Interview: Fawndolyn Valentine

Today we’re joined by Fawndolyn Valentine. Fawndolyn is a phenomenal versatile artist who has tried her hand at just about everything. She’s most dedicated to illustration and dabbles in steampunk jewelry. When she’s not doing that, she also does makeup. It’s very apparent that Fawndolyn is an incredibly dedicated and passionate artist, as you’ll soon read. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.

WORK

Please, tell us about your art.

I’m kind of a jack-of-all, master-of-none, but I chiefly work on illustrations, and frequently dabble in making steampunk jewelry, and practical/special FX makeup.  In my illustrations, I mostly work in watercolours and Copic markers, but it’s Inktober now, so I’ve been concentrating on my ink work this month.

And when I say jack-of-many, I mean give me something interesting to do, and I’ll damn-well give it a shot!  I’ve made hobbies of cake-designing, woodworking, costuming, violin, making comics, translating French, urban exploration, making comics, writing, bookbinding, prop-making, acting, web design, painting, medical experimentation, and a cornucopia of other things.

What inspires you?

Other artists.  I’ve never been one to say, “I’ll never be that good” when looking at better artists’ work, but I tend to say, “I can draw that!  Let me try to draw that.”  That’s how I practice.  I learn techniques and styles from other artists so I can better understand how to develop my own style (even though I’m still trying to settle).

I’m also inspired by faces. I do a lot of portraits, so an interesting pose with well-defined features are particularly inspiring to me. If we’re friends and I have a picture of you in a striking pose or making a goofy face, you’d better believe I’m going to try to draw it.

What got you interested in your field?  Have you always wanted to be an artist?

I’ve been drawing since I was four years old.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t draw – except a few years back, for a few years during a severe depression.

I haven’t always wanted to be an artist.  Sort of. I was kinda forced into it – my mom and grandfather were artists, so their legacy needed to continue.  Most of my time spent in college was skating around other majors, trying to be anything but an artist.  I felt like I was pre-destined to it.  Not to mention, my family always ragged on me about not making money with my talents, which really spoiled it for me.

It wasn’t until I was about to run out of financial aid that I finally decided “FINE!  I’LL DO IT.”  And of course, that turned out to be my saving grace.  Highest marks all around.

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?

When I was young, I watched a great documentary on Al Hirschfeld, and I loved how he would hide his daughter Nina’s name in his work.  I tried to sneak something into my drawings, but my type of work didn’t really allow for it.  Not enough detail.  In the age of internet art theft, I’ve reconsidered sneaking my name into my work, but I haven’t really been able to figure out how just yet.

What advice would you give young aspiring artists?

Keep drawing.  If you suck, pick one of the things you suck at and find out how to get better at it.  Keep going down the list of things you suck at until you don’t suck anymore (or you could go the way I go and just avoid drawing the thing you suck at).  I highly recommend taking a life-drawing class. They’ll start you with the basics (drawing your own hand) in a number of different ways, but you’ll learn how to draw what you see.

Reference photos are amazing.  Many artists use them.  If an artist says they don’t ever use references, they’re lying – every artist has referenced something in their lives, even if they don’t use references anymore.  Not using references is possible, but why torture yourself while you’re starting out.

And for ultra-beginners, here’s how I really got going: When I was in 7^th grade, I would draw by holding paper against a paused TV screen and trace the blurry shapes of Ren and Stimpy and Sailor Moon, or whatever show I liked, just to get the feeling of drawing those lines.  Man, that helped.  Tracing to copying to referencing to working from imagination… it’s all about leveling up. I still pause movies if I can’t find a good reference photo.

ASEXUALITY

Where on the spectrum do you identify?

I identify as graysexual (I know it’s gray asexual, but it just rolls off the tongue better the other way).  Panromantic. But I just say I’m asexual and allow for gentle prodding, if questions occur.

Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field?  If so, how do you handle it?

The first person I came out to was a friend who I had a fling with in the past.  His follow-up questions were so abrasive that I felt attacked, and it took me two years getting over the fear to come out to my own boyfriend (when I did finally come out to him, his reaction was, “well obviously!”  And he was completely okay and understanding about it).

