Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kaining Wang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kaining, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Keeping creativity fresh and alive is not easy. And it is not something you can do by just staring at the computer or sitting in front of a chair. I constantly go out to absorb what nature and the world can offer me. I will go to museums, theatres, nature scenery or even do just a small walk on the streets. These will keep giving me visual and sensory stimulation. The world is a canvas of its own and it constantly gives me inspiration and offer me experiences. With all these in mind, I will always do sketches and paintings based on my observations in my own language, and that’s what makes us individuals unique. These are all the fuels that keep the momentum going but most of all, I constantly try to challenge myself designing and drawing things out of comfort zone. I always give myself different premises and combine random things together in a new way. This way I can truly broaden my perspective as well as keep my creativity evolving.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am Kaining Wang, a concept artist based in LA that specializes in VR games and experiences. My professional experiences includes working on the television series Solar Opposites, working for Warner Bros Animation and Meta, amongst others. With my artistic skill and design sense, I help delivered multiple high-quality animations and VR experiences. In the meantime, my works are also featured in competitions such as London Design Awards, Society of Illustrator West, Infected by Art, Ijungle, ADC award, 3×3 international Award, and Communication Arts.
As a concept artist, or artist in general, I strongly believe in the power of story-telling. And I think art as a medium for it can reach deep down into people’s heart. That is what drives me to create: to express my idea and have a conversation with the audience. I often draw inspirations from mythologies and folklore and combining it with current social issues that I choose to focus on. I am also always in search for a better way to express my idea artistically, by playing with different tools and technologies, and pushing my own limit in terms of nuance of expression and new world-building.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back at my journey as a concept artist, I found these three qualities and skills playing crucial roles in my art journey: 1. Curiosity. Always be curious about your surroundings and even yourself. Art is a journey of searching and you have a whole world as your visual library and information bank. So never stop being curious what happen out there, why is it like this, where do they come from etc. And always look inside you too. Pay attention to your own feelings and experience because that is what makes you unique as an artist. That is how you find your voice.
2. A balance between humbleness and ego. I often time find that the more I learn the more humble I become just because there are so many things out there that I don’t know yet and thousands of people probably do things better than me. So always be humble, learn and observe. But don’t overlook yourself too much. You should also trust your voice and your own judgement on things.
3. Persistence. As you go into the career or on the artistic path, you will sometimes find yourself feel jaded and burnt out under stress. Learn to take a break when you need to but always keep a momentum. Sometimes the sole passion and persistence on keep doing the thing you like and remember why you like it, where you started from will help you keep going.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
Personally, I always found that this is not an either-or question but rather a constant pendulum swing between the two. I started doing concept art because of my passion for storytelling and characters. As my career went on, I started to have more opportunities doing environment paintings. With such constant and rigorous turnarounds, it forced me to get better at this, which looking back, it helped tremendously and unlocked the potential for my artists path in a way. The skill I learned also could reflect into the thing I originally liked. I can express characters and stories in so many different ways. So to me, the journey always seem to be: focusing on what I like, branch out to learn new things, going back and strengthening what I like and branch out again etc. It is helpful for both your professional career and personal artistic journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kningart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/longneck_kai/
