Illustration Projects
Peace (School work with Photoshop)
This piece was one of the three final illustrations project based on personal intended field of illustration. It was inspired by the song, Peace by Alison Wonderland.
Valley (School work with Photoshop)
This piece was one of the three final illustrations project based on personal intended field of illustration. It was inspired by the song, Valley by Honors. The story of the song came from the singer's nightmare that haunted him as a child. He was drowning while people familiar were nearby, but nobody would help. When he thinks about that now, what has crystallized is that there are two choices; to be forced under by the weight, the worries and the doubt, or, stroke by stroke, move yourself to safer waters. Accept the vulnerability of being alone and recognize the strength of self-reliance.
Catching On (School work with Illustrator)
This vector piece was one of the three final illustrations project based on personal intended field of illustration. It was inspired by the song, Catching On by Elephante.
Memories Carved on Bamboos (Photoshop)
​
The topic of this project is about our connection with the nature. My connection with the nature is the memory of walking among a cluster of bamboos in a park in China When I was younger. Some couples or random visitors would carve their lovers' names and words like "love you forever," or "have visited here" in Chinese on the bamboos. Such act was definitely not good for the nature, but it kept a lot of meaningful and unforgettable memories.
When I Saw You (Photoshop)
​
This illustration is for one of the poems "When I Saw You" from Dreaming America: Voices of Undocumented Youth in Maximum-Security Detention (Editor: Seth Michelson).
Pen Illustration (Illustrator)
​
This project was a bit challenging since there were many details on the pen. I used gradient mesh for most of the parts, but it could not resemble some irregular shapes of shadows and marks on the pen. I had to use pen tool to make shapes that gradient mesh could not accurately resemble.
Fall Arts Preview Cover (Photoshop)
​
This was the first assignment from one of my illustration classes (Illustration 1 and 2), and also my first time drawing digitally on a tablet. It was for a Fall Arts Preview magazine cover. I found reference photo of a tree in a worm's-eye view, and drew some sketches on paper. Then, I scanned the final sketch and drew again with brush tool in Photoshop.
The State (short story illustration)
​
This illustration is for a short story, the State from the New Yorker. The story is about a man with interracial background (White and Native American) who struggled with his identity and drinking problem. He eventually overcame his problems by focusing on his only passion-drum playing. Everything was drew with brush tool in Photoshop except the two photos selections in his eyes.
Book Cover Design for Everlost
​
Everlost is one of my favorite books of all time, but its original cover looks out-dated and blurry. Instead of making silhouettes of the two main characters like the original design, I decided to use the ghostly Twin Towers, which actually existed in the story, as the main focus of my cover design. I made the background with Photoshop and assemble them with text in InDesign.