Meet Julia! Known as ‘Thuy Vi,’ she is a 23-year-old artist and fandom member from Vietnam.
Describe yourself in three words.
Energetic, reasonable, and resourceful.
How long have you been drawing?
I’ve been drawing since middle school, so about…12 years? If we’re talking about actually learning instead of just doodling randomly, I’d say it’s more like five years. It’s not consistent though. Video games are bad distractions.
What kind of medium or equipment do you use?
The typical Moleskine sketchbook and a Rotring mechanical pencil for traditional doodling. For digital, I use either my Intuos Pro S with Photoshop or my iPad Pro First Gen with the Apple Pencil and Procreate app. I had a Cintiq previously, but I sold it (I hated the parallax on the 12wx). I also use Autodesk Maya for any object that drives me insane in perspective.
How did you get involved in the Shadowhunters fandom?
I first noticed Shadowhunters on Tumblr. I don’t watch TV much since I’m mostly at my desk watching video gamers or playing with my friends. It was after the episode of the iconic wedding, so there were plenty of gifs all over my dashboard. At that point, I had to figure out what the heck is going on and then I ended up joining the fandom.
Who is your favorite character to draw and why?
Luke is my favorite to paint. I don’t find myself needing to fix the proportions in the middle of a rendering session as often as the others, so it’s truly a relaxing time with Isaiah. For more dramatic scenes, Alec is fun to work with. I have some ideas for Magnus, but I haven’t really gotten them fleshed out yet. I think he’s my favorite for abusing lots of blending modes.
What ships do you ship, and why you love them so much?
I’ll ship anyone as long as the relationship is healthy. I have a great love for fluffy stories, so I typically fall for any pairing that has a nice mix of drama and love. The stories that are written by the fandom are just so good that I just end up hopping on board. You could say it’s the fandom that sails whichever ship I follow because I just love reading what people create, although I try to avoid heavy angst. I read to feel positivity. They feed the hopeless romantic in me. Saphael and Malec are my favorite though.
What is your favorite episode of Shadowhunters and why?
1×12. It’s the first episode I saw snippets of and the one I actually watched first. It has extra sentimental value beyond the iconic kiss [laughs].
What has been the best part of your fandom experience so far?
The fandom on Twitter is probably the best if you can hide from all the drama. I have a Tumblr, but it just didn’t seem very interactive, so my interest in Tumblr fluctuates. Twitter is far more engaging and I actually speak to people! That’s a big step for me, considering my social anxiety. I would like to interact with more people, but I’m afraid of exposing myself to negativity, so I tend to not tag most of my art posts. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever been spoken to in the entire lifetime on the Internet, so sometimes I just want to scream because I don’t know how to respond.
Like what you see? You can follow Julia on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram!
