Young artist Phan Dang Hoang: "The moment I hold a brush is the happiest moment of my life"

(Baonghean) - 2016 became an important milestone in Phan Dang Hoang's life, because this talented young artist became the youngest Vietnamese person to be honored by two of America's top magazines.

Holding a brush at age 3

Phan Dang Hoang's childhood was associated with colorful paintings by his grandparents. He grew up in his grandfather's art room with paint brushes and boxes of colored pencils. At the age of 3 - the age when he should be learning to talk and walk, Phan Dang Hoang already knew how to hold his grandfather's brush and draw wherever he wanted. Perhaps he inherited a bit of his grandparents' artistic genes.

Phan Dang Hoang will never forget the image of his grandfather holding a brush in his hand, waving it back and forth, his eyes squinting as he contemplated, and the discolored towel draped across his shoulder every time he stood painting. The drops of sweat running down his forehead became a deep memory in the heart of the young man from Vinh. His grandfather became the greatest motivation and also the endless source of inspiration for Phan Dang Hoang to be passionate about painting later on.

Phan Dang Hoang with his painting of Miss Pham Huong. Photo: Thien Thien

Phan Dang Hoang's maternal grandfather was a painter and a member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association. He was an excellent student at the Indochina College of Fine Arts and was sent to study fine arts in the former Soviet Union. When Hoang was just 5 years old, his grandfather passed away, which was the greatest loss for the boy mentally.

Although his grandfather could not pass on his painting experience to his grandson, he was the example that helped Hoang persistently pursue his passion in the days that followed.

When he was a child, Phan Dang Hoang often doodles on his grandfather's discarded papers. He drew innocently like any other child when holding a brush in his hand. When he was a primary school student, when it was time to draw, holding a pen in his hand, Phan Dang Hoang always wanted what he drew to be the most beautiful and perfect, true to his intentions.

Perseverance, innate talent combined with a strong will helped Hoang's paintings always get the highest scores in the class. However, his paintings in each competition did not win any awards. Hoang said that the judges commented that his paintings were "older than their age" at that time. Hoang's paintings had clear, sharp and meaningful ideas but were not suitable for his age. Therefore, throughout his primary school years, Hoang had no luck with awards in the competitions he participated in.

Passion never stops

When Phan Dang Hoang was in 9th grade, he was assigned to draw a class newspaper to celebrate Vietnamese Teachers' Day. This newspaper was rated the highest among all the participating newspapers. "Winning first prize in drawing a wall newspaper, that joy became the first motivation to help me have more faith in painting since the day my grandfather passed away," Phan Dang Hoang confided.

Phan Dang Hoang’s passion for painting grew from that moment on. In addition to his cultural studies at school, Hoang spent all his free time with his brushes and paint boxes… Regardless of day or night, whenever an idea came to him, Phan Dang Hoang would jump up and paint passionately as if he had never held a brush before. Many times, Hoang imagined that he was his grandfather holding a brush to paint the wonderful paintings of the past.

The most difficult thing for Phan Dang Hoang is that he has not been trained in any school or major in painting. The only thing he has is passion. Phan Dang Hoang learned to paint through online channels such as Youtube, mainly to learn from the experiences of world-famous painters.

He was patient with shapes, colors and creative ideas. Hoang believed that “just be passionate, success will come and smile at you”. And so, Hoang painted until he forgot to eat and sleep. Phan Dang Hoang stayed up so much that his gastritis relapsed many times, making his body thinner and thinner. But that did not discourage Phan Dang Hoang…

Portraits by artist Phan Dang Hoang. Photo: Thien Thien

In 2013, Phan Dang Hoang began to orient himself towards the genre of portrait painting. The first portrait painting Hoang drew was of singer Bao Thy and posted it on his personal Facebook page. After days of working hard all night to complete it, all he received in return were mixed criticisms from the online community.

His paintings were so bad that viewers couldn't recognize who the characters were. But Phan Dang Hoang accepted the criticism positively, even though he sometimes felt discouraged with himself.

Phan Dang Hoang continued to work hard with his brushes, paints and paper. In this way, the weaknesses in Hoang's portrait paintings were gradually overcome. After months of perseverance, he received compliments from the online community and art lovers both at home and abroad.

Bringing Vietnamese stars' images to the world

The milestone that made the name Phan Dang Hoang become "hot" in the online community and the art world was when he was invited by famous businesswoman and actress Ly Nha Ky to collaborate in her Lynk Show 2015 fashion show.

After accidentally seeing Hoang’s paintings of herself on Facebook, actress Ly Nha Ky considered many times and decided to invite the young man from Nghe An to collaborate with her fashion show. Being invited to paint for the first time at a big event, Hoang was a bit nervous and worried.

Phan Dang Hoang was assigned by actress Ly Nha Ky to draw 3 special characters in the show that day: actress Ly Nha Ky, famous Hong Kong actress Xa Thi Man and French fashion designer Alexis Mabille.

With all his ability and dedication, Phan Dang Hoang's paintings of those three characters at that time proved his innate talent for painting.

Phan Dang Hoang's portraits conquered the fastidiousness of many audiences in the show, and he received compliments from the show's owner, Ly Nha Ky: "I believe you will be a good artist because you have a burning love for painting."

After that event, Phan Dang Hoang further affirmed that his passion for painting was the right choice. “The moment I held a brush was the happiest moment of my life,” Phan Dang Hoang shared.

Hoang poured all his passion for painting into portrait paintings. He decided to send his “children” to friends around the world. Hoang’s paintings of famous Vietnamese actors and singers were sent to major magazines in the United States. And a miracle happened: those paintings, along with Phan Dang Hoang himself, were honored in two of the most famous magazines in the United States.

In September 2016, Art People magazine – a famous American art magazine published Hoang’s paintings. In December of the same year, the name Phan Dang Hoang was once again honored in the last issue of Colored Pencil magazine of the year.

The 3-page article about Hoang in this famous color publication was published throughout the United States. Most importantly, Phan Dang Hoang is the only youngest Vietnamese artist to be honored in these two magazines.

At the age of 16, the name Phan Dang Hoang is a keyword searched a lot online, because his painting talent has "taken off" and reached the world.

For the young artist born in Nghe An, it is not only an honor, but on the contrary, it has become the biggest motivation for him to be more passionate, bringing works bearing the mark of Vietnamese people closer to international friends.

Thien Thien