Sun Bai's illustration practice begins with character: who they are, what just happened, where they're going next. This narrative-first approach yields compositions that feel cinematic yet understated, with soft chalky palettes and deliberately placed figures. The spaces unfold around the characters, making each image feel like a candid moment from a larger story.

Her editorial work for Business Week and Éditions Sulo captures the ordinary in extraordinary detail — women mid-conversation, someone lost in thought, nothing dramatic happening. Yet the tension is palpable. Sun Bai's palette, with its muted, chalky tones, adds to the sense of suspended time. These are images that stay with you, open-ended and deeply humane.