survey_42 — illustration and the art book
1. Jimmy Liao — 幾米 (Yilan, Taiwan, 1958)
A Taiwanese picture-book author and illustrator: he turned the “picture” into a literary language of its own — quiet, poetic scenes in which adult readers recognise themselves.
- Path — born on 15 November 1958 in Yilan county (Taiwan); real name 廖福彬 (Liao Fubin), the pen name 幾米 derives from the English Jimmy. He graduated from the arts faculty of the Chinese Culture University (文化大學); for twelve years he worked at an advertising company, then drew illustrations for newspapers and magazines.
- 1995 — he fell seriously ill with leukaemia and, after several years of recovery at home, returned to drawing; from then on working with images became his main occupation.
- Debut 1998 — his first picture books, 《森林裡的秘密》 and 《微笑的魚》, appeared, immediately singled out as the best children's books in the Taiwanese press (中國時報, 民生報, 聯合報).
- Classics — 《向左走．向右走》 (1999, named one of the ten most influential books by the Kingstone chain), 《月亮忘記了》, 《地下鐵》 and 《星空》; the books have been translated into dozens of languages, adapted for film and staged.
- Recognition — more than eighty publications; 2020 — 《時光電影院》 received an honourable mention at the Bologna fair in the Cinema category (Ragazzi Award); 2023 — his ninth shortlisting for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA).
2. Ruan Yunting — 阮筠庭 (China, 1980)
A manga artist and illustrator, an associate professor at the China Academy of Art: from decorative watercolour illustration she moved to a semi-autobiographical comic about teaching and growing up.
- Path — born in 1980; she grew up in a family that moved to Hangzhou; in 2002 she graduated from the China Academy of Art (Hangzhou) and stayed on to teach straight away, becoming one of the first teachers on the animation faculty; she is now an associate professor at the academy.
- Debut — she began publishing in the mid-1990s (according to the publisher, from 1996); at the age of 18 her works were shown at the National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆), and later she represented China several times at the World Manga Congress.
- Books — 《绘羽》 (China's first author's collection of original illustrations), 《画夜》, 《空色彩虹》 and 《月亮短歌》.
- 《春晖》 — serialised from 2012 in the magazine 《文艺风象》; it appeared as a separate book in November 2024 (漫编室 / 新星出版社) — a semi-autobiographical comic about a young teacher at an art college.
- Animation — the independent short animated film 《白蛇》 (WhiteSnake) was selected for international festival programmes, including Annecy (France) and Stuttgart (Germany).
- Recognition — the animation committee of the China Artists Association included her among the “ten best representatives of the new Chinese comic over 70 years”.
3. Lao Shu (Liu Shuyong) — 老树 (Linqu, Shandong, 1962)
A self-taught artist and a university professor: under the name “Old Tree” he paints in ink a faceless figure in a long hanfu amid flowers and mountains, captioning the sheets with short ironic poems.
- Name — his real name is 刘树勇 (Liu Shuyong); he was born in 1962 in Linqu county (Shandong province), into a peasant family.
- Path — in 1979 he entered the Chinese language and literature department of Nankai University (Tianjin), graduated in 1983 and has taught ever since; he is now a professor and head of the arts department of the School of Culture and Communication at the Central University of Finance and Economics (Beijing).
- Various pursuits — in the 1980s–1990s he did book illustrations, covers, design and publishing; in the mid-1990s he turned to photography, became a well-known critic and curator and proposed the concept of “conceptual photography” (观念摄影).
- Return to painting — in 2007, after his father's illness, he took up the brush again and worked mainly at night, returning to ink after a twenty-year break.
- 老树画画 — since 2011 he has published drawings with short poems on Weibo under this name; the drawings and poems are collected in the books 《花乱开》 and 《在江湖》 (广西师范大学出版社) and others, as well as in a series of 册页 published by 山东画报出版社.
Sources: the page for the book 《在江湖》 on the site 广西师范大学出版社 (bbtpress.com), which includes the author's biography and 答客问 · 中国作家网 (chinawriter.com.cn) — biography · 文化视界 (culturechina.cn) and the 山东画报出版社 site on the 老树册页 series (2025) · official Weibo @老树画画 (weibo.com/u/1454064140)
4. Xijiu — 昔酒 (Yueyang, Hunan, 1990)
An illustrator and picture-book author: she builds dense, coldly mysterious graphic compositions on subjects from classical Chinese literature.
- Path — born in 1990 in Yueyang (Hunan province); she graduated from the animation art faculty of the Beijing Film Academy; she lives in Beijing and has worked in illustration since 2009.
- Magazines — she has published illustrations and picture books in 《绘心》, 《画匣子》, 《九州志》 and 《新蕾》; a winner of the 7th Golden Dragon award (金龙奖) for best illustration.
- Graphic works — the graphic novel 《李白之死》 (on the death of Li Bai) reached the top of Weibo; also 《好心的沙子》, 《突然之城》 and 《当时只有我和你》.
- Books — a graphic version of Lu Xun's story 《铸剑》 appeared from 广西师范大学出版社 (2021); the author has also worked on the series 《万岁·家园》.
Sources: the page for the book 《铸剑》 (written and drawn by 昔酒) on the site 广西师范大学出版社 (bbtpress.com) — the author's biography · 新民周刊 (xinminweekly.com.cn) — a feature on the artist · 网易 / GAF (2025 Shanghai) — a description of the participant and a list of works · official Weibo @昔酒xj (weibo.com/u/1885839013)
5. Lu Mao (Oamul) — 卤猫 (Fujian, 1988)
An illustrator and animator: in watercolour he paints the seasons, travels and nature, turning the change of seasons into a quiet universe of his own.
- Name — his real name is 卢涛 (Lu Tao); he was born in 1988 in Fujian province; he lived for a long time in Xiamen and now works in Shanghai. The pen name “Oamul” is a reversed transliteration of 卤猫 (Lu Mao).
- Books — author of the illustrated books 《找到这颗星球》 and 《狐狸卜》 (a series about a little fox, conceived after he noticed the resemblance between a carrot and a fox), and of the author's collection 《旅行箱里的四季》.
- Practice — he works in watercolour, as well as with animation and GIFs; his subjects are the seasons, the 24 seasonal periods and travel; there is often a single character in the frame.
- Commissions — he has worked with international brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Apple and Charles & Keith; for the UN Postal Administration he created a stamp series devoted to education (“Education First”).
- Exhibitions — solo exhibitions in Seoul, Shanghai, Xiamen, Taipei and Shenzhen; the largest, 花与花豹的凝视 (MoCA Shanghai, 2025), has about 300 works.
