Art Meme

• ART MEME •

How would you describe your art?

Semi-realistic. It’s flawed in multiple manners, though, I tend to believe despite the unique and semi-realistic style I typically utilize, and the uncanny nature of most of my works, I believe there’s a speck of a cutesy element in my work regarding the manner in which the characters are drawn and the vibrations they radiate.

Are you self-taught?

Yes, almost entirely. I attempted to purchase an art mentor but… it wasn’t a guided effort, and I haven’t even received my first critique yet, and it’s been a year and I already purchased it.

Do you prefer to make digital or traditional art?

I am primarily a digital artist. I started out as a primarily traditional artist as a child, then eventually transferred to primarily digital (online, at least) utilizing MS Paint and a trackpad, with a preference for creating traditional art. (Utilizing pencils, pens, paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.)

Eventually, I began utilizing GIMP at the age of 11, utilized Paint Tool SAI for a short duration (approximately 1-3 months), utilized Autodesk Sketchbook for approximately 1 year, utilized MyPaint for approximately 3 months, utilized FireAlpaca for approximately 1-1.5 years, and eventually settled on Medibang Paint in 2016. I have been utilizing it ever since. Occasionally, I’d utilize drawing tablets and universal styluses to draw, but I primarily draw with a trackpad.

I prefer creating digital art simply due to its ease of access, its beneficial features against traditional artwork, and its ease of uploading in good quality to most websites. (I barely ever harbor access to a scanner and my phone’s cameras are typically low-quality.)

Are you most focused on original characters, fan art, art for others, something else, or all together?

I am primarily focused on drawing illustrations of my original characters, especially the ones I am fixated on, and creating artwork for others whenever the inspiration occurs. I barely ever create fan art due to a lack of passion and the wish to not be solely renowned for creating artwork of a certain fandom I may outgrow eventually.

Why do you draw? What’s your goal?

I draw because I am seeking improvement in my artistic abilities and because I enjoy drawing because it is extremely pleasurable as an activity despite the difficulty of providing decent creations every single time. I have been drawing ever since I was 3 years old and have always considered it a passion of mine.

My current goal is to create 4-6 series featuring my characters and stories, starting out with comics and/or visual novels and then peering into animation. I aspire to become a niche professional creator, solely appealing to a particular demographic of people who relate to my work and characters and who are able to support me financially, and not interacting with my fans often due to extreme introversion and anthrophobia.

What inspires you?

I draw inspiration from reading about occurrences, typically on the internet or in articles/books. This can vary from humorous occurrences from random people to the life events of and speculation of psychological motivations from criminals and those in peril in one form or another. Occasionally, I may draw inspiration from illustrations, videos, films, and series. My primary inspiration, however, derives from my own experiences and desires and the experiences of those close to me.

When it comes to drawing, I typically utilize external references of all sorts to accomplish the accurate arrangement of the various elements of the illustration. When not drawing inspiration from my own stories and imagination, I occasionally search for models and aesthetically pleasing characters from other people to depict.

How do you feel about your own art? Do you find it cool, or bad, or something? Is there something you want to change?

I am dissatisfied with the coloring, even still, and believe I can surpass my current drawing abilities in terms of realism and improve my semi-realistic style (perhaps in a similar manner to 2021 but more advanced), but presently, I am closer to my artistic goals than I was in 2019 and prior, and I am practicing anatomy and more complex subjects in order to advance further. I believe with the guidance of an art mentor or the guidance of art tutorials and art courses, alongside practicing for at least 1 hour every day, including continuous iterative drawing and dedicating time to refine my artwork as much as possible, I may accomplish my artistic goals within 3 years. I will, eventually, practice coloring in a more advanced manner.

• YOU AND OTHERS •

How old were you when you first published a drawing?

I was 9-10 when I first published my drawings. I harbor a bygone deviantART account I consigned to oblivion where I published my childhood digital drawings created in MS Paint of various “characters.” Otherwise, I published drawings of my fan characters for an animated series I enjoyed when I was younger.

What attracts you to others’ art?

