Meet Zhanrui (Jerry) Liu | Visual Development Artist & Cat lover

I was born and raised in Sichuan China, I was the only kid in my family. I loved doodling on the wall of my parents’ house when I was a kid, I still remember my dad have to paint the wall constantly. I feel most comfortable expressing myself with drawings and capture movement with my crayon. I grew up watching animations like Coraline, Corse Bride, Rise of the Guardians, Wall-E, Toy Story, and I love losing myself in those imaginary worlds.

However, I never consider art as a career, probably because my family is not very artistic. Growing up, my parents were hoping that I will get into law or medical university, and every relative always tell me that it’s so hard to make art as a full-time job, so in high school, I stopped drawing and focused on the academic side, every day, I repeat the same routine, study math, and science and trying really hard to solve the equation. But as time goes by, part of me wilt a bit more each day. I feel alone and robotic.

Near the end of high school, I tried to look into myself and see what do I really want, it was a difficult time with a lot of uncertainty and indecisiveness. I repeatedly asked myself where do I see myself in the future. Until a day that I decided to rewatched Coraline for I don’t even know how many times, I feel so alive, and I know that I can’t deny my passion for animation. So I blindly hold on to this dream. Fortunately, I have very supportive parents that allow me to chase my dream and be myself, I feel so grateful that they are my strongest backing. And finally, I found a “home” for my heart.

My art school was amazing, I was fortunate enough to meet a bunch of amazing artists who share the same passion as me, college time was absolute bliss. I remember sketching at museums, doodling at a crowded café, and painting at the beach shivering with a cold wind.

Whenever I have time, me and my friends love to visit local galleries, museums because I can experience art-making and nothing is more inspiring than a good exhibition. The gallery is also a space to connect with amazing artists, so I love to attend the exhibitions. Fortunately, I got some invites to exhibit at themed galleries with some amazing artists in the past, including some of my favorite shows: Pandora’s Box, The Tombs, World Roulette, Floral Fauna Gallery, Hometown Eats, After Hours, all the experiences are mind-blowing and seeing how different artists interoperate the same idea with different approaches even different medium, and exhibits alongside with those amazing artist are all inspiring. And this year, I will attend the LightBox Expo, and having this opportunity to exhibit alongside the best of the artists from the industry is exciting and I’m really looking forward to it.

2020 was a year of struggle as well as a blessing, after graduated with a degree in Visual Development, the pandemic changed almost everyone’s life. In this chaos, I was so blessed and fortunate to get an offer from LAIKA, where I have always dream of going. So I decided to join the art team without a hesitate and worked on LAIKA’s next film. It is a true bless and because of this experience, I met many amazing artists that I admire, Laika is full of the top artists from the animation industry I was blown away by those amazing talented artists and it was so exciting to work alongside with them and learn from the best.

I have been working with different studios on various project including a TV show, Commercial, Feature films, and each experience is so unique and it is amazing to learn how different production works in their own way. It was always fun to see the artistic collision, and it always ends yo with mind-blowing results. Recently, I worked on a commercial at Linetest, and it was a super meaningful project that I felt so blessed to be a part of. Hopefully, this project will be out soon. Part of the reason I love about animation so much is that animation is so flexible and full of potentials, each production I worked on is vastly different, but because of that diversity, each experience is so unique and I’m so glad that I can be part of those fun “ride”. And I’m so glad that I took the bold move and follow my dream. I’m super excited to see what comes next!

There’s a place that I never had a chance to visit but it is always on my bucket list, and it would be wonderful to see the hidden gem of the city with my friends together, especially due to COVID, it’s been a while for me to walk around the city and explore the random corner full of amazing graffiti, or just walk on the beach with bare feet. Staying home more than a year and a half made me realized even just spend a day on the beach with a blanket and sketchbook with friends is enough.

I couldn’t be more thankful for my parents, they’ve always backed me up, even though they did not understand my career choice at the beginning, they still supported me with their trust. Even when I doubt it myself, they always believed in me and helped me overcome the obstacle in my mind.

And along with my journey, I was lucky enough to meet so many amazing friends, mentors, and talented artists, they inspire me every day and helped me grow as an individual as well as a professional artist. And I also want to shout out to Rise Up animation, which provides the mentorship program that has been an integral part of my life, and I met an amazing mentor that guides me through and supplied me with the boost I needed to pursue a professional career in the animation industry.

Last but not the least, I would love to shoutout on some amazing short films that inspire me: Genius Loci, Un Diable Dans La Poche, The Enwinding Threads, Sister, Colza, Les mots de la carpe, Onions