The drawing utilizes back print paper as the background, which makes the snake stand out. Their most recent piece in the series features ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes, which was completed digitally in mid-March. “ has a lot of diversity and puts a lot of emotion and uses symbolism in her art, which I find very unique,” said junior Shannon Wang, a close friend of Chiu. One of Chiu’s favorite drawings was inspired by the K-Pop band A.C.E, with members Jun and Chan swimming together in blue and red hanboks, respectively. Currently, they have 15 pieces including eight completed drawings and seven sketches, which explore concepts including thalassophobia (fear of the ocean) and automatonophobia (fear of animatronics). The time to complete drawings range from one hour to a few months. In August 2021, for their AP Drawing class, Chiu, not planning to submit their works, started a portfolio pertaining to the concept of phobias. However, Chiu has also found commissions to be helpful when experiencing art block, as the guidelines and requirements provide them with an idea of what to put down on paper.Īlthough there is not a common theme across all of Chiu’s works, they enjoy drawing darker concepts to reflect their fears. However, they soon realized that having others dictate their style and elements in their works can be an arduous task instead of art being a relaxing hobby, they constantly wondered whether their commission was valid in others’ eyes, in addition to the pressure of deadlines set by their customers. “I do see more value in my drawings now, but probably not to the extent of what other people would think.” “My drawings were a lot cheaper when I first started, because I thought my drawings weren’t valuable enough,” Chiu said. Currently, headshots cost around $20 torso and up drawings cost $40 and full-body drawings cost around $60. Thus far, they have sold more than 10 pieces. They began commissioning their work to get a taste of being a professional artist in 2020. They were also a part of a Twitter group in 2020 that gathers artists who draw pop culture idols while incorporating the artists’ own culture: For example, inspired by their Japanese heritage, Chiu drew Yeojin from the K-Pop girl group Loona in a kimono, and the drawing was featured in a fan-made magazine that includes a collection of artists like Chiu who make fanart for Loona. ” Though it remains one of their greatest achievements, they were surprised to hear they had been selected as one of the reward recipients, since they felt that the piece was less reflective of their creative thoughts and more of their technical skill. In 2019, Chiu won a Scholastic Art & Writing Silver Key with the observational drawing “ Tea Party. Having the patience and motivation to finish a piece is one of the biggest challenges Chiu faces when drawing nonetheless, art also has become something Chiu can “easily lose in.” Most days, Chiu estimates they spend around six hours drawing and sketching. “I was bad at it, but I didn’t take that remark to heart and just continued to pursue my passion.” He told my mom, ‘Your daughter is not good at calligraphy, so she can’t be good at art,’” Chiu said. “My calligraphy teacher was extremely strict. When Chiu was 12, their mom took them to Chinese calligraphy lessons so they would gain exposure to more mediums of expression. They have also worked with many different mediums, including charcoal, chalk, colored pastel, oil, acrylic, watercolor, ink and markers.Ĭhiu’s mom is very supportive of their passion. Compared to pencils and graphite, which are their favorite mediums to use, Chiu found it more difficult to control the medium since “one little detail could ruin the entire piece.” Despite their age difference of 10 years, Chiu and Ricky have always remained close.Īpart from traditional drawings, Chiu has also experimented with sculpting and printmaking, which are more hands-on and intricate. “I would watch him draw in his room, and it was pretty mesmerizing because I loved his art style,” Chiu said.Īt 28, Ricky now works as a freelance concept artist, and has been in the field since 2015. Growing up, Chiu’s brother, Ricky Chiu, served as their main inspiration to pursue art. Thus, many of Chiu’s classes are art-focused this year, including AP Drawing. When Chiu entered high school, they had already considered art, specifically illustration or character design, as a career. Following in their family’s footsteps, Chiu began their artistic journey at age 6 over time, they grew to love illustration and wanted to pursue it as a career. Trumpet players, ballet dancers and purse makers - these are the kinds of artists in senior Shani Chiu’s (they/them) family.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |