Jian Wu earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Central Academy of Arts & Crafts in Beijing, China in 1984. He then became the Art Director of the Art Institute of Beijing, China. Since coming to the United States, he worked as an Assistant Animator at Dreamworks and then received a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California, where he currently teaches in the School of Illustration. In 2005 his work was awarded the following: Best Use of Light and Color in the Best of America from the National Oil and Acrylic Painters' Society; West Coast Award from the Pastel Society of America 33rd Annual Exhibition, the Clark Mitchell Award for the Pastel Society of the West Coast 19th Annual International Exhibition; and the Jury's Top 50 in the Salon International in San Antonio, Texas.