Đào Quang Huy – Love and Humor within the pages How does an artwork connect to its audience? Some might say it has something to with the techniques utilized, or the sheer amount of work and effort put into the its creation Other people such as the Vietnamese illustrator Đào Quang Huy, on the other hand, think differently It is the emotions the artwork conveys that establish a link between the audience and the illustration, and therefore the artist And Quang Huy, despite his young age, has already excelled at connecting with his audience with the excellent help of strange humor The 32-year-old illustrator has made his name with a popular series of web comics titled ‘Truyện Cực Ngắn’ (roughly translated to ‘Ultra-Short Comics’) whose audience find themselves eagerly waiting for his latest works With his comics constantly being shared on social media, more than fifty-thousand followers on Facebook and Instagram and a successful crowdfunding publishing project worth more than two-hundred-million VND, Quang Huy is an astonishing example of young artists finding new ways to inject art into the everyday life We have a chance to sit down with Quang Huy on a cool summer morning in his favorite coffee shop to talk about the artist’s work, career and plans for the future in order to crack the code on what makes the comics such a success JUDGE A BOOK ‘This is the place I usually come to find inspiration for my work,’ Quang Huy said, adjusting his flat cap while we were setting things up for the interview, ‘They have this little atmospheric garden where I can refresh myself and draw what I really want’ To be honest, his appearance took me by surprise Before meeting Quang Huy in person, I had been under the impression that he is a modern and energetic individual based on his comics and the way he answered his texts and phone calls But the artist standing in front of me, with a flat cap on his head and a pipe in his hand, had a strong retro and gentle vibe that almost made it impossible for him to be the illustrator of those satirical and sometimes over-the-top comics that I had read so many times in delight Chances are, if you are an active member of the evergrowing network user club in Vietnam, you might have come across one’s of many Quang Huy’s funny and silly ultra-short comics that depict a wide range of subjects From a hand-wretsling match between a skinny boy and Superman to an afternoon with the famous HongKong filmmaker Stephen Chow, it is difficult to imagine the person behind all of this anything more than a hyperactive individual who was too exposed to popular cultures, for his skillful use of English and style of humor remind me of the western world Yet quickly after such first impressions, Quang Huy proved to be more open, funny and professional whilst still retaining his sweet and considerate quality He speaks in a calm and controlled manner, never to break his posture whilst his soft and gentle delivery slid through the aromatic atmosphere of the coffee shop Quang Huy’s action and mannerism spoke of a man of the old days, but his comics said otherwise for they deals with the most down-to-earth matters This made it even more tempting to get into the mind of this man to find out the hidden parts making him today So after a brief introduction to break the ice whilst waiting for his drink, we eagerly began the interview with the talented illustrator Đào Quang Huy THE INTERVIEW Good morning, thank you for spending time with us today I’d like to interview you First question, you mind telling me when did you start to develop an interest in Art? I’ve had a liking for drawing since a very young age, but it was not until high school that I’d be able to have an approach with properly drawn drawings That was when I realize what true drawing is Afterwards I started taking beginner’s courses and changed my subjects from Natural Science straight to Art Such bold moves from you! So for you studying Art major, was it a family tradition or just simply a decision of your own? My family barely has any connection to Art, although my grandfather used to be a teacher who in fact had work with artistic activities a lot so I think I got inherited some bit of it from my Grandfather My parents don’t have anything to with Art, but strangely both me and my brother chose to follow Artistic subjects My brother works as a Calligraphy artist When it comes to Art, where did your inspiration come from? For me, it comes from mostly anything around me It could be news on TV, movies or simply cliché talks from strangers that I encountered I think that I can find the humors inside of them and I need a way to express it, comic is my form of choice In my opinion, I can tell there are a fair amount of personal jokes that you put into your comics And I have a feeling about these stories is that they were drawn to aim at the readers who have the same sense of humor as you Is it true or you just make them because you like to? That was actually a really sharp observation of you Normally I draw just as a way to entertain myself, but when I find something hilarious, I’ll make comics about them and share them publicly for the readers who I think have the same frequency with me Luckily, I’ve managed to gather a fair amount of readers who also enjoy my comics as I During your time on the job, were there any specific events that you can’t forget? In fact there is, but unfortunately it was a bad memory In 2014, I’ve started a crowdfunding to publish my compilation of ultra-short comedies called “Đào Quang Huy’s Ultra-short Comics” Unexpectedly, my project exceeded the desired number for a good amount, which means there were lots of readers out there who really enjoy my comics I was so close at having my work printed and published, that was when I failed to get the permission from authorized publishing officials I actually knew that and I’m very sorry about it Long after that I still receive questions about whether I’d republish it or not, or by any chance it’d be publish in a different form but actually I don’t think I’d that Maybe in the future, if there anything that I’d want to publish again, it won’t be in the form of paper Have you ever think of doing something different, other than drawing comics? As I said before, drawing is in fact just a hobby of mine I only draw to express myself and sharing my thoughts with other so I never put high hopes into it However, I myself is studying Animation and Directing They are somewhat similar to my comics I’m really looking forward to your first short film! Well it’s actually pretty hard to transform my comics into animated work since they focus more on the feelings and are in fact too calm Have you ever had any objection from anyone like families, friends or acquaintances for studying Art? Only when I was in high school At first my parents wanted me to enroll in the Trades major, but I was so insisted in studying Art that I purposely fail one of my tests in my college exam for Trades major My parents then allowed me to study Art and perhaps I’ve proved that I was meant for this since I never have any problems with anyone about this again Were you inspired by someone to start doing this? In the beginning, in 2010 I got interested in some short comics by a Korean artist At that time I found them condensed and funny The humors were wrapped in such few pages but still expressive to readers I’ve had similar funny thoughts in my daily life so I decided to something like that Have you ever fallen into the “familiar trails”? I notice that you mentioned it in one of your comics and I’d like to know if you’ve ever encountered such situation Personally when I make comics, if I find them unsatisfied or maybe similar to something created by others, I’d simply discard them since I don’t want to waste my time on pointless projects, also to keep me away from the “familiar trails” I only make stuff that when I read them I feel comfortable Did your study at University of Industrial Fine Arts (UIA) affected you and your work greatly? When I was studying at UIA, I also did lots of research on drawings in a pretty academic way, which means I tend to draw things realistic In my few first comics, I drew them in a rather sketchy way, because I want readers to focus on the story I’m trying to tell Although in some of my later works, there are still panels where I draw stuff really serious due to my work habit but I try to keep them as simple as possible since the funny parts are mainly in the story If you were not able to study Art, what’d be your plan B? I think I’ll be writing “Đào Quang Huy’s ultra-short comics” was a successful project of yours Do you intend to keep on making similar works or something else totally different? One-page comics are still a hobby of mine so I think I’ll keep on making them Although in the future I might come up with something else or find different methods to entertain my audiences All and all I’ll just try my best to be creative in making my readers laugh at my work Thank you so much for letting us have this interview today!