Spotlight on Thrice Married to a Salted Fish Artist Mio!

Welcome to a new edition of Danmei Dreams’s artist spotlight, featuring Mio!  These spotlights highlight some of the incredible, creative, and cool artists making danmei art. The artists will share some of their favorite work, talk about their process and approach, and you can find out how to follow and support them.  You can read previous editions of artist spotlights here.  Today we’ll be focusing on Mio, who creates evocative, emotional watercolors.

Why I Love Mio’s Art

Mio has this magic combination of incredible technical skill combined with a deep attentiveness to emotional detail.  This results in gorgeous paintings full of pathos and connection.  Sometimes the subjects of her work are framed by the landscape, other times the focus is solely on the character.  Either way, the effect is profound, whether it’s Xie Lian and San Lang standing ever-so-slightly closer than necessary at Puqi Shrine, Luo Binghe highlighted by warm lighting amongst bamboo, or Lin Qingyu leaning over Lu Wancheng’s wheelchair on the cover of vol. 1 of Thrice Married to a Salted Fish.

Mio has been incredibly gracious, taking the time here to answer questions about her cover art, her fan art, and her process, so without further ado let me introduce Mio!

Meet Mio

Can you introduce yourself and share a little bit about your background as an artist?

What was your introduction to danmei?

I’ve been watching Chinese dramas for several years. I just love all the fine details from costumes, hair, to the focus on emotions and face expressions. My first drama was Ashes Of Love and someday I randomly started watching The Untamed and I was hooked. After finishing the series I started reading danmei novels and couldn’t stop until now 🙂

How long have you been creating danmei fan art?

For about 5 years.

Official Cover Art Experience

Congratulations on being announced as the official cover artist for Thrice Married to a Salted Fish (also previously known as Married Thrice to Salted Fish or MTSF–it will take me a bit to make that transition!)! How did this opportunity come about, and what was your initial reaction? 

Thank you so much! Lately I was thinking that it would be so very cool to work on a popular danmei novel and it became sort of a life goal – something I really wanted to do. But it was just a nice thought, a dream – so I thought. Unexpectedly Seven Seas Entertainment reached out to me last year in autumn and asked if I wanted to do the cover and bonus art for Thrice Married to a Salted Fish. Of course I was more than happy, I was euphoric. I had never heard about this novel before, but I read the whole novel within a week – and it’s one of the best I ever read on top of that, so I felt very honored. I wanted to create art for this novel immediately.

What was the brief or direction you received for the cover art? Did you pick this specific scene to illustrate or did someone else decide they wanted to make us cry every time we looked at the cover? 

I did pick the scene for the cover and it got approved by the lovely team, I was so happy! My thought was that it would be an unexpected twist (for new readers) seeing a seemingly happy scene and only knowing what it meant after finishing the book. I usually have a lot of ideas and feel free expressing them while working on the covers. I am very grateful for this opportunity.

Can you walk us through your creative process for designing the cover? Did it differ in any way from your usual fan art process?

I had a lot to learn regarding the digitalizing of my traditional painting for print media, but the Seven Seas team was very helpful. I usually draw in a smaller format. So I had to adjust to a bigger + landscape format (I usually paint in portrait format). I tried new post-production techniques and also new materials and tested everything before I started painting the first cover. Composition for a novel cover was also new to me. It’s still a learning curve and I get better each time. 

The whole process was a bit different. After sketching I usually start painting, but for my cover artworks I make either tiny colored swatches on paper or do them digitally, so I get an impression of how I want the painting to look when it’s colored.

How did you approach capturing the essence of Lin Qingyu’s developing affection for Lu Wancheng in a single image?

I wanted his facial expression to look beautiful but cold and composed, his emotions in check, because he sees himself as a professional physician – even though the situation affects him deeply. However his appearance and body language isn’t as composed, his hair is loose, cause he was in a bit of a hurry. He reaches out for Lu Wancheng, leans down to him, wants to be close, wants to be ready for what’s happening – but can one ever be ready for something like that?

Do you have a favorite part of the final cover design?

I like how their faces turned out exactly as I imagined them in that scene and the overall feel of the artwork.

Without giving away any spoilers, are there any subtle details or symbolism within the cover art that fans might enjoy discovering?

I added the blue wind pavilion in the background and of course the red umbrella lying in the snow. I also painted Lin Qingyu with open hair, since he rushed to see Lu Wancheng, but I also imagine him not being too interested in his own appearance despite being clean and exceptionally beautiful. The spine icon is a small bottle of medicine – or poison?

