Illustrator Lisk Feng’s “whimsical, loose and playful” work

New York-based illustrator Lisk Feng describes her work as “colourful, whimsical, loose and playful.” Originally from Hainang in China, she first studied at the China Academy of Art, before moving on to study a masters at Maryland Institute College of Art for its grad programme. Since moving to New York she has produced work for the likes of The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Wired, United Nation, Airbnb, ELLE, Penguin Random House and more.

“The last time when you featured my work, I had just got out of school, and I wasn’t ready for the editorial world and became a freelancer. In the meanwhile, I was still experimenting styles and colouring methods at that period of time. I was looking for something that can fully be represented as my style,” she explains. “Right now, I have better ideas on what I really like to express in my work and what is the real hype for me to draw – especially for editorial work. Instead of trying to force the idea into the article, I can now handle very dry articles and turn them into my own interesting ideas to explain the point of the writer, which makes everything fun.”

Working primarily using digital tools, Lisk packs each image with colour and her character studies are full of charm and whimsy, allowing each composition to tell stories succinctly. In 2016 she worked on a project called Hello Kongzi, producing five new illustrations that were projected on the walls of Grad Central Station in New York. Lisk also collaborated with Jun Cen for the cover of Nautilus magazine. “This was literally the first time I sketch and finalise an idea with someone else,” Lisk explains. “I always thought illustrations (especially cool ones) are personal. The article is about information wave in the universe, and I did the sky and some other coloring on the character, jun did the rest. I will remember the brainstorming process forever, very happy and creative.”