My asexuality and the aforementioned terrible coming-out experience came up in casual conversation with an acquaintance and he said, “I can understand why someone would get mad about it, if they like-liked you.”  Can you believe that crap?  Like sex is the only thing I’m good for?  Like already having a goddamn boyfriend isn’t your bigger obstacle?!  Piss off!

What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?

That we can’t have or enjoy sex.  And that we’re a challenge to be fixed.

Trigger warning.  Before I ever even heard of asexuality, before I realized I wasn’t broken, I dated a piece of shit who treated sex like part of the girlfriend package.  Like I owed him.  Having sex was fine, but he poured on the guilt whenever I didn’t want to.  My circumstances of being homeless at the time, plus the guilt trip, made me feel like I did owe him.  He thought I would enjoy it when he got it in.  And I always faced away to hide my tears.  I was young and didn’t know I didn’t deserve that.

(end Trigger Warning)

Despite that, I have, after that relationship, still enjoyed sex.  I don’t have it anymore; haven’t for a few years now, and I don’t intend to. My boyfriend is okay with this.  I also still masturbate.  That’s part of the “can’t enjoy sex” misconception, though I don’t do it for fun (I mean, I sometimes try to have fun with it).  I do it to silence the baby-making hormones that rear their annoying heads every month (my boyfriend was shocked when I told him I only take care of myself once or twice a month.  I guess that’s a low amount).

What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?

Take as much time and experience as you need to figure out who you are, who you like, and what you want. It took me til I was 32 years old to realize I’m asexual.  In high school, I didn’t understand why everyone (even the nerdiest of nerds) were having sex.  I felt embarrassed and a little attacked for having feelings for someone and then my friends teasing me that I’m “a big ol’ horn-dog” who wants to bone everyone.  I couldn’t understand why having a crush meant wanting to have sex to everyone but me.  When I grew up, I had a lot of enjoyable sex, but it never felt like anything but a hormonal satisfaction (not connected to romance).  Mostly, I had sex because I thought I was supposed to.  When I discovered that asexuality is a thing I could finally identify with, I felt like a huge chip came off my shoulders.

I feel like, nowadays, we live in a world of sexual autonomy, and more people understand that they have the right to say NO or YES whenever they need to.  Don’t let anyone make you feel like you owe them.  I still feel weird for being ace, and I think it’ll make any future dating I do pretty difficult, but I think that comes with the territory in a sex-driven society.  But listen.  We are not weird.  Okay, some of us might be a little weird, but it’s not because of our (a)sexual preference.

And if you’re stuck somewhere in your self-discovery, ask for help.  Find like-minded people online.  Ask questions to google or to forums.  We’re out there.

Finally, where can people find out more about your work?

My art: https://www.facebook.com/fawndolyn/

Instagram (this month is mostly inktober and SFX): https://www.instagram.com/fawndolyn/

Steampunk jewelry: https://www.facebook.com/honeyinmygears/

And just in case anyone wants to read the boring details of my life, I still use LiveJournal: https://diello.livejournal.com/

Thank you, Fawndolyn, for participating in this interview and this project. It’s very much appreciated.

Interview: Jacen

Today we’re joined by Jacen. Jacen is an incredibly versatile artist who works in a few different mediums. She’s a very passionate visual artist who does both original work and fanart (her Eevee is truly delightful). She hasn’t met a medium she doesn’t like and uses both traditional and digital mediums. Aside from visual art, she’s an incredibly dedicated oboist who was an admirable love of music. It’s very clear that she loves creating art and that’s always awesome to see. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.

Ahsoka

WORK

Please, tell us about your art.

I am a digital artist, primarily, but I love to experiment in all different mediums. I’ve worked with pencils and pens, Copic markers, watercolors, oil paints, India ink and more, and I like to combine different mediums as well. Be it fanart or original works, I enjoy taking an interpretive approach to my pieces.

In addition, I am a passionate musician. I’m one of the few oboists in the city and even though I haven’t been playing for all that long, I have an extensive background in music and theory.

What inspires you?

