Quyen Xuan Lamphere A Sense of Wonder

Even before I started taking myself seriously as an artist, I had a passion for art. In kindergarten, I would create small, illustrated books and doodle cats in my school notebooks. When I started middle school, I finally decided that I wanted to work in the illustration or animation field as an adult. My dream job was (and still is) to be a storyboard artist for an animation company or a character designer. My only issue was my lack of technical skills which held me back from creating art that I was truly proud of. Art has always been something that I could do without really thinking about, but I only recently had the desire to do it more seriously.

“I had always dreamed of being an artist growing up and now I know I want to make it happen as soon as I can.”

I was excited when I learned about classes at the League because I think it’s important to have a few hours every week or so dedicated to just practicing art, making it a habit. While of course there are other things that I’m passionate about, such as film and music, visual arts and illustration have always been a part of my life. I wake up most mornings with thoughts in my head about what I should illustrate next. I take most of my inspiration from Mid-20th century western artists such as Andrew Wyeth (Christina’s World is one of my favorite pieces) and Japanese contemporary artists like Yoshitomo Nara. Artists like these have inspired me to create art that evokes a sense of wonder and feeling within their viewers, art that you still think about after you see it.