Hoa Khoi Lien Truong

University of Washington, Seattle

Art

In 2017, I joined a student club, Vietnamese Student Association at the University of Washington (VSAUW), as a part of my first year college experience. With VSA, I was able to make many friends despite being in my first year and studying out-of-state; the club further helped me reconnect with my root through various meetings and off-campus events. As I continue my involvement, I wanted to play a bigger role in the club and eventually became a graphic designer. Throughout the semesters, I had designed many event banners, promotional materials, and merchandises — one of my biggest project was Hoa Khoi Lien Truong 2019.

Hoa Khoi Lien Truong (HKLT) is a beauty pageant show held biennially by the club where 16 students participate together to express the many aspects of Vietnamese traditions and cultural significance. The 3-hour show consisted from a series of dances, skits, runway fashion exhibit, and proverb speeches. Family, friends, and other student club associates counted for at least 300 members in the audience and the show was an amazing success.

As the designer, I wanted our theme to be elegant (the moon), colorful (the gradients) and, yet, powerful (the butterflies). With unsurmountable level of love and effort I had put into the show, HKLT had become my biggest project and the greatest pride, yet.

Photoshop

Personal Projects

Art

Earlier in my photo editing phase, I had used a great deal of Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, depending on what I was trying to achieve. Lightroom helped me learn about lighting, HSL/RGB values, contrast, sharpness, etc. While Photoshop was really where I go wild with ideas: making a friend extremely small and short in a normal background setting, turning a friend into an owl, or "photoshoping" them to sit with famous rappers as if they were actually hanging out, etc.

It was fun, though, most of those projects are lost due to an old laptop complication; only a selective few were retrieved. What remains are simple image manipulation projects with watercolor paintings and little animals.

Sketches

Personal projects

Art

Art is cool and drawing is one of my hobby. I love it for the unique, creative freedom one can express, the emotions one can bring, and the artistic style one can define. Although, I've never practiced enough to get good, I respect the dedication and skills it require, whether the art comes from paintings, photography, or even circuit designs. I find the organization and creativity skills invaluable within any context and I always strive to integrate those ideals into my work.

This sketch piece was inspired from various mediums — the hair [Anime: A Silent Voice], the stance [Youtube: SIAMÉS - Summer Nights], and the artstyle [Youtube: SIAMÉS - The Wolf].