King Simba
In just eighteen months, King Simba has posted a huge array of
pictures—over 700 of them—and established herself as one of
the best-known names among artists of the Lion King fan-art community.
Even a cursory glance through her extensive gallery should make clear that
it's well deserved.
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In the Artist's Own Words:
| “ | Whoa! I'm completely lost for words, seriously. O__o I wasn't expecting
this AT ALL. I'm shocked yet completely humbled and most thankful at the
same time.
Btw, I'm not too good at writing messages. Anyway, I'll try my best! First off, I must give a HUGE thank you very much to everyone who voted for me. You guys don't know how much this means to me. You guys are awesome!!! *hugs, snugs, lick combo!* Oh, and you don't think I'm gonna send this e-mail without thanking Brian d'ya? Hehe. Well, secondly I must thank Brian for creating this awesome place. I didn't think I'd find such a place on the internet but now I have, I'm extremely thankful. =) Thanks Brian! You're well and truly awesome! Anyways, my artwork is based around TLK right? Well, I shall tell you how I actually got into TLK and how I started drawing TLK related work. ^^ I first saw TLK when I was really small after it first came out in theatres. I was only 4 years of age at the time - gosh, how time flies! My mum took me and my sister to see it - mostly due to the fact my sister liked animals, haha. I can't remember much from that time, but I remember LOVING the movie lots. Then, just last year back in June I decided to watch the movie again. After that, I completely fell in love with the animation, the story, the music, the characters... I can just go on. All of that inspired me to start drawing and basing my artwork around TLK and the African animal kingdom and African lifestyles and cultures. And since then, I developed a dream of wanting to go to Kenya on Safari and see all the animals in their natural habitats and so, I must give a HUGE thanks to my mum and my dad who have booked an holiday there for next August and who are actually making my dream come true. =) As for the art in general, I draw from inspiration - TLK has inspired me and continues to inspire me to draw for myself and others. I don't really have much more to add on to what the previous featured artists have already contributed. However, I shall say this; If drawing's one of your prime interests, good on you. Draw for yourself - draw to keep you motivated and happy. NEVER pull your own work down. You should be proud that you've actually done your own original piece of work. Believe it or not, I was on my very first attempt at a TLK style lion. If another artist critisises your work, take it in. Some artists try to give you advice on how to improve. We've all started from the basic stuff and worked ourselves up. If you keep working and practising, you'll get there. Trust me. ;) It just takes time and patience, that's all. Also, try to develop your own style. ;) Originality is the way to go sometimes - it makes your artwork more pleasing to the eye in my opinion. ^_^ I think that's about it - I shall see you all over at the archives! Love you all! <3 ~ KS |
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Few artists have shown such dramatic progress as King Simba, either. While her earliest stuff (helpfully posted in her archive folder) is by no means bad, to have grown as an artist as much as she has in a year and a half is an amazing feat. It's enough to make us draw breath once again at the rare effect that the world of Lion King fan-art has on developing budding artists' technique, leading them into possible career paths in animation, perhaps even helping to resurrect the 2-D animation industry in several years' time once a generation of artists raised on fan-art has matured and sought to recreate the kinds of films that inspired them to begin the journey.
With expressive characters on richly rendered backgrounds, King Simba's art in its present form has a presence and a confidence rarely seen. She'll revisit pictures to try to improve their polish and presentation, indicating a sense of real pride in her work, the real strength of which is in its coloring and composition. This is perhaps best demonstrated by her mastery of pictures such as the landscape shown at right—just because there aren't any characters in it doesn't make it any less of a great piece of art.
While her attention is usually focused on trades and requests for fellow artists, King Simba's subject keeps returning to what brought us all here in the first place: canon Lion King art. In her dedication to that inspiration, and to pursuing it ever farther, she exemplifies the spirit of this Archive and is well deserving of recognition as this month's Featured Artist.