Interview with Aliya Chen, Yumi Artist

Hey Sharders, I’m sure you’ve been enjoying the wealth of official art we have gotten in the Year of the Sanderson as we’ve been reading through the four Secret Projects. All the books may be out now, but that doesn’t mean all the fun is over yet! We were fortunate enough to be able to ask Aliya Chen, the artist behind the cover and interior art for Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, some questions about her wonderful illustrations and the process that went into their creation. Keep reading to check out what Aliya has to say and also check out her website to learn more about her and her work:

(Beware of spoilers!)

How much of Brandon’s work have you read?

I’ve read Mistborn, Steelheart, and Stormlight Archive, with Stormlight being my all-time favorite ever since I read Way of Kings in middle school - I actually didn’t know for quite a while how vast the Cosmere universe is, and I’m hoping to find the time to delve into Brandon’s other books.
 
Can you tell us a bit about how you came to be the artist for Yumi and the Nightmare Painter?

Rachael [Lynn Buchanan] was the one who recommended me to Isaac [Stewart]! When they reached out, they knew I was a fan - perhaps it’s because I’d listed SA as my favorite when answering questions on Instagram.
 
Any scenes from the book you wanted to include but couldn’t, for one reason or another?

I think I could have included more scenes of Kilahito, such as Painter and Yumi at the carnival. I’d say that most of the time, we decided to include one scene instead of another because we wanted to make sure the illustrations were spread out as evenly as possible throughout the book. We also considered depicting the scholars and the machine, or more scenes containing side characters, but I ultimately chose to prioritize illustrations of Yumi and Painter’s relationship as the heart of this story.
 
Can the fans hope to see some fanart from you in the future, or are you all art’ed out when it comes to this book?

I might want to do some more sketches of the characters - I loved coming up with different styles to best suit this book, and the more calligraphic/watercolor style of the simpler Yumi drawings is one I’d like to revisit. Mostly, I’d love to draw Stormlight fanart someday, when I feel that I can do it justice!
 
What was your favorite part of the book? Favorite piece that you did for the book?

My favorite part was when Nikaro paints Yumi back to life :) I usually love tragedies that punch holes in my heart, but in this case, I think Yumi and Painter’s relationship was too pure and adorable not to have a happy ending. As for my favorite piece, I can’t choose between Battle of Wills and Priceless - I’ve rarely focused on characters or romance in my personal work, so being able to explore their relationship in a more expressive, less rendered style was really fun.

What was the most challenging part of the project?

I think coming up with appropriate styles for the story was the most challenging! For the full-color spreads, I used a more rendered style similar to my usual paintings. For the CMK illustrations, I initially tried to use pure cyan, magenta, and black in a graphic style, but was really struggling to make it aesthetically pleasing. I asked Isaac multiple questions about the limited palette and how printers work with color, and we eventually found that I was allowed to mix the three colors in any ratio and get an almost complete spectrum. Although I tend to use more realistic colors in my work, it was exciting to figure out unique palettes without yellow. For the spot illustrations, I initially tried a black brush style similar to traditional Chinese/Japanese ink wash painting, or to Painter’s own pieces. I’m so grateful to Isaac for suggesting that I incorporate some cyan and magenta and make full use of our ability to print those colors - it infused those drawings with the hion theme, while the characters themselves really came alive with those pops of color. I’d say that all the style exploration goes along with the fact that I don’t think I’ve ever devoted as much passion and effort to a client project before - part of it was because I was allowed so much creative freedom, and part of it was because I really wanted my work to live up to the beauty of Brandon’s storytelling.
 
Have you ever designed a book before? What was that like?

This was my first time! The actual layout design was done by the amazing Dragonsteel team, but, again, I was given an incredible amount of freedom regarding the visuals. In the initial email, Isaac told me I could choose to do as little as just the endpapers, or as much as everything from the cover to the chapter headers. In terms of process, there are quite a few limitations to illustrating for print (such as formatting and color modes), and Isaac was really helpful in explaining those details to me. We also worked together to figure out a schedule with deadlines for each illustration - I would submit pieces at certain stages of completion every week and receive feedback from the team. Because they were always detailed, prompt, and supportive with their feedback, I was able to keep on track and finish everything on time. All in all, it was an extremely valuable and rewarding experience, and I’m so thankful that I was able to work with a dream team for my first book

Thanks again to Aliya for sharing her art with us, as well as taking the time to answer our questions and share what it was like to create all the phenomenal art that helps make Yumi and the Nightmare Painter so special. Definitely check out her website, and you can also follow her on Twitter, ArtStation, and Instagram to see her other work, or visit her Inprnt store if you want to grab some prints of her art! We're big fans, so we'll be following your future work and hope to see you creating more art in the cosmere again someday, Aliya!