Victo Ngai (born 1988) is an American-Chinese

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

raised in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Her work has been described as being highly detailed and precise, referencing comic book drawings, classic children's book illustrations, the work of Japanese painters, and more. Illustrations created by the artist are often considered to contain compelling imagery and unique styling.

Early life and education

Ngai (pronounced nye), was given the name of Victoria, which she later shortened to Victo. Born in Guangdong Province and raised in the former British colony of

, current Chinese SAR as the only child of middle-class parents, Ngais' father worked in

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and her mother worked in a variety of jobs, including professor of

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

and the manager of an

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under th ...

. Often

bedridden Being bedridden is a form of immobility that can present as the inability to move or even sit upright. It differs from bed-rest, a form of non-invasive treatment that is usually part of recovery or the limitation of activities. Some of the more se ...

with high fevers until the age of six she took to drawing as a way to keep herself entertained. Her mother sought out traditional herbal treatments, which not only ended her fevers but also inspired her mother's next career as a doctor of

Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence of effectiveness or ...

Her great uncle was a surgeon with a passion for meticulous

Chinese ink painting Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses washes of black ink, such as that used in East Asian calligraphy, in different concentrations. It emerged during the Tang dynasty ...

and drawing with him was one of her first art encounters. Ngai also went to many museum exhibitions with her mother as a child. The artist's family moved from place to place often when she was young, which did not allow for lasting friendships and as a result her childhood was a largely solitary one. Ngai would later credit the instability in her early life with the birth of her artistic identity. Ngai's mother first noticed her artistic talent and feared that "rigidly technical Chinese art taught in school was stifling it." For two years during summer vacation, Ngai was taken to a private art teacher in

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, which although geographically close, was like "visiting another country" because of the customs immigration process, according to the artist. It was there that Ngai's creative confidence began to flourish. When Ngai started thinking about an education in illustration, it was a difficult decision, because the artist and her family believed there was a

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

in Asia against art and design. Her father hoped she would go into finance as a career. A friend who studied art at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, recommended the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

and that was the only school she applied to. Ngai was accepted at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006 where she was mentored by the award-winning illustrator, Chris Buzelli, who importantly taught the young artist that an individual style is something you have to search for within, and not search for outside.

Artistic influences

The artist drew early influences from the works of

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Utagawa Kuniyoshi (, ; 1 January 1798 – 14 April 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al'' (2005). "Kuniyoshi" in He was a member of the Utaga ...

Hiroshige or , born Andō Tokutarō (; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format landscape series '' The Fifty-three Stations ...

> and her college instructor, Chris Buzelli She also gained inspiration from

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–1914; 1924–1927) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...

Mary Blair Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson; October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978) was an American artist, animator, and designer. She was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing concept art for such films as '' A ...

and the fashion designer

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...

Career

When asked why she became an

instead of a

fine artist In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as p ...

, Ngai replied, "One of my RISD professors told me this back in freshmen year, 'Fine artists like to create problems for themselves while illustrators like to solve problems given to them'. I love drawing and I love problem solving, hence illustration." Ngai's first work in print appeared in 2009, a year before graduation from RISD, with a work titled ''Bells and Whistles'' for ''PLANSPONSOR'' Magazine, art directed by SooJin Buzelli. Her second client would be the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

. The artist's next important client would be ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', which Ngai credited to a portfolio review with Jordan Awan, a former art director at ''The New Yorker'', through a reference by ''New York Times'' art director Aviva Michaelov. Working for ''The New Yorker'', the artist began illustrating music reviews and other smaller illustrations and eventually got assignments to work on the full-page fiction pieces. Many of the artist's ''New Yorker'' works were art directed by Chris Curry. When creating the first larger format works for ''The New Yorker'', Ngai had no experience in illustrating for fiction and had to confront new creative challenges. Ngai would go on to illustrate for newspapers, magazines, book publishers and corporate clients such as ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'',

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

Abrams Books Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher Média-Participations. Run by president and CEO Mar ...

, Macmillan,

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Lufthansa Airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, PGA,

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...

