The secret of art success according to Bobby Chiu
We catch up with the long-time friend of Imaginefx, and talk breaking into the industry, art goals and Lightbox Expo
Bobby Chiu’s been contributing to Imaginefx since the beginning, and is now leading the charge on making digital art globally renowned with his Lightbox Expo. We speak to the stalwart artist about subway lessons and the state of art today.
What was your first art job?
I started working when I was 17, designing for Thinkway Toys. It was 1995, and I got the job because I was working in the warehouse, but on my time off I’d learn this new software called Illustrator. One day, I was bringing these bunch of toys to be fixed (that was one of the jobs) and everybody looked so busy, so I said, “Can I do something?” And I guess I did good, so they moved me out of the warehouse to the art department.
When did you discover Imaginefx?
My earliest memory of Imaginefx was just being excited to see the magazine! I had a tutorial in there – this was either issue three or six, the Big Bad Bunny Eater image (still one of my most memorable pieces). And then just seeing all the other artists in there. It was this really wonderful, overwhelming feeling of… acceptance isn’t the word, but I found my home, I found my people. And I remember thinking, “I hope we keep going in this direction.”
Is the secret to your success being nice to people, working hard and luck?
I was talking to a friend about this very topic the other day. Take hard work, for example: we’ve all known people who have worked hard, but who haven’t succeeded in their line of work. Or how about being friendly? Now, I like being friendly, but there are a lot of jerks that do very well.
So what’s the secret sauce here? The biggest thing, for me, seems to be empathy. I don’t think effort or art skills totally, totally need to be there. There are plenty of technically really not-so-hot art that’s very successful, because of the idea of creating something that the audience can relate to. So I’d rather boil it down to empathy, the skill of tapping into, “How does this other person feel?”
That’s how I generally look at art. How is the viewer going to feel? What are they going to be thinking about, where are they going to be looking at, and how do I want them to feel? If you align that, you can hopefully give this emotional impact that will be memorable.
Was it always the goal to teach?
No, I couldn’t get a job at first, so I thought, “People respect teaching, so I guess I’ll start there.’ And I couldn’t get a teaching job, because I didn’t have experience.
So I started teaching in the subways of Toronto. I put it out there on Cgtalk.com [the forum arm of Cgsociety]. I’d post, “The Bobby Chiu Subway Sketch Group met up today, and here’s the sketches!” I did that for literally about a year, for every week, before people started to come!
Fast forward, and all of a sudden we’re in the newspaper, on Canadian television, and people have made Bobby Chiu subway sketch groups all over the world, like in 30-plus countries, everywhere. So that’s what really helped me get my name out there. You got to think, whatever your limit is, maybe times that by three or four. But be ready to times it by 10!
What’s different in digital art today compared to when you?
Everybody on average has got a lot better. Things like Schoolism, things like Imaginefx, really played a big role in this, as well as all the forums back then. All those forums gave all this wonderful advice, all these critiques. Then came social media, which changed the landscape again. It’s so binary now – do you like it or not? There’s no, “Well, I kinda like it.” You’ve gotta choose, which is… horrible! It’s not healthy for our community. What’s healthy for our community is the real nice discussions about things.
Lightbox Expo Online will be held virtually in 2021 on 10-12 September, and will return to the physical event in 2022. You can discover more of Bobby’s art at www.artstation.com/bobbychiu.