Meet Peggy Shu | TV Background Designer & Visual Development Artist

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

Hi Peggy, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. I spent mot of my childhood either reading mangas with friends or drawing manga at my desk. Growing up in Taiwan, anime and Japanese manga were definitely a huge part of my life. I was fascinated by how much story-telling a single brush stroke could do in one panel. I wanted to be a manga artist and make a living out of art. Meanwhile, I struggled a lot academically because I only wanted to draw. My parents realized I did not fit well with Taiwan’s educational system. Therefore, we moved to the U.S. after I graduated from middle school. (Thanks mom and dad!)
When I first moved to the US, I had to “give up” a tiny part of me in order to adapt a new culture, new language, and a new life. For a couple years, I did not read mangas or watch anything in Mandarin. I was trying very hard to absorb all the new things.
It wasn’t until my college years that I felt slightly more comfortable reconnecting with my Taiwanese roots. I didn’t realize how much I miss my own culture. I started developing personal projects about Taiwan. I like painting the busy streets in Taipei, the night markets, also THE FOOD. I noticed drawing something about Taiwan help curing my homesickness so I just drew more. The other thing I got to reconnect is my love for manga. Artists such as Ai Yazawa, Naoko Takeuchi, Takehiko Inoue, Takeshi Obata, and Hiromu Arakawa continue to inspire and motivate me today.
Even though I feel more comfortable in my own skin now, I think I’m still figuring out who I am…both as a person and as an artist. I guess i’m still “work in progress.” Ha! One thing I know for sure is everything that have happened in my life will help my art and help me to grow somehow.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I didn’t know which part of design pipeline in animation I want to focus on professionally until I graduated from college. I first thought I would like to become a character designer but then I noticed I had more joy when designing a bridge than a character. I realized I really enjoy the idea of world building. I love designing anything related to environments especially cities. I’ve always been impressed by how much a city could inhale.

However, designing and painting a full scene of environment was very overwhelming for me. I had a hard time organizing details and clutters for a scene and everything would end up looking too plain.
I found out the best way for me to avoid designing something too flat and simple is collecting a bunch of references and have a piece of professional background painting right next to my photoshop file to help me compare. (For example, when I paint a jungle scene. I would design the outline first then I would have either Tarzan’s background paintings or Princess Mononoke’s background paintings next to my photoshop files. I wouldn’t copy it but I would compare how much details they put in there.)
Self studies wasn’t enough for me so I decided to take advantage of all the online art classes during pandemic. When I found out I want to fully focus on becoming an environment designer. I started taking a bunch of online art classes that focus on light and colors, world building, form language, and visual development etc.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are A LOT of people I have to thank. First, I need to thank my parents and family for supporting my dream and even moving across the world just so I could have an art education that I want.

I want to thank my college friends: Garrett Gerberding and Aaron Cobb. They helped me A LOT when I first started my career in animation and they always give me very solid feedbacks on my paintings.
Secondly, I really want to give a shout out to both Warrior Painters and Asians in Animation, they hosted amazing events to help artists grow and learn!
AND my Women in Animation mentorship group led by Andrea Mercado who spent so much time and efforts answering everyone’s questions and hosting interviews from different artists just so we could have a better understanding of the animation industry.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I could not finish my portfolios without amazing teachers: Armand Serrano (mentorship), Kenny Vo(Brainstorm), and Elad Tibi. (Concept Design Academy)

There are too many people who have helped me on my road of breaking into animation industry that the list could just go on and on…

Website: https://peggyshu.wixsite.com/peggyshu

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