Hello, and welcome to another edition of Digitalists new interview series:
Behind the Screens: Digital Art Masters
Through these interviews, we will get an in-depth look into the minds
and careers of DeviantART's most influential digital artists.
Today's featured artist is Steph-Laberis
Steph Laberis is a freelance illustrator and character designer for animation. She has also done toy design, character design for casual games, greeting card design and DLC content for the Little Big Planet series.
When did you first discover your passion for art?
I don't think there was a moment of discovery for me, since I've been drawing and making crafts for as long as I can remember! I know that all kids love drawing at a young age but making art has been a very natural part of my life and I never outgrew it. Every day after school I would come home, flip the TV channel to the Disney Afternoon and steal some of my mom's typing paper from her home office to hunker down and draw my own cartoons. It wasn't something I did on purpose or put a lot of thought into, it was something I enjoyed for the sake of doing it. Though in hindsight, I would have been the queen of Mary Sues, had I known what that was back then! I used to love to draw my own self-insert into the plots of my favorite cartoon shows and it was pretty awful and self-serving.
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Your characters are so cute and beautifully drawn.
What is your favorite animal to draw and why?
What is your favorite animal to draw and why?
Thank you! My favorite animal to draw lately has been the rat, mostly because I've had pet rats for many years and they've been wonderful little muses. Rats are also fun to draw since they're little shape shifters! Lots of squash and stretch and they have such expressive mannerisms about them. There's a lot of mileage for expression and emotion in
those beady eyes.
those beady eyes.
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As a professional digital artist, what advice can you give to those who are trying to become successful in the business?
Be patient, be resilient, be flexible and always have a plan B. I have been doing this for 10 years and I am still not where I want to be in my career, but then again some people are thrown into their field right out of college. There is an element of luck to it, but luck favors the prepared. You have to be able to be in the right place at the right time but also have the body of work and level of skill that will make a studio/client want to hire you.
You will be rejected. It's just part of life. Do your best to listen to any feedback or critiques that studios/clients/peers might have for you and decide for yourself how and if you will use it to improve. Be careful of copying another artist's style too much as well - there's no shame in having influences and drawing what and how you like to draw of course, but if you are known as essentially a clone of a particular artist, you may well get hired but it's possible you could be pigeon-holed as the poor man's version of that artist and drawing to mimic another artist can get old really fast.
Although I shouldn't have to say this, I will: NEVER EVER PLAGIARIZE OTHER ARTISTS AND SUBMIT WORK THAT YOU DID NOT DRAW AND CLAIM IT AS YOUR OWN. EVER. You may think you're being slick or that this is just part of trying to survive but I promise you, this will not only fail but really hurt you. You may think "Oh, once I get hired I'll just draw how they want me to, I just need this other person's art to get my foot in the door." Nope. If you're resorting to stealing art to represent your own skillset, I can promise you that you won't be able to keep up in the studio and you won't last long. And that's only if you got past the radar. More often than not you will get caught, since the artist's community is smaller than one thinks and the internet makes spotting hacks much easier, and then word gets out and you can be blacklisted from applying at studios. I've seen it happen.
A lot of times when studios review portfolios, they want to see *your* voice. Like I said, influences are fine, we all need them, but what will really resonate with an art director is a unique take on something. It is so important to keep cultivating your own style and to evolve.
Speaking of the internet, it wasn't what it was now 10 years ago when I was starting out, so you guys have an incredible tool for networking and exposure at your disposal. USE IT! Start a tumblr, a facebook fan page, a blog, a twitter account. Link them all together. Update them often and be consistent. This will create a fan base and get your name out there, and in time you could start to get inquiries for work. Also important - display your full name prominently. While it seems cool to have a sweet online handle like "xXAdventureTimeFan0001Xx" it's far better to be known by your real name, which people can and will associate with your work and make googling you much easier. It's not narcissistic, it's good business sense. This is also helpful if you have an odd or hard to spell name, it's good to repeat it so that people commit it to memory!
You will be rejected. It's just part of life. Do your best to listen to any feedback or critiques that studios/clients/peers might have for you and decide for yourself how and if you will use it to improve. Be careful of copying another artist's style too much as well - there's no shame in having influences and drawing what and how you like to draw of course, but if you are known as essentially a clone of a particular artist, you may well get hired but it's possible you could be pigeon-holed as the poor man's version of that artist and drawing to mimic another artist can get old really fast.
Although I shouldn't have to say this, I will: NEVER EVER PLAGIARIZE OTHER ARTISTS AND SUBMIT WORK THAT YOU DID NOT DRAW AND CLAIM IT AS YOUR OWN. EVER. You may think you're being slick or that this is just part of trying to survive but I promise you, this will not only fail but really hurt you. You may think "Oh, once I get hired I'll just draw how they want me to, I just need this other person's art to get my foot in the door." Nope. If you're resorting to stealing art to represent your own skillset, I can promise you that you won't be able to keep up in the studio and you won't last long. And that's only if you got past the radar. More often than not you will get caught, since the artist's community is smaller than one thinks and the internet makes spotting hacks much easier, and then word gets out and you can be blacklisted from applying at studios. I've seen it happen.
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Can you briefly explain to us your artistic process?
It changes constantly, albeit slowly. I have taken art classes since grade school and I also went to art school, so I was classically trained and did a LOT of drawing from observation and figure drawing. I used to do a lot of linework and sketching, but lately I've been getting back into painting and I have been using shape and color to create my characters more than sketching. I think those years spent sketching has really informed how I paint and I use a more gesturely approach to it. Basically I pull reference from the internet of the subject, stare at it and start blocking in shapes with the biggest brush I can handle, then work gradually down to the smaller details once I am happy with my bigger shapes and ideas.
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There are a lot of people in the community who think receiving a Daily Deviation
is essential for achieving popularity on DeviantART. From experience,
how much would you say getting awarded Daily Deviations has
impacted your success on this site?
I think DDs have helped me with exposure but I mean, I've gotten like 4 of them and I am by no means a big dog on here because of it. I have been on the site for over a decade and I have about 100,000 page views. That's not a lot for that time frame! But I am not on here to be popular, I am here to reach out to artists who are into the same stuff I like to draw. I think what helps to get traffic on this site is to be consistent, to upload often and to submit to relevant groups. Also, fan art is rampantly popular here, which is something I don't do a lot of, but you don't need a DD to be popular if you can draw Ponies or better, do crossovers of Ponies with Adventure Time in the Dr. Who universe with a sprinkling of TMNT slash. I am being a little facetious here, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being *really* into a fandom and being inspired to have your own take on it (remember my admitted Mary Sue-ness when I was a kid!), but it is also a fast track to popularity to spring from someone else's intellectual property, because there is already a ready-made fanbase. It's just how that works, on DA and at conventions.
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Name three influential artists on DeviantART whose works
inspire you and tell us why you look up to them.
Nicola's work has SO much character, movement and life to it! I love her shapes too!
MegPrk
Unfortunately Meg is no longer active on DA, but follow the links to her blog.
Her work is so emotive and her palettes always make me weep with envy and inspiration.
Her work is so emotive and her palettes always make me weep with envy and inspiration.
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Becky is amazing! I love the vintage Russian illustration quality to her work.
She is a master of shapes and color, and character to boot.
She is a master of shapes and color, and character to boot.
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Thank you Steph-Laberis for sharing your wisdom and experience with the community!
Join us next week for another installment where we will be interviewing
