*pew pew* - So do you like bugs? As someone who is horrified of bugs, I want to know HOW? - Are you in college? - Two favorite foods would be...?
- hey how'd you gain such mad skills on your art - Anything of particular interest you've been working on as of lately?? - Ever find out what your dnd alignment was? Maybe class and species too I'm greedy and hungry for information
I do love bugs! It wasn't a thing I was always into, but as I gained an appreciation for bug-types I learned more an more about real bugs and came to love them. Still scared as shit of spiders tho. I think, the more you learn about bugs and the more you interact with them the less of a fear reaction you'll have. ... Though, admittedly, I suddenly remember catching grasshopper nymphs and ladybugs during recess as a child. I am not currently in college. I'm not sure I'll actually ever go to college, especially not for a degree. I've been working since I was 15 (during school, of course), and so I have a pretty decent resume. Job experience helps a ton with getting employed. My long term goal is, however, to get into making comics professionally. To give myself the best foundation I need to take some art classes to sharpen my skills. Uhhh, two favorite foods: I love pizza. I worked at a pizza place for two years. Pizza is amazing. Next is a really hard decision. Does apple juice count? Sometimes I keep a jug of apple juice next to my bed. You know how I got these gains Red: I cheated. Uh, as for what I've been working on, there is always my Nuzlocke comic. I carry my development notebook around with me 24/7. It's taken a bit of a backseat while I sort out the Nuzforums board move, but it's fine. A break from a creative project grants me fresh eyes. Hhhhh, no, I don't know my DnD alignment. I know most people are gonna peg me as Chaotic Neutral, just based on surface level interaction, but that is all it is: surface level. I have dubious regard for the law, however, so some sort of chaotic is probably not far off. Anyways, I'd be a wemic. Is there any surprise? Yay, history time! I have been nuzlocking since 2010, way before I even discovered the nuzlocke forums. My first run was of Flora Sky, which I never finished, and then I did Emerald. (always had a soft spot for Hoenn) Around maybe, 2011-2012, I tried my hand at my first nuzlocke comic, which eventually went belly up due to un-polished storywriting skills. Turns out, pantsing a story is actually hard and a good way to write yourself into a hole! Nowadays I'm working on rebooting said first comic alongside a plethora of other story and non-story runs. I'd share my screenshot style runs, however that is sort of a nuzforums centered phenomenon of gameplay that I'm not sure everyone would be into.
@Bug Welcome to the Weekly QnA! Favorite game besides Pokémon? Weirdest team you've made in a Pokémon game?
Pokémon will always be my number one! But I am also super partial to Legend of Zelda. I got into it later than I think a lot of kids my age had (my first game I finished was Minnish Cap, first I played was my friend's Oracle of Seasons), but wow what a franchise. My "weirdest" Pokémon team? Well, depends on the context I made the team in! I've made competitive draft teams with some... Unorthodox choices. Namely, picks such as Shuckle and Avalugg. As for in-game? I suppose some of my Nuzlocke teams may count. My most recent completed had me taking in Delcatty and Illumise. How was the 80s allowed so many bops. Who signed off on this? I deliberated over many MANY a song, but the one I settled on sort of surprised me.
Oooh excellent choice. How about: Who would you say influenced you as an artist the most while you were developing your style?
I am a bug-type stan to the core. Over on Nuzforums, back when my username was still J-ecstas, I searched the member list on a whim and saw that Bug wasn't taken. Somehow, in 8 years, nobody had touched it. So, naturally, I took it. For that matter, gay is also not taken. I'm amazed. Lord my style has changed SO much over the years. I can take you on quite a journey. When I was first drawing and really getting into it, I was influenced by Tokyo Mew Mew, and... Naruto. I, like, barely watched it, but I had volume three that I got from the thrift store and I knew that book backwards and forwards and read it so much the binding was coming apart. I stayed in this phase for a long long time, because I was just drawing for fun with no real other peers to critic me, or show me other types of art. Then that changed in middle school, when one of my friends was some sort of art wizard. I stuck really close to anime influences, but they started to move away to some more non-standard stuff. It started with Kingdom hearts, and moved into Q-ko and Not Simple. I couldn't grasp the art, but my influences were diverging finally. In highschool, I found Homestuck. This threw me WAY way off the path I was on and into Andrew Hussie's hellpit. This became a part of my art style around my first comic, and extended for so long... mostly because the people telling me to push myself were kind of jerks about it and so I didn't get very far. So I graduate, and thus begins a 3 year pit of "what am I doing" where I finally decide that I want to do comics for a career. My biggest influence at this time was actually Reb-chan, who I still follow to this day. I stopped listening so much to how my peers expected me to tackle my art, and really started trying to do things only I could do, such as picking Rob Zombug back up. Since then it's just been so much experimentation and studies from real life. I rarely adopt styles from other influences nowadays, I think. I've just been working on perfecting what I have, and building all the basics I missed over the years. Now, if you meant more of what artists influenced me, I'm sorry I couldn't supply much... But I can always direct you to my favorite artists now!
@Bug good stuff, I always like seeing how artists have come into their own. So sure lets go with favorite artists currently?
My top favorite at the moment is Seven-teenth. Their stuff absolutely knocks my SOCKS off. Next in line is CanisAlbus. Their art has a very obvious theme (Canine), but it's so surreal and lovely to look at. Clockbirds is an artist I love to watch speedpaint. I learned some cool tricks from them, even if they don't quite fit with my style. If anyone is into digital painting I REALLY recommend them. Next is a comic artist that has that rough, gouche style I'm fond of, and I also like their style of storytelling; I admire someone who sees a bizarre concept and doesn't shy away, like their comic Heroes of the Stars! Lastly is another comic, and a Nuzlocke, but Qlockwork has always held my rapt attention for just how beautiful they make a watercolor comic look. Enjoy their comic: It's a Hard Life.
@Bug I killed one in my house yesterday, but you are safe! - Alright, how goes life over at your forums? I recently checked in and it was looking like smooth sailing? - Do you plan to try and take classes at a conventional art school? - If you had gone to college, what would have been your supposed field of study/major?