Jen Wang

Jen Wang is an Asian American cartoonist, writer and illustrator.

Jen Wang in 2019

Quotes

• I wrote this book for my teenage self, so it’s all about themes that were important to my young self: questioning your identity and gender, but also your creative aspirations and the person you want to be.
  • On her graphic novel The Prince and the Dressmaker in “Exclusive Interview & Graphic Novel Excerpt: Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker” in Bookish (2018 Feb 8)

• Frances and Sebastian accept each other right from the get go, and the world the characters live in is one that is willing to change. I think you buy it because it’s wrapped in this fairy tale theme and playing off these Disney Princess movie tropes. It would be a lot harder if I went for a strict historical theme.
  • On how gender identity and other themes are addressed in The Prince and the Dressmaker in “INTERVIEW WITH JEN WANG, AUTHOR AND ARTIST OF THE PRINCE AND THE DRESSMAKER” in BookRiot (2018 Feb 6)

• I come up with a concept and might doodle a little bit to get some ideas flowing, but I mostly write and take notes. I write an outline. In a way, I feel like I can make the art fit the story that needs to be told, so I start with the story first.
  • On her creation process in “Q & A with Jen Wang” in Publishers Weekly (2019 Sep 12)

• By the time I get to coloring it’s usually the last step and I’m a little creatively tapped out. So I don’t spend a ton of time building a concept for the coloring, but I do love seeing things take final form. A lot of it is thinking about the scene, what the mood is, and how to light it. By that point I’ve spent enough time with the book I already know what I want to achieve when I get to it.
  • On putting the final touches to her images in “The Prince and the Dressmaker’s Jen Wang Talks High-School Habits, Sensitive Storytelling & Her Favorite Princesses” in Paste Magazine (2018 Feb 13)