Society

Illustrations: Visual impressions on the newspaper page

Phuoc Anh • June 21, 2026 05:00

Amidst the powerful currents of digital technology and artificial intelligence, illustrations remain a unique language on the pages of newspapers. Behind each illustration lies a process of reading, reflecting, refining, and transforming the content and message of the work into lines and shapes. This is also the silent journey of many generations of artists who have contributed to shaping the face of Vietnamese journalism in general, and Nghe An journalism in particular.

Perform: Phuoc Anh •21/06/2026

Amidst the powerful currents of digital technology and artificial intelligence, journalistic illustrations remain a unique language on the newspaper page. Behind each illustration lies a process of reading, reflecting, refining, and transforming the content and message of the work into lines and shapes. This is also the silent journey of many generations of artists who have contributed to shaping the face of Vietnamese journalism in general, and Nghe An journalism in particular.

For generations of readers, literary magazines have always held a unique appeal. Alongside essays, notes, short stories, prose, and poetry, there are black-and-white illustrations that possess a powerful ability to evoke strong emotions. Before readers even enter the world of words, these drawings open a door for their imagination to take flight.

Newspaper illustration appeared quite early in Vietnamese journalism. Many renowned artists of the country's fine arts have participated in illustrating for newspapers and literary magazines. In Nghe An, this journey has been continued by many generations of artists who have been associated with local newsrooms. The late artists Dao Phuong, Ho Thiet Trinh, and Hoang Hai Tho are names frequently mentioned by professionals and colleagues when discussing the evocative illustrations in literary publications. With a solid artistic foundation and a refined ability to appreciate literature, they did not stop at simply depicting a story through images but also distilled the essence of the work to transform it into the language of painting.

Artist Hoang Hai Tho (born 1945) is one of the long-standing figures in newspaper illustration in Nghe An province. Working at the Provincial Cultural Center since the 1990s, he has regularly collaborated on illustrations for Song Lam Magazine and designed many newspaper exhibition booths at the province's Spring Newspaper Festivals. Whenever he receives a manuscript from the editorial office, he takes the time to carefully read the work, reflecting on the characters, setting, and message the author intends. According to him, illustration is not about reproducing what is already in the text, but rather a process of refining to find the most evocative image, thereby transforming words into visual language.

Typically, it takes him about two days to complete an illustration. On tracing paper, with ink and a small brush, the artist quietly creates areas of light and shadow, condensed lines to preserve the essence of the work. Now over 80 years old, after two strokes, artist Hoang Hai Tho still perseveres in practicing to recover and maintain his creative rhythm.

What earned him the respect of many colleagues was his literary sensibility. He believed that an illustrator must empathize with a literary work to capture the "essence" of a short story, poem, or essay. It was this ability to read, reflect upon, and empathize with the works that allowed his illustrations to transcend mere illustration, becoming works of art with a life of their own on the newspaper page.

While Hoàng Hải Thọ's work reveals the experience and depth of an artist deeply involved with literature and art, artist Nguyễn Đình Truyền (born in 1958) leaves his mark with a concise and highly generalized style of painting.

According to artist Nguyen Dinh Truyen, illustrating for newspapers is more challenging when it's concise. The illustration must be simple enough for readers to easily understand, yet still ensure artistic depth and the ability to evoke associations. That's why he chose a style of illustration using clean, minimalist shapes, emphasizing lines and black and white tones.

"Essays, short stories, and novels often span many pages, featuring numerous characters and layers of events, but illustrations only consist of a single frame. Therefore, the artist must know how to select the central details and images that best evoke the spirit of the entire story," he shared.

Despite the ever-advancing graphic technology, artist Nguyen Dinh Truyen remains faithful to traditional painting methods. He believes that each direct brushstroke carries the emotions and creative personality of the artist. The shades of light and dark created by the pen and the artist's hands always possess a softness and fluidity that digital tools can hardly match.

For artist Nguyen Huu Tuan, who worked for nearly 30 years at Nghe An Newspaper (now Nghe An Newspaper, Radio and Television), illustration has become an unforgettable milestone in his career. Under the pseudonym Vu Thuy, he has created over 1,000 illustrations for outstanding literary works.

He witnessed almost the entire shift in newspaper illustration from the manual to the digital age. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, illustrations were done entirely with ink. After completion, the drawings had to be photographed for plate making before being printed. Each illustration was the result of an elaborate process, requiring the artist to possess both artistic skill and the ability to adapt to the fast-paced nature of journalism.

One of the memories that he cherishes most is the story of the late artist Nang Dac, his predecessor in charge of illustration for Nghe An Newspaper. In 1998, when artist Nang Dac suddenly passed away, Nguyen Huu Tuan was assigned to take over the work. On his desk at that time, there were still unfinished sketches from his predecessor. Based on those lines, artist Huu Tuan continued to complete the work in time for publication. Many years have passed, and the specific content of the painting is no longer fully remembered, but the feeling of continuing a colleague's unfinished work remains in his memory as a meaningful story about the silent continuity between generations of artist-journalists, each brushstroke carrying both professional responsibility and respect for those who came before.

