CGSociety

EXPOSÉ 7 artists
Donglu Yu and Jack Zhang
are getting married.

CGSociety :: Special Feature
16 June 2009, by Paul Hellard

EXPOSÉ brings people closer together. It's very cool to hear artist reactions when their art is chosen for our books. Equally cool when they know each other and can share the happiness. When I heard that two artists in Montreal had another reason to be happy, it made EXPOSÉ all the more sweet.

Jack Zhang has been working for EA Montreal as a character artist for over three years now. He’s now working currently on his forth title, ‘Spore Hero’ for the Wii which will ship it this Fall.

“It really wasn’t that hard for us to hear about each other, since not many Asians are working in the CG industry in Montreal,” says Donglu Yu. “Jack and I had heard of each other years before we met through friends. Our real first meet was on Facebook in fact around Christmas of 2007. One night Jack added me on Facebook and sent me a weird message asking who I was.”

“It was a very funny experience,” adds Jack. “It was the first time I used Facebook and I knew nothing about how that place ran. It kept suggesting me to add the people whom I might know. But I kept adding people who I didn’t know. Then Donglu’s name popped up.”

Jack vaguely remembered her name but couldn’t remember when and how he’d met her. “So I sent her a message, telling her that her name sounded familiar but I couldn’t remember who she was. Of course, she thought I was a random person who surfs on Facebook to talk to girls with old-fashion tricks!”

Donglu Yu joined Eidos Interactive as a concept artist. She’s currently working on a next-gen first person shooting game ’Deus Ex III’.

'Hansel and Gretel' by Donglu Yu, on page 196 of EXPOSÉ 7.

'Two Mighty Kings' by Jack Zhang, on page 126 of EXPOSÉ 7.

Computer graphics was a huge part of the two artist’s lives. Not long after they started seeing each other, they participated in CGSociety’s ‘Uplift Universe’ CGChallenge together.
“It was the first time Jack and I watched each other working in CG,” explains Donglu. “It was a sweet experience.”

“Oh yes it is. I remember back then,” says Jack. “Donglu used to come to my place and cook my meals for the week, carefully putting the lunch boxes in the fridge and watching me working on my piece. Lovely girl, definitely the right one to marry!”

Jack Zhang’s ‘The Two Mighty Kings’, and Donglu Yu’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’ were both accepted into EXPOSÉ 7. “It means so much to us, especially for Donglu,” says Jack. “It’s her first time in the Ballistic Publishing series.”

“Both works were created for the Steampunk CGChallenge,” explains Donglu Yu. “It took both of us a good two months to get the work done. Jack also received a CG Choice Award with that piece and it was featured on many forums and magazines.”

It was the second time the duo had worked on a CGChallenge together. “Every night we went back to our own rooms (we don’t live together but in the same building) and worked for around three hours in our images, then we met up to look at each other’s progress and give some suggestions.”

It was during the Christmas holiday season. They both dedicated a good amount of hours to their works. “Our parents love to see how we carry out our creative ideas,” says Donglu. “They gave us huge support.”

“We have different visions, different focus, different subjects, and different artistic interpretations when comes to creating CG,” explains Donglu. “Yet that doesn’t stop us from helping each other. We have a rule though: no matter how much we disagree with each other, we don’t attack the works. We give full explanation about why we disagree. If the other just can’t take it, we would let it go.”

'Hiding from the scouts' by Jack Zhang

“Oh, in digital art…yes indeed. In fact, we have more discussions than direct comments and criticisms. Through discussion, we help the other realise what they want, and find the best possible execution at our level.

We haven’t worked together yet, but we do have a few small projects, and hopefully soon in the future we can create some team works,” says Zhang.

Both Donglu and Jack want to form a personal style of execution in their work in the next couple of years and are both working hard on that. Donglu wants to do more freelance illustrations as well and they both hope to create something for the next CGSociety CGChallenge 'Secret Agent'. “That would allow me to further explore my artistic potential,” she says.

A wedding date close to the end of the year has been set for the private ceremony. Ballistic Publishing and CGSociety wishes them both well.

“EXPOSÉ 7 is a highly professional and artistic book that embraces a wide range of styles and categories of digital artworks. It was a great pleasure for both of us to be included in the EXPOSÉ series,” says Jack Zhang.

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