Interview with Plixik

I've had a chance to interview an amazing artist Plixik today! His amazing artwork has been a great inspiration to me and people at the art forums! I enjoyed every single bit of the interview and learned a thing or two from it myself! Really inspirational and a recommended read for any kind of artist!



1. Hello, Plixik! Thanks for finding some time to participate in this interview. Your artwork has an unique and very clean style. For how long have you been drawing, and have you graduated from any art institutions?

Not a problem and thank you! I've always thought my work wasn't clean enough and always wondered how people got such nice linework. I've been experiment with a lot of different techniques to get the aesthetic that I'm aiming for. I’m getting somewhere with it, but I don’t think I've really nailed it yet. I've been drawing my whole life, but I've been all over the place with it. I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and graduated some years ago. I didn't do a ton of drawing in college as my primary focus of study was 3D modeling. I think I was still pretty bad at drawing upon graduating, but I gave up 3D after that and started making 2D games.

2. Who are the most influential artists, who you believe left you the most impact on inspiring you to become an artist you are now?

I started drawing as kid because of Sunday comics in the newspaper, but the next big motivation for me was anime and most notably DragonBall Z in middle/high school, so Akira Toriyama is a big one. More recently I think I've been inspired primarily by other artists online. There are so many skilled artists with so many interesting styles. It’s too hard for me to single anyone out, but I love very animated, dynamic and exaggerated styles.

3. What does art mean to you?

To me art is a way to show other people what is in your head and can’t be conveyed any other way. I view other peoples art to take a look at what goes on in their head. No one is going to listen to me ramble on about some hypothetical game world I thought of, but when it actually exists and people can play it, they're listening without even thinking about listening.

4. Have you ever taken commissions? What jobs have you been doing other than artwork-related activity?

I haven’t done commission exactly, but I have done freelance work for indie developers. I don't do commissions because I like to have the freedom to draw for myself. That is also a big reason I haven’t applied for art jobs in years. I work my day job doing IT and then I draw at night when I get home and on the weekends.

5. Do you listen to music while drawing? Do you believe music is a disturbance or inspiration while sketching out characters?

Music is always an inspiration for me, especially for writing and design games. I listen to all kinds of music while I draw, but I often listen to podcasts or rewatch old shows or anime.



6. Which drawing process stage is the most fun to you? Is it thumbnailing, sketching, lineart, coloring or painting? Which is the most challenging?

Sketching is by far the most fun. So fun that I too often neglect the rest of the process, but I've been trying to remedy that more recently. Once the idea is on the page and I can see it, most of the fun is over. Rendering can be relaxing and painting strong lighting is fun, but not so much as sketching.

Getting the idea on the page is often the hardest part, but it shouldn't be. If you’re having a hard time generating ideas then you’re trying to pull ideas from nothing. You’re lacking inspiration, which is literally in any direction you look except for the blank page in front of you.

7. Do you have a professional goal in art?

Yes, but I have too many to even list. At the moment I’m planning to make another game, but this is a very recent development. I would like to do my own art full time eventually.

8. How do you come up with ideas for characters?

Many character come from worlds I invented for games and comics. My worlds are most often inspired by music.

9. What are your favorite animated films/shows? Do you prefer to watch 2D or 3D animation?

My favorite animated show is Rick and Morty. Justin Roiland is amazing. In terms of animation, I love Looney Toons and the old 2D Disney movies. I greatly prefer 2D, but I have tons of respect for 3D artists.

10. What would be your advice to all the young artists out there?

Do what you actively enjoy doing, not what you wish you had already done. You’ll never regret doing the work and you’ll always regret not doing it. The next year will go by regardless of what you’re doing and when you get to the end of the year, you can be proud that you worked hard and improved or you can imagine how good you could have been and what you could have created if only you made better choices. Look at the dedication and vast output of art by many of the great artists online. If you want to be on that level then you have to match them. You will fall off the horse, but what’s important is that you keep getting back on.