With my art, a big part of my inspiration is geometrical shapes. I like arranging irregular shapes and making them work together to form an image. As someone who heads out to the Rocky Mountains on a regular basis, I also enjoy taking inspiration from nature, both living and inanimate. And, of course, my favorite TV shows and movies. I just really love seeing my pieces come together and make sense.

My music is a lot of the same idea. I absolutely love just the sound of my oboe, and I actively enjoy practicing on my own, but my real passion is for sitting down with the entire band and hearing all the parts together. My favorite pieces are always the ones that send chills down my spine to hear and to play. I’d say that’s really why I play, to hear mine and everyone else’s parts combine to make something incredible.

What got you interested in your field?  Have you always wanted to be an artist?

Ever since I was very young I’ve drawn and played instruments. Growing up as a longtime student in the Gifted program, creativity was always massively encouraged. I would definitely say that being in such a program was what got me continuing to draw and make art into middle and high school. I wouldn’t say I’ve always wanted to be an artist, it’s more something that slowly and unconsciously evolved into a hobby; I’ve never really been interested in a career in art, but it’s still a big part of me.

As for music, I actually hated piano lessons when I was young, and I stopped playing anything for a long time. In eighth grade my best friend convinced me to join band and I started out on the clarinet, which I can still play, and the next year I took up oboe. That, I can see myself continuing for a long time, for sure.

Flareon

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 mentioned earlier incorporating geometric shapes into my work, that’s really my thing. I like the challenge of taking an image and turning it into shapes, and making it still make sense. That’s something I do with a lot of my work, even sometimes when I do semi-realism.

What advice would you give young aspiring artists?

You really have to stop worrying about getting it right. Especially if you’re a perfectionist like me, you have to stop trying to get it right every time. You gotta experiment with styles and techniques and mediums and don’t feel that you have to know anything about that medium to just try it. If you like it, that’s when you do your research, take some classes, whatever you want. Just practice your art without worrying about how it might turn out.

For any oboists who may or may not be reading this: FIND A GOOD TEACHER. Band is great but oboes are so weird and specialized that you need an expert to help you. Oboe reeds need a lot of tweaking and I’m gonna guess you don’t know how to make reeds yet. Not to mention that damn Db key. Trust me, a teacher you get along with and who knows their stuff will be invaluable to you.

Wolf Inverted print

ASEXUALITY

Where on the spectrum do you identify?

I’m aromantic asexual.

Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field?  If so, how do you handle it?

Ignorance, definitely, more than prejudice. But I’ve found that artists and creative-types in general are quite accepting and open-minded. When the odd person arises who has a real issue with it (mostly only existing on social media) I try to not let it get to me. It’s not the minority’s job to educate anyone on their community, but when someone genuinely doesn’t know what they’re talking about, I try to clear it up for them.

What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?

That we just don’t like sex, or we’re scared of it, or that we’ve had some kind of sexual trauma. Of course there are aces who are scared of sex or have been traumatized, but it’s inaccurate and rude to place that assumption on all of us, because it often leads to us being dismissed or harassed for it.

What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?

When I was figuring out I was asexual, I was scared to identify as such in case I really was just a late bloomer. There’s so much emphasis put on the fact that aces are definitely never going to change or start feeling sexual attraction that it’s easy to forget that it’s alright if it is a phase. It doesn’t make it any less valid. If you identify as ace now and you don’t later in your life, who cares? Sexuality can be fluid, so if it feels right at the moment then just go for it.

Finally, where can people find out more about your work?

I have my Tumblr (http://the-cat-in-the-fez.tumblr.com/) that you can always message me on.

I post art to my Instagram (stcrmpilxt)

I have a couple works-in-progress on my AO3 (http://archiveofourown.org/users/satancat)

And I sell my art on Society6 (https://society6.com/suncat) and I’m working on uploading stuff to Redbubble (http://www.redbubble.com/people/satancat)

Eevee

Thank you, Jacen, for participating in this interview and this project. It’s very much appreciated.

