Space and movement in illustrations of Joyce Liu
Ever since I was a kid I've loved to draw, paint, and work with my hands. It was and always has been the most natural way for me to express myself. But growing up in Taiwan, pursuing an artistic career was looked down upon, and I was often told by adults to study more practical subjects, or else I'll end up starving on the streets.
Fortunately, my Mom has always encouraged me to pursue anything that I wanted and did anything in her power to help me achieve my goals. After coming back to the United States and graduating high school, I decided that I want to pursue art as a career.
I was accepted to ArtCenter College of design, studied Illustration intended to go into the feature animation field. But along the way, I discovered motion graphics and fell in love with its versatility and all the amazing work that is created by people I greatly admire.
How would you describe your style?
I am still on the road to discovering a style that I can confidently call my own. I have the tendency to want to try new things every so often... One month I'll feel like doing very colorful things, soon I'll want to try my hand at more naturalistic colors; I'll be really into a shape driving style for a while, one day suddenly I'll be tired of it and want to try a style that's based on lines.
Or sometimes I'll try to merge opposite things that I find intriguing as if I'm on a never-ending journey to explore and learn. But after dabbling a little bit here and there, I'm noticing that there are certain shapes, colors, compositions I'm drawn to, perhaps that's a start of a style?
This is part of the reason why I love working at Oddfellows, sometimes I still can't believe I am fortunate enough to be working with a team of insanely talented people. At work we often have to adapt to different styles from project to project, almost every project is done in different styles, and I'm constantly learning new things from my peers every single day.
What is the key to making your illustrations?
I like to make illustrations on subjects that I am curious or interested in, then try to add my own twist to it.
But most importantly I like to have fun. I think having fun is key to making anything, viewers can really tell if a creator had fun doing something... that extra sparkle.
In the midst of the pandemic, seeing our studio and my peers doing their best to give back to the community, I was inspired to start a Patreon called Joy&Frens, where 50% of the net income goes to charities of my patrons choice. On it, I share Tips & Tricks, process videos, invite friends for collaborations and share their wisdom.
I also show my work on Instagram and my website.