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Hong Kong artists embrace creativity to stay afloat in digital age
Picture books are the quintessential childhood experience for many. Back in the day, physical copies were more popular, but today, digital copies hold more appeal.
The change in preference for digital media means authors are also naturally adapting to these trends. In conjunction with World Book Day today, theSun had a little chat with two Hong Kong picture book authors – a beginner and a veteran – who shared their tips and tricks to find success in the rapidly changing industry.
Lam Sim Sim
Emerging in Cantonese-style children’s literature, Lam Sim Sim recently debuted with her illustration story The Animal Clinic: A Journey into Traditional Medicine.
Choosing Chinese medicine as the theme was largely due to the fading knowledge of this cultural heritage in Hong Kong. Hence, Lam sought to pass on this knowledge to the next generation.
To ensure interest in the pictures and knowledge, Lam designed the characters to be cute, naming them after traditional Chinese medicine – such as the black cat Longan.
Lam piques the curiosity of children by designing small, but cute spirits to represent different traditional medicines based on Chinese myths.
She said this was a proven tactic, as the children had given her good feedback, asking her about these spirits and even finding an Easter egg – a hidden feature – that she had left behind, a small drawing of herself as a spirit.
With the frequency of media use among kids, Lam admitted to using her choice of theme as an appeal to parents, who grew up familiar with Chinese traditional medicine halls around them.
After adapting this idea, she mentioned parents would encourage their children to read her books, as they not only looked good but also had meaningful content that they could relate to as well.
Keung Chi-Kit
Similar to Lam, Keung Chi-Kit is also a children’s book illustrator but with 25 years of experience under his belt.
As a veteran illustrator, Keung prefers sticking to hand-drawing as seen in one of his most recent works Life of a Painting, which made him a finalist in the Silent Book Contest 2024.
As a book without words and dialogues, Keung’s Life of a Painting showcases different ways a painting can be interpreted and cherished. To make his book appealing to parents and children, Keung adds his own personal style of humour and a meaningful message for each chapter.
This blend of knowledge and entertainment allows children to utilise their own imagination and creativity to understand the content of the book, even more so when reading with their parents.
With current media trends affecting traditional illustrators, this seasoned artist took the change in a positive tone. While hand drawing his work, Keung remarked with technology, the tools made his work more convenient in designing.
Moreover, he emphasised the practicality of being an illustrator, admitting to the difficulty in making a living off physical books and having the media to help them expand into international platforms.
Recent AI trends in the art scene did not make the veteran wary of it, but considered it a transition phase, similar to when Photoshop was introduced. Keung remarked it should be embraced as an assisting tool, rather than shunned.
As someone who transitioned into the phase of using computer tools from hand-drawn art, Keung said “AI is inevitable” but will not completely replace human-made art, as it would “take most of the joy away for passionate readers”.
Traditional but irreplaceable
With digital media being accessible with the swipe of a finger, attention spans have drastically decreased.
This gives the impression that traditional prints require more focus or it will gradually become obsolete.
While trends may indicate so, human effort is irreplaceable when it comes to finding ways to create and connect with others, as these authors have proven.
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