The interview with EJ ! A professional illustrator shares secrets and tells how he came to Singular !

FireFly

Hey! how are you? Could you introduce yourself and tell us about yourself?

I'm good. Thanks for inviting me!

My name is EJ. I am working as a professional Illustrator for 9 years&, currently creating art for board games. Now I'm starting to create my own NFT art collection on Singular.

FireFly

The level of your work impresses with a variety of details and quality of work! Where did you acquire your skills and publish your work before Singular?

Thank you!

I would say I am mostly self-taught. I studied 2 years of game development in a college. Though they didn't really teach us how to draw and paint just the very basic introduction to different software, game design, animation and programming. I highly doubt if I can learn all that in 2 years.

99% of my art knowledge came from free YouTube videos, e-books for anatomy and browsing awesome art on the Internet.

FireFly

Have you had previous experience in NFT? Was it easy for you to publish the first works on Singular?

None, but I've had no problem minting my 1st work on Singular. I was following the guide they provided. Here's the link.

https://app.subsocial.network/@rmrkapp/singular-artist-guide-how-to-mint-sell-and-gift-nf-ts-30657

FireFly

on ArtStation and Singular I see that most of your work are characters, but you also have beautiful scenes. What do you like drawing more? Where do you get ideas for your work?

I don't prefer one more than the other it just depends on the project I'm working on.

My idea for my Singular collection is mixing cyberpunk and Ukiyo-e (17th century Japanese art) specifically Bijin-ga, it's a genre in Ukiyo-e which the subject matter focuses on women's beauty so that's why my collection is mainly characters.

That's one technique to get inspiration or idea, by mixing old and new genres.

There are plenty of inspirations out there. I get it from being curious about art history, learning graphic design theories, studying different cultures, other forms of art like abstract art, Music, Photography and nature itself.

But if I'm being totally honest, I steal a lot of my inspirations from other artists mainly from my art heroes - Moebius, Katsuya Terada and Tatsuyuki Tanaka.

FireFly

How did you find out about Singular? Did someone introduce you to this marketplace?

Yes, my girlfriend introduced me to Singular.

We're both freelance artists, I think the 1st time we got curious about NFTs is when we heard about Beeple around March 2021 He recently sold an NFT for 69$ million dollars, that is crazy.

She got a job at RMRK as an art director and also introduced me to Kanaria, which I did 12 illustrations for.

https://twitter.com/paolatuazon/status/1482238296738897922?t=sKYpXkwiHc-MLXM0yLN93Q&s=19

FireFly

Your illustrations for Kanaria birds are cooooolll !!!)

Thank you!

FireFly

Probably no one will believe in this, but I didn’t know that Paola is your girlfriend 😂please tell regards to her from me! I've been admiring her work for a long time and I know what work she does at this position at RMRK, she is amazing! You are both very talented!

FireFly

Your first collection on Singular is EJVII's Collection https://singular.rmrk.app/collections/8ac9852f42a86a395d-8GDSY - by the way, I really like it. The first work in this collection (Himiko) cost 7 KSM on the mint and it was immediately bought. The second work was Empress of the Sun - for me it's just something incredible, so many details, just great - it already cost 7.75 KSM on a mint, Though the coolest thing is that Bruno bought it on the secondary market for 20 KSM! How do you determine the price for your art?

My first work I just priced based on what other similar art sells for. I checked the market and saw what's the highest and lowest and I priced my work somewhere in between.

After it was immediately sold then I realized maybe I can sell it for a bit more because the demand for it was higher than I expected.

There's no absolute way to price your art. You can only speculate on what price the collector wills to pay, what is also a combination of a lot of factors. Factors that you can only guess.

Art is very subjective in the first place. My work may bring great value for a specific collector but has zero value for others.

Some collectors buy art based on what the art means for them, their story, their philosophy which also varies.

Others buy art to invest and resell the work, they think see your work as something that could really take off in the future.

There are also collectors that just want to support artists because they like them.

Technical skills of artist will also factor in.

If the work can't be easily imitated and reproduced, it also adds rarity to the piece.

Popularity of the work may be is a major factor I think. The more popular the work is, the more people will see it, attention is everything nowadays.

The short answer is I don't really 100% know.

FireFly

How do you feel about generative collections?

It's cool. I think it's amazing that you can create beautiful abstract, fractal images that are generated by computer codes and algorithms.

