Elsa Chang

Meet Elsa Chang. As she introduces herself in the above illustration, she likes cats, noodles, sushi, ice cream, and travel and dislikes rudeness, parking in LA, pets being abandoned, feeling blue, and tomatoes. She's currently a character designer at Dreamworks; and just this past July she was commissioned by Kanye West, Kim Kardashian West, and Kourtney Kardashian.

I connected to Elsa's work through a mutual love of cats, but that isn't why I chose her as my first inspiring artist. I chose her because of her personal style; you know when a piece was created by her because it looks like her work. She includes personal influences in her work (i.e. including cats in her illustrations or illustrating characters from Game of Thrones.) The final reason I chose her is because even with her personal influences and style she is still incredibly successful. Before working at Dreamworks and doing commissions for the Kardashian West family, she has worked at places like Nickelodeon, Paramount Animation, and more. I think that Elsa Chang provides both inspiration and the understanding that you don't have to sacrifice yourself to be a successful artist.