Sandra Chang, Painting and Martial Arts

Sandra Chang was born in Kingston, New York and is an illustrator and graphics designer currently living with her husband, a sheltie and aussie in California. She began her career by self-publishing black and white comics during the early nineties though Aja Blu Comix. She created Achilles Storm and later on Akemi, which appeared in Yolk magazine. Other projects include erotic comics, Sheedeva and Sin Metal Sirens for Eros Comix. She also contributed to Eros Comix X-Rated Anthologies. She was the staff artist for Inside Kung Fu Magazine and illustrated many editorial articles from 2003 to 2007. Her artwork is featured in Ballistic Publishing’s Exotique 3 - The World's Most Beautiful CG Characters, Erotic Signature's The World Greatest Art of Today Volumes 1 and 2, SQP Publishing’s Drakaina - A Fantasy Art Muse and on White Wolf’s “Vampire of the Eternal Struggle CCG” cards.

She loves creating artwork digitally using Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter, but also enjoys the traditional medium of oil paints, acrylics and watercolors. Her favorite subject matter is fantasy and science fiction. Although her repertoire of work frequently involves empowered females, her more recent pieces depict alluring fairies and mermaids in humorous tableau. Having been raised by overprotective traditional Chinese parents, Sandra had to strive very hard to become an artist against her parent’s wishes. Her art skills are primarily self-taught even though she has a bachelor degree in Computer Science from Columbia University. She believes that anyone can achieve what ever they desire through hard work and dedication and would like her art to inspire others.

She is currently writing a screenplay with her writing partner, Samara Simmerman, called “Alexa Blade.” When she is not painting, she is an avid student of the martial arts. She has a 2nd degree black belt in Budoshin Ju-Jitsu and a 1st degree black sash in Northern Eagle Claw Kung Fu. She is currently studying kung fu, Bagua and wushu in the Los Angeles area. Sandra is in the process of participating in a kung fu fight scene for Youtube, choreographed by her friends from the kung fu school. Sandra works part-time at TYS Creative, a graphics design company in Monterey Park.

Art Influences: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, John William Waterhouse, Claude Monet, Camille Claudel, Auguste Rodin, Masamune Shirow, Amano Yoshitaka, Sorayama, Olivia, Moebius, H.R. Giger, Frank Frazetta, Rowena, Boris Vallejo, Wendy Pini, Milo Manara, Peolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Gil Elvgren, Toulouse Lautrec, Gustav Klimt, Charles Dana Gibson, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Alphonse Mucha, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Jules Bastien-Lepage, Linda Berkgavist, and Jan Vermeer.

Favorite Authors: Alexandre Dumas, Ayn Rand, C. S. Forester, Rafael Sabatini.

Favorite Music Performers: Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Michael Jackson, Prince, Bon Jovi, Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, IZ, Movie Soundtracks (John Williams and James Horner) and Broadway tunes.

Favorite Directors: Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, John Woo, Tsui Hark, James Cameron, Yuen Wo Ping, Ridley Scott.

Favorite Movies: Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers (Michael York and Oliver Reed version), Three Musketeers (Gene Kelly version), Star Wars Trilogy (4-6), The Matrix (the first one), Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Legend of the Drunken Master II, Fist of the Legend (Jet Li), Supercop, Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn), Rome Holiday, Lassie Come Home, Ong Bak, Once Upon a Time in China.

Favorite Movie Performers: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Tony Jaa, Bruce Lee, James Dean, Audrey Hepburn, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, Gene Kelly.