This week’s artist spotlight focuses on Tumblr user batcii and her awesome and unique fandom creations.
The Artist’s Spotlight is a Hypable weekly feature that will focus on someone who has caught our attention for fandom-related art, whether it be drawings, songs, crafts, or more! Every week you can expect a new talented artist we think you should be aware of!
Hi, my name is Sas Milledge and I’m an aspiring visual development and concept artist from Melbourne, Australia. I’m nineteen, and currently completing a Bachelor of Design in Animation.
Fandom is a constantly evolving space, and that’s very exciting to me.
I’ve always been very affected by media, particularly books and films, so my involvement in fandom is a very natural extension of that.
The creativity within online fan communities is virtually unparalleled, it’s such a unique space to share one’s work. Fandom allows for a kind of casual commitment to creativity, and that’s what I love about it. There’s a lot of pressure that people feel when producing original work, but fan work is different. You don’t have to build up a folio and a following to have your art resonate with people, and that sense of community is really powerful and special. Fandom is a constantly evolving space, and that’s very exciting to me.
How long have you been drawing for? Have you always loved it?
I always say I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil, but in reality that’s true for most kids, I just never really stopped. I’m very lucky to have been brought up in a very artistic family; my sister and father are both designers, and I have three cousins that are artists, so I’ve grown up in a creative environment and have always had the support and encouragement of those around me.
I’ve definitely always loved it; I can’t remember a time in my life where I didn’t want to pursue art as a career. Having said that I didn’t really start consciously working on technical things like anatomy and colour until I was around eleven years old, which was when I first joined online art communities like DeviantArt and got my first tablet.
One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that I’m not working towards a finished product
How did you discover your style? Because it’s pretty amazing.
Thank you! I have a difficult time with the idea of ‘finding’ a style. I know a lot of people very consciously seek a style they want to imitate, (anime, Disney, etc.) but while I went through phases of this, I was quick to discover that I wasn’t particularly good at imitation, much to my disappointment at the time. As a result my style, although it can be quite distinctive, is generally a bit of an eclectic mix of various influences.
I studied Japanese in primary school, which essentially means we learned the alphabet, watched Ghibli movies, and learned how to draw manga, so that was a very early form my work took. Later on, I joined DeviantArt and became very attached to the work of artists like Kobb, Jubilations, and CanadianRainwater, all of which directed my focus more to stuff like anatomy and expression. The show Avatar: The Last Airbender also had a huge aesthetic influence on me; a kind of happy medium between typical manga drawings and a slightly more realistic approach to character design. Additionally I began to veer a lot closer to a less cartoon-y style when I begun life drawing lessons when I was fifteen.
So to answer your question, I didn’t so much “discover” my style as I sort of stumbled into it. One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that I’m not working towards a finished product; it’s an ongoing process. While it was frustrating for thirteen-year-old me that I couldn’t draw my favourite Disney characters exactly as they are in the movies, I’m glad now that I feel like my art is really my own.
What’s your favorite fandom to draw for?
I feel very at home drawing Harry Potter art. For a lot of people – including me – it was their first fandom, so it’s a big community that a lot of people respond very powerfully to, and that’s a lovely place to have your art received. It’s also one of those rare things that despite having finished almost seven years ago, people are still very interested in it. It’s nice that it’s over in a sense that there’s a lot less drama, which is bizarre, because as anyone who was around in the early to mid 2000s can attest to, the idea that the Harry Potter fandom could ever be considered as lacking in drama is hilarious. These days, however, it’s generally a pretty positive experience.
Any recent fandom kicks you’ve been on? / What are you liking to draw right now?
I’ve been on a bit of a Captain America kick recently. I’ve dabbled in Marvel stuff before, but it’s never been much more than a bit of fun for me. The Winter Soldier changed that, however, I loved the film and the central character dynamics, so that’s been my vice in recent months.
I love the comic of Lily not taking anyone’s shit. Do you like drawing comics like that, or do you prefer portraits?
I love doing comics, I just lack the ideas. I really envy some artists their wit, I’m not a particularly funny person, so I don’t do as many comics because I feel like they’d only really amuse me. I also love doing portraits, they’re a very bread-and-butter kind of thing for me, where as comics are much more of a challenge, so I try to do a bit of both.
What’s the hardest piece you’ve done?
Oh, that’s a question with dozens of answers. I think, if I had to narrow it down I would say it was this huge digital painting I did of Jon Snow north of the Wall in late 2012. It took me something like fifteen or sixteen hours, and I think the only reason I kept on keeping with it was because it was for a school project. I’m not as proud of it these days as I was back then, but it was the first real background I ever digitally painted, and it was a real slog, so there’s still a part of me that’s pleased with it.
Is there anything different about drawing for fandom than drawing original characters or pieces? Which do you prefer?
Oh definitely. Fanart is such a fantastic thing because it allows young artists to produce work and have it seen by an already established audience. It’s a really accessible medium and I love that I can produce something that will really resonate with a lot of people, regardless of whether they know me or any of my other art, they can relate my thoughts and ideas immediately. Fan works are a conversation. When you’re producing fanart, you’re contributing to something, often it’s prompted by ideas or work by other fans, and it can in turn inspire others to produce their own work. There’s a really negative notion that fanart is somehow less valuable than original work because it’s derivative, and therefore uncreative. On the contrary, fandom can be one of the most creative spaces of all; the characters and ideas belong to everyone equally, so there’s a real sense of collaboration and people feel at liberty to share their ideas.
Meanwhile, producing original work can be a little lonely. I have a great admiration for people who are able to engender fans of their original characters, it’s a real challenge and I think shows a real strength in character design and narrative. I believe it’s very important to do your own stuff, especially if you’re considering pursuing animation/illustration/comics etc., because you need to have a kind of resolve in your own ability to create, and faith in your own artistic independence. There’s something very exciting about creating your own thing from scratch. Even if an original piece I spend several hours on gets one hundredth of the notes a shitty sketch of Harry Potter would get, my original work is incredibly important to my own progress as an artist. I couldn’t say which I prefer more, they’re both very different experiences, with very different pros and cons.
Do you ever get negative opinions about drawing a ship or portraying a character the way you do/did?
I’ve been pretty blessedly free of hate mail, in all honesty. Off the top of my head I can think of maybe four or five incidents in my entire time online. It’s usually to do with ships, but I remember once getting an anonymous message when I was in the Glee fandom that was essentially “u draw kurt ugly” and I remember being like “…k”.
How do you deal with criticism, constructive or not? Any tips for future or up and coming fandom artists?
If the criticism is unfounded, I generally try to let it roll off me. Sometimes people feel like being nasty, that’s cool; that has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them. Constructive crit is a whole other ballpark though. It can sometimes be hard to hear, but it’s really important to listen to people when they have something constructive to say, regardless of their own talents or experiences, a fresh and discerning pair of eyes on your work can be the difference between good and great. I always try to take what they’re saying on board, regardless of whether I agree or not.
My advice to young fan artists would probably just be to join in! It can be really intimidating sharing your work online, especially if you feel like there are people who are more talented or more qualified to be doing something, but it’s important to remember that your work and ideas are just as valid. I would also just really stress that you remain respectful and humble, fandoms tend to break themselves into natural hierarchies, but there’s nothing worse than some fans acting superior to others. It’s fandom, literally anything goes, so have fun, join in, and play nice!
You can find Sas on Tumblr at http://batcii.tumblr.com/!
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