I had the opportunity to have a interview with Chih Hang, a young vibrant illustrator from iStockphoto. Just last year, he has already won “Image of the Week”, 1st place in “Vector Challenge “and he has also been featured as “Artist of the week” in iStockphoto. Let’s hear what he has to say!
Background:
Chih Hang grew up with Japanese Comic books and Nintendo game console. During his school lessons, he continued his adventures by drawing on textbooks. After finishing high school, he went on to do a bachelor degree in Visual Communication major in Graphic Design.
Having worked in various graphic positions in the past 6 years, he got to practice his illustration skills, and he thought about taking it further. However, there were no clear opportunities for him to break into the industry.
In 2006, a colleague introduced him to iStockphoto. It didn’t take long before he was totally into it. The whole community of extremely supportive illustrators kept him motivated to produce amazing works.
Interview:
How do you start your day with?
On the weekdays I start my day with a bottle of pro-biotic drink and a glass of water, read the news for about an hour before I get on with the reality.
Who is your favourite illustrator/designer?
I have few favourite artists. Jason Brooks is my idol, I love the glossiness of his work and admire his commercial success. Another artist I have great respect for is Fujiko Fujio F, he’s probably less known outside of Asia, but his work is full of fun, creativity and lots of positive energy.
What do you love about iStockphoto?
A very friendly and supportive community, and getting feedbacks about the work, so you can learn what works and what doesn’t.
Where do you get new ideas from for submissions to iStockphoto?
From other iStocker’s work (LOL). I do submit seasonal illustrations like for Christmas and so on, but most of the time I just draw what amuses me or things I enjoy doing in daily life.
How does your character illustrations reflect about you?
You can probably tell that I am a happy person by my illustrations, I am quite animated when no one is watching.
Your Disco Divas series seems quite popular in iStockphoto. Tell us a bit about the story behind Disco Divas series.
I discovered the discoball technique and thought it might look cool as dresses, it was also my first attempt drawing something more mature and sexy as stock image.
You have some unique styles for your character illustration. Can you share with us how to create a style for character design?
Well, honestly I am trying to figure it out myself too, but I have a theory, that creating a style is like cooking a great dish. First you learn everything about the ingredients, understand what works well together and why, then just go wild and be totally adventurous, you might just surprise yourself.
What advice do you have for aspiring illustrators starting out on character illustration?
Invest good chunk of time in hand drawing skill, I think this is particularly important for character illustration. I used to start my illustration straight on screen, but lately I’ve been doing sketches of ideas on paper first. Although the draws are not in detail they are incredibly useful as reference, and will definitely increase your production speed.
What books would you recommend for learning character illustration?
Any book with pictures that gets your attention.
How do you improve on your illustration? Do you have any guidance?
Repetition is the mother of all skills, I believe I will get better if I consciously try to improve and learn. I am also convinced that it does take time to develop anything good, so I don’t set unrealistic goals to stress myself.
Now that you have been getting some recognition for your works in iStockphoto. What’s your next step?
I wouldn’t mind trying to get an agent and get more work published in the future, but right now I am happy just polishing my skills here in iStockphoto.
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