Interview
Traditional Chinese art
was the foundation for my
career in digital art
the high-level creative vision of the
game – the game engine, the budget,
the development length, and so on.
That’s usually the most challenging
part, which causes hiccups in the
development of a new IP.”
Donglu also did some early concept
work for this year’s live-action version
of The Lion King, and she’s continuing
her work on the Assassin’s Creed series
at Ubisoft, liaising closely with art
director Raphael Lacoste. Outside her
work commitments she’s started a
concept art mentorship programme
with her husband, Jack Zhang.
STAYING TRUE TO HER ROOTS
Now firmly rooted in the Montreal
games community, Donglu’s Chinese
heritage has fed into her style and her
ethos. After emigrating from China to
Canada with her family when she was
12, Donglu spent a year learning
French, but remained true to the
Donglu continues: “Chinese
watercolours and calligraphy are all
about controlling the brushstrokes and
the density of the ink. Especially in
calligraphy – if you miss one stroke
there’s no going back and patching it
up, you have to start all over again. It’s
certainly an unforgiving medium.
Getting into the habit of visualising the
brushwork before putting ink on paper
trained me to synthesise the forms andChinese painting techniques that she
learned from her family.
“My grandfather was a renowned
Chinese calligrapher,” she says, “and
my mother always dreamed of being
an artist. I guess artistic blood runs in
my veins and I took up Chinese
watercolours, calligraphy, drawing from
observation and oil painting during my
childhood. Traditional art was the
foundation for my career in digital art.”SEASCAPE
It’s not just the detailed
vessel. The weather,
time of day, sea
conditions and lighting
all help generate the
atmosphere in this
Assassin’s Creed
concept image.WATERFALL
Critics praised Far Cry 4
for its open world and
visual appeal, which
Donglu helped create
through concept
images such as this
mountain cave.