Interview with Illustrator Victo Ngai

Escape From Illustration Island is collaborating with Dripbook to produce a series of interviews with some of their featured Illustrators, beginning with the following discussion with artist Victo Ngai. 

Victo graduated from Rhode Island School of Design majoring in illustration. Her works have received recognitions from American Illustration, Communication Arts, Spectrum, Society of Illustrator New York, LA Society of Illustrator, 3X3, CMYK and Applied Art.

EFII: I often think of you as a “rising star” in the Illustration industry because I see you progressing at an incredible rate, landing killer jobs, and creating work on a seemingly constant positive streak. To what do you attribute your success as an artist?

Victo Ngai: Thanks Thomas! I am very grateful that I have had a good start but I don’t think I am anything close to being successful yet. There are a few things that helped me a lot-

First, dare to desire. There’s a book recommended by Yuko Shimizu called “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be”. I find what’s being said in the book very true. I was mediocre in RISD for the longest time but I always wanted to be good-the desire to get better has been the strongest motivation for me to work harder.

Second, work hard on the right things at the right time. For example, it’s easy for students and new illustrators to be overwhelmed and prematurely spend a lot of time on promotion while the priority should really be building a strong portfolio. Looking back, I am glad RISD is relatively sheltered from all the business aspects/ hustling-bustling, I could really have quite time to let my thought sinks, focus on learning and making art.

Third, luck. I have been lucky to have great people around me. My parents are very supportive of my career despite the fact that illustration is not a highly-regarded profession in Asia. My teacher Chris Buzelli has taught me everything I knew about editorial illustration. Art directors like SooJin Buzelli (Plansponsor) and Aviva Michaelov (The New York Times) have taken the risk and given me my first jobs. Friends and mentors have been very generous with great advises and referring me to new art directors…I guess there’s nothing one can do about luck but I believe in Karma- if one is genuine and nice to others, it comes back as a full circle.

EFII: Your work is has a refreshing look to it that stands out well in a growing sea of Illustration. What are some visual influences that make their way into your work?

VN: I am very influenced by things I saw growing up- oriental arts like Chinese Nian-hua and other folk arts and crafts, Japanese Ukiyoe, the skyscrapers, crammed back streets and neon signs in Hong Kong.etc. I have mentioned this in every interview I did before but it’s one of the wisest advice I was ever given- ” Style is overrated, it’s merely a habit of drawing. Everyone has a unique style because everyone has a unique life”-Chris Buzelli. This made me realized being honest to oneself is the key to bring out the uniqueness in oneself.

EFII: Could you share your mental approach to developing concepts for your Illustrations?

VN: I always want to be better at coming up with concepts and still trying to figure out the best approaches. Usually when I start with an assignment, I would read through the material a number of times to understand the main point. I would underline phrases that give me hunches or jot down words that come to mind while reading. After I feel like I have a good understanding, I like to stay away from the given material and work with the hunches and elements I extracted – this help to free my thoughts from literal images such as business man with suitcase, dollar signs, piggy banks.etc. I would explore and develop the hunches until I get stories, scenarios or metaphors that work for the main point.  Sometimes it helps to think backward too, especially for more abstract concepts – I would think of what kind of imageries, color or design I want to create and try to make that work with the story. I like this approach because this makes the piece that much more personal and fun.

EFII: Your Illustrations seem to be a great combination of traditional and digital techniques. Could you describe the technical side of your creative process?

VN: Sure. I draw my lines mainly with nib pens, sometimes with brushes or rapidograph pens. Then I create layers of textures on separated pieces of paper with various media (pencil, charcoal, crayon, paint…) on a lightbox. Afterwards, I have everything scanned, digitally colored and composed together in Photoshop. Here is a link to my process post- http://victo-ngai.blogspot.com/2011/05/honolulu-mag-new-illo-and-first-process.html

EFII: What do you like about your work, and what do you think Art Directors like about it?

VN: I really enjoy the process. The works seem to always take on its own life after a certain stage and there are always surprises with the final. There were times I thought I knew exactly what I wanted but the illustration disagreed and wanted to go into a different direction. I would give it a try and usually the “accidents” are better than what I have planned. The illustrations are also like time-capsules for me as I like to sneak in personal memories or feelings in them. I was told that Art Directors like how I translate dry articles into pleasing/fun images which work with the story but can still stand alone as a piece of art.

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Special thanks to Victo Ngai and Dripbook for making this interview possible.

You can view more of Victo’s Illustration work here, and you can learn more about Dripbook’s promotional tools for creatives here.

Related Posts:

• Interview with Illustrator Michael Byers
• Interview with Illustrator David Habben
• EFII Podcast Episode 28 – Dripbook
• EFII Podcast Episode 27 – Promotion

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