NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS
Poster designs shortlisted for Beijing Winter Olympic Games Poster Design Competition
Because inclusivity and diversity are topics rarely represented in the works of Chinese designers, I decided to touch upon these topics in my poster designs. After all, the Olympic Games are all about befriending athletes from around the world.
However, the posters lack a bit of 'Chinese-ness'.
Sabaton fanart reposted by their official account!
I still don't know how this half-hour speed paint caught their attention! Follow @sabaton_character_design for more Sabaton fanart.
Fan animation got 21k views on Twitter
This is a parody recap cartoon of the story plot in the game The King Of Fighters 97 made independently by me. It has blown up in the KOF community on Twitter and received 21k views and nearly 2k likes. Watch it in my Tweet, or check it out in the 'Animation' tab!
New research paper:
Tan, X. (2021). Speed, subjectivity and visual conventions in ethnographic reportage drawings. Drawing: Research, Theory, Practice, 6(1), pp. 153-170.
Abstract:
Reportage drawing is a way of visual journalism and records opinions as well as observation. In ethnographic fieldwork, reportage drawing has been used as a method of visually documenting ethnographic discoveries. The question is: what are the most significant skills that a reportage drawing artist need to effectively document visual materials? This paper proposes three important skills: speed-drawing, understanding of subjectivity, and appropriate use of conventions. Speed-drawing is essential for on-location settings to help quickly capture important aspects of moving subjects. Understanding the influence of subjectivity is important in an ethnographic setting, as it helps the artist to realize what cultural characteristics are valuable from their point of view so they can quickly decide what to record and what to omit in a fast-paced reportage setting. Applying conventions makes it easier to translate three-dimensional scenes into two-dimensional drawings and can also be used to add more information, but needs to be used wisely to avoid loss of crucial visual data. With practice-based research as core methodology, this project justifies the proposed argument with the analysis of my own reportage drawing practice, including both the process and the outcome.
'The 56 Ethnic Groups of China' - won 'Best Traditional Culture Illustration' award in Visual China Commercial Illustration Contest
All 56 illustrations can be found in the 'illustration' tab
