19 Jul Career Retrospective for Marvel Cover artist Danni Shinya Luo

When Danni Shinya Luo was living in China as a child, she was always doodling in her text books and imitating drawings from her favorite Manga pages. After she came to the US, she enrolled in weekend art classes and eventually got a 4 year apprenticeship with Chinese-American watercolor master, Ding Ha. Shinya then went to study at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design, earning a Bachelor’s degree in illustration. While still in school, she joined founder Melody Severns as one of the original members of the female-empowering artist collective, Girls Drawin’ Girls. Shinya’s post-collegiate character design work at Neopets led to group exhibitions alongside other animators and within two years of graduating from art college she had landed her first feature exhibition at Billy Shire’s renown La Luz de Jesus Gallery. Under the tutelage of director Matt Kennedy (who has remained her primary gallerist) Luo’s paintings have been featured in numerous museum exhibitions and other important, international galleries. Her success in the pop surrealism field drew the interest of major entertainment entities like Hasbro, MGA Entertainment, Nickelodeon Virtual Worlds, Zenescope Comics, and Marvel Comics–where her redesign of the X-23 character graced comic covers, omnibus collections, posters, specialty products and toys.

Ms. Luo has published 3 monographs so far. Her first book, Break The Ice, was a self-published, limited edition, soft cover collection that sold out immediately upon release. The second book, Soft Candy, was a mass-market hardcover published by Last Gasp of San Francisco that landed the young artist in bookstore chains all over the country, and the subsequent kindle release via Amazon.com brought her global fandom. Shinya’s third book, Un Petit Catalogue, focused on the more risqué aspects of her signature female nudes.

Click here to purchase Soft Candy online now

Click here purchase Un Petit Catalogue online now

From 2010-2016, Shinya was filmed by director Neil Kendricks’ for his award-winning documentary film, Comics Are Everywhere! and she is a frequent guest at San Diego Comicon and other high profile conventions.

For the full month of July, a career retrospective of Danni’s work will be exhibited at Gallery 30 South in Pasadena, California. The gallery is opened M-F 12-6PM, and by appointment. Click here for a link to the exhibition.

Enjoy this preview of some of the pieces in the show:

Enjoy this interview with Danni Shinya Luo by Pop Sequentialism’s Matt Kennedy:

MK: We’ve known each other for over a decade now, and when I first saw your portfolio I was impressed with your Mucha meets manga style, but it’s your incredible gift for capturing nudity without the self-consciousness that mars the work of so many other artists that really stood out. I was shocked to hear that other galleries wanted you to stop illustrating the naked female form. How did you know to trust your instincts?

DSL: I was conflicted but my gut feeling said keep doing this!

When did you realize that your femininity was a strength?

It took me a long time to realize that. I’ve always been intrigued by beauty in faces and figures, so that has been my focus the whole time. I didn’t see it as a strength before–more like a personal interest that I really wanted to explore.

What was the first feedback you received after starting to focus on pin-up illustration?

First reaction from non-family people: This is amazing, you should keep doing this, I love it!
First reaction from family: Who wants to hang nipples and butts in their living room? You’re not going to sell any of your works.

How did you balance this–the negative reaction from a conservative Chinese upbringing, and the acceptance from others?

I’m very familiar with the conservative nature of my family, so it was not too difficult to have a self-encouraging speech in my head, to myself. I rationalized internally that their point-of-view is not an accurate representation of my audience.

Who was the most encouraging and what impact did that have?

I think the most encouraging people were my close friends and galleries that showed me at first. They really motivated me to keep moving forward.

How did art school help?

It completely changed me: my world view; values; view of self; work ethics; my drive; almost everything about me, including improving my English!

How do you balance your workload with relationships?

I’ve always had trouble with that. Either my relationship is great but my work suffers, or vice versa. I feel that at least for me, there is no perfect middle ground for relationships and work. Art is a jealous mistress! If I want my art to be happy, and me to be happy while doing it, I have to give it more attention than the person in my life, which demands a lot of understanding from that person.

Has motherhood changed your work?

A little bit. Not anything fundamental, but I do value subtlety more now.

Your work is clearly more than just erotica. Your protagonists are fun, sexy, and empowered. Is this a conscious thing? Where do these badass babes come from?

It is conscious. I like to explore the darker side of human nature but when I express it on paper, I prefer it to have a beautiful appearance. The figures in my work are inspired by the different people with whom I come into contact. I also get a lot of inspiration from music, fashion and photography. Emotions and desires can turn into faces and gestures inside my head.