NOTE: This specific feature features significant artwork with nudity. If this is a problem for you, you have been warned. NSFW.

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Wangjie Li is one of the finest young artists in the world today. This is not something Urban-Muse would say lightly. Wangjie Li is fairly young and still learning but he already has taken on and started to master skills passed down from the masters for hundreds of years.

Wangjie is a Chinese artist from Changsha China, currently residing in the Bay area.

Wangjie’s work is primarily figurative, with some of the striking example’s being female figurative, a area of art Urban-Muse tends to heavily focus on. It’s our great honor to present to you this talented rising star of the artworld here in the pages of Urban-Muse Magazine and the world wide web and beyond.

Urban-Muse.com: It’s a great pleasure to talk to you Wangjie. I have to say on a personal level you are one of my personal favorite artists. You’re the kind of artist I wish my own artistic skills resembled. So thanks very much for agreeing to be a part of this.

Wangjie Li: Thank you so much for the kind words, it’s a tremendous honor for me to be here.

Urban-Muse.com: Let’s get started. You’re a Chinese artist originally from Changsha China. Some of the finest artists in the world come from China. Did you come to the United States to study and work or did you come earlier? What was that process like?

Wangjie Li: Yes, I came here for study both English and art. It’s a challenge for me to overcome the language barrier.

Urban-Muse.com: According to Facebook you are currently residing in Altadena which is close to Los Angeles (Where I am). Is this correct? The artstation profile says San Francisco.

Wangjie Li: I was living in Altadena for years, now I live in Bay Area.

Urban-Muse.com: You are currently studying (or have studied) at The Academy of Art San Francisco. I did not realize this until fairly recently. The Academy is where I also went to Art School, after I completed Business School. During my time at the Academy my favorite teachers were David Choong Lee, John Wentz, and of course the great Henry Yan. Did you meet those professors/take their classes? Which of your teachers at the academy were your favorite? What course do you think you learned the most from?

Wangjie Li: I was lucky to take Henry Yan’s class in the first semester, he leads me back from digital media to traditional media. One of my favorite instructors is Craig Nelson, I took his quick study class this February, the most important thing he taught me is how to be an artist with confidence, and have fun with my work.

Urban-Muse.com: Are you taking online classes? That’s something Academy does. Did you always take the online course or did you attend in person courses in the San Francisco atelier style classrooms?

Wangjie Li: Yes, I take online classes, it’s good because online education will be a big part of the education industry in the future. I also take the class on site because I can talk to my instructors and classmates in person.

Urban-Muse.com: Take us through the process of creating a piece, do you work in a certain place, put certain music on to set the mood? What is it like when Wangjie Li sits down to paint?

Wangjie Li: Oh man, I always get inspired by some music, like the geisha series I did is inspired by the song “Sorezoreni.” LINK Usually, I don’t play music when I paint, I’m the kind of person who will distract easily by anything, but sometime I will be singing when I work at home, I don’t know why.

Urban-Muse.com: For your artistic setup what kind of hardware are you using? What kind of computer? Monitor? What kind of Tablet? And what are you preferred software(s)?

Wangjie Li: I use multiple devices, usually I use the PC that I build to work, my primary monitor model is Dell UP3014Q, another set is a Wacom Cintiq 24. I use a Cintiq 13hd as my tablet. I only use Photoshop to paint.

Urban-Muse.com: During our research on you we found you have released some brushes to the public for free. Linked HERE and HERE. This is pretty cool, we can imagine you get asked alot about your brushes all the time because that’s a common question for artists, but it’s fairly unique to see them released for free. Often people charge for them on GumRoad or Patreon. Why did you choose to do this?

Wangjie Li: Yes, people ask me a lot about what brush I use, that’s the reason why I shared this brush set, some artists told me they like my brush set, it makes me happy. Also, I think the best way is to charge money if the artist makes some new brushes.

Urban-Muse.com: Another common question from art fans is, “How do I get to be as good as you? How can I improve?” How do you answer that question?

Wangjie Li: Usually I will check their work to answer this question, everybody is different, some artists are good at the shape, some artists are good at value control, I think I need to tell them what they are specifically good at.

Urban-Muse.com: Of all your pieces do you have a favorite? Why?

Wangjie Li: I like many of my work, but I don’t have the favorite yet, I’m still learning.

Urban-Muse.com: Relating to the last question, who are your biggest artistic influences past and present?

Wangjie Li: Craig Mullins and John Singer Sargent, really enjoy watching their work.

Urban-Muse.com: Sometimes an artist will get “stuck” with a painting, or just have a really hard time with a certain piece. What do you do in this situations?

Wangjie Li: I will do more research about the goal I want to achieve, find out what I was missing, or ask some of my friends for advice.

Urban-Muse.com: According to your facebook you worked at Winking Entertainment 顆쑨옰세. A company that deals in video game outsourcing and evidently some VR stuff as well. What can you tell us about your project(s) there?

Wangjie Li: I was a production designer at Winking, I gathered the artwork from my crews and meet with our Korean department, they make engines for the game. Also, I did characters.

Urban-Muse.com: How do you deal with haters and trolls on the web?