Were there any unique challenges or exciting aspects to creating art that would represent the entire series to a new English-speaking audience?

Hmmm… maybe my own mindset was challenging for me. I am a hobby artist and usually create art for myself. Thinking about the high expectations of the audience was pressuring at times, but I think everyone would be a little nervous about that. I was overwhelmed and relieved after the cover was revealed and I got happy and positive feedback.

Now that the cover has been revealed, what has the reaction been like from the danmei community?

I received positive feedback about the cover and people appreciated that it is painted  traditionally. What I didn’t expect was that there were quite some people who were already familiar with the story and recognized the scene. Some of these comments were hilarious, I loved them.

Fan Art Creative Process

What is your preferred medium and tools for creating your art, and why?

My preferred medium is watercolor. I always admired the looseness of watercolor art. For me it blurs the line to perfectionism. You control the watercolors but water finds its own way – on cold days it dries slower and faster on hot days and you also get different results using different papers. Aside from that I like using masking tools like masking fluid and tape, so I can make use of my big brushes to fill areas. From time to time I enjoy gilding details in my paintings.

How do you choose which danmei scenes or characters to illustrate? Are there specific moments, themes, or characters that inspire you the most?

It depends on my current obsession. I only draw characters that are interesting to me, but I also like dramatic or heart wrecking scenes. For example the Xie Lian and Fang Xin scene or Tantai Jin carrying Ye Xiwu after she dies, but I also really enjoy painting domestic scenes. I think I have drawn Hualian around Puqi shrine several times already – it just gives me peace of mind.

Has working on official cover art influenced your perspective on your fan art in any way?

Not really, I still draw what I like and what influences my thoughts. Ah, but I started using my sketchbook more again. It seems like I needed some loose sketching besides the more complex and time intensive compositions to balance things.

Artistic Style

How would you describe your art style? Has it evolved since you started creating danmei fan art?

Hmmm I would say warm, colorful and traditional. I came from a semi-realistic art style and evolved to a more stylized art style over the time. I also improved my chibi art game, I have never drawn chibi art before getting into danmei. 

Are there any particular artists or art movements that influence your work?

Some old masters that influenced my art are Hayao Miyazaki, CLAMP, Shiro Kasamatsu, Claude Monet. I also like Sumi E, a traditional Japanese technique where you paint on rice paper with ink.

Fandom & Community

How has the danmei fandom influenced your art? Do you feel a strong connection with the community?

It influenced my art a lot. I was in a semi-realistic phase (drawing idols) when I discovered danmei novels. Switching to manga/manhua artstyle was quite the challenge and a whole long process for me, but I couldn’t stop. In general the danmei community feels more mature, so I feel more at home and confident sharing my art.

Have you received any particularly memorable feedback or reactions from fans of your art?

I got congratulations and a lot of positive and funny feedback for my Thrice Married to a Salted Fish artwork, regarding the scene I chose to paint – I even took screenshots of them, for me to read when I feel not confident in my art. Positive feedback fuels me and I try the read every single comment. But I also love when someone sends me a photo of a framed artwork of mine in their home – this always makes me smile. 

Art & Storytelling

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?

I incorporate my own interpretations and styles. 

Future Plans & Fun Questions

What’s next for you as an artist? Do you have any upcoming projects or themes you’re excited to explore?

I wanted to host a watercolor class, maybe with teenagers, for a long time. Maybe I’ll do that in the future.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in danmei fan art or art in general?

Don’t compare your art to others – ever!

What’s your favorite danmei scene and why?

I don’t think I have a favorite danmei scene…??? Or maybe its domestic hualian around puqi shrine… painted that one more than enough XD

Outside of danmei, what other genres or fandoms do you enjoy creating art for?

I love to paint nature, flowers, interesting buildings, also portraits.

Appreciation

If you’re not already following Mio’s work, you absolutely should.  She’s a phenomenal fan artist, and I’m so excited to see future Thrice Married to a Salted Fish covers from her. Her artwork can be a soothing refrain or an emotional devastation, but either way it gets straight to the heart of a moment, a character, or a story.  Please take some time to follow Mio, or reach out and share your appreciation.

Read the Danmei Dreams review of Thrice Married to a Salted Fish, or check out additional artist spotlights below.