Victo Ngai facts for kids

Victo Ngai (born in 1988) is an American-Chinese illustrator who grew up in Hong Kong. People describe her artwork as very detailed and precise. It often reminds them of comic books, classic children's book pictures, and Japanese paintings. Her illustrations are known for their strong images and special look.

Early Life and Education

Ngai (pronounced "nye") was first named Victoria, but she later shortened it to Victo. She was born in Guangdong Province and grew up in Hong Kong. She was an only child. Her father worked in finance, and her mother had many different jobs, like teaching Chinese literature and managing an investment company.

When she was young, until she was six, Victo often had high fevers and had to stay in bed. She started drawing to keep herself busy. Her mother found traditional herbal treatments that helped her fevers stop. This even inspired her mother to become a doctor of Chinese medicine.

Her great uncle was a surgeon who loved detailed Chinese ink painting. Drawing with him was one of her first experiences with art. She also visited many museum exhibitions with her mother when she was a child.

Victo's family moved often when she was young. This made it hard for her to make lasting friendships, so she spent a lot of time by herself. Ngai later said that these changes in her early life helped her become the artist she is today.

Ngai's mother was the first to notice her artistic talent. She worried that the strict art lessons at school might stop her creativity. For two years during summer breaks, Ngai went to a private art teacher in Shenzhen on mainland China. Ngai said that even though it was close, it felt like "visiting another country" because of the customs process. It was there that her confidence in her art really grew.

When Ngai thought about studying illustration, it was a tough choice. She and her family believed that in Asia, there was a prejudice against careers in art and design. Her father hoped she would work in finance.

A friend who studied art at Yale suggested the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). This was the only school she applied to. Ngai was accepted at RISD in 2006. There, she learned from the famous illustrator Chris Buzelli. He taught her that an artist's unique style comes from within, not from trying to copy others.

Artistic Inspirations

Early on, Victo Ngai was inspired by the works of artists like Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Hiroshige. Her college teacher, Chris Buzelli, also influenced her greatly. She also found ideas from Norman Rockwell, Winsor McCay, Mary Blair, and fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Career Journey

When asked why she became an illustrator instead of a fine artist, Ngai explained, "One of my RISD professors told me this: 'Fine artists like to create problems for themselves, while illustrators like to solve problems given to them.' I love drawing and I love solving problems, so illustration was a perfect fit."

Ngai's first published work appeared in 2009, a year before she graduated from RISD. It was called Bells and Whistles for PLANSPONSOR Magazine. Her second client was New York Times. Later, she started working for The New Yorker. She got this chance after showing her work to Jordan Awan, a former art director there. For The New Yorker, she first illustrated music reviews and smaller pieces. Eventually, she got assignments to create full-page illustrations for fiction stories. Many of these works were guided by art director Chris Curry. When she started these larger projects, Ngai had no experience illustrating for fiction, which brought new creative challenges.

Ngai has since illustrated for many newspapers, magazines, book publishers, and companies. Some of these include The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Penguin Random House, Abrams Books, Macmillan, General Electric, Lufthansa Airline, NBC, PGA, IMAX, McDonald's, the New York City Subway, Apple, Audible, and Infiniti.

In 2018, Ngai created The Victo Ngai Scholarship Award for a student competition held by the Society of Illustrators. This award honored Chris Buzelli, and the first student to receive it was Minjua An.

Notable Works

How She Works

When Ngai gets a new project, she first reads the text. Then, she finds the main idea or feeling of the story, usually by picking out a few key phrases. After that, she likes to step away from the material for a bit. She finds that her best ideas come when she's not trying too hard to think. Once she has an idea for the final artwork, she shows her client at least three different sketches or options.

She creates her line drawings using special pens called nib pens or rapidograph pens. She makes textures on different pieces of paper using materials like graphite, acrylic, and oil pastels. Her final drawings are then put into Photoshop and colored digitally. She often uses a limited number of colors.

When a piece is almost finished, if it meets the client's needs and she thinks people would enjoy it as a piece of art on its own, she knows it's done. Then she sends the work to her client. Ngai signs her artworks with a symbol that looks like a traditional Chinese seal. This symbol looks like the first Chinese character of her given name, "傳", but when turned sideways, it reads "Victo".

Because her work involves so much detail and effort, a finished illustration can take three to four days to complete.

Teaching

Ngai has taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York and The Illustration Academy. She also gives guest lectures and workshops at universities and conferences.

Awards and Honors

In 2014, at just 26 years old, Ngai was named one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 recipients in the Art and Style category. She has received many important awards, including:

Personal Life

Victo Ngai lives in Los Angeles, California. She works in a converted loft space in the Art District of Downtown Los Angeles. She shares this space with her husband, who runs an architecture firm.