Illustrator Tang Yau Hoong Uses Negative Space to Create Conceptual Art

Tang Yau Hoong is a talented illustrator and graphic designer hailing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With a love for creative thinking, he uses negative space to create unique and visually intriguing pieces of art. While his illustrations may appear effortless at first glance, they are actually intricate works of art that demand attention and contemplation.

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Yau Hoong is particularly drawn to conceptual and surreal themes, allowing his imagination to run wild. His interests range from cityscapes and nature to animals and societal values, all of which he enjoys exploring through his artwork. He prefers to keep his concepts open-ended, giving viewers the freedom to interpret his pieces in their own unique ways.

In order to create his art, Yau Hoong combines digital elements with scanned images from brushes, watercolors, and inks. These scanned images lend a depth and organic quality to his illustrations, which he describes as having a vintage, silkscreen-ish, and painterly look. His comics, on the other hand, feature a different style, with loose, hand-drawn lines.

When asked where he finds inspiration for his art, Yau Hoong explains that it can come from anywhere – images, movies, songs – and that most of the time, it’s an evolution of ideas. He does a lot of random sketches, working on the ones that speak to him and refining them until they become the final piece he’s happy with.

For Yau Hoong, the most challenging part of the creative process is the brainstorming phase, where he needs to come up with unique and original ideas. He believes that good storytelling is critical to creating great conceptual art, and sometimes finds it frustrating when he can’t come up with the ideas he wants. To overcome creative blocks, he takes a break and starts sketching from scratch again, finding that it works best when his mind is relaxed.

Yau Hoong describes his style as minimalist, with a touch of modern and retro. He’s continually refining his use of surreal elements and negative space, and has been experimenting with more dynamic perspectives to create even greater depth in his illustrations.

Like many artists, Yau Hoong experiences moments of self-doubt and creative blocks. To stay motivated, he takes a break from his usual style and tries something new, such as drawing comics. He also looks back at his sketchbooks for inspiration, where many of his ideas have been sitting for months or even years before he picks them up and starts working on them.