Welcome to my blog!

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Lyan Henst, I am a student at DMUIC and I am writing this blog to document my work for the current academic year. I am experienced with illustration, photoshop, java, HTML & CSS. For the coming few years I will be studying product design and hopefully find my place in this field. 

One of the artists that inspired my style in illustration is Kan Liu, a digital illustrator. He created his own universe with unique characters, places and animals. His style of rendering and shading is what interests me most, the shapes and colours he uses to bring all his art pieces to life and add character to them. With every piece that is uploaded, he expands on the universe he created and leaves me wondering what else it out there. 

The piece below is a digital artpiece, created in photoshop. The main focus in this piece are actually the creatures behind the character, as they were newly designed, and the water sword. The colours are relatively natural, with some vibrancy added in the details of the hats and the face of the character. 'Beautiful blue skies with strong sunlight shining down on the character, he captures this atmosphere so well.' (Sam Yang, 2022). Most of Kan Liu's pieces consist of similar use of colours, mostly natural with vibrant details, which makes the focus of the piece stand out clearly. 

The shading is rough and sharp, the brushstrokes are visible on every piece of fabric or skin, it takes away from the realism, but to me it adds so much more personality to it. 'Kan understands that it is not about the little things, it is about the bigger read of the whole thing.' (Drawbli, 2022) Every brushstroke seems to be its own colour and even though they are sharp and distinct, they come together perfectly. 

Kan Liu (2023) WaterSword Squad

There is a story in every piece of this series and it is completely up to the viewer to interpret what is happening on the other side of the character's viewpoint. I am impressed by how the facial expressions, character poses and lighting tell these stories and I often use similar techniques in my own pieces to keep myself from getting lost in minor details and focus on what brings my art together.

 

Through this specific series, Kan Liu taught me that realism and perfection is not what I need for my art to look good to me and that I can achieve what I envisioned through rough brushstrokes, choosing the correct colours and lighting my pieces effectively. 'Sometimes in life we strive for perfection, but Kan Liu's process teaches us that from time to time we should step out and try something simple.' (ShO, 2023).

I hope to apply what I have learned in the past on my venture into product design and keep in mind that perfectionism is not the way to go for me, to trust the process, be kind to myself and be patient with my progress.

References:

 

Sam Yang (2022). TOP 15 ARTISTS. EVER. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZxc71tUz8s [Accessed 22 Nov. 2022].

Drawbli (2022). Is Kan Liu the Greatest Artist Alive? - SPOILERS: Yes. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfoItviyzIc [Accessed 9 Jan. 2024].

ShO (2023). I analyzed Kan Liu’s art so you don’t have to. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPn6SKLVEQE [Accessed 9 Jan. 2024].