Fresh graduates from the Central Academy of Fine Arts present the best of their work at a recent graduation exhibition. Their pieces vary in media and genres, from installations, oil paintings and Chinese ink art to picture books.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Reaching out

Some graduates see employment as a more secure choice than being a professional artist.

Chen Yujing, 24, a fresh graduate from the CAFA, plans to work as a comics artist at a web company in Beijing.

Her graduation work is a thread-bound colored picture book in which she re-creates in a vivid wuxia (Chinese action figures) storytelling style from her childhood - how a naughty girl escapes her mother's punishment. The hilarious scenarios made the book a hit at CAFA's graduation exhibition held in June.

But she is not confident of making a career as a picture-book artist.

She says this is because people do not take picture books as a serious form of art.

"Most people think picture books are educational and only for children. And some mistake comic books for picture books.

"But I will keep creating picture books in my spare time."

Meanwhile, Wang says she does not regret not attending a graduate school, and she says she is thankful for her previous work experience.

"My teachers say it makes my works more mature and that it will benefit me."

She says her goal is to find a serious art institution in five years. And she believes that because of the intense competition, young artists need to promote themselves.

"You can't sit at home waiting for opportunity to knock on your door. It's meaningless if your work get noticed by the world only after you die."