, and

Infiniti (stylized in all caps) is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. The brand began on November 8, 1989, initially in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in the 201 ...

. In 2018 Ngai created ''The Victo Ngai Scholarship Award'' for the Student Competition held by the Society of Illustrators. The award was presented in honor of Chris Buzelli and the first recipient was Minjua An.

Noted works

Books and film *''Wishes'' (book illustration), 2021, by Muon Thi Van, published by Orchard Books/ Scholastic *''Serving Fish'' (book illustration), 2018, by Christopher Caldwell awarded Gold Medal, Spectrum 25 2018 *''Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion'' (book illustrations), 2017, published by Lerner Books, authored by Chris Barton, art directed by Danielle Carnitoa and given the Dilys Evans Founder's Award, by the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators (SoI) is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. Since absorbing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (M ...

*''Following The Great Wall'' (book illustrations), 2017, published by Lonely Planet Kids, authored by Stewart Ross *''Chinese Fairy Tales & Fantasies'' (book illustrations),

The Folio Society The Folio Society is an independent London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it became an employee ownership trust in 2021. It produces illustrated hardback fine press editio ...

, 2015 *''Dark Fairy Tales'', (book cover illustration), art directed by Tian Hang, published by Tang Hang Books, 2015. In

57 and American Illustration 34 annuals. *''Time out of Time'', (book cover illustration), authored by Maureen McQuerry, art directed by Chad Beckerman, published by Abrams, 2015. In

57 and Spectrum 22 annuals. *''The Wound and the Gift'' (movie illustrations), 2014 *''Vicious'' (the artist's first book cover illustration) authored by V.E. Schwab, art directed by Irene Gallo, 2013, published by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

Film posters *''Solaris'' *''Three Colours Trilogy'' *''THREE COLOURS: RED'' Corporate work * Johnnie Walker Blue Label Special Edition label, 2017 *

Motion Graphics, 2017,

Communication Arts ''Communication Arts'' (acronym: CA) is the largest international trade journal of visual communication. Founded in 1959 by Richard Coyne and Robert Blanchard, the magazine's coverage includes graphic design, advertising, photography, illustra ...

Finalist 2018 *

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Stamps, 2017 *

Wallpaper, 2017 ''Lucky Rooster'' *

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt that celebrates the Four Freedoms he articulated in his 1941 State of the Union address. It is located in New York City at the southernmost point of Roosevelt ...

, 2016 * NYC MTA Poster, 2013 ''The Cloisters'' * Gallo Wines, Prophecy Wine Label

Editorial *''Jacks and Queens'', Gold Medal, Society of Illustrators a-society-of-illustrators-gold-medal-for-jacks-and-queens/] *''Clover'', Silver Medal, Society of Illustrators

Working process

Ngai reads her work assignment text and then narrows the theme of her illustration concept down to the essence of the story, usually focusing on a few phrases or short sentences within the text. Afterwards she likes to have some distance from the material, knowing that for her, the best idea comes when she's not thinking too hard. When an idea for a final work presents itself, Ngai shows her client with at least 3 sketches or options. Her line work is done with Nib (pen), nib pens or

rapidograph Rotring (stylized rOtring) is a manufacturer of technical drawing tools and writing implements. Established in Germany in 1928 as a fountain pen manufacturer, Rotring went on to be acquired by Newell Brands in 1998. The name "Rotring" directly ...

pens. The textures are done on different pieces of paper with various mediums, like

graphite Graphite () is a Crystallinity, crystalline allotrope (form) of the element carbon. It consists of many stacked Layered materials, layers of graphene, typically in excess of hundreds of layers. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable ...

, acrylic and oil pastels. Her final drawings are eventually brought into

Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editin ...

and colored digitally, while working in a limited color palette. Nearing completion of a work, if it fulfills the commission, or purpose of it and Ngai imagines the people who see the art work might also enjoy the piece as a stand-alone art object, she knows she is done and delivers the work to her client. Ngai signs her works with a symbol, characteristic of a traditional Chinese seal, in which the symbol looks like the first Chinese character of her given name, "傳", but when turned counter clockwise reads "Victo". Because her work is so labor-intensive, finished works may take three to four days to complete.

