vkacademy's avatar

vkacademy

verify-100000106492246-please
1K
Watchers
239 Deviations
124.5K
Pageviews


What's New?

We've all got artists on our watchlist whom we've observed grow and develop new skills and styles.  Occasionally you find an artist who seems to have kicked into overdrive and you see his or her talents blossom from "Wow!" into "Holy Criznit, that's awesome!!!"  For me, that artist is zeldyn
I've been watching her for almost as long as she's had her account, I think (but I don't recall, honestly.)  I really loved her style: the amount of detail in her pieces, the expressiveness of her characters, her humor.  I've always thought she had talent, but lately each piece has left me just happily baffled by the amount of technical improvement and awesomeness that has developed since the previous one.  Let me pop you a little timeline of sorts:
Zeldyn Thru The Years


Videl Link by zeldyn Casey -colors- by zeldyn Support Your Local Goddess by zeldyn Romanticide by zeldyn
L'Aube De la Nuit by zeldyn

Mature Content

Tats and Dreads by zeldyn
C i r c u s by zeldyn E m p r e s s by zeldyn

And that's just a smattering of what she's done.  Go check out her various folders in her gallery.  She does $10 line art commissions that frankly rock my socks.  My favorites so far are:

Josh Watanabe -$10 Lines- by zeldyn Suna -$10.00 Waist-Up- by zeldyn Raven -$10 Waist-Up- by zeldyn

And last but not least, she's got a "coloring book" gallery of her lineart, which is brilliant, I think.
Please give the girl some love! She's not only an rockin' artist but also one of my muses! (she's got a stock account at zeldyn-stock



My Art + Zeldyn-Stock





Stamps

Brights stamp by Deborah-Valentine I Think - Stamp by AtheistsClub DA Stamp - Care About Both 01 by tppgraphics:thumb89812858: Patalliro fan STAMP by AndreeDeJardjais Science by EmilyHeatherly deviantART not deviantVIEWS by haine905 Stamp : Be nice or shut up by Crysthal




Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
My first "real" news item: news.deviantart.com/article/45…

Big thanks and I-owe-yous to sambees, Wen-M, Niki-UK, GENZOMAN and RazorGeisha for their time and wisdom.  :heart:

Please read and "fave" it by clicking the "+" sign under the heart.

_________________________________________________________
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
To me, the best thing about deviantART is that it connects artists of all genres and skill levels and gives amateur artists a chance to really learn from the professionals.  The real "pros" aren't just the ones who make a living (or at least half a living) from their art.  It's an attitude as well.  Professionals encourage up-and-coming artists.  They inspire with their amazing work while making you feel like you too can achieve that level of skill.  

I have been lucky enough to snag interviews with a handful of my favorite artists.  Four of them are full-time artists and the fifth is a student who plans to pursue a career in art.  They made time to answer these questions and to honestly address some of the issues that face the professional artist. sambees, Wen-M, Niki-UK, GENZOMAN, and RazorGeisha are fantastic artists and all-around wonderful people.  If you want to know all about the glamorous life of a professional artist, read on:

Tell me a little bit about how you got into doing art professionally.

sambees: When I was a kid, I used to play Neopets alot with ramy and ran blackmarket art busness for neopoints (which was against Neopet rules), and was recruited to do some volunteer work for another petsite. My name got around for people looking to do petsites and ended up doing work for alot of them, eventually I started charging money for it (when you're a kid, you don't usually ask for money for things like art  but my mom told me I shouldn't work so much for free) But because I was underage to work for these places (13/14ish) I did so under my mother's name and got a feel for the market. Now a days I work when I have the time. I'm still in school so I'm by no stretch a full time artist or anything.

Wen-M: In 2004, a friend of mine, heysawbones made an account for me here on DA, and next year 2 projects contacted me about doing work for them, thats how i started my free lance job.
Anima: Claire by Wen-M by Wen-M

Niki-UK: I left college for a full-time job at a company that I'd previously done work experience with when I was at school. I mainly worked in their design studio, producing concepts for animated displays and theming (for shopping centres, theme parks and the like). After 6 months the company collapsed and I looked to the games industry for employment. I landed a job with a UK games developer and worked full-time for them for 6 1/2 years

GENZOMAN: I started posting in a forum of my country years ago, and then someone asked me about collaboration for comics and then to Myths and Legends TCG...I'm still working there.

