiration for my work. When researching for „Understanding China through Comics, Vol.5“(Fig. 1), I found a photo taken during the Battle of Hengyang in 1944 (Fig. 2). The photo inspired a ceramic relief (Fig. 3), an acrylic painting (Fig. 4), and an illustration in Vol. 5 (Fig. 5).
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
What can comics, cartoons and illustrations accomplish that other media can‘t?
Compared to text-only non-fiction, graphic novels can use illustrations to visualize complex processes, and to make tedious topics more interesting. Compared to animations and movies, graphic novels can include more textual contents to deliver information.
Your most beautiful/worst experience as a comic artist/illustrator?
The process of creating something new to solve an existing problem is a rewarding experience. As a non-fiction comic history writer and illustrator, I use words and illustrations to make a long topic more enjoyable and more understandable, and I also struggle to keep the balance between illustrations and words, emotion and reason, details and the big picture.
Can you complete the sentence: „It matters to me that…“ for us?
It matters to me that I can solve more and bigger problems.
Comments are closed.