Spotlight on an Elegant Danmei Fan Artist: JuBu!
Welcome to a new edition of Danmei Dreams’s artist spotlight, featuring JuBu. These spotlights highlight some of the incredible, creative, and cool artists making danmei fan art. The artists will share some of their favorite work, talk about their process and approach, and you can find out how to follow their work and support them. You can read previous editions of artist spotlights here. Today we’ll be focusing on JuBu, an immensely talented artist.
Follow & Support JuBu
Why I Love JuBu’s Art
I fell in love with JuBu’s art the moment I saw it. There’s so much beauty in the graceful, elegant flow of the lines that JuBu uses, which work to draw the viewer’s attention inexorably to the emotional heart of the pieces. This style makes each piece of art a story for the viewer to go on, following the path across sometimes-wispy and whimsical, and sometimes-heartrending backdrops. This path echoes the journey of the characters, who seem to always be captured at a moment of emotional vulnerability. Sometimes it’s one of joy or love, while at other times JuBu doesn’t hesitate to capture anguish or viciousness.
The composition of these pieces, from the attention-drawing linear elements to the pose of the characters, just reinforces all of that emotional intensity. Characters are captured in motion as they move towards one another, or still and solitary in their experiences. This dynamism of expression draws me into each one of JuBu’s pieces, and leaves me feeling even more immersed in the stories. Like the best illustrative art, these works enhance my experience of reading the stories and draw me even closer to my favorite characters.
Anyway, you can tell I’m a fan! Without further ado, let me introduce JuBu!
Meet JuBu
Can you introduce yourself and share a little bit about your background as an artist?
Hello everyone, I’m JuBu, an artist based in Japan. I studied interior design at university, but worked as a graphic designer in magazines and newspapers, and then became a video creator. I’ve been drawing since childhood, but there was a long break when I didn’t pick up a pencil, and only in 2021 I decided that I wanted to draw again, bought a graphics tablet and began to master the profession of a digital artist on my own.
What was your introduction to danmei?
My first novel was Heaven Official’s Blessing. I had heard a lot about it, but for some reason I never decided to read it myself. But at some point I became interested in Chinese literature and then I remembered this novel, read it and was incredibly amazed by the story.
How long have you been creating danmei fan art?
As soon as I started reading Heaven Official’s Blessing in 2022, I hadn’t finished reading the book yet, but my hands carried me to the graphics tablet to draw the scene where Xie Lian catches the falling little Hua Cheng.
After posting this art on social media, I received very good feedback and that made me want to read even more danmei and draw a lot of fanart.
Creative Process
What inspires you to create new works of art?
I read a lot and I really love emotional moments. When I feel strong emotions, I want to express them in my art. After reading some books I see an image of the future art in my head, but there are also amazing books that inspire me to draw after reading each chapter.
What is your preferred medium for creating your art, and why?
At the moment I draw completely digitally on an iPad Pro. My favorite apps are Procreate and Clip Studio. Digital drawing gives me much more freedom, I am a terrible perfectionist and the tools in drawing apps give me the opportunity to make all the edits to the drawings until I feel that the art looks perfect.
Artistic Style
How would you describe your art style? Has it evolved since you started creating danmei fan art?
I would say that it is elegance, grace, airiness. When I first started drawing digitally, my art style was more anime. But as soon as I started getting into danmei, I created an account on Weibo and saw a lot of wonderful works of Chinese artists, who greatly influenced my artstyle.
Fandom and Community
How has the danmei fandom influenced your art? Do you feel a strong connection with the community?
When I first posted my Hualian art on Instagram, I got thousands of likes and hundreds of comments, it really amazed me. For the first time, I learned that there is such a big danmei community in the world. With each new art, I met a lot of interesting people, with whom we discussed what books to read next. I also became friends with a lot of incredible danmei artists who always inspired me and I did not even hope that I would ever be able to chat with them. I received a lot of positivity and this affected my productivity as an artist, I began to draw every day and created even more socials to share my art.
What is your favorite part about creating art?
The sketch is very important because it carries the main idea of the art and at this stage I have complete freedom to express my emotions. That is why I always sketch with great enthusiasm, when I come up with a new art idea I feel like a real creator.
Have you received any particularly memorable feedback or reactions from fans of your art?
I get them every day. Reading and responding to comments on my posts is my favorite part of my daily routine. Of course, I especially enjoy receiving comments from artists I admire and my wonderful friends.
Art and Storytelling
Danmei stories often have deep emotional connections and character development. How do you convey those emotions through your art?
All artists choose different ways to show dramatic moments in their art. I like to show it through poses and facial expressions. I work a lot on drawing the characters’ faces, always making sure they display the right emotion.
Do you try to stay true to the canon representations of the characters, or do you incorporate your own interpretations and styles into your art?
Basically I prefer canon. Before drawing, I even reread some moments again to display all the smallest details from the book in the art. But sometimes I have ideas with original views on the characters. For example, I really like to draw Xie Lian as a fencing athlete.
Future Plans and Advice
What’s next for you as an artist? Do you have any upcoming projects or themes you’re excited to explore?
I am often approached by book writers asking me to draw their characters. I really love working with authors and bringing their stories to life. My next goal is to work as a fantasy book cover artist. I really want to have a book with my art on my shelf.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in danmei fan art or art in general?
My advice is to believe in yourself and not stop doing what you like. Beginning artists have a very difficult time now, because they are compared to many professional artists, whose works are many on the Internet. Not everyone understands that an artist needs time to grow and many beginners get upset when they receive not very good feedback. Therefore, never let others decide for you, if you are sure that you want to draw, then draw and develop, learn, practice, communicate with other beginners who can understand and support you, build your art community brick by brick and enjoy what you do.
Fun Questions
Do you have a favorite danmei couple that you enjoy drawing the most? Why?
I really love drawing HuaLian, it was the first danmei I read and therefore it will always stay special in my heart.
What’s your favorite danmei scene and why?
In fact, I love all the scenes with the first kiss in every danmei novel. I always look forward to them with great impatience, wondering how the characters will react.
Outside of danmei, what other genres or fandoms do you enjoy creating art for?
I don’t have one favorite fandom, but sometimes I like to draw fanarts of popular anime or games, for example Final Fantasy, Nier Automata, Demon Slayer, Chainsawman.
Appreciation
I was honored to work with JuBu on a commission for Danmei Dreams: Gu Yun and Chang Geng’s first kiss from Sha Po Lang. I had a great time chatting about what scene would resonate most, and I was enthralled by JuBu’s vision from the start. Each time I look at the piece I see new details that I love, but then again that’s true of all of JuBu’s art. Please take a little time to follow JuBu on social media and, if you’re in the market for an unworldly evocative commission, I can’t recommend JuBu more highly.
