Chinese-Canadian illustrator Jeremy Leung uses flowing lines and textures to create artwork that (though perfectly still) seems to be in full swing. “I’ve always been fascinated with the potential to lead a viewer’s eye through a piece from start to finish,” he told Communication Arts. “By maximizing that sense of motion, I hope my lines can flow organically from one end of the canvas to the other.”
After earning a Bachelor of Design from OCAD University he now resides in Brooklyn, NY and works as the assistant art director and staff illustrator at Institutional Investor. “As a child, I was fascinated by fossil excavation and dreamed of being a paleontologist,” he admits. “In the end, I figured it’d be too hot working in the blazing sun all day and picked up drawing instead. Looking back, I made the right choice.”
With selected clients that include The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Globe & Mail, it definitely seems like he made the right choice. “Creating and consuming art is about personal escape,” he says. “Because I grew up in the suburbs and had a rather conservative upbringing, the art I create is fueled by a hunger to aggressively find new ways to express my ideas. I’m also influenced by foreign films. I love fashion photography; we live in an era when cataloging the evolution of taste and mood is easier than ever. My personal through-line between these other art forms is my focus on facial expressions and humanistic desire.”
Other interests include arthouse/foreign-language cinema and podcasts of most forms. All these different influences and inspirations go towards each of his pieces. Here are some highlights from his Instagram page.
