About
Hi!
I am a 19 year old freelance digital artist and illustrator from Pakistan.
I created this blog/website because when i started digital art, I was unable to find relevant info and tutorials. Although the available tutorials were amazing but since I was just starting, I didn't find any of them any helpful. So, I have took it upon myself to create a casual blog for new digital artists, providing them support and relevant knowledge which I wished I had at that time.
Interviews with amazing artists
Lucy
Tell me about yourself and your artstyle.
My name's is Lucy and I'm 37 from the UK. I have five children under the age of 8 including 1 year old twin boys. I finished a 3 year degree last year gaining a first in I.T computing and design. After getting an XP-Pen graphics pad in September this year I have been obsessed with digital drawing. I learnt Photoshop and have been trying to improve every day since. I am inspired by so many different styles that it has been really hard for me to settle into a style of my own. I am most attracted to anime/ mange, Japanese, oriental and Asian inspired art. I love character/cartoon art and desperately tried to create my own style of cartoon drawings. So far my portrait work always comes out way better so that is the route I am currently exploring.
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So, Lucy, since when are you doing digital art?
Well, not seriously since 2014 and seriously since September 2020.
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Do you take commissions? If yes what are the options for contacting you?
I would be open for commission's but haven't actively promoted them. I have done a few for friends so far. It would probably work best through Instagram.
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Is there any quote which inspires you or motivates you?
One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life. That word is love. - Sophocles
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Are there any artists who inspired you?
Loads!! Let me try and name some -
@wlop,
@rossdraws,
@samdoesarts,
@madebyinkyjar,
@anaa.ilustra,
@madie_arts.
Honestly the list could go on forever!!!
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What piece of advice would you give newbie artists?
Just keep drawing! Every day draw something even of you don't feel like it.
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Anything else you would like to share with the readers?
Don't get disheartened if you feel that everyone else is amazing and your work isn't coming out like you want it to. Don't compare yourself to others. Keep working hard, don't draw what you think others want. Draw what you want to and enjoy what you do first and foremost.
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There it was, an amazing interaction with a talented artist. Thank you once again, Lucy for taking out some time to respond to me 🥰
Zoe
Tell me about yourself and your artstyle.
I’m 18 and from the UK! I’ve just received my level 3 diploma in animal management and am currently doing an online course which is a level 4 behavior course! I don’t think I’ve fully found my style yet! I’m always changing the way I do things and trying different techniques! I love doing realistic portraits but I do also like to sometimes go in a different direction with semi realism. I prefer painting people rather then animals but I still love drawing dogs and other animals!
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Since when are you doing digital art?
Just over a year... But I really only started properly in March when I started doing realistic/ semi realistic!
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Do you take commissions? If you do how can the customers contact you?
Yes!! I mainly interact over Instagram. But I also interact with some over email (zoesart08@gmail.com) and on Etsy!
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A quote which inspires you or motivates you?
Doubt kills more dreams then failure ever will - Suzy Kassem
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Are there any artists out there who inspire you?
YOU!! ( Le Me : OMG ....... am so proud 🥺)
@ck_artdesign
@back.stain
@konturava.art
@karinayordanova_art
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Is there any advice you would like to give to newbie artists?
Just practice, practice, practice.
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Thank you, Zoe for sparing some time to answer my questions. It was a pleasure!🤩
Palak
Well , Palak, tell me about yourself and your artstyle
Hello!... I'm Palak. I'm 16 years old and I do digital art. I'm a self taught artist and still in learning process. I do realistic art and am in search of my own style.
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Since when are you doing digital art?
Its been 1 year since I started doing it.
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Do you take commissions?
No, not yet but maybe in the future.
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Is there a quote which inspires or motivates you?
Do what you like and never give up.
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Name some artists who inspired you.
There are many artists who inspires me but these are my biggest inspiration:
@sleepinglucifer
@krisssstyp
@muzenik_
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What piece of advice would you give newbie artists?
To the new Artists : I have seen that many start digital art but give up on it soon because they don't succeed in it or they find it hard. At the start, I also found it hard but art needs dedication, interest and patience and according to my opinion digital art is easier than traditional art. You will find it easy once you know the features. All you need to do is be patience; keep working and never give up and one day you will succeed your own expectation. And also don't compare yourselves with others; you are best in yourself.🥰
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Is there anything else you would like the readers to know?
