Hi! My name is Rose Yuan, and I’m a student at The Masters School with a passion for visual art. I currently serve as a Tower Illustrator, where I get to bring stories to life through my drawings. I’ve been creating art since I was 10, and my favorite mediums include portraiture, sketching, and oil painting.
(In addition of my five pieces of illiustration, check out my Art Compilation)
As a freshman at The Masters School, I was thrilled to join Tower, a student-led news organization, this year. Starting this new role, I quickly learned the importance of collaboration, flexibility, and open communication—skills that have improved within every meeting, deadline, and design.
As an international student from China, language no longer became a barrier; instead, art became the bridge that connects me and my peers. I learned English through the lens of Mandarin and later moved to the U.S., where I saw culture in a new light—a new form of art—and began to integrate it into my art pieces. Through these cultural paradigms, I enriched the visuals and storytelling behind each article by thinking and understanding them before drawing every illustration.
Throughout the year, I contributed nine pieces of illustration for Tower's Issue articles. Each piece reflected an issue that the student writers came up with. The authors of each article first provided me with some instructions and the message they are trying to convey; then, I am responsible for the design process and visual identity of each piece.
One of my biggest areas for growth was teamwork, learning how to reach out, ask questions, and seek feedback. Whether from coordinating with writers and editors or troubleshooting critiques from them, I became more comfortable initiating conversations and putting forward ideas assertively. Not only did it sharpen my communication skills, but it also deepened my appreciation for the teamwork that drives Tower.
Digital art is a relatively unprecedented yet transformative experience for me. It pushed me to think visually and conceptually at the same time. I acquired design software, particularly the paintbrushes and the layout modes I had never used; by considering and examining every color, texture, and element that I blended into my pieces, I developed a wide and diverse variety of art forms this year.