Wangjie Li: I’m ok with it, everyone is different, and the internet always brings us something we don’t know.

Urban-Muse.com: Are you into any specific kind of Games, Movies, TV, Music, or books right now that might be influencing you?

Wangjie Li: yes, I like the kind of stories that bring me imagination, it makes me want to make illustrations for them. There is a game on steam called Starbound; I like it a lot. I also love some newer games like the Monster Hunter World and the God of War.

Urban-Muse.com: Has there ever been a big issue in life that you feel you have overcome? How did that make you feel? Overcoming adversity is going to be a big focus of this issue.

Wangjie Li: Maybe because I’m from the countryside of the China, I always feel I’m lucky to see the world and I switch my viewpoint to understand more. It’s essential for me to keep my eyes and mind open, and try hard to work for the future.

Urban-Muse.com: So Wangjie, you have had some great news lately, you recently were awarded with the Spectrum Gold Award! Please tell us about that.

Wangjie Li: It is with great pleasure that I received this Award, and this is a great encouragement to me!

(Above: Wangjie’s Spectrum Award)

Urban-Muse.com: And you got the chance to meet some great artists while you were there as well?

Wangjie Li: Yes, there were many talented artists there such as Iain McCaig and Karla Ortiz.

Urban-Muse.com: Karla Ortiz is one of my favorites. One of the very best.

Wangjie Li: She is the best.

Urban-Muse.com: So I was looking at your photos and saw the award. How does it work, were all those people gold award winners?

Wangjie Li: Gold and silver I think.

Urban-Muse.com: So it seems like there were several awards based on different categories like Advertising and Concept Art? Kind of like the Academy Awards I imagine? What was your category?

Wangjie Li: Yes, my category was concept art.

Urban-Muse.com: So the awards were in LA and you’re from the Bay did they fly you out or did you have to take care of that?

Wangjie Li: I took care of it. I just visited my girlfriend during that weekend.

Urban-Muse.com: Oh I see, that must have been a really amazing experience for the two of you, I am sure she was very proud of you.

Wangjie Li: Yes, she was very happy about it.

Urban-Muse.com: So, I was looking at the photos and it seems like you are easily the youngest person there, you are surrounded by industry giants who are much older than you. Were you the youngest you think?

Wangjie Li: I’m not sure about the ages.

Urban-Muse.com: I find it so amazing that you are so very accomplished and your work is at such a high level and you are still just a college student. I have to think without a doubt you will be one of the Academy of Art’s top Graduates. Have they started permanently hanging your work on the walls yet? When I was there there was tons of of work from Jason Chan (Massive Black) from when he was there a few years before me, on the second floor of the Townsend building. Are those still there?

Wangjie Li: I’m not sure because most of my classes are in another building, they do have many awesome works on the wall, but I haven’t sent any of my traditional work yet, most of them are quick studies.

Urban-Muse.com: I see. The Academy of Art has a history of hiring professors who are graduates of their school. And I have to think you would easily get a position once you graduate. Would teaching be something you’d be interested in?

Wangjie Li: Yes, I have been teaching art classes for over 10 years. I started my own online class 4 years ago.

Urban-Muse.com: Ohhhh, see this is new information to me, I had no idea about this. Please tell me about that. Was that in China? or in the US? Online or at a campus?

Wangjie Li: In China, it’s a online class.

Urban-Muse.com: I see. So the answer was yes you would be interested in teaching at a School like the Academy of Art, so do you think teaching in person would be better?

Or maybe just another online course because you’re familiar with that?

Wangjie Li: Yes, I like teaching and share my ideas. There are many differences between teaching online and teaching in person.

Urban-Muse.com: This explains a lot about how you are so good as well, to be able to teach means you already have a good grasp on the techniques, so when you went to the Academy it was probably just refining things you already knew and of course getting a Fine Art Degree.

Wangjie Li: Yes, most of the idea I already familiar with, but I still need more experience with how to paint traditionally.

Urban-Muse.com: I see. I am the opposite, I have lots of experience traditionally but have virtually no experience digitally. One of the worst things with Traditional is the huge mess and cleanup process!

Wangjie Li: Haha, you need tons of paper towels!

Urban-Muse.com: Which social media platform / art website has been most important to you for growing your fanbase and getting your art seen? Maybe even one that you like to browse yourself?

Wangjie Li: Artstation and Facebook, I have a personal website but rarely use it.

Urban-Muse.com: How do you set time aside during your day for you to create your art?

Wangjie Li: For a whole day schedule, usually I use 1 hour to research at morning, to find some idea. Then finish the sketch or underpainting process before lunch, I will use the rest of the time to follow the concept and push the quality of my work. I separate the thinking and doing part.

Urban-Muse.com: What if someone came up to you and said “Wangjie, I am just struggling so much with my art. I want to give up forever.” What would you say to them?

Wangjie Li: For my personal experience, the artist always has this thought if they are doing realistic paintings, of course, it is hard to capture an object accurately, even for the old masters, because we need follow the rules. Sometimes we need to do some quick and simple sketches to free our mind, don’t feel bad when you can’t capture something complicated.