Ummm...thank you so much for giving me this opportunity of doing this interview. Also to whoever reading this: do once check out my account and leave a feedback or your opinion🥰🥰
Mystery Artistz
Tell me about yourself and your artstyle.
I'm a freelance concept artist and a computer science student. My style is mainly semi realism. I've worked with several authors to design their covers. I enjoy human illustrations but I'm looking forward to give animals a try too.
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Since when are you doing digital art?
I started digital art two years ago (i.e 2018)
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Do you take commissions? If yes where do you interact with your customers?
Yes I do accept commissions/ paid orders. I offer several conversation forms to my client's for their ease but my personal preference is via email. But I can easily be reached through the following:
Email: makermystery152@gmail.com
Commission via DevianArt @mystery.artistz
Facebook: Fatima Ali(Mystery Maker)
Instagram: mystery.artistz
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A quote which inspires you or motivates you?
Success is a journey not a destination.
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Any artists who inspired you?
Astri lohne
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What piece of advice would you give newbie artists?
I'd like to say nobody is born an artist. Every great artist failed numerous times so If you fail then just don't give up. Keep practicing. You'll never know how close you are from success.
Ekna
Tell me about yourself and your artstyle.
Well, where to start? My artist name is Ekna and since 2.5 years I’m an Instagram digital artist. I would think about my art as fantasy inspired with a lot of bright colors and contrasting shadows. Besides art I study full time (psychobiology) and I have a pet bird named Joep (he’s a budgie and pictured as a fantasy girl to the left, the others are Ozzie in the center and Jip on the right). Umm what else, I’m Dutch. Currently 22 years old. I’ve always been drawing since I was a kid, so I don’t know when I started. But I’m doing more professional digital art since 2018 I think. Which was also the same year I started on Instagram.
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Since when are you doing digital art?
When I was about 15 years old I made my first digital drawing. But started drawing digitally more frequently when I just turned 20 (2.5 years ago now)
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Do you take commissions? How do you interact with your customers?
Yes (when I have time). Contact via Instagram chat!
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A quote which inspires you or motivates you?
Practice makes better, not perfect.
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Are there any artists who inspired you?
Jennadrawing (YouTube and Instagram) is the main artist who inspired me to start doing digital art. ToshiaSan (Instagram) is my second favorite digital artist and I adore her work (can’t stop buying her prints)
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What piece of advice would you give newbie artists?
Don’t force yourself to make only “pretty” art. We learn a lot from mistakes and everybody makes them, we just don’t show.
Nikki
Tell me about yourself and your artstyle.
Hi! I’m Nikki and I’m 18 years old. My art style has kind of developed through my love for adding nearly invisible details (that I usually post separately on my story). This way my art always hides something extra!
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Since when are you doing digital art?
I started towards the end of 2018, but I have had a pause to study from April until November. I’m back now!
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Do you take commissions? If yes how do you interact with your customers?
I do take commissions! Not for edits, of course, as that’s illegal. But I do take commissions for my own style. I’ve especially done a lot for N.J Colin (you might know her from Revenge Daddy). I take commissions through my DMs and I take payments on PayPal :)
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A quote which inspires you or motivates you?
You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, so you might as well just do whatever you want. -Kacey Musgraves
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Any artists who inspired you?
The first artist I found when entering the community was @blanche.artepisode, she’s literally the definition of progress!
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What piece of advice would you give newbie artists?
Compare your work to your own previous work, not other people’s art! Surround yourself with people who are willing to help and learn how to take comments as advice, not as critique. Don’t worry about finding your “style”. It’ll develop sooner or later and you probably won’t even notice. It can even take years for some people, so just start doing whatever you feel like, don’t worry too much!
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Anything else you would like to mention or want to add?
When you feel like you’re having an art block don’t get frustrated. Do one of these two:-
1. Take a break to do something else until you feel inspired again. If you lose followers over that time it’s okay. It means they either didn’t understand what you’re going through or just something else is going on! People that adore you will stick around, I promise :)
2. It’s possible you’ve been doing things that got you out of your flow. Make some art no one asked for, but you think is fun or easy. Try watching time lapses of other artists that inspire you.
