Meet Bingxuan Tan | Background Artist, Concept Artist & Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bingxuan Tan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bingxuan, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have had a passion for drawing since a young age, I would read Japanese manga or watch animation all the time. However, nobody in my family is an artist, or knows anything about art, so I would always consider drawing as just a hobby for me. I was not the kid with good grades in school, I had a hard time focusing during class. When other students were taking notes, I would just doodle on my notebook. My teachers were always so pissed at me because I didn’t pay attention to whatever they were teaching. At this point, I never considered being an artist for my future. During the senior year of my high school, I realized everyone except me seemed to know what they wanted to be doing and what college they wanted to go to. I figured since I’m not good with most subjects but drawing, why not go to an art school. During the years I’m at the Academy of Art, I gained a better understanding of what an artist can do, there are many career paths for an artist. I decided to pursue a career in the animation industry as a Background Artist!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There were certainly many challenges, Sometimes I feel like I lost my imagination, sometimes I feel self conscious when I see there are so many amazing artists out there that are better than me, sometimes the finances are struggling. I trained myself to embrace my feelings, and having a stronger mentality, when things didn’t go my way I can have a better mind set to face it. I found my confidence in my consistent hard work, I put extra time into my craft, thinking that today I should get better than yesterday. With This mindset, I think I improved myself a lot, skill-wise.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I certainly have many good memories in LA, Silver Lake and K-Town are two areas I love to hang out the most. I love the vibe and views of Silver Lake, and the amazing food at K-Town. During the day we could go shopping at Little Tokyo, and have some Japanese snacks for lunch. For dinner I would take my friends to get some crazy good Korean Barbeque at K-Town, then we can go dance a little at Break Room 86, or go to The Satellite to grab a drink and watch a live concert. After we get a little wasted, we can take a walk on Wilshire Blvd. I mean its LA, there are so many options to spend a couple days there.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I could not be more grateful for having all these support around me, my parents, my girlfriend and my best friends. I could never achieve what I have today without the support from them. When I’m self-doubting and thinking about give up, they always believed in me and helped me overcome the negativity.

And all the amazing artists and mentors I met along the way, they inspired me to be a better artist. They helped me grow as an individual as well as a professional artist.

Website: https://waynesomad.artstation.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waynesaidkillthem/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bingxuan-tan-8851541b3/