Meet Jin Tao | Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jin Tao and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jin, what do you attribute your success to?
I am from China and have learned traditional Chinese painting since childhood. After long-term contact, art can touch people’s hearts. Drawing is the way I can best express myself. Becoming an illustrator is a good choice.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For me, the process of becoming an illustrator was not easy. When I was a teenager, I suffered from depression and bipolar disorder. This event changed my whole life. Sickness is undoubtedly painful. I went from being a great student to a dropout and tired of school. When I dropped out of school and stayed home, I lost my motivation and my future direction in life. I also didn’t have many friends of the same age then, and drawing was my only bright spot during that dark period. After I was gradually able to socialize normally, I barely kept up with the footsteps of my peers and entered a college. The illness came back and forth, and my grade was awful, becoming the biggest obstacle to applying for the MFA program. I also often doubted my ability and felt very inferior. Fortunately, my family supported me strongly. Although the process was tough, I never thought of giving up and finally came to the United States to study. At present, the biggest challenge is the brought by the double majors studying, but I believe I can handle it after all.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m living in savannah now. It is a charming city. I will recommend my friends to take a walk by the river. The scenery here is stunning, and there are antique buildings by the river. The weather in Savannah is also enjoyable. Enjoying tasty southern foods and wine by the river can make one relax.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The book The Moon and Sixpence is essential to my life. Painting interrupts the “perfect life” I had planned. As a person who grew up based an examination-oriented education (system), I put all my efforts into pursuing the standard answers given by universal values. At that time, I loved painting, studied freehand Chinese landscape painting, and spent a lot of energy in rigorous sketching and painting. But that did not occupy the center of my life and was just a pastime. Until serious difficulties and illnesses appeared in my life, painting became the only thing I was interested in doing. At that period, painting was no longer a matter of style and technique, but more importantly, I learned to express myself through painting what I thought and saw. In the novel “The Moon and Sixpence, “the main character Charles Strickland gives up the well-ordered happiness of social life and chooses a more dangerous and unsure way of life to pursue his inner desire. Giving up my planned life to become an illustrator was not a risk either, and it was a way for me to have a powerful voice to express myself.

Website: https://www.jintao.social/

Instagram: Jintaoillustration

Other: Working contact: janetaogd@outlook.com