RazorGeisha: I started out around 1994 as a freelance, sending work to S/F conventions and such.  After two years and a couple of small commissions in the gaming industry, I was hired as concept artist for Reaper Miniatures.  After ten years of full-time work there, I've gone back to freelancing, although I still do a lot of work for Reaper.

Is art your main income? Do you have a steady stream of commissions/contracts?

sambees: I generally have work to do if I'm looking for it. I don't have much time for it with school and all, but it gets me by.

Wen-M: For the moment, Art is my main income, I have monthly orders from Anima studio and some commissions on the side.

Niki-UK: Yes, since 2003 I have been freelancing from home on a full-time basis and it's my main source of income. Business tends to go in peaks and troughs; I keep saying jobs are like buses – none for ages and then they all turn up at once! Certain times of the year seem to be busier for me than others, so sometimes I find myself juggling an insane amount of projects and at other times I'm frantically searching for something to bring in the pennies.

GENZOMAN: Yes, it is. Yup I have commissions and NDA of commissions and some contracts too.

RazorGeisha: Although the past 2 years have been very lean as far as work goes, art is still my main source of income.

Does anyone in your family or social circle ask "When are you going to get a 'real job?'"

sambees: My family is very supportive of me and know that this is what I can and will do for the rest of my life.

Wen-M: My Mom always asks me those things, just what a mom does, i guess.

Niki-UK: Thankfully, nope!

GENZOMAN: No, since I've started to work young, there wasn't a chance because it passed quickly from being a hobby to becoming work.

RazorGeisha: Well, about half of the ones who used to are dead now...  *innocent look*

Does your family support what you do?

sambees: Very much so.
bysambees

Wen-M: Yes, they support what i do, as much as my mother nags me about getting a better paying job she respects what i like to do, which i am very very thankful.

Niki-UK: Yes, 100%.

GENZOMAN: Yes, Thanks to God, all my family does, my wife, parents, etc

RazorGeisha: My wife does.  About half of my family wants me to go out and get a better-paying job.  My cats just want me to feed them - right now.

Ever had a brilliant idea that was rejected by your client?

sambees: Of course, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. More good ideas for me.

Wen-M: Yes, it happens. establishing a good communication from the start will help avoid this.

Niki-UK: Oh yeah, lots of times… especially while working on games. I've developed a thick skin when it comes to these things though.
The Harlequin by Niki-UK by Niki-UK

GENZOMAN: uff.. many times, but you must understand thet it's a job and that clients have the last word. At the beginning you take it personally but then you realize that it's normal in the profession.

RazorGeisha: Of course, there are times when a client will make decisions that break your heart or leave you wondering who spiked the coffee that morning; that's an editor's job, I think.  It's disheartening when an exciting idea is relegated to "kill" status (no one will ever see it), but that goes with the territory.  It's kind of like when you see a beautiful bird, you try to focus on that and not its 4 nest-mates that didn't survive... nature and professional creativity just work that way.

Ever sent in a piece that you hated or weren't satisfied with?

sambees: Unfortunately yes. I have to budget my time, and while I try to do the best I can on a piece, I simply can't afford to put 40 hours into a 4 hour piece.

Wen-M: I havent hated any piece yet, there were a few that i didn't like so much but had to turn in because of deadline.

Niki-UK: Yes, this has happened…  usually if there's been an unrealistic deadline involved, or the client's vision hasn't matched my own. But I always do my best to produce what I'm being paid to produce.

GENZOMAN: Yes, many, mostly because there's time pressures involved. In that case you must try to do the best possible in the time given. Of course you'd like to give the best in that situation and when time passes you can't help but look at it and think "It could be better".

RazorGeisha: I'm almost never satisfied with anything I've done.  Underworked, overworked, poor technique... all the imperfections are glaring in that moment when I send the e-mail or drop the package in the mail.  As long as the client is happy, though, it's good.  I know if I ever "nailed it" perfectly, there'd be nowhere to go and nothing else to do but hang up my guns.  So it's a happy discontent (usually).

What motivates you during any periods of artist block or burn out?

sambees: When I can't draw, I end up turning to writing or violin. I rarely have writers block, artists block and musical block all at the same time, and sometimes theres nothing you can do but wait it out.

