Just Another Mario Fan

Would you ever be willing to share your art process?? <3

Of course! :D I've talked a little bit about shading and color palettes before, so I thought it'd be fun if I focused on the pre-refining stage here.^^

My ideas always start on paper. Be it with original concepts or fanart, I much prefer using the traditional approach first as it helps me stay more focused when I draw. For reasons I couldn't explain, trying to keep things in a sketchbook has never worked for me though, so I go for the more clustered alternative: keeping small cutouts of everything. 😂

For any sudden spark of inspiration that I get, the rougher sketches always fall into one of two categories. The first one primarily emphasizes body dynamics and movement, and it's what I focus on whenever I'm looking for a specific composition or key moment in a scene. Those are usually "silent" or accompanied only by a few stray words to help me find the look I'm trying to convey.

...And then there's the contextual sort. x3 Those particular doodles are always the most basic and rudimentary. Barely more than stick figures, really. They're the ones that I throw haphazardly on a page in the form of messy storyboards whenever an entire scene hits me and I need to hurry up transcribing everything before it vanishes from my mind. This I do quite compulsively, and I have tons of these for every movie/series/franchise I've ever been interested in. 😂

From there, any idea that I want to clean up and color is first redrawn on Photoshop and then progressively refined with additional layers. ✍️😌

Hi! I saw @living-the-dream-yall's ask and just wanted to say I 100% agree! Your interpretations of these characters are one of a kind and captivating, and the art is top tier. I confess, I've stared at some of your artwork longer than I usually do, and tried to take some inspiration from it on a few occasions. For example, I contemplated your beautiful drawing of the Mario Bros. touching foreheads for a while before attempting to draw that gesture for the first time myself.

My first encounter with your art was when I found @drones-of-innocence's fic Sing For Absolution (came for the Muse reference, stayed for the incredible writing and art alike). And by now I'm pretty sure that I've seen every piece you've ever shared.

Like I told you before, a big fan of yours here :D I just admire your art style and characterization so much, and don't even get me started on your amazing Body Swap AU. It's so good! I love how many fanworks were inspired by it.

No matter what direction you're taking your blog now, I just want you to know how much I appreciate all that you've created and shared. It's so nice to finally be able to tell you all of this directly, and thank you so much for becoming my mutual. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's an honor!

Wow, thanks a lot!! 🤩 I really appreciate the wonderful feedback. Knowing you've taken inspiration from my work is incredibly flattering. ☺️💖 And omg the body-swap AU! x3 That was a fun one haha, and people's participation made it even better. 🙌

I did keep everything up for a while before taking it all down, so you're probably right! The only pieces you guys haven't seen are the ones I had finished but hadn't yet posted before my batteries abruptly went dead. >< If anything, it was a sure sign I needed to slow down. 👀😅

Thank you again for leaving such a nice and thoughtful message. I keep some very fond memories of my time spent in the Mario fandom as a creator and it's thanks to all of you. 🤗✨ Also you're very welcome! It was my pleasure. 😁

Howdy, It has been a while. But yea I can understand the pressure and stress. I do agree, the point of creating should be passion first. And I wont lie, I have made posts and writing where I did it for fandom approval more than my enjoyment. Whatever comes next for you, I hope you enjoy it and you have fun with it.

Oh, absolutely. I believe that's something we've all done more than once and to varying degrees, because to be fair it is very gratifying to feel validated and to receive praise for what we make. But the more we get, the more addicting it can become. And it's very easy to lose ourselves in that spiraling, increasing urge to maintain a previously achieved height. 😮‍💨

Creating out of genuine passion may sound like a given, but I think that many would be surprised by the disturbingly high amount of people who instead create primarily (if not solely) in the hopes of obtaining approval and recognition; regardless of what they truly want to express deep down. It's a sad and scary phenomenon, and one that unfortunately exists in every artistic field. I can only hope that more and more creators can one day break free from that endless pursuit. 👐

Thank you Gale for the insight, and wishing you the same. 💫🎨