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花木兰
Hua Mulan
Story by Lian Cheng
Illustration by Lucia Pham
Graphic Novel Series, published by SendPoints, is a collection of original inspirations by cartoonists and illustrators from all over the world with diverse cultural backgrounds. Following on from Basic Art, this series creates a distinct artistic expression and reading experience of the graphic novel with strong visual impact and a variety of styles. It re-explains the definition of "art collection" through "image," presenting a collection that is more artistic than comic and more vivid than the novel. The widespread of the folk song Ballad of Mulan immortalizes the legendary heroine Hua Mulan, who takes her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man, for centuries.
The story of Mulan is not only a heroic epic, but also a legend manifesting women's independent spirit. Mulan is filial to her parents, loyal to her county and fights with the enemy to death on the battlefield, expressing the freedom and self-consciousness awakening of ancient women and reflecting the pursuit of gender equality of modern women. This book uses the medium of the graphic novel to disseminate the spirit of traditional Chinese culture both domestically and internationally.
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You can buy the book through the publisher's website or Amazon.
This is probably the project I'm most proud of to date! For the first time in my life, I completed a graphic novel, with 128 pages, in nearly a year. Since childhood, I have dreamed of becoming a comic artist, actually a 'mangaka', because I really like manga. I also had many ideas, stories, characters, and even drafts, but never once was able to complete them.
This project gives me more motivation to complete at least one story of my own. I think in the future, I will seriously try drawing comics again.
This is the story of Hua Mulan - a famous fictional heroine. I've seen quite a few versions of this story. From comic books, picture books, to animated films, and live-action. This is a story that has parts about battles, training, natural scenes that I have never tried to draw. So I was quite confused and a little worried. But fortunately, I was able to complete the entire story to the best of my ability. I'm super super happy!
Some sketches
Thank you SendPoints Publishing for inviting and trusting me to participate in this project. It means a lot to me. I also want to thank the editor who worked with me and helped me perfect Hua Mulan throughout 2022.