Wen-M: Nothing really, if i have some time then i will take a few days away from drawing, if not then i have to tough it out, and these are the times i have to turn in pieces that i was not happy with. but thats business, deadline is everything.

Niki-UK: Coming away from the work itself, chilling out with an art book, movie or animation, listening to inspiring music and looking at the work of other artists.

GENZOMAN: Eating, lol. Since I work in this is my main income, and I have a family to keep.
Joan of Arc by GENZOMAN by GENZOMAN

RazorGeisha: Guilt.  It's difficult when your job depends on ideas that won't come, but you have to do your best to slog through with as few casualties as possible.  There are things that can inspire or help you recoup, but in the end it really comes down to willpower.  I'm not so good in that area... ^^;

Ever not been able to start/complete a commission?

sambees: Sometimes I have alot of trouble starting an uninteresting commission, and alot of my commissions are uninteresting, but once I figure out what I want to do, I'm usually pretty ok. I've never not completed a commission once it's been paid for. Though I have declined commissions from difficult people.

Wen-M: I have a commission from last July that i have not completed, I feel really bad taking advantage of the client's patience but I just didnt have the time away from the monthly work to finish it.

Niki-UK: Not that I can recall, at least not for any of the commissions I've confirmed I will take on. There have been jobs I've been unable to complete due to problems on the other end though, like funds running dry, project canned etc.

GENZOMAN: Yes, many times hapend that some client wants some earlier editions or things right away, but you get used to it and are the typical inconvinients of the work.

RazorGeisha: Sadly, yes.  I almost never get paid in advance, so at least it's not quite as bad when I crash and burn on a project.  But it's very unprofessional, and I'm trying to keep it from ever happening again.  It's difficult when a client's expectations are vague or mercurial though, and I always grit my teeth a bit when a job starts with the words, "oh, it'll be easy."

Do you find yourself feeling guilty about doing art for yourself when you have commissions waiting?

sambees: All the time. In fact, I'm feeling guilty about it right now, but the fact of the matter is, if you don't do art for yourself once and a while, you become artistically drained, and once you get to that point, it's very hard to work on commissions anyways, usually resulting in artistic constipation.
by sambees

Wen-M: No, I only work on a drawing when i have the inspiration and time for it. I make sure my clients understand that before they confirm their order.

Niki-UK: Haha... yeah, totally. *shifty eyes*

GENZOMAN: Of course I do. *_*

RazorGeisha: Lol... so much so, it's killing me.

Have you ever had a client that was difficult to please?

sambees: Yes, difficult clients are a pain. I have a very simple process of working, they see all my sketchwork, approve it before inking, then approve the inking before colours and so fourth, there's absolutely no reason to have me go back and chance something from the sketch stage once I'm in the colour stage, after THEY have already approve the sketch and the lineart, but they do it. And I just have to tell them 'tough shit!'

Wen-M: I've had 1 or 2, I usually avoid them in the early stages of a commission discussion. I try not to take those orders because I think they are full of nonsense, if they didn't trust my ability, why did they decided to ask me to draw in the first place? I think they are just trouble makers.

Niki-UK: Oh yes - more than one of them. Mostly in the games industry.
Sudeki character teaser art by Niki-UKby Niki-UK

GENZOMAN: Yes I had a few, but isn't too bad at it looks, you also can get used to it.

RazorGeisha: Stop me if these sound familiar:  "It needs more... well, you know," and "I don't know what I want, but I'll tell you when you've got it."  :D  I just did two commissions where the finished art had almost no resemblance to what the client originally asked for - and they don't generally want to pay for revisions.  The worst, though, is when someone brings you a sketch by Wen-M and says, "I want something like this, only cooler."

How do you determine what fees to charge for your work?

sambees: I generally charge by the hour, content and use. If it is a personal commission I try to work it out to $8-$10/hour, if it is pornographic or extreme content I'll charge closer to $20/h. If it is for commercial use I price it on a pic to pic basis (keeping hours included). Sometimes USUALLY right on the money with my estimates time wise, and sometimes I miss the mark and end up working more hours that I've charged for, but it happens.

Wen-M: I charge based on an hourly rate.

Niki-UK: There are a few different factors that come into it for me; the amount of time it's likely to take, the nature of the artwork required, the client's budget, how enjoyable the project is.

