Chinese-born, California-raised, Brooklyn-based illustrator Jing Wei is known for her bright and playful illustrations. Formerly the illustration director for Etsy, her background in printmaking very much influences her commercial work. But it took her some time (and struggles) to find her artistic voice.
“It’s interesting to hear from other people that I have a very distinct style because sometimes I feel like it’s still all over the place,” she admits in an interview with The Great Discontent. “When you’re starting out, there can be pressure to make your work look cohesive. And that can sometimes cause you to make drawing or design decisions that are forced, purely for the sake of consistency. I’ve found that the more I got away from that thinking, the more my style has strengthened.”
“My style has also naturally evolved through embracing various mediums,” she adds. “I used to do a lot of printmaking with block prints, so I made drawings that catered to the process. I didn’t work digitally until three or four years out of college. It’s still a fairly recent thing for me, but when I learned it, I really embraced it. That gave my work a completely different look and feel.”
Nowadays she treats her job as way of experimentation with different styles. “Once you get in the cycle of doing job after job, you lose that sense of play,” says Wei. “I want to stretch myself. In order to do that I need to stop, make time, and take risks to do things I haven’t done before.”
Her advice for other creatives? Be confident in your worth and don’t undersell yourself or underestimate your value. Take a look at some of her work in the gallery below.
