Art & Music — Yanning (Jeffrey) Liu

ART & MUSIC

① Ink Painting

CHINESE INK PAINTING (Grade 1 - present)

I picked up an ink brush in the first grade and just never stopped. Even now, in the middle of my senior year college apps, painting at my desk is still how I decompress. From Grades 4 to 6, I went through three years of formal training at Jieshan Studio, which was founded by Qi Baishi's granddaughter. It taught me how to understand line, space, and color on paper. Over the years, my work has been exhibited internationally with ACAES-USA and at the inaugural UCA Book and Art Showcase in Las Vegas (2026), where I received a Certificate of Recognition.

Process

Step 1 of the scroll copy: light outline of rocks, pines and a thatched cottage

Step 2 of the scroll copy: texture strokes and first washes over the outline

Step 3 of the scroll copy: layered ink completing the landscape scroll

Process: a study copy after Tang Yin's Tea Ceremony (事茗图), from outline to texture strokes to layered ink. Still in progress.

Ink painting: a long horizontal scroll of robed figures

Ink painting: a flying apsara playing the pipa behind her back, after the Dunhuang murals

Ink painting: blue-and-green landscape with a red sun on a gold ground

Ink painting on a round fan: grasses and a katydid

Framed ink painting: a stream, a bridge and a boat

Round fan painting: a temple gate and courtyard with pines, flowering shrubs and a scholar's rock

Round fan painting: lychee branches with red fruit, on a silk fan with a wooden handle

Painting en plein air: sketching banana leaves from life in ink

Ink painting: banana plant beside a tiled house, painted from life

Exhibitions & Recognition

Certificate of Recognition from the inaugural UCA Book and Art Showcase, Las Vegas 2026

Certificate of Recognition, inaugural UCA Book and Art Showcase, Las Vegas, 2026.

A note on my name: before the age of 11 I was known as Liu Zixuan; I have been Liu Yanning since. Earlier paintings and certificates may carry the former name.

② Picture Book

PICTURE BOOK

I wanted to see if I could use my art to tell a longer story, so I wrote, illustrated, and laid out "My Map of the World", a published 24-page picture book. It maps my own personal growth, tracing a path from my room all the way to Canterbury and Dunhuang through the things I make with my hands, my favorite foods, and music.

Thailand and Malaysia spreads from the picture book

Japan and Across the United States spreads from the picture book

Picture book spread: My Map of the Medieval World, with the Canterbury pilgrims

Picture book spreads: Food in the Canterbury Tales, and My Hands on the Map

Picture book spread: Dunhuang, Looking Closer, the boy facing the mural wall

Behind the Book

Sitting in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Pulling the bell rope at a wooden temple in Japan

Children in white robes practising kung fu at Wudang Mountain

Smiling among campers at a summer camp in the United States

The whole camp on stage after the final performance

Playing clarinet with the school concert band, other students' faces blurred

③ Music

MUSIC

I've been playing the clarinet since I was 7 years old. It’s been a huge part of my life: I earned my Grade 10 performance certificate in 2024, won 3rd Prize at the 2023 Shenzhen Wind Music Festival solo contest, and served for our school concert band. Lately, I've been exploring how music works from the inside out. As a member of the SMS Original Music Society, I'm learning how to write pieces that create strong atmospheres, using composition to explore different moods and structures.

④ Beyond the Studio

BEYOND THE STUDIO

When I'm not coding or painting, I'm usually trying to stay moving. I played baseball for a long time (Grades 3-8), picked up basketball in Grade 7, and started playing tennis in Grade 9. These days, whenever my schedule gets packed or I just need to clear my head after a long day of schoolwork, I just put on my shoes and go for a run.

Climbing on an indoor wall, seen from behind