Teaching

Ngai has taught at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

New York, The Illustration Academy and gives guest lectures and workshops at universities and conferences.

Awards and honors

In 2014, at age 26, Ngai was named as one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 recipients in the category of Art and Style She has received a number of notable awards that include; *GOLD MEDAL,

California Book Awards The California Book Awards are annual literary awards given to California Writers and Publishers since 1931. The event is sponsored by Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. The California Book Awards are funded by an endowment from Dr. Ma ...

, 2022 for ''Wishes''. * Hamilton King Award, Society of Illustrators (2019) *GOLD MEDAL, Society of Illustrators, (Advertising), 'Blood Normal '' for Libresse Sveringe, art directed by Edwina Dennison, 2019 *GOLD MEDAL, Spectrum 25, 2018, for ''Serving Fish'' *

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

Best Professional Artist Award, 2018 *BEST ARTWORK,

BSFA The British Science Fiction Association Limited is an organisation founded in 1958 by a group of British academics, science fiction fans, authors, publishers and booksellers in order to promote the writing, criticism, and study of science fiction ...

, 2018 for ''Waiting on a Bright Moon'' by

JY Yang Neon Yang, formerly JY Yang, is a Singaporean writer of English-language speculative fiction best known for the ''Tensorate'' series of novellas published by Tor.com, which have been finalists for the Hugo Award, Locus Award, Nebula Award, Worl ...

published by

*SILVER CUBE,

Art Directors Club The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award fo ...

, 2018 for ''Celebrations at MIXC WORLD'', art directed by Yong Liu *Nominated for the

Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist The Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist is given each year for artists of works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. The award has been given annually under several names since 1955, with the except ...

in 2017, 2018 and 2019 *Dilys Evans Founder's Award,

, 2017 for ''Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion'' (

Lerner Publishing Group Lerner Publishing Group, based in Minneapolis in the United States, U.S. state of Minnesota since its founding in 1959, is one of the largest private sector, independently owned children's literature, children's book publishers in the United Stat ...

Millbrook Press Lerner Publishing Group, based in Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota since its founding in 1959, is one of the largest independently owned children's book publishers in the United States. With more than 5,000 titles in print, Lerner Publ ...

), art directed by Danielle Carnito *SILVER MEDAL,

, 2016 for ''Clover'' published by

TOR Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

, art directed by Irene Gallo) *SILVER MEDAL, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki'' review published by

*GOLD MEDAL, GCIA3, 2014 for ''MoonCatcher'' published by Plan Sponsor art directed by SooJin Buzelli *GOLD MEDAL, ASBPE Awards for Design Excellence, 2014 for ''Deep Thinkers'', Computer World Magazine, art directed by April Montgomery *GOLD MEDAL ASBPE Northeast regional awards, 2013 for ''The Cobol Brain Drain'' Computer World Magazine, art directed by April Montgomery *GOLD MEDAL,

2013, Institutional illustration, ''Utopi'', Dellas Graphics, art director Jim Burke *GOLD Medal

, 2012 for ''Jacks and Queens at the Green Mill, published by

art directed by[Irene Gallo'' *GOLD MEDAL for best use of illustration, Folio 2012 Ozzie Awards for ''Cobol BrainDrain'', Computerworld">Computer World Magazine, art directed by April Montgomery *GOLD MEDAL in 3x3 ProShow, 2012 *GOLD MEDAL in CMYK Top New Creatives, 2011 (student award) *Nancy Lee Rhodes Roberts Scholarship Award /

, Student Illustration, 2010

Personal life

Ngai lives in Los Angeles, California and works in a Loft conversion, converted loft space in the Arts District, Los Angeles, Art District of Downtown Los Angeles which she shares with her husband who runs an architecture firm.

References

External links

Official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngai, Victo Living people Hong Kong women artists Rhode Island School of Design alumni American women illustrators American magazine illustrators American children's book illustrators Date of birth missing (living people) 1988 births 21st-century American women