Interview with Jason Chan

“As for all of the emotion behind an image, I think that is brought about by every stroke that goes into creating it. If there is no emotion behind something I’m painting, it shows..”
At 2DArtist we welcome all kinds of suggestions from our readers, and we recently had the pleasure of receiving requests for an interview with the popular and talented artist, Jason Chan. Jason has very kindly agreed to let us interview him for this month’s issue, so let’s get down to business!
Hi Jason! Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know that you’re making many of our readers happy little bunnies this month! Now for those who aren’t familiar with your background as an artist, I should really start off by asking you to tell us a little about yourself and how you came to find yourself where you are today …
Well, I’m a freelance illustrator and a concept artist for Massive Black Inc. As a kid, I was really into movies and video games and I started learning 3D. I enrolled at the Academy of Art
University of San Francisco, with 3D as my major, but soon switched to illustration – my true
passion – and got a BFA. I’ve been freelancing for a number of years now. Most of that work is focussed in the fantasy and sci-fi market.

I started off doing small projects and RPGs, and have since moved on to do some trading card games like “Magic: The Gathering”, and a number of book covers. I recently did some sequential work that appeared in the extras of the movie I Am Legend. For the past couple of years I have been working full-time next to a number of amazing artists at Massive Black Inc. as a concept artist for games and movies.
So you originally started out studying 3D, but soon switched over to illustration. What was it that made you realise, “Hey, this isn’t for me!”? Do you have any advice for any other artists out there who might be thinking of making a similar switch, and how do you think the opportunities
between the two genres differ in today’s CG industry?
Well, growing up when 3D was taking off and new technology was constantly allowing filmmakers to turn out new special FX in movies, like Jurassic Park and Terminator 2, I was really excited at the idea that I could be involved in something like that. But at the same time I loved coming up
with characters and creatures, and just drawing in general. I don’t think I really realised I could do that as a job. When I finally did realise I could be a concept artist, I felt a bit discouraged because I learned how hard it was to get in the field, so I decided to learn 3D. But once I was in school, I found that I did in fact have some drawing skill after all and my teachers and peers encouraged me to go for it as an illustrator and concept artist.

Now that I’m working in a studio with both concept artists and 3D artists, I can see that there is a big difference. 2D artists are the idea guys! Our job is to come up with ways to show what the client wants. They might not necessarily be our own ideas, but the job is a little bit more creative than the 3D team’s. Their job is to take our concepts and recreate them in 3D. While there may be less freedom in this, it can be very rewarding to see this idea brought to life. Also, this will be the finished product that the public gets to see. I think both jobs are cool, just for different reasons.

As for finding work – I’m not sure, but I’d bet it’d be easier to get a job as a 3D artist just because there is so much demand for 3D work in games and movies!
Many 2D artists employ 3D techniques and tools in their works to gauge things such as scale,
perspective, backgrounds and so on. From your brush with the 3D world, did you pick up anything there that you are now able to recall and utilise in your 2D practice? Or do you keep
the two very separate?
I think that working in 3D can definitely help you understand form and perspective a bit better. After I stopped studying 3D, I pretty much stopped using any 3D at all in my work. However, lately I have been tempted to brush up on it and use some 3D elements if it will save time or make things easier on a project.
So it seems pretty obvious for me to mention anime at this point. I wonder: what is it about anime that originally captured your heart, and what is it in anime that continues to drive and
inspire so many of your great artworks today? Do you have any examples of your favourite anime films and books that we can check out?
Since I was a kid, I’ve always had a fascination with anime, manga, and just Japanese and Asian culture in general. I’m Chinese, but I was born and raised in America and I’ve never been to Asia (yet). I just find that all of the rules of Western culture don’t necessarily apply to Eastern culture
and, to me, that’s interesting. When you grow up on American cartoons by Disney or Warner Bros, and suddenly you watch Neon Genesis Evangeleon or Akira, they just blow you away! I just thought to myself, “They’re not afraid to express their ideas!” The very adult and sometimes shocking content in anime really appealed to me, because I was suddenly aware of how safe and censored our media was. To me, anime symbolised free expression.

