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[NPC] Cindy Donovinh
This week on Gaia Insider, we'll sit down for a chat with reapersun, the artist behind evolving items like the Nartian Rock, plus many of the great items found inside our blind-box random items. Her items are recognizable for their distinctive style, great sense of humor and, in many cases, rippling male abdominal muscles.
Getting to Know reapersun
How'd you get started as an artist, and what brought you to Gaia?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, but I only really got serious about it when I first saw anime; I remember being blown away by the art styles, the types of stories and characters they used as opposed to western animation. Anime in the US was a bit different back then; at that time it was very cult, and very unusual, especially in the area I lived. We didn’t have Pokemon or Naruto back then; instead it was Ghost in the Shell, Akira, and lots and lots of ultraviolence C:
As for Gaia, I became a user in 04, in college; Ethe was the first to discover the site, and also, the first to be hired. She was hired for animation, but ended up doing painting and concept art instead, so she recommended Pepper-tea and myself, and the rest is history.
What were your hobbies in school? Did you ever think you'd wind up at a place like Gaia?
High school… My only hobby was drawing, lol. I lived in a small town and went to a small school with a lot of ambitionless people, so even earlier on I began to want more than that. I never considered what I would actually do, but the last thing I wanted was to spend the rest of my life in the woods.
How did you learn to draw? Did you take classes, or was it just something you were born with?
Well first, I copied cartoons and anime a lot, and I sucked. Like, really bad gonk In high school I dabbled a little in foundation studies and life drawing but never picked it up, preferring at the time to draw crappy fanart of anime and not learn anything from it. Miraculously, I made it into art school (CCAD), and the intensity of the studies there made me finally realize what I was missing out on. However, I still have tons to learn, and tons of weaknesses, and I’m always trying to improve myself.
What inspires you to get into creative mode, pick up a pencil and draw something amazing?
When art is your career, inspiration to pick up a pencil is a luxury; most times I pick up the pencil because I need to meet a deadline. However, I find more inspiration comes to me when I’m actually working through a problem or project; nothing really sparks until I have the pencil in my hand. Then it’s more about manipulating a template, and figuring out interesting things to do with it. When I don’t have a project, I tend to art block and stagnate; coming up with an idea free of restraints has become much more difficult because I’ve gotten so used to working within boundaries. So far I haven’t solved it… At that point I usually resort to playing WoW instead of drawing…
What kind of influences go into the Evolving Items you've created?
So far they’ve all been based on personal interests, except for the holiday ones which were more about interpretation of a theme. The Nartian Rock for example, was heavily inspired by various music, and especially the show The Mighty Boosh, which sparked my interest in mod fashion; the EI that I’m working on now, which has yet to be released, is inspired by a genre of shows and films that I’m a big fan of. Hopefully I can do it justice!
Have any other artists heavily influenced your style?
It’s influenced by many many other artists that I’ve studied over the years, such as my favorite classical and manga artists, fellow artists on DA, and peers that I’ve gone to school and worked with. If I like the way someone drew a certain thing, a line type, a highlight, and so forth, I tend to pick it up and try it out, and incorporate it if I like it; since I can see all those influences, it’s hard for me to recognize the style that other people seem to see in my work. Often times I feel a little like I’m just drifting from one influence to the next, borrowing other people’s tricks, without committing to anything. I look up to other Gaia artists like Saka, Jenzee, Ethe and O_8 a lot, because they’ve all got their own unique styles that they’re confident in.
And because someone will probably ask, my favorite manga artists are Obata Takeshi, Naono Bohra, Hirohiko Araki, and Masashi Kishimoto (yeah, what of it?). Also Jo Chen is my hero c:
Q&A from Gaia's Members
X_Graff_X asks, "how do we (the users) influence you while working on an EI?"
