Edward_Elric
One of the Archive's most prolific artists, Edward_Elric demonstrates a mastery
of a variety of digital styles, from sharp-pixel Paint drawings to smooth
and fluid tablet-style art. Among her more than 1600 uploaded pictures are
huge numbers of original character designs for herself and her friends,
an ongoing effort through which she's developed both an impressive
portfolio of work and a community nexus all her own.
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In the Artist's Own Words:
| “ | I really don't know what to say. I really can't believe this is
happening to me. Man, I thought today was going to be a very bad day,
I just got in a bad car wreck, causing much damage to my beloved new
car. But now, I feel great! It's really all of you guys that really
make me happy. I've made so many really great friends here that I
truly cherish. I don't want to lose any of them.
This place has been like home to me ever since I joined. I've been obsessed with drawing, trying to improve myself as best as I can. I'm always trying to think of ways to impress all of you guys. A lot of my gallery is full of pictures I did for other people. It's been said many times here that you should always draw for yourself, not for anybody else. But I really enjoy drawing for other people more than drawing for myself. Making someone else happy, makes me happy ^^ There are so many people here that are such an inspiration to me. Sometimes I look at their art and go, "Oh my God I wish I could do that." And sometimes I even got discouraged. If you ever feel discouraged, just remember that everyone feels like that sometimes. Even I, who thought I wasn't ready for AotM yet, was discouraged beyond belief that my art still had obvious flaws. My advice to you is don't dwell on "how much better they are than you" or "how they're so much more popular than you" just keep working, keep practicing, keep trying. Because If you try and practice and persevere, then who knows, maybe you'll be right where I am, typing your own AotM acceptance speech. I am so happy and appreciative that this happened to me. I'm really shocked also. I still need to work a whole lot more on a lot of things, like anatomy and proportion. But really, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can't believe I'm the chaser to Choii! o3o I had been voting for her for forever, and now I'm in the same place she is! Thank you guys, again so much for making me so happy, and for helping me reach this goal! Love you all. -Ed |
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Perhaps one of the most uniquely impressive things about Edward_Elric is that she continues to work in some of the most difficult mediums to make look good, such as the raw thin pixel linework of Paint. Most artists, once they've discovered the world of the tablet and Photoshop or Sketcher, are all too happy to leave pixel art behind; but Edward_Elric has picked those skills up in parallel to her existing pixel-art dexterity, and incorporated what she's learned into what she already knew. The result is a fascinating hybrid of the sure-footedness, artistic design sense, and confident roundness of what appears to be tablet-driven art (though her work is actually all done with the mouse) with the precision and professional polish of pixel art. Some of the example pictures lined up at the right and left are perfect examples of this technique, boasting a unique shading style that evokes the tailored art of mid-90s video games that were engineered for a world with only a small palette of colors to work with. The digital artists who were able to achieve that balance were always in high demand, and that skill is no less impressive today for not being in such wide use as it once was. As demonstrated by Edward_Elric, it's an artistic discipline all its own, one that's difficult to master, yet greatly rewarding if that mastery is achieved.
Other examples of Edward_Elric's work show off her equally impressive grasp of smooth, tablet-style digital art and of real scanned media. No matter what materials she's using, Edward_Elric seems able to bring to her characters the same winning smiles, the same appealing designs, and the same subtle but easily read expressions. Her focus on doing art for her friends and artistic colleagues means that she's had to concentrate on those subtleties of facial expression and body language that differentiate one character from another. That's another skill that's elusive to many artists, yet Edward_Elric seems to have little trouble telling a character's story with a few deft lines, even if there's little background or context. The focus, as one would expect from an artist whose goal is persistent and incremental improvement, is on the characters themselves; and it's obvious from Edward_Elric's particularly excellent recent work, and the amount to which it's in demand by her friends, that it's paying off very well indeed.
Here's to a long and rewarding career for this month's Featured Artist, Edward_Elric!