i think the two things i've noticed the most about being asian and pursuing a career in art is people dismiss you a lot? esp if you happen to also identify as a girl. whether it's "oh you draw silly anime" or "oh you only draw well because you're asian and you didn't have to practice." not sure what it is about my style either, whether it's bc there's anime influence or whatever but my teachers often told me my style was unsellable and that it needed to be westernised for our audience (2/2)
Sometimes it seems like there is a weird tokenism in illustration when it comes to Asian women illustrators. It’s like the industry has a quota they have to fill, but once it reaches that limit then everyone else is discouraged from using a certain set of influences. I’m just going to throw this out there, but I wonder if once someone finds out that the artist is Asian, do they start to view the work differently? I know jenbartel has remarked that she thinks it’s curious when people are surprised to find out that she’s Asian. It’s crazy right? You can draw like a dead German Expressionist and be lauded for it, but then cautioned for being too Asian when you use a bamboo brush instead of a sable. This type of conversation happened in my class more than once this year.
