This is Man-Tsun, illustrator and graphic designer based in Hong Kong. His splashes of creative passion can be found on theme park designs, movies, MTV, CD covers and illustrations. In 2013, he wants to use his spare time more time on his personal projects, and gain international exposure. With his talent, I’m sure he won’t have any trouble achieving that. Japan Cinema secured one of the first interview with Man-Tsun and we used that opportunity to pick his brain. Read below for the full interview…
You are a designer and an illustrator who creates shirts, accessories, comics & more. How did you develop into a multi-disciplinary artist and is it hard to achieve balance in your skill-set?
Man-Tsun: I just love to try whatever thing that I am interested in. As a designer, I think the stuff that we are wearing, should be created by ourselves. This is a very cool thought, but hard to achieve though. Most of time I only focus on design and illustration, sometime when I get stuck or get bored with it. I will jump to do something else like accessories or shirts. Although it is for fun only, but somehow working on these stuff may inspirit me on a new design or illustration.
Most of your exhibits and awards are given to you in your native land. Any aspirations to bring your work to the United States? Do you feel the audience there would take in your work with a different eye?
Man-Tsun: I do think people from different place, do have a different taste. In Hong Kong, cartoony design and illustration are all over the place. My works are very edgy and bold, so it seems not very welcome by the general public. However, things are totally different from aboard. Last year, I have participated a few international group exhibitions in both US and Argentina and I have received so many positive feedbacks which I had never expected. Ever when I posted new works on web. People sent me a lot crazy feedbacks. If there will be more chances in the future, I will definitely participate on more international show.
I really love the ‘double-plastic’ artwork. For those not familiar with this technique, could you explain the creative process behind it?
Man-Tsun: All these illustrations were created in Adobe Illustrator. It was like drawing an X-ray film. For example, one of the illustrations is of a guitarist. I did it in the first layer and then I drew the inner skeleton as the second layer. Once it was done, I sent it to my printer using a technique called UV flatbed printing to print directly on the plastic. I was very much counting on this printing company for this beautiful result.
Was this an experiment for you, or were you already knowledgeable on this technique before you started? Do you like to experiment with new techniques?
Man-Tsun: As an illustrator, we love to experiment on new concept, drawing technique and execution to create new illustration, so I had a though one day of having my works to be printed on a non paper material. I had spent a long time and some money to test on different materials, eg: glass, wood, plastic…. At the end, I had decided to use these transparency plastic. After that I still had a hard time to find the right company to do the prefect print. It was a very long process to work out these double plastic artworks, but it was fun though.
What are some of your favorite Asian films?
Man-Tsun: Rurouni Kenshin, Gantz and Redline. As a manga and anime lover, you can’t miss out [on] these titles.
Looking at your Kimono piece, the arachnoid leggings have extreme detail to them. What is your style pertaining to level of detail? Do you like to work with negative spaces or do you like to implement rich detail within your work?
Man-Tsun: I love to play with crazy details on my works. I am hoping my audience can spend some time to study every single detail.
How does a designer/illustrator get into the comic realm. What brought that on and what kind of stories do you like to explore?
Man-Tsun: Maybe I am not the right person to answer this question…because I am not a good story teller. At the moment I don’t have any story in my mind, but a bizarre or a violent story may interest me to illustrate.
When working for big corporations such as Coke, McDonalds, etc. Do you find your creativity to be limited within the confines of client regulations? How does this effect your work?
Man-Tsun: So far I still haven't had a chance to work with such a big client yet. Last year, I had a project working with Johnny Walker. They gave me so much freedom on redrawing the striking man and I didn’t feel the pressure at all. Every corporation has its own design regulation and style guide. We have get a well balance between creating our own favorite stuff and at the same time not jumping from their branding guide line.
What kind of exhibitions are you planning for 2013 and what kind of work would you like to explore?
Man-Tsun: On 2013, I will be team up with a friend of my which is very good in writing. We are planning to publish our own illustration book.
Lastly, any advice for any creative out there that might be struggling to get somewhere in their career?
Man-Tsun: I think having an exhibition is not only to show off your skill, but your concept and creativity. Technical skill can be improved by practice, but idea and creativity are really depends on oneself. Therefore my advise would be before execution, we have to think of a unique concept which will stand out amount other exhibitions. It is very risky and time consuming process, but fun and exciting.
Want to keep tabs on all of Man-Tsun’s work? Visit the official site below:
http://manxtsun.com/
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