@tw.episode
Tell me about yourself and your artstyle.
I’m a 20 year old girl from Mexico 🇲🇽 I like being very chameleonic and that’s probably reflected in my art 💗 I like to try new styles, new brushes and take new challenges to improve my skills in each piece.
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Since when are you doing digital art?
As a hobby, I’ve been doing this as long as I can remember, since the only way to draw was in Paint. But I started taking this more seriously in 2017 😁
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Do you take commissions?If yes where do you interact with your customers?
Yes I do! The easiest way to contact me is trough my Instagram handle @tw.episode sending a DM
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A quote which inspires you or motivates you?
I don’t think I have a quote but something that inspires me the most is the positive feedback on my creations, happy clients and nice comments from people supporting what I do, that’s what keeps me going.
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Any artists who inspired you?
One of my first inspirations was Julia Razumova @bluesssatan on Instagram, her art is amazing and so unique! Also I’m inspired by @krissstyp, @ylanast and Caroline Kotzelnik @ck_artdesign
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What piece of advice would you give newbie artists?
As cliché as it must sound: Don’t give up! Improvement comes with constancy and time, you will get frustrated and feel unmotivated many times but don’t give up, those moments are the ones that come before a significant improvement. Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re not getting better, or that you’re stuck but you’re not, as long as you keep creating you’re learning and outpacing yourself 💗
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Anything else you would like to mention or want the readers to know?
Good things come with effort, art needs passion, time, dedication and discipline, those things outcome natural talent. May be hard to be an artist but this are the kind of achievements that are worth pursuing 🤗 Art is what makes us humans. I’m honored you invited me to make this interview! I wish you a lot of success and hope it’s not the last time we work together ☺️ I had a good time at this!
Starting Digital Art
So you are an innocent little human being who has been a traditional artist for some time and now after seeing all the amazing digital artists on Instagram got inspired and thought to yourself I'm gonna try digital art. After all how hard can it be?
Well that's the first miss-step you took which if not corrected will cost you your passion and love for art.
So, does that mean Digital Art is difficult?
Well, NO! Digital art in itself isn't hard but our thinking that the leap from traditional to digital art will be easy in actual makes it difficult. The level or complexity of your traditional art knowledge or talent is not going to make you a better digital artist. Your set of skills for creating absolute masterpieces on paper will be of little to no use as far as digital art is concerned. But there is no need to panic as I intend to guide you along to this path which you have chosen for yourself.
Before YOU start
The first thing to keep in mind when converting to digital art is YOU will suck at it at first. I know this seems pretty harsh but trust me this will help you later on when you draw for the first time. Consider it like this: when you started drawing on paper, you weren't perfect. It took you time and effort to reach to that skill level you currently are at. There was no shortcut for you; all you did was practice and improve as time passed on. If you start digital art with the thought that oh I'm already good at traditional art, how hard can this be when its all computerized, you are in for a big discouragement. If I do mention my own experience; I was pretty good at drawing on paper; drawing sketches of friends and family alike and even my favorite characters from various TV shows, movies and cartoons. But when I began digital art, I had this thought in my mind that I was already great and that how hard could it be; after all its a computer program with installed brushes; it won't be hard at all. Thinking this, I set my expectation bar really high which, ultimately, made me see how wrong I was. I did so bad that I uninstalled the app and started crying, thinking where I went wrong.
So, long story short, I gathered me thinking it won't be any effort to draw on an app made me over-estimate myself which lead me being discouraged by the actual hideous reality.
Supplies
Now comes the important point: you are firmly set on trying out digital art and don't know where to start and what to do.
For actually starting digital art, the following things are an absolute necessary:-
A relevant device with/without stylus: This device could either be your phone, tablet; basically a touchscreen device. The point to consider here is, since you are just beginning, you don't need to spend huge amounts of bills to buy yourself those fancy graphics tablets
( we'll talk about those later). You simply can start up on what is already available to you. If you don't have a stylus, that will not be an issue at all aswell although having a stylus pen will definitely help you feel more comfortable and in control.
An Art App: There are many free art apps available at App Store(for IOS) and Play Store(for androids) including Autodesk Sketchbook, Ibis Paint X, Medibang Paint to name a few.
Procreate is also an app but it is not free and is currently just available for IOS users.
