Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Google is celebrating what would have been the 108th birthday of Chinese-American artist Tyrus Wong with a new Doodle.
Google honored Wong's work by releasing an animated video that chronicles the painter and illustrator's life. Sophie Diao created the video in Wong's unique artistic style which combines Western illustration with Eastern painting sensibilities.
Wong was born in 1910 in a village located in China's Guandong Province. He ended up in Los Angeles at the age of 10 with his father who was seeking a better life for his family in America.
Wong's father could only afford for his art-loving son to practice calligraphy on newspapers and study Chinese art at the Los Angeles Central Library where he discovered some of his favorite paintings from the Song Dynasty. Wong, as a teenager, earned a scholarship to the Otis Art institute and helped formed the Oriental Artists' Group of Los Angeles which allowed his artwork to reach new venues such as the Art Institute of Chicago.
He was hired by Walt Disney Studios in 1938 as illustrator intern to create sketches between key animator sketches in order to form the movement of a character or object. Wong served as lead illustrator on Bambi, which hit theaters in 1942.
Wong was only credited as a background artist on the film, however, and would not receive proper credit for influencing the art of the classic animated film until 2001 when he was named a Disney Legend. The company also hosted a career retrospective on Wong at the Disney Family Museum titled Water to Paper, Paint to Sky.
The artist also painted storyboards for Warner Bros. films including The Wild Bunch, Sands of Iwo Jima, and Rebel Without A Cause.
Wong died in December 2016 at the age of 106. His daughters Kim, Tai-Ling and Kay helped Google with the Doodle.
"Through his work ethic, appreciation of nature's beauty, and joy in creating art, Dad was a role model for us. We miss him very much and to this day, whenever we see something humorous, clever, or beautiful, we think of him and wish we could share it with him," they said.
