Renowned novelist Louis Cha Leung Yung (better known by his pen name Jin Yong) passed away on October 30, 2018 at the age of 94. According to Wikipedia, he was the best selling Chinese author by the time of his death. More than 100 million of his books have been sold worldwide, not including unknown copies of pirated versions. News of Jin Yong brought me back to the time when I was an illustrator for the Young Companion magazine in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Death of Romance illustration part 1

An issue of the Young Companion art magazine featured an interview with Jin Yong and I was asked to do an illustration for the cover. I looked over the photo of Jin Yong and thought a little commonplace so I made a line drawing instead. The editor-in-chief and art editor both loved the result and it became one of the unique covers of Young Companion.

Death of Romance illustration part 2

武俠小說泰斗金庸先生去世的消息不禁讓我想起多年前畫金庸先生的一張線描畫。香港《良友》畫報作了一期金庸的專訪，並請我畫封面。我對著金庸的照片看來看去，心想這個封面畫照片沒啥意思，就特意改用線描方式，總編與美編都十分讚賞，亦欣然接受，也成為《良友》畫刊別有一格的封面形象。

Final Burn illustration

The Young Companion was a very famous art magazine in Shanghai during the 1930’s and 1940’s. The art magazine was revived by the heir in Hong Kong during the early 1980’s. At the recommendation of the magazine’s art editor Chen Xiuming, the editor-in-chief Chen Peishen asked me to be the illustrator for the magazine’s short stories.

Good Fortune illustration

《良友》畫報是上海三、四十年代極有名的一分畫報，八十年代初，繼承人在香港續辦這份畫報，畫報社的美術編輯陳修明向總編輯陳培生推薦我為每期的短篇小說作插圖。

Meeting Up illustration

The authors of Young Companion short stories were the finest in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Most of the stories were based on the society in Taiwan and Hong Kong at the time, making it relatively easy to find the right reference and perspectives. Interestingly enough, I acquired a brush pen by chance and it created lines similar to design drawings and Chinese paintings. I loved that brush and used it to create more than twenty drawings. For some of the illustrations I even went to the trouble of making plein-air sketches. Most of the compositions were the products of the imagination but even today they have their own unique qualities. Looking at the drawings now, I am still amazed by my imagination back then.

In the Subway illustration

《良友》小說的作家都是港、台一時之選，內容也多取自當下的港、台社會生活，畫起來容易找到素材和切入的角度。說來也有趣：我無意中得到一支特別的勾線毛筆，畫出的線條兼有設計用筆和國畫用筆的形態，我如獲至寶，用它抒寫了二十多幅畫。為畫其中一些插圖，還專去畫了場景速寫，多數的畫面倒是天馬行空，如今觀之，仍覺不俗。回頭翻閱，不解當年何以有如此飄逸的情緻？