And a good book I think everyone should own is Rakugaking by Katsuya Terada. It’s a 1000-page compilation of sketchbook pages by Terada.
There will be so many people Google-searching that book now - thanks for the tip! Yes, it’s very true that by growing up on Western cartoons, we’ve been protected by a big bubble of censorship. Which artists, Eastern or Western, past or present, do you find the most inspirational in terms of the free expression that they portray in their artworks? Are there any artists in particular that you aspire to?
There have been a number of artists that I’ve found interesting, but none of them really stand out in my mind at the moment. I don’t really focus on one artist and aspire to be like them; I feel that if you do that, all you will become is a copycat. Even if you are really good, you will still be just a good copycat. So when I look at artwork, a lot of times I don’t look because of who is the artist is; the artwork itself is what attracts me. I absorb what it is about that particular piece that I enjoy and try to keep that in mind as I continue with my own work.
You mention in your bio that since falling for anime and studying Western culture, you have been aiming to “marry” the two together in your artwork. Can you give us an example of how
you go about marrying East with West in your work? How do you tackle and embrace this in your everyday practice as an artist?
I don’t know if I do it as often as I would like, but I do try to incorporate some Asian aesthetics
into my work whenever possible. I must admit that this has probably died down somewhat over the past few years, simply due to what clients want from my work. Basically, there are certain aesthetics that are different. For one, a lot of Asian art is about line, shape, and design. Western art, on the other hand, is generally about form and technical accuracy. Another example is that in America, to depict an attractive female we try to make her overly sexy and naughty, whereas in Asia they use a delicate mix of sexiness and innocence. This is probably the more obvious one that I use.
Having been browsing your Gallery in awe, I’m totally in love with the “life force” that you manage to capture in every single one of your images. Even though the characters that you paint are quite clearly anime in style and therefore our brains don’t instantly perceive them to be “real” (in realistic terms!), there is a sense of life behind each character that is completely undeniable. In a way, you actually manage to paint situations and characters in an even more “real” way than if they were painted hyper-realistically! What elements of characters, and the situations that you paint, are “key” in making sure you capture this sense of life? For example, is it all in the eyes...?
I’m glad that you feel this way! That is another thing that drew me toward Asian art: I found that even though anime and manga did not look realistic, it was somehow able to express more emotion than realistic western art was able to.

For me, I suppose it is all about the eyes... I like to draw faces in a certain way that is probably
not common in normal humans. I find that this slightly “off” look catches your attention more than a completely normal face, and is thus is more memorable and interesting. As for all of the emotion behind an image, I think that is brought about by every stroke that goes into creating it. If there is no emotion behind something I’m painting, it shows.
Okay, so do you have to get into a specific frame of mind for each piece that you create, and literally throw yourself into it? Do many of your artworks actually represent your own personal thoughts and feelings, or are you able to adopt the mindset of your characters to be able to feel
your way through a painting? That also makes me wonder: do you find that you can give as much emotion to a digital painting as you can to a traditional one, or is there a certain distance that the monitor creates?
Yes, if you want to create a successful painting, you have to be giving it 110%. This can be tricky when you are working professionally, as you are most likely not going to be working on things you enjoy all of the time. When I run into this problem, it’s all about finding something in the image that I can find some fun in and just concentrating on that. It can actually be really rewarding to take an idea that you are not too fond of, or even dislike, and turning it into a piece of art that you are satisfied with.

