Rainbow Draws: 'It's so important to stay curious about the diversity of this world'

Originally from Shanghai and now based in Liverpool, Yufei Yang is the artist behind the illustration practice Rainbow Draws. And while it would be easy to say that she brings together the creative traditions of both East and West, that would be to undersell the scope of her ideas, inspiration and approach. Yufei is an artist whose work explores every corner of the globe – travel, culture, and human interaction interest her most.

"I'm inspired by the things I see in the world when travelling to new places. I'm always curious to learn about a new culture. People, plants, animals, buildings, food and everything else unique to a place always catch my attention," she says. "In a different city or country, you see different colours, fonts, decorative elements and so on."

With it comes an aesthetic that draws on a variety of fascinating influences – the Bauhaus movement, Pablo Picasso, Sophy Hollington, David Hockney, Philip Guston to name a handful. But really, Yufei's work is full of experimentation as she pushes bold cut-out shapes back and forth to form dramatic compositions; refines limited colour palettes to evoke a feeling; and adds tactility through paper textures, scribbles, scratches, and splats.

Words, too, play an important role in her creative process. "I start by blocking out and simplifying information. I pick only a few aspects I like, write down the reasons I like them, and start working on my picture. I often ask close friends and colleagues for feedback. I like the working process to be like a conversation sometimes," she says.

She'll rarely create just one piece – instead, she explores her subject through sets of images, which helps her identify where the emphasis should lie. It's an approach that has shaped her technique over the years. When it comes to people, she draws them how she sees them, not how the camera captures them, exaggerating certain features based on first impressions.

An image begins in the real world, with loose pencil drawings for the concept. The shapes and composition are developed in Procreate, then Yufei uses Photoshop and Affinity to finish the artwork. "The scribbles, scratches and spills are based on my experimentation in printmaking when I was studying for my MA in Children's Book Illustration. I love the modifiability of digital illustration and the imperfection of traditional media," she says.

Yufei's love of travel has made Rainbow Draws synonymous with travel illustration, leading to commissions and work from clients around the world. One of her favourite recent projects is a series of pieces for Condé Nast Traveller illustrating the biggest travel trends of 2026, which drew on her own experiences.

"I often include elements from my own happy travel memories," she says. "I added some simple animation to these illustrations for digital use, and that's always a fun challenge. I particularly enjoyed animating the little fish flag in the Japanese grocery travel trend."

Currently, Yufei is working on a project for National Museums Liverpool, which will go on display at the Albert Dock. It's an opportunity for her work to appear in a public space, accessible to locals and tourists alike. This year, she set herself the challenge of illustrating cards to sell at markets and in shops, printing a unique set for Christmas 2025. And her personal development has continued with the addition of animation skills to her repertoire.

To end, we asked Yufei to tell us one thing nobody knows about her art. "I have a huge collection of house plants," she answers. "If you see plants in my illustration work, chances are they're drawings of the real plants that surround me. That little detail makes me happy!"