The digital art techniques used in this piece reflect my ongoing effort to combine Western cartooning influences with my Chinese heritage in my illustrations. Varied brushstrokes and watercolour ink washes aim to imitate traditional Chinese painting, while the cartoony look of the snakes is born from my love of American cartoons. The subjects of this piece are anacondas and monstera plants, both found in South America, which adds a third influence.
Janice Liu is a children’s comic artist and author in Burnaby, BC. Her digital illustrations simulate the look of real ink and watercolour, and combine commercial cartooning with the look of Chinese ink painting. Her past clients as an artist include: CBC, University of Toronto, and the City of Vancouver. You can find her work at janiceliu.com.
Janice is also an art instructor, and has enjoyed teaching children’s art for over 10 years. She programs and teaches kids’ art classes at her art school, Young Artists’ Place.
The Lantern City is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered on this land, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples whose arts and stories inspire us to bring communities together.