GENZOMAN: Based on time it takes and details that clients need, also on my workmates rates-- not charging too much more or too little because it would hurt the system in a way.

RazorGeisha: I wind up doing pretty much what Niki-UK does.  That, and if I have some knucklebones and nondescript entrails, I'll consult the ancient and dark spirits of freelance art.  Then I'll make my best guess.  I really should pick up a copy of the Fair and Ethical Priceguide for Artists, but clients never use that anyway.
by RazorGeisha

Ever rejected a commission?

sambees: Yes, usually only if the client is being difficult.

Wen-M: Quite a few, If the client sounds unreasonable, I will not accept their order.

Niki-UK: Occasionally, when I seriously can't fit anything else in... or if the project is really just unsuitable for me/out of my skill range.

GENZOMAN: Yes, unfortanlly, because of that theme of " time".

RazorGeisha: Yes, usually if it's a client I know will be difficult, REALLY offensive subject matter, or lack of time.  Sometimes they even listen when I say "no."  Sometimes.

Ever had a commission that refused to pay?

sambees: No, I charge upfront, I've seen my friends screwed over too many times to do it the other way around.

Wen-M: 3 guys owes me money from commissions right now.  I have faith they will pay though. I had one guy who couldn't affort to pay until 6 months later.

Niki-UK: I had one client do a runner without paying up, apparently disappearing off the face of the earth. Live and learn! On another occasion a client couldn't pay because their business collapsed… that was just plain unfortunate. But I retained ownership of what I produced.

GENZOMAN: Not that I remember.

RazorGeisha: Yes.  But not recently.

What mistakes did you make early on in your art career?

sambees: My biggest mistake was undervaluing my time. Charging $10 for something that would take me 10 hours to do for someone I didn't know. I'm never going to get that time back and I wouldn't work any other job for $1/h

Wen-M: I don't think i made any mistakes, nothing huge at least; mostly because I'm not the type to risk too much.

Niki-UK: Nothing too major really… I was pretty lucky like that. But if I could go back and do anything differently it would be my art exams at school and college. I should have tried to appeal to the examiners more with what I produced, rather than please myself. Though art should be subjective, I've noticed that if some examiners don't like your particular choice of style they will downgrade you, regardless of your ability.

GENZOMAN: Maybe my big problem was that since I always liked manga. I had to learn to offer different styles.
The Fall of an Empire by GENZOMANby GENZOMAN

RazorGeisha: Um... there's not enough space to write all of that.  My biggest mistake was not starting out with either a manager, or a few business classes under my belt.  And I still need a t-shirt with the word "NO" printed in very large letters on it.

What misconceptions do people have about artists?

sambees:  That what they do is a gift and is easy because they are good at it. It took me years and years and years drawing 6+ hours a day to get where I am.

Lets say just starting from grade 5, I'm in collage now + a year off I took before collage is 10 years, 365 days a year fr 3650 days, 6 hours/day = 21 900 hours I've put into this. Thats roughly 913 days strait drawing. That's about 2.5 years in that time period doing nothing but drawing, without sleep or break. This is no small investment, and I'm just a kid, think of where these numbers are at for people twice my age, doing this for a living. Alot of artists put more time into this than pro athletes do training.

Skill is not a gift, it is earned.

Wen-M: That we have endless inspirations.

Niki-UK: That games industry artists are rich and famous, have posh cars and can get free games and consoles for everyone they know.  
Also, I've encountered misconceptions that you can get something for nothing from artists, or that you can get away with paying artists next to nothing because 'they enjoy the work'.  

GENZOMAN: That they are lazy and irresponsable people, without structure. Those who make a living from it must take it as seriously as many other job.

RazorGeisha: That art happens in a way akin to photosynthesis; artists just secrete masterpieces by some magic (and amazingly easy) process.  That artists would create stuff anyway, so "exposure" is plenty of recompense for their work.  That all artists either live in a Disney cartoon, or are miserable wretches.  That being an artist is all playtime and funnygiggles, so long as they're drawing/painting/writing/etc.

What advice do you have for someone who is pursuing a career in art?

sambees: Practice? I wouldn't know, I'm still a student myself, sorry.

Wen-M: If you can affort it, if you have a way to go to artschool, go to one. Get internship as early as you can.

