Meet the Illustrator: Yuke Li

Name: Yuke Li

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
Traditional ,watercolor, Asian,

What items are an essential part of your creative space?
I have a Rembrandt 48 watercolors set. I made a tiny color card with it, so I can see each color clearly. It is very convenient to work with a color card. 

My brushes are very important items also. I brought them from China, which were used for Chinese calligraphy. They are cheap, but very handy.

Do you have a favorite artistic medium?
I work both traditionally and digitally, but my favorite medium is watercolor and ink. I like the accident of water-based pigment.

Name three artists whose work inspires you. 

Carl Titolo, Jillian Tamaki, Yokai Senjafuda 

 

Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why? 

I am more curious about what will happen in the future, 20 years, 50 years from now on. If artists still like to use traditional material? Are we able to draw with our mind, instead of a physical pencil?

 

 

Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator? 

I was inspired by Jillian Tamaki’s works a lot. Her works are all different. I love all her ink works, embroideries and digital works.

 

Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it. 

For now my apartment is my studio. As a freelance illustrator who has worked for more than six years, I already got used to working at home. Usually I get up at 8 in the morning.Then start to work about 9. I have two big wood tables. I scatter all the tools on one table, and then draw on the other one. I like listening to electronic music while drawing as it makes me feel energetic. But during this difficult time that everybody is quarantined at home, I listen to the news more often. 

 

What is your favorite part of the illustration process?

Sketching is my favorite part. There is no stupid ideas during sketching, and I can be very relaxed and expressive. Sometimes the sketches look better than the colored version. Then I just go back to sketches. 

 

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator? 

Be honest with yourself and your works, because who you are, what you were thinking, were you happy or anxious, are all written on your works.

 

Yuke Li is an author-illustrator based in New York City. She has illustrated six picture books in China. She enjoyed the positive energy very much from making a children’s book. 

For more information please visit Yuke Li's website