An illustrator's joy comes from very simple things. In his early years as an artist, Nguyen Huu Tuan received a letter from writer Dan Hoa, sent from Hanoi to Nghe An. In the letter, the writer expressed his admiration for the illustration for his short story and offered sincere encouragement to the young artist. For Huu Tuan, amidst days of hard work with ink and paper, and nights spent poring over newspaper clippings, that letter gave him renewed faith and motivation to persistently refine each brushstroke.

Between 2008 and 2010, having been familiar with traditional hand-drawing, artist Nguyen Huu Tuan began to teach himself to draw on a computer using Photoshop software.

It wasn't an easy change. The artist had to learn to master the computer mouse and entirely new graphic tools. The first strokes were clumsy, the shapes didn't quite convey the intended idea, but perseverance helped him adapt to the new way of working. Technology changed the tools of expression, but he affirmed that what never changed was the requirement to carefully read the work, find the most valuable details, and convey the spirit of the story through the language of painting.

Artist Nguyen Huu Tuan also recalls another significant milestone: the time when illustrations prominently appeared on the front page of Nghe An Newspaper in April 2012. Before that, illustrations were usually only found on the literary pages, in the inner pages, alongside the artwork as a supplement to the content. Gradually, the approach to newspaper presentation changed. Some illustrations for literary essays and notes were boldly placed on the front page, creating a distinct impression for some issues of the political newspaper.

Recalling that period, Nguyen Huu Tuan said that the encouragement and trust of the leaders and editors of the editorial office gave him much creative inspiration. When illustrations were given a more prominent position, the artist also set higher standards for each work. Every line, every color was no longer simply to illustrate the article, but had to be strong enough to create visual impact, helping to guide the reader from the very first page. That was also the time when he began to more extensively explore computer graphic techniques, combining his artistic thinking with modern newspaper presentation to create works with a unique style.

Today, the appearance of illustrations on the front page may be commonplace. However, at that time, for a political newspaper, it was a rather bold move. It showed the editorial board's appreciation for the creative work of the artist, and affirmed that illustrations not only beautify the page but also have the ability to participate in the storytelling process, convey emotions, and create a visual identity for a journalistic publication.

In recent years, the emergence of artificial intelligence has brought about a major change in the field of visual creation. With just a few lines of description, users can receive a complete illustration in minutes. This speed raises many questions about the future of photojournalism. Nevertheless, artists acknowledge that AI cannot yet replace the core elements of the profession.

According to artist Nguyen Huu Tuan, a journalistic illustration is essentially a process of translating language from literature to painting through the emotional and intellectual filter of the artist. The illustrator must carefully read the work, understand the characters, the context, and the mood before choosing the appropriate imagery. What is present in the work is the skill in creating the image and, more importantly, empathy for the text.

He argued that AI can create beautiful and visually appealing images quickly, but it still lacks a personal touch. In fact, what viewers perceive from a successful illustration often comes from the intangible aspects of the work: mood, life experiences, empathy for human fate, or the beauty of language. These are things that are very difficult to translate into "commands."

Artist Nguyen Dinh Truyen also maintains a similar viewpoint. After many years working with ink and drawing paper, he still chooses the manual method because he believes that human brushstrokes always possess a unique spirit. In his perception, AI-generated artwork is often too smooth, too perfect in form, but lacks surprise, spontaneity, and personality. A beautiful illustration needs stylization, artistic variations that bear the distinct mark of the artist.

However, viewing AI as an "absolute rival" doesn't fully reflect reality. Some young artists argue that AI should be seen as a helpful tool; the issue lies with the user. To create an image that suits a literary work, the person giving the command must still carefully read, deeply understand, and accurately express their ideas. The quality of the final product depends heavily on the artist's ability to perceive and think. AI can shorten the execution time, assist in image processing, or expand expressive possibilities, but choosing which aspect of the work to emphasize, which details to focus on, and what emotions to convey to the reader remains a creative decision of the artist.

From another perspective, the value of journalistic illustrations lies in their ability to transcend their role as supplementary text and exist as independent works of art, possessing their own aesthetic life. When separated from the article, the illustration can still evoke emotions, convey a message, and be appreciated through its own artistic language.

In fact, many journalistic illustrations have transcended the confines of newspaper pages to participate in professional art exhibitions. Artist Hoang Hai Tho won the C prize at the 1999 North Central Region Art Exhibition for his series of illustrations for Song Lam Magazine. Artist Nguyen Huu Tuan had a series of illustrations participate in the 2023 National Illustration Exhibition. This shows that brushstrokes created from emotional resonance with literature still hold a unique place; behind each illustration is a silent dialogue between painting and literature, between the artist and the work, and with the reader.