FireFly

What tools do you use in your work?

I work purely digital.

Drawing Tab:

Wacom Cintiq 13HD

Software:

Adobe Photoshop - Illustrations

Adobe Flash - Animations

Adobe Premiere - Video Editing

Cubase - Music Production

FireFly What features would you like Singular to add in the future? I saw that you want to try auctions in your works? Will it be your first experience?

Yes, It's my 1st time auctioning my work. That's one feature I would like to be added on Singular.

Maybe a fullscreen feature too would be cool too, when left-clicking an image, especially, for detailed/scenic works so you can fully appreciate it.

FireFly

Are you planning some kind of utility for your NFTs? or do you just position them as your unique art?

No utility plans for EJVII's Collection for now.

We'll just have to wait and see

FireFly

Who do you like the most, on Singular?

Kitchenzky & Grood.

Consistent, unique, super fun and recognizable style.

FireFly

How do you feel about the prospects in the NFT world? Are you familiar with the future features of RMRK 2.0 and 3.0? What do you plan to use later?

It's exciting! Too many new and cool things to learn and explore.

I've heard something about RMRK 2.0. They call it The Art Legos. It is like dynamic and interactive NFTs that have an interchangeable part. An NFT with NFTs within it, at least what I've understood.

I'm imagining it is very popular for people who like RPGs. They can have their own NFT avatar/character and equip different clothing, armors, weapon. I also see games being developed now that integrated with NFTs.

What new upcoming features do I plan to use in the future? I don't know yet, I'll have to learn it first before having a plan. I am still very new to NFTs!

FireFly

Many collectors don't quite understand how large-scale digital art like yours is created! Tell us from start to finish the mechanics of creation? Not all professional artists digitize their work! why?

I usually start with thinking about what subject matter I feel like drawing. A character? scene? object? animal? combination of those, etc.

After that, I start thinking what genre, theme, message or feeling I want to convey. Then I start having a rough idea.

Next is gathering inspiration and references. Creating a mood board (collection of images based on the rough concept I have).

Now I can start the actual work. Sketching, roughly planning establishing the composition, quick drawing of the idea, placing of elements and not being distracted too much with technical details first.

After the sketch is done the rest for me is much easier. Cleaning up messy lines, shapes, repositioning of elements in the composition and final tweaks (color adjustments, level adjustments etc.)

• "Not all professional artists digitize their work! Why?"

These are only some of the many reasons I can think of:

-They are already good at traditional art and don't really need to learn digital art.

-Some artists sell the original/physical art after client work. (some clients only have the scan/soft copy of the image)

-Others are intimidated by software, looks too complex for them.

-Some think of it as cheating and assume the computer is doing most of the job.

FireFly

How do you start development of a character? From nature of a character, genre or situation?

Character development? Do you mean designing or writing a story about a the character?

If I design a character, I`d start working on character's core motivation, his/her goal, what he/she believes, main philosophy, purpose. Then I`d design the character visually based on that.

I've never written a story before, though.

FireFly

You fully answered my question.

FireFly

Describe your typical day

I start the day by checking email, social media. browse Pinterest and ArtStation for art trends and inspiration, I work about 8 to 10 hours per day. After work play videogames or watch a movie.

FireFly

Continue the phrase: I will never draw...

I will never draw.. something that I wouldn't enjoy.

That's the reason why I started my own NFT art collection.

Before, I don't really have a choice on what to draw when I was freelancing and especially when I'm working as a 2d artist for a game company. Freelancing you can only choose what projects are available. Working in company you are told what to do.

This is the best time of my art career. Earning and creating art that I enjoy.

FireFly

What would you advise not to do to an artist who is just starting out?

Don't be impatient. Developing art skills take years of practice and discipline.

It's normal to be frustrated sometimes but learn how to appreciate your own work. See the good and improve the bad. It's very important to enjoy the process of creating art. Focus more on that.

FireFly

I want to say that I was extremely interested in interviewing you! I think you are a very cool artist and I was pleased to get to know you better! Good luck to you in all projects and let your works bring joy to those who buy them!

Thank you for the interview, FireFly!

GvYhEKCUYcK5GdHB5MHPMmLKZqrdyPZV9HMW83RV5L7ZZLz - is my KSM wallet address if you want to donate some tips, so I can spend more time on projects like this.

The interview with EJ ! A professional illustrator shares secrets and tells how he came to Singular !

Report Page