Meet Stella Chen | Story and Visual Development Artist

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

Hi Stella, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in Taiwan. Being Taiwanese has greatly influenced my artmaking as a story artist and visual development artist. I grew up watching a mix of Japanese anime, cartoons, and American Disney and Pixar animated films, which translates to my unique art style and storytelling sensibility today. I enjoy taking the strong story foundation and graphic character designs of American animation and mix in the nuanced themes and characters in Japanese Anime to create my original stories and characters. In addition, the lack of Asian and Taiwanese representation in popular media drives me to tell authentic stories specific to my culture and life experiences.

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.
I am a story and visual development artist. For storyboarding, I love creating authentic stories that empower minority voices and help people connect with one another through universal emotions. I also love building worlds and designing appealing characters as a visual development artist. My strengths lie in appealing characters and nuanced storytelling. It has been a difficult path to where I am now and I am still quite far from my goal. One of the challenges I continue to face is imposter syndrome. Sometimes it is hard to see your own improvement when you are constantly comparing yourself to others. However, I have learned to be kinder to myself and acknowledge the progress I have made throughout the years. I love telling stories full of heart that people from all around the world can relate to. I want to bring my stories from the small platform I have now to a global audience. I am also working on two personal Webtoon series in my free time.

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?
One of my favorite spots in Los Angeles is Little Tokyo in Downtown LA. It is very accessible through the Metro E Line, and there is so many things to eat, do, and see there! I would take my friend to ramen at Men-Oh, have some matcha ice cream at Tea Master, grab a crepe at Millet Crepe, shop in the Japanese Village Plaza, hit up the Gashapon Bandai Gacha store, browse the manga and magazine collection at the Kinokuniya bookstore, and secondhand anime goods at BOOKOFF. Some other spots I recommend in LA are the Santa Monica Pier, Getty Museum, and Super Mario World at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shoutout to all the wonderful people I have met during these past three years in Los Angeles. Without them, I would not have been able to transition and make a home for myself here in LA. These people include my talented classmates in the animation major at the University of Southern California, my roommates, new and old friends, and mentors. I also want to shoutout to my family and relatives back in Taiwan, who have been cheering me on all the way.

Website: https://www.stellatienchen.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellatienchen/

Other: Story Portfolio: https://stellatienchen.wixsite.com/schenstory

Image Credits
N/A