My personal work is usually jump-started by something – either an emotion or an idea - but I tend to play it up beyond what I really feel, just for a stronger effect. Sometimes the emotion in my work is not really something I’m feeling, but just something I want the viewer to feel because I believe the painting will be stronger that way. Working digitally does not make this too difficult for me. In fact, I find it easier to do this in digital work than in analogue work because I am free to adjust my painting in lots different ways that are both much quicker and non-permanent.
Your understanding of anatomy is clearly demonstrated in all of your artworks and I notice from your bio that you studied life drawing at art school. Do you have any advice for artists out there, who perhaps don’t have access to life drawing classes but would like to learn? And how do you keep “topping up” your knowledge on a day-to-day basis? How important do you find an understanding of anatomy to be in today’s CG industry?
You must understand anatomy. Period. You might not need to know the names of everything, but you should have a pretty good understanding of how it looks and works. Get some books. I have a number of anatomy books and specific anatomy books for artists. There are a lot out there and most of them are pretty decent. Study from those; learn the names of the muscles and their functions. Draw every image in that book multiple times until you know the human body like the back of your eyelids. It’s a lot of work but it’s got to be done if you want to be able to draw people. To keep yourself “in shape”, you can sketch in public. I take a train to work everyday and I always have a small sketchbook with me so I can draw people I see. Draw at a cafe or in the park. There are people everywhere, so it’s not hard.
Well it sounds like art is your life and life is your art, but let’s say we happen to find you far away from the computer and your sketchbook… What would we find you doing to relax and get a bit of
“me” time in before the next big deadline?
When I’m not doing art I’m spending time with my family or my girlfriend. I’m also an avid gamer, a movie watcher, and I like to read when I get the chance.
I wanted to mention one of my favourite images from your gallery: Pandora’s Box. This image
demonstrates such a beautiful sense of scale and a true understanding of light and colour, as
well as emotion and anatomy. Could you briefly walk us through some of the fundamental basics that you consider when starting a new image?
Well, the first thing I think about is the idea. What am I trying to say with this image? For this
one, I wanted to depict the despair of Pandora as she opens the box and unleashes all of the world’s evils. The next thing I think about is composition. What will look good and help to tell this story? For this image, I ended up composing it like she is falling and drowning in a suffocating darkness with the box’s evil seeping out above her, polluting her environment.

From there, it’s just an exercise of technical knowledge. I have to consider anatomy, acting, and clothing behaviour for Pandora. I have to know how stuff looks underwater. I have to understand light and shadow as well as colour theory. All of these things, and more, come into play as I “render” the image to final.
When you say you have to consider and understand anatomy, light, colour and so on, are these all things that you have a well-developed sense for at this stage in your career? If so, can you pretty much get straight to work from the reference library that you have stored in your mind, or do you still do a big reference search before starting each new piece?
I still like to use references. I don’t always use models or anything, but I do gather references for inspiration. For example, if I’m drawing cars in my image, I will need references of cars so that I understand how they are made and how light and colour reacts on their surfaces. I might not draw the same car, but I learn something from my references that I can apply to my image. If I am drawing people, I might find references of people with features I want to include and just use those ideas as reference. I only take specific photo references for complex poses that I have trouble drawing picturing in my own mind.
From your blog we can see that you quite recently created a remake of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. How hard was it to take on a masterpiece such as this and give it your own spin?
Not that hard, actually. The basic composition has already been established, so it’s all about changing the elements. Composition is probably the hardest step for me, so having that step taken care of really makes things a lot simpler!
Wow, I never would have guessed that you struggled with composition - all of your images seem extremely well composed. It’s good to have something that makes you work hard though. What steps do you take to help improve your understanding of composition and do you have or use any “golden rules” that you might be able to share with us here?
I just spend a good amount of time on this step when I can. I try to come up with new compositions that are more interesting and dynamic than things I’ve done before, but most of the time I find myself falling back into a safe composition. I’m still working on it. Many of my
compositions rely on the rule of thirds and just central or pyramid compositions.
Finally, after thanking you for this lovely interview, can I just ask: if you hadn’t discovered
manga and anime, do you think the western approach to art would have eventually dampened your desire to draw? Or is this art in your blood and would have found its way through to paper/screen somehow or another?
Oh, of course not! Although I love art from Asia, that does not mean I don’t enjoy Western art.
My style might have been a bit different, but my love of art would be just as strong.

Thanks so much for all this insight, Jason. We look forward to seeing more from you soon!
JASON CHAN
For more work by this artist please visit:
www.jasonchanart.com
Interviewed by: Lynette Clee