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Lisk Feng pulled up her illustration depicting what people may think a freelancer’s life looks like.

The New York-based illustrator’s pencil drawing showed an individual in their pajamas on the couch with a cup of coffee in one arm and a cat lounging on the other. But another showed the reality of freelancers, with an individual working at 1 a.m. and overwhelmed by a long to-do list.

“After being a freelancer, there are a whole lot of difficulties,” Feng said. “And the challenges are bizarre, I’ve never experienced those challenges before.”

Feng spoke to Syracuse University students over a YouTube livestream Thursday night as part of the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Visiting Artist Lecture Series. Feng has published work and advertising projects with The New York Times, Airbnb and The New Yorker. Throughout the lecture, Feng displayed some of her favorite work, such as a cover for The Washington Post’s Art and Stylebook guide and a Harlem poster she made for Airbnb.

Through slides of her drawings, Feng walked viewers through her journey as an artist who went from China to New York City, her favorite projects and how she maintains her creativity while enduring the challenges of freelance work.

Raised by two artists, Feng grew up in China and attended a large high school. Since she couldn’t study art in school, Feng drew in her garage for hours and practiced outside of class by starting her own illustration blog, which gained attention from art directors.

Feng said without her mother’s support, she wouldn’t have been accepted to her dream art school, the China Academy of Art. One time, her mother waited outside in a snowstorm for three hours while she finished her art test. Her mom’s support would later become the inspiration for an illustration of a woman and child under an umbrella.

“It reminds me, every time, that for me to try to be an illustrator is a very difficult journey,” she said.

When Feng heard she was one of the 25 out of the 800 applicants in her city to be accepted to the illustration major at the academy, she tripped and fell down the stairs from excitement. She said she was grateful for her time at the academy and the chance to be one of the few illustration majors in China, so much that she worried about losing the opportunity. Feng had monthly nightmares where her high school teacher would tell her to retake the entrance exam.

“I do feel very, very lucky to have this journey to try to become an illustrator. As if I saw a star and tried really hard to grab it for once,” Feng said. “I do realize that this experience taught me a lot in my life.”

Feng also knew she wanted to pursue her dream of being an illustrator in a country outside of China, so she moved to the United States. And in 2014, Feng graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art with a master’s of fine arts in illustration practice.

After two to three years of freelance work, Feng started to have doubts about her career. As portrayed in an image of a ball of scribbles, drawing became more of a blur to her, where she didn’t know whether it became just work for a job or if it was still something she enjoyed.

“I also have issues with illustration during that moment when I cannot get rid of anything. Or I try to make things a little bit more clear, but I cannot,” she said. “I’m scared of drawing during that time. I feel like the drawing is not my friend anymore.”

Because Feng overwhelmed herself with too many projects over the pandemic, she learned to say no to projects and gave herself more time to think as well as focus on self-branding.

She said sometimes artists need to pause their creativity to return. She finds when she loses the ability to draw for a project, it’s usually due to an outside source such as losing a family member or overall stress.

“You need to deal with other things first and then try drawing,” Feng advised. “Because drawing is basically your life. You draw whatever your life tells you.”

Feng’s journey from China to New York was about discovering who she is as an illustrator. She suggested to illustrators to learn to say no to a job if it does not fit their style or what they want in their portfolio.

She said someone needs to like themselves and be okay with who they are in order to be a good illustrator because drawings are all about originality.

“It’s all about preference, what you choose, your color palette, your style, the way you draw people, the way you want to shape your portfolio is all you so you can make your own decision for everything,” she said. “So I wish you could be the person you would like first. So that you can be your illustrator after.”

Published on April 2, 2021 at 12:28 pm

Contact Abby: akweiss@syr.edu | @abbyweiss_21