Interview: Luke

Today we’re joined by Luke. Luke’s a two-dimensional traditional artist who does a lot of printmaking. In their free-time, they enjoy working with different sorts of pens. Luke is a fellow fan of surrealism (yay!) and draws inspiration from artists like Mucha. Their work is beautiful and bright, reflecting a truly wonderful imagination. My thanks to them for taking the time to participate in this interview.

Warning: some pictures contain nudity

Al my boy

WORK

Please, tell us about your art.

I’m mainly a 2 dimensional traditional artist. I’m also heavily into printmaking which is something I’ve grown fond of in my college career. I work mainly with micron pens, copic markers and several other kinds of pens and markers for my more personal art that I do in my free time. I really enjoy linoleum cuts and etchings when I do my printmaking work. Much of my free time art is fanart as well as exploring different original characters of mine. As I grow into my college career, I’m focusing more on sexuality and gender issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, relating to my current situation of living in Kansas in the middle of the Midwest. I really dug into these concepts this past year when I created art very central to that subject and last semester when one of my pieces was removed from a show for containing non-sexual nudity.

What inspires you?

I have a very large fondness for the work of Alfons Mucha. I love how woman portrayed in his art, especially his sketches, are portrayed with lumps, bumps and curves. Many of them have double chins and large arms. I am also very fond of Chiara Bautista, who is known for her surrealist illustrations, and Peter Mohrbacher who is the creator of the Angelarium series. There are several classmates in my printmaking class who inspire me to create new and unique ideas.

I’m also very in love with the band Radical Face and draw a lot of inspiration from his music.

Ife drawing

What got you interested in your field?  Have you always wanted to be an artist?

I’ve had the capacity to be an artist since I was a young child. I wouldn’t be where I was unless one of my dear friends taught and pushed me to be a better artist. I had a wonderful art teacher in high school who got me interested in becoming an art teacher. However, now that I’ve come to college the idea of pursuing a career as a printmaker has become more and more appealing.

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 use the same signature across all of my work that combines my first and last initial along with the year to keep track of time. As of this year I added the specific date to my work. Beyond that I can forget some of the little details so a special symbol in my work would be too much to remember lol.

Luke and Michael hats

What advice would you give young aspiring artists?

Explore different kinds of art if you can. I didn’t get to that point until college, but it was worth it considering how much I’ve fallen in love with printmaking. Also, references, references, references! I have boards on Pinterest devoted to art and character design to keep my mind fresh and looking at different ideas. It’s not cheating to take inspiration from other artists and examine their processes and end products. If you’re into drawing people, finding stock images of figures or look into specific blogs and DeviantArts created to provide stock model photographs for artists to use. Drawing from life and from photographs is the best deal you can really get.

Owl

ASEXUALITY

Where on the spectrum do you identify?

I identify as an autochorrisexual and autochorriromantic

Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field?  If so, how do you handle it?

Many of classmates are open minded and understand that there are differences in people. There is a lot of casual ignorance and remarks that assume that I’m heterosexual and cisgender. (I am transgender as well: polygender.) I am very open on my college campus, particularly in my art department, so having a certain level of ignorance and misunderstanding is sadly expected. When I do encounter it, I try to educate people the best I can.

Self Portrait

What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?

The biggest one came from someone on my campus on an online platform. I casually posted something at an event and checked back on it an hour later to see a whole 50+ comment argument talking about how asexual people are broken, that it’s a mental issue, I should talk to someone about it since it was wrong that I felt that way. (I had in fact been seeing a counselor and I mentioned it once and we didn’t talk about it again since I wasn’t broken to start with.)

What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?

Asexuality is an umbrella term. I’ve taken this with the idea that words to describe my sexuality don’t have to encompass every detail and nuanced thing about my own attraction or lack thereof. Autochorrisexual encompasses my main and majority feelings of how I experience sexual attraction and lack thereof. Just because you experience sexual attraction once in a blue moon doesn’t invalidate your whole identity. It’s not like you have to be a “gold star asexual” to be an asexual.

Severus and Stone Ed

Finally, where can people find out more about your work?

I will frequently post my work to my Tumblr: http://he-sgotthebodforthat.tumblr.com/

And to my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lukle_13/

Ed

Thank you, Luke, for participating in this interview and this project. It’s very much appreciated.