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Rising Stars: Meet Dongyan Xu

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dongyan Xu.

Hi Dongyan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I initially went to the Architecture School of the University of Virginia. It was a good place; the teachers were awesome and the students were kind. I learned a lot there, including the fact that I love seeing buildings but I do not wish to design buildings myself. I like architecture, but I am drawn to the weird, old, ridiculous, badly-designed, evil ones that were really unsuitable for people to live in. So I started to take art classes at the Studio Art building next door and eventually transferred to Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA.) (Not an easy decision at all. It took one whole year to make the decision and there were a lot of dramas.)

In undergraduate school at MICA, I double majored in illustration and printmaking, and after that I went to MICA’s Illustration Practice MFA program. Aside from illustration I also took classes in animation and fiber due to personal interest. Currently after graduation, I am focusing on illustration and surface design, but I am planning to go back to do some small-scale printmaking again sometime in the future.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think it is a common experience for creatives to have everything go right all the time. I think things are going in the right direction for me, although I am kind of still struggling a little bit. However, the worst obstacle in my road was that art block happened a few years ago in undergraduate school. In junior year I could not finish any drawings, and I kept feeling tired and unable to work. It was confusing and scary; I kept worrying about failing classes (and almost failed.)

It happened due to multiple factors. I had bad workflows at the time. I was very stressed out. I was sleep-deprived and eating little vegetables. I started to draw digitally instead of on paper, and suddenly all my lines got very stiff and I lost control of the amount of details in my work. I assumed I just needed to get over the “junior-year-burnout” by working harder than before.

Being stubborn (dumb) did not work; the problem lasted for over two years until I started to take care of each individual issue.

I think it is a horribly misleading idea that working hard on drawing itself will solve every problem in your art. It is a trap; many of my peers in art school fell into it as well. To make good art, it is necessary to be patient with your problems and take care of your own life.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have a lot of interests and love doing different things. At the moment, I focus on creating illustrations in two styles, one with thin intricate lines and the other with bold black lines. I consider my art style influenced by printmaking methods I learned in the past, such as etching and relief printing; I enjoy drawing lines and textures, and I have good sense with black and white drawings. Recently I have also been experimenting with animated gifs. I am working on several new ideas, including a small series of gifs of characters being bothered by strange animals. I’m also thinking about working on some longer animated music videos once I get more familiar with the workflow.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Check out my print shop at https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/dongyanxu_art/ I am also always looking for freelance illustration work.

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