Jay Wu

As an illustration student, the way I am living is like my creative process; I usually don't plan things in advance, but do focus on the current step and do the best I possibly can. Only one thing I can confirm is that I will keep doing what I am doing in the future. I believe that illustration is another language and a form of narration. The combination of unreality and reality is another mode for presenting beauty.

My works have major characteristics of massive cool colors and occasional lines. When I have a very clear idea, the sketch will be very detailed. However, most of my final works are unexpected. I only have very simple composition at the beginning, but then many ideas will continually emerge in the process, and thereby the whole composition can be richer. Digital materials, such as Photoshop and Illustrator, are my main materials presently because digital materials can be easily adjusted. However, I will use both digital and traditional materials jointly in some works sometimes, thereby increasing diversity of texture.

90% of my works is considered to be narrative because various elements in my illustrations have relationships with each other rather than being separate and unrelated. For example, the foregrounds have multiple elements and characters to tell the specific narration. The background is like a stage support the foreground content, and gives views some information about the characters. The color will be used for the depiction of time, emotion, temperature, etc.

I place myself in the middle of realism and surrealism to ponder over problems under most occasions because my idea is not confined to the realism or surrealism exclusively. On the contrary, I am committed to combine two styles to present the beauty between unreality and reality. I call the beauty between reality and unreality a dream. The dream beauty lies in that it brings us from the real world to a wonderful and special space. All impossibilities in reality can be achieved. As an artist, I try to capture these dreams and make people aware of these beauties around us.