Kino Key Notes:
Little Thunder
Introducing…
Often described as the “Hong Kong-based cartoonist,” Little Thunder’s skills have continued to evolve since the first public recognition she received as a teenager. The title of “artist” should absolutely be used for someone who creates such beautiful artwork. Since creating her own impressive comics as a teenager, Little Thunder has developed published books, won various awards, attended interviews with major brands, and yes, even studied the art of pole dancing.
For those interested, please click here for books by Little Thunder
A Strong and Confident Woman
Drawing powerful women in her life has been Little Thunder’s bread and butter. In 2019, Little Thunder proved as much with her depiction of a mother breastfeeding her newborn on the cover of Natural Parent Magazine. In the accompanying interview, Little Thunder mentioned,
I like to paint strong and confident women, not necessarily the “strong” kind of “strong”, but believe that one is strong, the woman who knows herself and is honest, is the sexiest. I hope I can show it by painting.
As previously mentioned, Little Thunder extended her efforts to pole dancing in 2010, further proving her desire to promote strong and confident women. While practicing, sometimes as much as three times per week, Little Thunder took the opportunity to improve her artwork by studying women’s bodies and facial expressions. These expressional audits were later used in the limited release, The Blister Exists: The Pole Dancing Moves Encyclopedia as represented in this post on Twitter.
Influences
Little Thunder began her career at a young age. In fact, she was determined to be a professional since 2001 which almost immediately earned her Best New Artist Award at the China-Japan Comics Exchange. Even before her first major achievements, young Little Thunder described experiences drawing her own manga comics by age 8 while being influenced by hit anime such as Mashin Hero Wataru and Neon Genesis Evangelion. But who or what caused such inspiring artworks at such a young age? In a relatively recent interview with the Japanese Illustration Magazine, Thunder honored her many influences.
When I was little, I was influenced by my father, and after that I was influenced by Japanese and Western manga artists. Specifically, Mr. Chris Ware, Mr. Yang Toku, Mr. Katsuhiro Otomo, Mr. Taiyo Matsumoto, Mr. Osamu Tezuka, etc. Also to Van Gogh, Impressionist and Surrealist painters. Some creators don't like the influence of others, but I don't think that will shake or change myself. Rather, I feel that I am getting richer.
Note her lovely sense of humility while lifting those who helped shape her experiences. And although Little Thunder was mostly considered to be a professional artist as an adult, she seemed just as determined in her teenage years. By contributing her serialized comic "SEED" in "Sing Tao Daily,” Little Thunder was well on her way to release all of the artwork which determined her fame.
Looking to the Future with Kinokuniya
Throughout her adulthood, Little Thunder has had a successful career, not only by gaining over 800,000 followers on Instagram, but also by receiving multiple publishing offers. At Kinokuniya USA alone, four books have been available on our Online Store including artbooks, Sisterhood and Scent of Hong Kong! Beyond her exceptional artbooks, Little Thunder recently provided an original illustration for our Little Thunder x Kinokuniya USA Membership Cards! Details can be found here.
Little Thunder continues showing off her sketches and colorful illustrations on social media. You can easily see what she has recently been up to with her Linktree, which shows off the recent 10th-anniversary release of her Kylooe Trilogy. We will continue witnessing Little Thunder’s progress and make as much of her work as accessible as we can.
Enjoy the following gallery of relevant images and links at your leisure, and don’t forget to visit your local Kinokuniya for a new Little Thunder Membership or Gift Card! Thank you so much for taking the time to read about this phenomenal artist.
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