Meet Ruiqing Qu | illustrator

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

Hi Ruiqing, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I think the most important factor behind my success has been persistence, or as I call it, “blind confidence”. Before I had access to more and better work, I was always confident that my work was excellent. Even though it was sometimes questioned or denied, as long as I was confident enough, my flaws eventually became my personal style, and that’s what made it difficult for others to imitate. It also gives my work some audience. Another important factor, I think, is being sensitive enough, and I’ve always believed that creators should get bored with their work faster than the audience does. It sounds strange and painful, but I think this pushes the artist to find language that is more motivating, and in a way it also motivates the audience. It’s one of the main reasons why artists have always been loved and accepted! I think.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve been trying to draw since I was very young. It’s really interesting. A lot of my inspiration comes from my own experiences in life, sometimes including music, books and movies. When I first started studying painting systematically, I realized that I was fascinated by color, and I was always excited by the use of color in masterpieces, I also find that color is an important element that directly arouses the emotions of the audience. In a way, this is similar to music. If the composition of a painting is like drumbeats in music, then the colors of a painting are like melodies in music, together they form the music.

So I started exploring the use of colors in my works, hoping to bring good feelings to others. At first, it was very difficult, and I always couldn’t reproduce the effect I imagined. It wasn’t until later that I realized that color was only part of the picture. To present the most desired effect, I needed to learn and try more things. But this process is very difficult. to draw moving work requires you to feel with all your heart, but many times you will hurt yourself by being overly sensitive. But during this period, I received a lot of encouragement and support from people, and sometimes I received feedback from audiences from all over the world, and I found that people’s interpretations of the paintings were so in line with my original intention, it made me feel ecstatic.

I have also learned a lot in the process of exploring my own painting language. I began to realize that I wanted to express my feelings more than always focusing on improving my painting skills. Some paintings may not bring people a beautiful feeling, but they are of extraordinary significance.

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 like nature, so I should take my friends to some outdoor activities! If conditions permit, I would like to go to the nearby mountains with my friends to get unique experiences, such as climbing mountains, picking mushrooms and chestnuts, looking for fossils, etc. ,I also enjoy visiting botanical gardens and museums, as well as art exhibitions. So I want to bring my friends to my school art museum, where often have a wonderful exhibition content, I believe they will like.

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?
My first thought is my classmates and friends! I don’t think I would have succeeded if I hadn’t lived and studied with so many great young artists/designers. Of course, there are times when I get anxious because everyone is so good. But more often than not, I see people around me working hard, which makes me want to explore the field I love! In this environment, I finally have my own painting style. I also learned in the process what I really like, and that doesn’t change with time or circumstance.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/quruiqing

Other: weibo：https://www.weibo.com/u/5266164510

Image Credits
image credits:Ruiqing Qu