Mature Content

grandparents of Liliha by Wen-M
by Wen-M

Niki-UK: Take time and care to develop a portfolio that will wow potential clients but also has plenty of variety. It pays to be as versatile as possible, because if your preferred styles and methods don't happen to appeal to a potential employer then they will want to see what else you can do. Also, it may sound boring but I highly recommend drawing from life and studying anatomy… it actually does wonders for the development of your own personal style. Understanding how things look and work in real life means you will know how far you can push the boundaries of stylization before things start to look stupid.  
Now for the obvious - practice, practice, practice! I never used to get out much as I spent all my free moments drawing. To make a career of art you have to really work hard at it, but working hard doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a chore. Always push yourself to be better, stay creative and find ways to make your learning experiences fun for you.  

GENZOMAN:  Practice hard and do what makes you happy. You do not have to forget that this is a way of living,  and balance dreams with the realities.

RazorGeisha: Turn back!  While you still can!  @.@  Er, seriously, though...  Anatomy is vital; you can never study and practice figure drawing enough.  Have a well-developed and flexible portfolio.  Always remember that art can be your passion, but when it's your job, it's your job.  Talk to any artist you get the chance to, because we're much smarter and stronger as a community than as individuals.

Got any funny stories?

sambees: Ooh the stories I have.

Wen-M: Not that i can think of right now.

Niki-UK: There are quite a few to choose from, many relating to the games industry… but I've got a relatively recent one that's definitely a classic for me. One of my freelance clients (who will of course remain anonymous  ) sent me a panicky mail saying that my previous email to him contained certain material of a "private" nature among the attachments. Not only that but he had apparently forwarded the aforementioned mail in its entirety to a big company contact in the US before discovering this! As you can imagine, this elicited a sort of "OMGWTF" reaction from me. Basically I was being accused of inadvertently attaching porn in my email, so the first thing I did was to check my sent items. Nothing dodgy in them whatsoever, as far as I could see. So I informed my client that there were certainly no such files in the mail when I sent them out from my end. I wondered if somehow the email attachments had been corrupted in transit by a virus or pornbot…
But then it hit me. My client was not exactly known for his web-savvyness, so I tried to imagine what he might do when browsing files attached in an email. Eureka! It turned out that what he'd actually been doing was opening/viewing the first file, then instead of double-clicking on the next one to open it, he'd just clicked 'next'. This meant he was actually browsing his own temporary internet files rather than my sent ones. So that left little question about what he'd been browsing in his own time… bwahaha!  
Not that my own temp files are all clean as a whistle, you understand… but at least in this particular case my innocence was proven!  

GENZOMAN: When I was just beginning at this, I had this client that asked me some for samples and the theme was about "cute girls."  Every time I showed him a particular drawing,  he said "can you lower the zipper a little more?"  And so he always asked me to lower it more and more, finally the girl seems naked!  He should have asked for that the first time! lol

RazorGeisha: In college, I was working on one project that involved 1,000 origami cranes, permanent markers, short deadlines, and massive quantities of sugar and caffeine.  A few hours into it, I managed to rewrite Billy Joel's Greatest Hits so that every song was about H.P. Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu... in realtime.  I'm sure there's a lesson in that, but not quite certain what it might be.
:thumb41625909: by RazorGeisha

**author's note: GENZOMAN's portions of the interview were edited at his request, since English is not his native language.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Hello!

I finally got my website more or less up, although its pathetically sparse.  No page more sparse than my "links" page, so if you have your own website, and don't mind me linking to it, and especially if you already have some cool banners for your site, then send me a note and linkitage.  

Or are banners passé?  I don't have a clue.  Make one if you don't have one already.  :P  
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Many thanks to pendlestock and IreneLangholm for granting me my second Daily Dev!  I'm very flattered!  After such a long dry spell to have my second submission granted such an honor makes me want to do more.  That, and I found a delicious "new" stock provider that I want to use and abuse before they become insanely popular.  So yeah, good day today.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Featured

The art of Zeldyn by vkacademy, journal

I did interview the artpeeps! by vkacademy, journal

The WORK part of artWORK-- 5 Interviews by vkacademy, journal

If you have a personal art website-- by vkacademy, journal

I guess this calls for a new journal by vkacademy, journal