Meet Qian Ling | Illustrator

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

Hi Qian, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
For me, art means a way of pursuing freedom. Since I was a kid, a lot of novel ideas always came out in my mind when I was feeling new things or listening to music. When I grew up, I started to consciously record those thoughts and try to draw them out. The process of creating, especially letting my virtual ideas come true, makes me feel the freedom and enormous pleasure. Because imagination and thinking are endless. Thus, compared to some other jobs, I enjoy the process of soaring in my head and realizing my ideas more.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My personal creations are usually more about exploring our spiritual and inside world. People can usually feel a flow of emotions from my works: lonely, healing, peaceful, happy, etc. I also like to depict the feeling that I feel from songs or movies. Emotional resonance is the connection between my works and the audiences.

It was not easy for me to get to where I am today. Art is sometimes a very spiritual thing. Every period of a bottleneck means I need to go through a process of mental internal friction. And I don’t even know how long it will last. To overcome this challenge is to keep breaking and rebuilding mind-set to find a way-out.

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 didn’t expect this to be the hardest, because I’m new to Shanghai too. I think I’ll design a bus trip with her, like a city adventure! This is the quickest way to get to know the city. And we may be able to encounter different scenery and foods at each stop where we get off. This time just happened to be a good opportunity for us to seeking funs in this city!.

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?
Lisk Feng is an artist who has had a great influence on me. She is one of my enlightenment teachers in illustration area. Before her, the definition of illustrations in China was very vague. When I was getting interested in illustration, I liked to search for some of Lisk’s illustrations and lectures to know about this industry, especially the editorial illustration. Some of her analysis of her works and the sharing of some business cases have greatly influenced how I think in the creation. Although she doesn’t know me, it seems to be that she is a very familiar friend and teacher to me.

Website: https://www.hello-lynn.com/

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