Moonsul / 38
I always drew as a kid while I should have been paying attention in school. Also places like church. I was pretty hyperactive, and art was a way to channel that. Also I spent a whole lot of time learning Photoshop/Illustrator/Paint Shop Pro in the late 90s onwards. It was always really fun for me to learn creative programs. Still is. By my early 20s I was doing logo commissions etc. Perhaps in my late teens too, I don’t remember exactly when I actually started making any money back then but I definitely did paid freelance work throughout my 20s.
Mostly for fun, mostly self taught. I learned mainly by copying characters from video game strategy guides. Zelda 64, Final Fantasy 4 - 9 and Final Fantasy Tactics were a huge inspiration. When I was really young it was Sonic/Mario/TMNT/Pokemon. I also recall reading some instructional books on how to draw Marvel Superheroes. The only art class I ever took was in middle school and I was booted out after a few days for being problematic in class haha. I wasn’t very good with school in general.
Akihiko Yoshida
Moebius
Brian Froud
90’s Nickelodeon
Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics)
Leonardo Da Vinci
Clip Studio Paint
Gouache/Acrylic
Watercolor Pencils
I could definitely improve everything. It’s fairly easy for me to come up with concepts and ideas, so I’d consider that a strength. I tend to start having trouble maintaining focus and enthusiasm around the 75% mark of a finished product. Tidiness has always been a big area for improvement. I do prefer handmade and whimsical over digital perfection, so it’s a tightrope that I’m always trying to improve for sure.
Duffrey
Dremeetle
I honestly am not sure. I work in different styles, not just Moonsul. When it comes to Moonsul, maybe Luuk & Jino.
This is something I’ve always been terrible at, visualizing a professional trajectory. I’ve always liked to keep my creativity as a raw passion, and not something I completely turn into a job. That being said, it’s always nice to have stability and a reliable income. So yeah, I guess that’s what I want - to be having fun, feeling inspired and autonomous while also feeling financially sustained at the same time. To be doing art at least a couple days a week and enjoying it! The income can even come from elsewhere.
Everything you make is going to feel like crap at some points. Get used to that. There’s only one person who will ever truly have the power to believe in you and push you through to higher levels and that's you. Believe in yourself before there’s even any evidence or praise.
Don’t judge the first sketch. Don’t judge the third or the fifteenth if you’re still struggling. Come back to it in a better state if necessary. Just keep moving forward until you find the flow. So many people get paralyzed in self criticism and self doubt before they actually get into the flow-state. That’s where effortlessly inspired work in any creative medium comes from. Practice getting into the flow-state, it will help with everything in life.
Also, if all you can do is stick figures, then first build a style around that. If all you can do are weird blobs, then build a style around that. You’ll naturally want to grow as you go. But in the beginning just find your style, and don’t just force yourself to do realism or industry standard or whatever just because some teacher or artist said you should. Of course it’s always good to improve your skills and expand in challenging directions, but more important in the beginning is to have fun, stay inspired, explore interesting ideas, and find styles that vibe with you. The rest you can learn along the way and you can return to the more academic stuff intermittently during the journey. Learn how to feel it out.
Also, in my opinion an actual pencil and paper is always the best place to start. Make sure it feels inspired there first before getting bogged down trying to fix everything with an expensive tablet and some richly-featured suite of software.