I prefer styles that are realistic or semi-realistic in nature. One of my favorite traits in art is realistic/semi-realistic proportions, including smaller eyes and prominent noses (depending on the species being depicted). Detailed linework is something I enjoy immensely, although I can always enjoy more simplistic linework if the style is up to my aesthetics. I also enjoy textured lines, soft toning or textured coloring, and multi-layer toning (this is varied and can be eschewed if the style is one I prefer overall).

I also enjoy dark, gloomy artwork with dark colors or muted/desaturated coloring. Gothic undertones are a favorite of mine alongside vintage themes. I also enjoy storytelling artwork and artwork with interesting compositions and complex settings (including multi-character interactions), though I may also enjoy simplistic artwork created for aesthetic appeal and studies.

What do you like/dislike about the art community?

The art community tends to favor the identical few art styles ad nauseam, relinquishing more unique and unconventional art styles into obscurity, forcing artists to either develop an art style they do not believe suits their interests or to remain obscure until they eventually do. Alongside this, undiscovered artists tend to not be able to earn a profit from their artistic labor due to their minuscule audience's apathy to the idea of supporting them monetarily. Unfortunately, it is discouraged to advertise in people's private messages for a multitude of reasons, they will likely not be selected during a commissioner's advertisement, and paid advertisements are typically out of their scope.

Popular artists tend to not provide shoutouts or promotions toward undiscovered artists or provide opportunities for undiscovered artists to promote themselves on their platform, i.e. via an artist support post, leaving undiscovered artists with fewer opportunities to gain exposure. If more popular artists would provide opportunities to feature undiscovered artists, the art community would blossom, as more artists would harbor the opportunity to be noticed by artists and art lovers alike. Unfortunately, most popular artists prefer to solely provide shoutouts to friends, family members, and other popular or semi-popular artists whose art they enjoy, typically ones similar to their own. This results in less exposure to undiscovered artists whose abilities are blossoming or already present, resulting in fewer opportunities for garnering art-based incomes.

Of course, not all undiscovered artists seek financial support. Plenty of them prefer support via compliments on their artwork and knowing that people enjoy what they create. Unfortunately, both artists and art lovers alike tend to refuse to comment on or favorite/like/share/reblog/save/bookmark certain artists’ work, or provide complimentary comments whenever they do decide to comment which discourages undiscovered artists from posting their artwork publicly, and negative attention may even encourage the artist to cease creating indefinitely, restricting any possibility they harbored to improve their abilities.

There are also, conversely, artists who prefer to slander other artists, regardless of proficiency and notoriety, and artists who prefer to simply befriend other artists to either garner exposure or to garner artistic presents for themselves from more proficient and notorious artists. There are artists who refuse to accept constructive criticism of their artwork or personality for improvement while also wishing to become popular despite harboring "substandard" artistic abilities and lackluster artwork and characters. There are also artists and artist-adjacent individuals who scam others by either providing false promises that they do not upkeep, traced or stolen examples, AI-generated imagery that is not disclosed, or collaborations with other artists who do not receive credit for their part of the labor, and receive tons of support for it (I may even know one of those).

Unfortunately, the art community harbors an elitist dilemma and prefers to recycle identical art styles over again and ignore those who provide unique artworks, regardless of artistic ability.

• BONUS QUESTIONS •

Your most vivid memory connected with art/with the art community?

When my favorite artist told me that my artwork “raped [his] eyes” when I was 11 before blocking me. Thankfully, that only encouraged me to continue drawing so I could improve further beyond both of our abilities. Someday, I shall reach there.

Also, when someone who wished to critique my characters told me to “change my art style” and then got angry that I followed their advice and provided my first attempt at changing my style, told me that they meant for me to “turn the characters to humans,” called my artwork an abomination, and then became angry when I blocked them, and called me the r-slur. Yes, I was 11 when this occurred as well.

Could you leave art forever?

No. I cannot imagine myself ever not drawing or creating. Art is my life.

Your best/most beloved artwork:

Your worst/the least beloved artwork:

Of the recent ones, that is. I believe the artistic qualities could have exceeded what was presented in these. I believe this for a few other ones but I will not present them here for personal reasons.