Today we’re joined by Orion. Orion is a wonderful visual artist who does both original and fanart. They’re currently doing a lot of work with ink and watercolors. Their work has a delightful sense of whimsy and playfulness to it. Their characters are so expressive, as you’ll soon see. My thanks to them for taking the time to participate in this interview.
WORK
Please, tell us about your art.
I like to try many different types and styles of art, though at the moment I’m focusing on inked and watercolour fanart and original visual art.
What inspires you?
I am inspired by my desire to see more positive representation of LGBT+ people in art and media. And by the desire to continue to develop my artistic skills.
What got you interested in your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
My grandfather is an artist. Throughout my childhood I loved to visit him, I’d look through his hobby room at the artworks on the walls, the huge painting station, the sketches and canvas spread throughout and I loved it. I’d draw with the art set (a plastic half oval case filled with pencils, crayons, etc.) he had for his grandkids and a drawing I had done as a child of a girl in a dress (me? I cannot remember) was always proudly displayed in Grandpa’s study.
I’ve been interested in art since childhood thanks to Pa’s influence, and messy drawings with crayons slowly turned into something better.
Do you have any kind of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
I don’t have any intentional things like that, though at the moment, binders have been featured in a lot of my works.
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
Be a good consumer of art.
Learn to give reviews to other artist’s works, even a short sentence explaining what you like about it. It helps to encourage a culture of interacting with art and sharing it rather than just letting it go by unnoticed and it’s a nice thing to do for the artist.
Additionally, if you learn to see what makes an artwork good (e.g. “Hey! This is a great work and I really love the detail put into the hair and freckles!”), you’ll know what to put into your own work to make it better (e.g. Detailed hair/freckles).
And keep practicing, create as often as you can, and, if you feel comfortable with it, show as much of your work as you can to the world.
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum do you identify?
I am an asexual nonbinary person. The romantic part is slightly more complex as I go by many terms, grey-biromantic, aromantic, and cupioromantic.
Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
I’ve gotten hate mail and death threats on Tumblr for being openly ace but overall most people are okay with aces and if they’re not (or send hate mail) I block them immediately.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
That asexuals just don’t like sex or haven’t found ‘the right person’.
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
Understand that if the issue is figuring out where on the asexual/aromantic spectrum you lie there’s no rush. There’s no real reason you need to have that figured out by a set date, just let yourself explore and eventually you’ll figure it out.
And if it’s becoming comfortable with your orientation that is the issue, firstly try to find other aces to talk to about it and then try to remind yourself that there’s absolutely, 100% nothing wrong with being asexual.
Finally, where can people find out more about your work?
My Tumblrs: orioart.tumblr.com for original artworks and orionsfanart.tumblr.com for fanart.
Or my Deviantart: amazingacearmy.deviantart.com
Thank you, Orion, for participating in this interview and this project. It’s very much appreciated.
Asexual Artists 