It depends on the EI. There have been a couple EI’s where I went in with only a vague idea of what I wanted to do, and others with a very solid idea. In the case of the former, user feedback shaped a lot of the item (example, the Tote), and in the latter, I only made poses I had already wanted to (example, the Nartian). I’ve realized that if I have a concept already developed, I shouldn’t let users sway me from it; going off on tangents just to satisfy user whims and first impressions weakens the items, in my opinion. I feel like I have to be brave, many times, and just go for it. However, I DO still consider feedback, and if an improvement can be made to my plan based on that, of course I’ll make it.
mirror alchemist v3 asks, "what's your preferred art medium?"
Digital. I haven’t touched a pen or paint brush for yeeears.
StrawberryDaifuku wants to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists.
The best advice I can give is to never miss an opportunity to learn something new. For example, in school, I took an optional class to learn Flash animation on a whim; if I hadn’t taken that one class and learned the basics of the program, I would never have qualified to work at Gaia. So every little thing you can learn, go for it; you may never use it again, or, it might open a door to something brilliant.
What's your biggest pet peeve?
Male users who bitterly complain about every teeny damn bit of fanservice aimed at girls. Hey, if you want a place where content is primarily aimed at men, try ANYWHERE in the ENTIRE REST OF THE WORLD kthx
Guria wants to know if you have any favorite poses from RIGs you've worked on. (For those who might not be in the know, RIGs (Random Item Generators) are items like the Midsummer Swirl that create a random item).
Oh man, it’s hard to choose. A LOT of my favorite items are in RIGs, because we’re able to create almost anything we want. Hmmm… I think it would be the SDPlus Blind Box actually. I love blind box toys IRL and it makes me happy to have them on Gaia too.
Fallen_Real wants to know: "reapersun, your know for your "companion" poses on items. When did you realize this was a major draw for your items? Also, do you plan to make one for Kink/Dandy?!"
When I first started working for Gaia, the first MC I saw in production was the Celebrity Date; I remember being really excited by the concept, and then watched it bomb with the users with much disappointment. Then for battle, I started making NPC art… I think the first sprite I made was Purvis… Despite that, I grew to love making character art in pixels, and I try to work it in whenever I can. Making a character with their own personality is much more interesting than making another accessory or piece of clothing for other people to incorporate into their own characters. As much as I know users prefer the latter.
PinkFae15 asks, "If you had free reign to create any item for gaia, what would it be?"
I would make the “Ultimate Boyfriend,” an evolving companion item that would take different paths depending on your choices, with tons and tons (and tons) of different options and end results. I mapped out a version of the item out months ago, but I haven’t had time to sit down and actually make poses; I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the time for it actually D:
Dreaming of Reve asks, "what was your first item you made for Gaia?"
The Spartan set! I still lol every time I see abs requested, because I totally made an abs item for that set, but it ended up not working so we didn’t release it. And I never retackled the problem...
heartofsilver777 wants to know, "what was the most challenging item you have ever created?"
The Carol of Ol’ Nick, because I was working with Pepper-tea so I was constantly being one-upped. It ended up being good though, because it pushed me to consider the quality and versatility of my poses and rendering more than I had in the past.
Seme Kitty asks, "when releasing an EI, do you ever feel nervous about how people will react to your design concepts and how much they'll enjoy them?"
Not really. I’ve gotten burned quite often and quite badly in the past, so I think my skin's pretty tough. Also a lot of my tastes and items are quite niche-y, so I’m aware that they’ll never appeal to everyone. Sometimes I get a little disappointed when something I make goes over unusually badly for a silly reason, such as a botched presentation or a miscommunication on my part, but I don’t get nervous over it. I just have as much fun with it as possible, and try to make something with a strong personality and confidence, because if it’s strong, no matter what it is, it will appeal to someone. And it’s better than a halfhearted attempt to please everyone.
Roi Rouille asks, "in school, what type of person were you?"
I went from being a bratty extrovert in grade school, to more of an emo introvert in middle/high school, to something in between in college. I think lately it’s leaning toward bratty introvert.
In the next edition of Gaia Insider, I'll be sitting down for a chat with kaia9, one of Gaia's very first programmers. He's been through it all-- he's worked on everything from fundamental basics like the journal system to advanced features like zOMG's quest system. If you're curious about the technical side of Gaia or office life in general, kaia's a great person to ask; head over to this thread to post your questions!
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