“My name is Ye Zhijun, I’m in my 20s, I’m a virgo, and I love photography, drawing, and food.”
Endearing and direct, just like her drawings, Ye Zhijun’s description of herself can’t help but bring a smile to your face. Ye’s works rarely strike a gloomy or grumbling note, because most of the time the people in her drawings are too busy happily stuffing their faces.
That’s the unique charm of Ye’s words and images: you feel like you’ve known her all your life.
“我是叶纸君，90 后处女座，最大的爱好是拍照画画和吃东西。”
这样坦白却可爱的自我介绍，和她的画一样，看起来让人不禁莞尔一笑。她的作品很少有那种“悲天悯人”“我见尤怜”的感觉，因为画中的人，大抵都在眉开眼笑地吃吃吃。
是的，这就是叶纸君从文字、从画面传达过来的个人魅力，让人倍感亲近。
When Ye graduated from University of the Arts London, she felt lost: “I was drawing every day, but I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life.”
Back then she’d often go out to eat at little hole-in-the-wall restaurants. No matter how perplexed or lonely she felt, when seated in front of something delicious, “for a few moments my entire body felt cured. So I thought, why not put all these dishes into my drawings?”
三年前从伦敦艺术大学毕业后，叶纸君觉得很迷茫，在那段不长不短的时间里，“虽然每天都在画画，但不知道未来的人生会怎么样。”
当时，她经常会独自去很多小店吃东西，却意外地发现，无论再多迷惘和孤独，当面对美食的那一刻，“整个人就瞬间被治愈了，心想着那不如把这些美好的食物画出来吧。”
“The first thing I drew was a super simple but extraordinarily delicious bowl of noodles with scallion oil,” she says. “You put the chopped scallions on the strained noodles, add a bit of sugar and light soy sauce, then pour the hot oil on top. You can hear the noodles sizzle, and then the fragrance of scallion fills the entire kitchen. You mix it all together and take a big bite. It simply fills your heart with joy.”
Since then, eating and drawing have become the two main parts of her day. “Drawing accounts for 60%, eating accounts for 35%. But when I draw, most of the subject matter is still food related.”
After toiling away for an entire year, in 2016 Ye published her first comic book, It’s Not Fun Until It’s Drawn: London.
“动手画的第一道菜是超级简单却又十分美味的葱油面。小葱切末，放在沥干的面条上，撒入生抽和白糖，热油浇在面条上，此刻你会听到滋滋滋的声音，再过一会儿，整个厨房都弥漫着葱油的香味。搅拌均匀，大吃上一口，简直是心满意足。”
自此之后，吃与画，成为她日常的绝大部分。“画画占60%，吃吃吃占35%，不过画画中大部分的主题还是跟吃相关了。”
一年多后，叶纸君出版了自己的第一本绘本《一定要画出来才好玩：伦敦》。
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第四话《居酒屋》
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From rice bowls to roujiamo (a Chinese hamburger), from French pastries to Oreos, from snacks to hors-d’oeuvre to main courses, Ye’s drawn it all—and of course, she’s probably eaten it, too.
Asked why she’s so obsessed with food, Ye gives a serious answer: “Food does more than just fill your belly—it can also comfort your soul,” she says. “Behind every dish there’s a story. There may always be something even tastier than what you’re eating, but the people and ingredients that made that dish can never be replaced. They linger in our hearts and are hard to forget.”
从肉夹馍到煲仔饭，从奥利奥到法式蛋糕，各种或传统或新奇的零食、小吃和主食，叶纸君都画——当然，也可能是都爱吃。
要问为什么对吃如此执念，叶纸君的回答很正经：“美食不仅仅可以填饱肚子，更能抚慰人心。每一道菜的背后其实都蕴藏着一个故事，菜的味道或许能随时被更好吃的东西代替，但所关联的人与事，是无法取代的。它能够久久留存在我们心里，难以割舍与忘记。”
In fact, Ye’s favorite dish, fried Chinese bread, is something she loves because it’s filled with love. “That was the first thing Chef made for me,” she says.
Chef is her boyfriend, and as his nickname suggests, he’s the one who does the cooking. “I remember once when driving back to Beijing with Chef I said I’d never met anyone who was so good to me. I’d never felt such kindness. Chef laughed and said, ‘I love you, that’s why I like to cook for you.’ That simple sentence utterly moved me. Every day I say, ‘I’m so happy I met you.'” Sweeter words are hard to imagine.
殊不知最让她喜欢的一道菜，“煎馒头片”，也正因为其承载了满满爱意。“因为这是大厨给我做的第一道菜。”叶纸君说。
大厨是她的男友，也充当着日常主厨的角色。“记得和大厨开车回北京的高速上，我说从来没有遇到过一个人对我这么好，第一次体会到这样的温暖。大厨笑着说，因为我爱你啊，这些饭菜都是我愿意为你做的。大厨简单的一句话，却让我感动到不行。每天都在感叹，遇见你真是太好了。”言辞之间，尽是甜蜜。
Ye says that the pudgy girl in the drawings is “one side of me.” Everyone has something to share, and the girl in the drawing is her window for sending the world faith, hope, and love.
“What I want to tell people is, not everything you experience in life can be perfect. But whether something is good or bad is up to you to decide. I hope everyone who sees my drawings can live without fear, and enjoy the people and things they encounter in life.”
In other words, “eat, drink, and be merry.”
画里那个肉嘟嘟的女生，叶纸君说那“算是我的一部分”，因为每个人都有想表达美好的意愿，而画中的女生，就是她输送爱、希望与信仰给这个世界的窗口。
“我想告诉大家的是，人生中遇到的所有事情不可能是完美的，但好与不好的处决权在自己的手中。希望看到叶纸君漫画的朋友，无畏结果，都可以尽可能地享受生命里遇到的人与事。”
毕竟，那句诗怎么说的，“弃捐勿复道，努力加餐饭”。
