Recently, scenes of common campus life, such as having classes, attending lectures, having meals at the canteen, and meandering around the campus with roommates, was caricatured by He Lirong, a first-year grad student at Tianjin University. Her pictures soon became much-touted on Weibo, striking an empathetic chord with college students and leaving people with many touching memories of their college life.
She developed a great interest in caricature from a very early age. She used to joke that in her childhood, every wall in her home was covered with her works, or in other words, doodles. In her cartoons, she calls herself Heli (beaver). With her pen, she keeps every precious and unique minute, every dot that connects her to her college life, in her pictures. “My pictures are actually my journals. I think every day counts. I appreciate every moment I experience and wish to take every opportunity to make memories and to keep them in my cartoons. Cartoons are much livelier compared with writing which in my mind is somewhat bland. Thus, I prefer to take down my experiences by way of caricatures, and to express my feelings with cute emojis’’, she said.
About the frequent appearance of the delicacies from her canteen, she explained that it was because she was in fact a keen gourmand. “We have many canteens here in this new campus. My classmates and I always find something different to eat every day. Our goal is to taste all the dishes in my new campus and draw them, but this is still a ‘goal’ after one month, ‘because there are so many of them waiting for us to have a try.” In addition to food, many stories of her and her classmates are also in her cartoons. Their sentiments, either joy or sadness, are shown unreservedly on her picture book and shared with other people.
On completion, her caricatures receive great appreciation and encouragement from her roommates. Later, she posted these caricatures on her Weibo saying: “@Tianjin University Yes, here I come, fascinating life!” Her caricatures soon became popular among netizens and received many comments and likes after being extensively shared on the net. Some commented that “these cartoons are loaded with so many recollections. It reminds me of my college life. What a memorable period of time!”
“I’ll continue the college life cartoon series. People’s admiration is my greatest motivator. When I leave my college, I’ll edit these paintings which bear my youth and the fleeting days as a precious gift to my future self”, she said.
