![Vu Mini Interview](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-covers/R5a1AdweDogKnvT9fAiQGJJT2lS0qcyPsP3NAsPf.png)
Vu Mini
Children's Illustrator
Who or what made you want to become an illustrator?
My grandmother.
She is an elementary school teacher and often uses drawing & illustration to help the students understand the lesson. From a young age, my grandmother taught me how to draw, so my passion for art began there.
My grandmother has a lot of beautifully illustrated children's books. Since childhood, I have always been fascinated by these books, and spent lots of time sketching them out in small notebooks.
I always dreamed of being able to draw a book with lots of pictures, and have many children read my books. That idea gave me real happiness. I am still grateful to my grandmother.
Did you attend art school or undertake any other formal artistic training?
It's an interesting fact that I graduated with a bachelor's degree in interior design from Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture in Vietnam. I have never taken a professional illustration class in Vietnam. However, I still made time when I didn't have school assignments to pursue my passion for illustration. I enjoyed looking for creative materials for myself.
Learning Interior Design helped me a lot in illustrating. I have a good sense of space and materials – and can make good use of them in my compositions.
What was your first commission as a professional illustrator?
I started my career as a professional illustrator by drawing book covers and illustrating for the popular teen magazine in Vietnam, “Hoa Hoc Tro” magazine.
Describe your working technique and how you came to perfect it.
I love hand-drawn watercolors. With hand-drawn illustrations, I often sketch on an Ipad Pro to ensure speed and easy editing. The next step is to finalize the pencil sketch. I use the Hunion light to scan the pencil from the printed sketch. Then it's onto the watercolor stage. I like to use this medium, but need to be patient to paint each layer to get the clarity of watercolor.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/4C0790nWUiR3Ou1hajUvZrhXNqVOuKZIW7SFlioi.jpg)
What is your favourite medium to work with and why?
I’m quite flexible in my tools, depending on whether the product I am creating is hand-painted or digital.
I love Ecoli watercolors, Windsor Newton... on 300gsm paper if it's hand-painted.
I use an Ipad Pro, Wacom to combine digital drawings for convenience.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/Thm7bdpJgTnrZQkjXC21IbZca9UYM0S4Au9igx5p.jpg)
![Vu Mini interview image 1](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/23KfTtzMneTwSFytN9Q2XUY3GIW3Hn1puUdMRALe.jpg)
Tell us about the creation of your favourite character from one of your books.
That would be the Little Prince in the book "The Little Prince" I published with Kim Dong Publishing House. I drew this character over and over again, and tried many different options.
The challenge for me when creating the character of the Little Prince was to create a prince who is not far from the original version, keeping the spirit of the old drawing but still fresh and emotional in my version.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/dOebxL7xXcCW2iZhRdcPV8T11JYtSxlgf8EWnxKJ.jpg)
Talk us through the process of creating one of your latest illustrations or books.
Currently, I’m working on a book about the legend of the pagodas in Vietnam.
In addition to drawing children's books, I still want to try my hand at some mature and mystical book genres.
I have always loved self-innovation in the work that I do.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/tVbbLwYqOl6ska1FsKo7N3M6NhkMz61t2sjsqZkZ.jpg)
What do you hope children take away from your drawings?
I hope children can see the affection and positive energy through my paintings.
I always want my artwork to be their childhood friends.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/j52KfnQbMDR9LQrB1HiD0JROL3t8IEibei1HMVH2.jpg)
What is your favourite children’s book and why?
My favorite children's book is "Andersen's Fairy Tales" because it was a bedside book of my childhood.
One of my favorite stories is "The Little Mermaid". To this day, I still believe that mermaids are as real as when I was a kid.
Take us behind the scenes and describe your studio / workspace.
I like the cozy feeling in my work space, somewhere I can work and relax. I always display family photos to motivate me to work hard.
Overall working tools, I have a desktop computer to use for layout (or script reading), a laptop and ipad pro for digital drawing.
A small space for pretty watercolors, personal preference, I like to work in a small and warm space.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/m6Zyn9V9uAnimRgon5kP4MetsT8fs7sAk6GcFEIb.jpg)
![Vu Mini interview image 1](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/MQ1j0qLK4sL1MT2epoqSdOroDAo9Wb2D4omtM71A.jpg)
![Vu Mini interview image 2](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/iTe76Kiwhsrt7peW3veTE8mCFUqaKp75FyZr8gp2.jpg)
![Vu Mini interview image 3](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/L0E9tU9WWKsFbRAGIuVmoezgOjpzTfFKd9L4pjzg.jpg)
Which area of children’s publishing excites you the most?
Definitely about family, I've always loved family themes. When I was a child, my parents always bought me a lot of books, my childhood gift was always books. There are memorabilia books from childhood that I still keep until now. Family is a topic that always inspires me, I hope the children will be surrounded by stories about happy families and they will be as happy as my paintings.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/POunl3nVkKsmBWOeCW9wtb3OvTas8ajqSY7m2Vom.jpg)
Have you taken part in any speaker events?
I have attended several events, most notably meeting with readers and introducing the Little Prince picture book.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/5RHKzNfPr3q4eFTMBCe6BSbl2qOlZJkHVd1yUKhZ.jpg)
![Vu Mini interview image 1](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/gQxR0a7N1d2Qtzz9n5zWh7BwKySYMApTBhrNuWh9.jpg)
What’s the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?
Be yourself, in life and in your artistic pursuits. I used to be a Bachelor of Interior Design, I had a long struggle with my own ideas, before officially becoming an illustrator. I am happy to be able to live the work that I am passionate about, I feel very happy if people who see my paintings feel happy, or see themselves in my illustrations.
Which project are you most proud of?
I would say the picture book Little Prince, published by Kim Dong Publishing House. This is a children's book that any adult would love to own. It took me almost a year to complete this piece, as I hand-painted the entire picture book with watercolors. This is one of the works I'm proud to have illustrated. A classic children's book famous all over the world.
![Vu Mini interview image 0](https://ci-cdn.childrensillustrators.com/images/interview-answers/Uhn95EJGRtffUbrV0ysBSPhSXgbTDYptqXbXll8k.jpg)
Are there any children’s classics you’d love to illustrate and/or re-tell?
Some outstanding works that I like to illustrate are The Little Mermaid, Pinnocho.... I like stories with mythological elements.
Animals feature heavily in children’s books – do you have a pet?
I have two pet dogs. I love pets because they make me feel happy and at peace when they're around.
The two dogs I currently have are adopted. I love the way they came into my life and really appreciate it!