Meet Nino Cao | Illustrator

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

Hi Nino, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I think I am mostly inspired by the people around me. I am a person who is easily influenced by others, especially those who are close to me. I like to listen to other people’s advice because I feel that they can provide me with a different perspective than mine. I often hold up my work to my friends during the creative process because I am fortunate to have a friend who is very good at critiquing. She often tells me what she thinks of my work, and although I don’t take every idea on board, it gives me a different perspective each time to look at the shortcomings of my work again. Usually, when I discuss my work or something with people around me, the creative inspiration in my head is also lit up.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
One of the things that I am proud of is that I am pretty adaptable. My undergraduate major is jewelry design and I switched my direction to illustration after coming to the US. This change was a big challenge for me. From the beginning, I took it for granted that the birth of an illustration is a flash of light, a sketch on paper, and then a finished product. But the actual creation process was much more than I imagined. I had to do a lot of research before drawing, and I had to draw many sketches to guide my thinking to refine gradually, and I couldn’t limit myself to just one idea about the color palette but had to try out many kinds of color palettes to choose the one that best reflected the concept of the illustration. I learned this series of processes in my first pre-class after coming here. It took me one quarter to get used to the method and rhythm of creating illustrations, and I did experience some tough periods but the good thing is that my professor always gave me timely guidance, so I didn’t feel very painful. I think one of the most important things I learned was to experiment a lot before evaluating myself. I used to define myself as a creator who wasn’t good enough, picking apart my composition and drawing ability based on just a few pieces of work. For example, when I started working with watercolors, I decided that the material was too difficult to handle and that it was better to retreat to my comfort zone rather than risk trying a tool that was unfit for me. But I was fortunate that more than one professor encouraged me to continue experimenting with watercolor, so I took a watercolor class and through a quarter of practice, I saw a qualitative change in my work. Even my proudest works now are those watercolor projects.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend could come to visit me, I would first take her shopping downtown, where there are many restaurants and souvenir stores. Savannah is a very beautiful little town, just like my hometown Jinzhou. I’d like to go with her to a scented candle store called Nourish and then to Coco&Moss for her favorite seafood sushi. After that, I would like to take her for a stroll along the Savannah River and maybe buy a ticket to board a cruise to see the other side of the river. Would also like to take my friend to my illustration department building and show her the place I studied for three years. Also our art museum, we used to love to see art exhibitions together when we were in college.

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?
There are many people who have helped me throughout my study career. My family, friends, and teachers have all given me a lot of help and encouragement. If there is one person I would like to thank recently, it would be one of my professors, Nelson, whose presentation touched me very much. She said that no matter what job opportunity was put in front of her, she would firmly say “yes, I can do it. ” I was touched by this courage. She said that there were actually some areas like story scripting and modeling that she didn’t know anything about because she was an illustration major, but she would say yes and then immediately go learn about them and do the best job she could. As a student who is about to start looking for a job, I am often intimidated by the unknown future. I was afraid of rejection, afraid that I wasn’t good enough. She said it was okay to go ahead and put in my resume, it won’t cost me anything, and even if I fail, it was okay because I can try many more times. The most important thing is the courage to say that I can do it. When I was at a loss, she gave me back my confidence to become a teacher, and I hope I can become a teacher who can inspire students like her in the future.

Website: http://ninocao.com

Instagram: @blanknk5521

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nino-cao-434b28230/