And that's it; that's all you'll ever gonna need to start digital art.
About graphics tablets: When you do get comfortable with drawing digitally and are ready to upgrade to take your improved digital art to a higher level, I would surely suggest you buy a graphics tablet and start working on it. But this step comes when YOU have been working and improving your control on the already mentioned devices.
Drawing digitally for the first time
Now you have the supplies you needed and are settling up in a perfect yet comfy position to start your first drawing. But hold up, before you actually attempt to draw a sketch there's something you need to know: DO NOT DRAW A SKETCH IN YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT. Why you may ask; it's because you would need to get accustomed to the app you chose and also learn your way around the device. From my own experience, I would suggest that instead of settling for a sketch on your first try, go and tinker around with the app; learn which option shows you what and clicking which button will pop up which menu or options. After doing that, take your time drawing around just some basic shapes. This will help you get accustomed to creating smoother more even strokes. Once you get comfortable with it, only then start with your own sketch.
THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT
Practice, practice and PRACTICE! This is something most of us forget but this is what also makes the best of us come out and shine. It may seem tiring and most likely you would be ready to give up but trust me each hour you practice your control would increase which will, ultimately, increase your skill level. Do not be afraid of asking other artists to help you out aswell. Even though the online art community may seem a little intimidating to you, Most of them if not all are more than willing to help you out. So don't shy away from reaching out seeking guidance.
Posting you art on Instagram
BEFORE YOU POST
Normally, most of the most are either in a square or in Instagram portrait mode. I would suggest always posting in the 1 by 1 square formatting. To ensure this either draw on a square canvas but if, due to some reason you didn't draw on a square canvas, head to the photo editor tool/app on your device. Use it to fit your artwork in a square canvas. I usually use black background so that the colours in my artwork might pop and DO NOT forget to add in your watermark (this will help you against those trying to steal art online). After that's done, save the image WITHOUT tinkering with it in any other way in the highest quality available. Also always keep in mind that when exporting the images either from your art app or the editing app, always use the format of PNG FILE and NOT JPEG. That's because PNG format doesn't lower the image quality however many times you download it over and over again, whereas, JPEG formatted images tend to lose their colour quality.
Now, log into your Instagram account and click the button to post the new artwork. When the Instagram filters pop up, click on the edit button. Now use the Instagram's build in editing tools to enhance your work. I normally adjust the saturation, apply the vignette and sharpen up my piece. Why use Instagram' editing tool and not another app's ? That's because a research had proved that the posts which had been edited and adjusted via Instagram's editing tools reach more audiences and such posts have a higher chance of being discovered. But also keep in mind to NOT use any types of filters though!
Once you are happy with the editing, type in a good caption. A good caption may mean telling what this piece is about or what's the idea behind it. Captions are the one thing which will help you explain your work and passion for your art, so use it nicely. Although, the hashtag system of Instagram currently is facing some problems in some regions, still, take some time to type in relevant hashtags and post your masterpiece.
AFTER POSTING ART
I know it is frustrating when you post a piece and no one interacts or you don't get enough likes. But that's ok. That's how it is. It will take time to gain an audience and there will be many downfalls as well but DO NOT GIVE UP. Trust me: CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY HERE AND SO IS BEING PATIENT. Stick to posting and sharing your work even if there's no one to see. You are doing this for yourself and YOUR OWN improvement only and no one else. Keep that in mind and keep on working hard and let TIME SHOW YOU JUSTICE.
Some amazing Artists of 2020
Here's my recommendation for finding your idol in the art community. These artists have inspired me in the year 2020 to improve myself and let out the better me ♥
Dana
I really love her pastel artworks with soft overall look.
Instagram
Marzia
The vibrancy of Marzia's work is really eyecatchy.
Instagram
Hiba
Hiba's work is really soft yet beautiful. She depicts portraits in somewhat animated and stylized manner.
Instagram
Kadiri
Kadiri has been my favourite so far with amazing colour palette and realism of digital art.
Instagram
My YouTube Channel
Subscribe to my NEW YouTube channel where after some time, I'll be starting proper tutorials on how I use medibang to create art from A to Z.
Let's get to at least 200 subs and I'll start uploading ♥
OH HEY, FOR BEST VIEWING, YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR PHONE