February - Week 1

Written 08/02/2025, Updated 09/02/2025

Photo of Qing Han (Qinni)

Who am I studying?

So, for the second month of the project I will be studying a much more recent artist, but no less inspiring to me; Qinni!

Short biography

I must admit, considering how recently she passed away I don't want to go into a 'biography' with her.

Just to briefly summarise, Qing Han, a.k.a Qinni, was a Canadian multi-meida artist who extensively posted her art on various social media from the 2000s until her death in 2020. The earliest work of hers I could find was from 2008 (but her post says it had been done the year before) though she could have posted stuff earlier that I couldn't find (the joys of the decay of the internet)

Why I chose her

I will admit, I hadn't heard of her until 2023 when I saw a post on Twitter about her last work (see in the next section) and it really struck a chord and made me want to see what else she had done, and WOW she had done some amazing work (and a meme that I had seen a lot was also made by her!)

My favourite pieces of hers were the ones that highlighted her struggles with illness, they felt so beautiful and raw at the same time. Another thing that I found interesting was watching her artstyle progress from a farily 'generic anime' style to her own distinctive look (I will note even her 'generic anime' style was well drawn!)

I also found it interesting that she used both digital and traditional mediums, as it is a big learning curve to go from one to another and she really excelled in both.

So basically, I feel like I have a lot I can learn from doing a piece inspired by her work and in a small way honour her memory

Examples of her work

Night Light - Animated Short Film

Before I discuss any of her drawings/paintings I wanted to highlight this BEAUTIFUL short film that she did in 2012 (uploaded to her channel in 2018) that draws from her Chinese heritage and is just a cute little story.

Girl with blue hair with plaster clutching herself, blue fluids are dripping out of her elbows
Fragile, 2020. This was the final piece she shared online, it sadly seems very fitting for how she was feeling physically and emotionally
Girl whose face is overlaid with stars and galaxies
Starred Freckles, 2016. Her most famous artwork (it even became a makeup trend), it is so breathtaking to look at and I was shocked to learn it was done with watercolour and gouache since the colours are so vibrant
Girl with very long hair and an IV drip painting stars on the wall
Wishing upon a star, 2017. Another one that I found rather sad but beautiful. I imagine this reflected her own life in many ways
Girl in a purple dress sat in a giant teacup
Coffee or Tea, 2018. I love the composition of this one, and the way the botton of the dress looks like leaves
Many hand drawings in different poses
Qinni was a very supportive artist and wanted to encourage others so she was very transparent on her process and would give tutorials too
Girl in a purple dress sat in a giant teacup
I like that even her little doodles have so much character to them! I can see why this became a meme XD

Links to more info about her

Since Qinni lived in the Internet age, these links are pretty much just her social medias (where you can easily find so much more of her work). And you will find out a lot more about her with her own words.