Interviews with Artists: My Name is Tran

Author: Seth Burn

Editor: Samantha Ferreira

Anime Herald: What is your origin story as an artist?

Tran Nguyen: I grew up loving anime and Japanese video games, JRPGs. I kind of just went head-first and said, “You know what? I’m going to keep doing this.” After high school, I decided to take the leap and go to art school, even though my parents wanted me to be a doctor.

Of course, right? Stereotypical Asian parents.

After college, instead of pursuing illustration immediately, ‘cause that’s what I went to school for, I went to do gallery work. About three years after that, I started transitioning into commercial illustration.

Anime Herald: Where did you go to school?

Tran Nguyen: I went to Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah [, Georgia].

Anime Herald: You studied illustration there.

Tran Nguyen: I did.

Anime Herald: And then you moved in a different direction.

Tran Nguyen: I did, I did! I didn’t really know how to get my foot in the door with illustration, so I approached a gallery that had showcased a lot of artists I liked, just on a whim, to see if I could get feedback. I think I got really lucky. I guess they saw enough potential in my work to offer me space for a small upcoming group show.

Anime Herald: What gallery was this?

Tran Nguyen: Thinkspace Gallery.

Anime Herald: What were the anime and JRPG that inspired you when you were a kid?

Tran Nguyen: It’s so popular now, but back then, it was more obscure. Serial Experiments Lain, Bubblegum Crisis, Evangelion, all the Final Fantasies, Breath of Fire, Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

Anime Herald: What is your process for creating the works we’re looking at?

Tran Nguyen: I work with acrylic and colored pencil. I treat acrylic sort of like watercolor, so they’re diluted with a lot of water, with very little pigment in each brush stroke. I paint in washes, I build value and form by overlaying washes over washes. After a certain point, I’ll switch over to colored pencil, to help push the darker values and bring out some nice clean linework. I’ll alternate back and forth towards the end, so everything is refined as much as I need it to be.

Anime Herald: How has your style evolved over the years?

Tran Nguyen: I think I started out doing a bit more whimsical and surreal work. I was also trying to figure out what I wanted to say or paint, as far as subject matter, so a lot of exploration early on. I have noticed my work has gotten tighter, for the better, and also I’ve noticed for the worse that I feel like I’m focusing more on refinement and photorealism, as opposed to creating more unique work these days. I’m trying to take a step back and revisit my old work and kind of create these more weird motifs and stuff like that.

Anime Herald: Who are the artists who inspired you? Who are the ones that, when you looked at their art, [made you say] “Yes, that is art, that’s what I want to do.”

Tran Nguyen: Amano Yoshitaka was a huge inspiration. In college, I didn’t know of Gustav Klimt’s work. I loved his work.

Anime Herald: Are there any artists working today, apart from Amano, who impress you?

Tran Nguyen: Of course James Jean. I think he’s influenced our whole generation. I also love Aron Wiesenfeld. Telmo Miel does beautiful murals. That’s something I’ve been getting into as well.

I also love Satoshi Kon’s work.

Anime Herald: Paprika was one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

Tran Nguyen: I loved Perfect Blue.

Anime Herald: We all miss him to this day.

Tran Nguyen: I know. I’ve been trying to collect his cels, but they’re so expensive.

Anime Herald: Cels are a fire hazard, be careful with them. If there’s too many of them in one place, apparently they burn very easily.

Tran Nguyen: I didn’t realize that.

Anime Herald: In Japan they’re considered hazardous waste. That’s why they’re so happy to get rid of cels.

Tran Nguyen: I have a small collection.

Anime Herald: A smell collection is not a big deal. I remember AnimEigo was once offered a whole truckload of cels and they said, “Sure!” They realized afterwards, “How are we going to get rid of these things? We can’t just take them to the trash.”

Tran Nguyen: They separated them into small piles?

Anime Herald: There’s a whole story behind that. But don’t worry about it. A small collection isn’t a big deal.

Tran Nguyen: That’s good to know.

Anime Herald: Are you watching any anime or reading any manga these days?

Tran Nguyen: I feel like such a fraud. I used to read more manga, but it was more the cover art that always got me. Not so much the inside.

Anime Herald: Interesting.

Tran Nguyen: I did watch a lot of anime. The current anime I’m watching, it’s a little late, I’m rewatching the newer Evangelion.

Anime Herald: Are there any historical manga covers that have stuck with you?

Tran Nguyen: The “Ah! My Goddess!” covers. Kōsuke Fujishima.

Anime Herald: Do you have any questions for us?

Tran Nguyen: What anime do you recommend?

Anime Herald: Spy x Family. The characters are all awesome in their own unique ways. Little loonies. These are not sane normal people, but it’s anime, what are you going to do? They’re trying to form a family, which is what makes it so special.

One last question: How did you choose the name My Name is Tran?

Tran Nguyen: Oh gosh. My first name and last name are the most common Vietnamese last names. I have two very common last names. So branding has been a pain. That name obviously was taken. I had to find some “creative” way to brand myself. I guess I’ll do “My Name is Tran.”

Anime Herald: Thank you very much.

Tran Nguyen: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.

Tran Nguyen’s work can be found at http://www.mynameistran.com/.

She is also on Instagram and Twitter.