A work by Luo Qianxi

"When I was little my father told me to find the thing I really love and to pursue the things I really loved as a career. Of course, academies of fine arts have their advantages, with better faculties and richer artistic perspectives for students. My father said, 'I know you love painting, but at an academy of fine arts you will be surrounded by nothing but arts, but if you go to comprehensive universities there are various kinds of things you can learn about, which I think is better for your development'.

"I personally believe that illustrators need to care about more than painting－things such as literature, movies, theater, photography or child psychology. You also need to know about society. These things are connected."

Good platforms

Luo Qianxi, 26, a freelance illustrator in Beijing, says China's illustration industry lacks organizations or agencies that can help creators to promote their works.

"Illustrators spend most of their time and energy on creation. They don't know how to find customers or to promote themselves. On the other hand there are many well developed organizations and agencies in Europe that help illustrators promote themselves and find customers. They also have good platforms to sell their works."

In addition, in Europe people generally are more familiar with the illustration industry, and often support and respect illustrators' works, she says.

In China, piracy is also a big problem, says Xia Mengyu, another freelance illustrator.

However, Hou says that in future illustrations will become mainstream in China and even part of everyday life. They will appear everywhere, and people will use them to decorate their houses or to promote their products, he says. Good works will be collected and stored.

"This is an audio-visual era, and the day will come soon."