Hello, welcome to the very first volume of the Flashers of DA magazine. This is a feature which focuses on a different Flasher each week(or so) by having an interview with them and showing some of there work, either art pieces or animations. The artists featured will range from the fairly well known, to more recent artists.

In case you didn't know, a 'Flasher' is someone who works with the program Adobe(formerly Macromedia) Flash to make art and animations.


This weeks feature is:

ShirtTurtle

ShirtTurtle is a 15-year old artist who makes plenty of art pieces that are colorful and fun to see. While he may not often make animations, he still has plenty of neat artwork to view. In fact, ShirtTurtle would probably have to be one of my earlier inspirations on DeviantArt with his numerous creative creations.


I talked to him in a recent interview:

Me: Glad to have you here. Ok, first question, where and how did you first hear about flash and when?

ShirtTurtle: Hey dude! Okay, I was 13 when I first got introduced to flash by a friend from school. He had been using it for a while, so i asked him to teach me some of the basics of it. I started making pretty mindless things, mostly things being killed. Infact the first cartoon i ever made was called Suicide penguin. My friend recommended that if i wanted to see some animations done by other people, i should go check out a site called Newgrounds. I did, and i was instantly fascinated by all the amazing stuff being produced. I created an account and started submitting all my crappy cartoons. I loved getting reviews. Even really abusive ones. And with the goal of getting Front Page or a Daily award, i was as motivated as ever. From then on i just kept animating.

Me: Thats pretty cool. Were there any flash people or animations that inspired you early on?

ShirtTurtle: I was really into gel's Wink character. I really liked how Wink was so simple, but animated so effectively. And being new to the flash scene, the prospect of being able to animate characters well, without having to redraw them every frame, was really appealing. Alot of my earlier animations all had aspects of what Gel had used with Wink. Like heavy use of the pencil tool; more tweening than frame-by-frame, and i even borrowed the cute li'l oval shaped eyes he used. I also really loved Edmund McMillen. The way he incorporated story into his games and animations was exactly what i wanted to do. He also had some super-imaginative characters, and some really fun game concepts. Not mentioning his awesome art. 'feel like playing Welting right now.

Me: I guess we all get our inspirations from somewhere. Next question, what do you feel is your most proudest accomplishment to date, flash-wise?

ShirtTurtle: At the moment, i'm not proud of any of my animations. They're all too outdated. Though i am kind'a proud of the gallery i've built up. Hopefully all the drawing practice i've done'll help me out once i start animating again.

Me: I've noticed your pictures and they are very colorful and creative. I very much like them. That brings up another question. Do you feel you've inspired other people with your drawing style?

ShirtTurtle: Not at all. My drawings change too much too quickly. It would be difficult for anyone to find any solid inspiration from me.

Me: What do you see yourself doing or want to be doing in the near future with flash?

ShirtTurtle: Well, i've got a number of projects i want to start on later. I've developed a rather unique game idea with Stephen Coaly which we'll probably start on. It'll be neat. And i also need to make a little something for the Radical Wrong Do'ers. Otherwise the rest of the gang are going to get annoyed at my lack of participation. For anyone that doesn't know, the Radical Wrong Do'ers (RWD) are a Newgrounds group that pride themselves on spamming the portal with quality shit. I also want to do a short li'l music video that loops. It'll have an abstract storyline that no-one'll get.

Me: Neat, I was looking forward to something RWD-related from you. I'll also look forward to that game as well. Last question, what advice, if any, do you have for people just starting out with Flash?

ShirtTurtle: If you're passionate about it, then you'll go far. Whether you're into Actionscript or Animating, if your passionate, chances are you'll develop some skills. And also, don't get into the trap of "doin' it for the money". Try to use flash for creative expression, rather than getting your hands on some cash. Chances are they'll be of much better quality if you try to keep that in mind.

Me: I guess that just about raps up this interview. Any final thoughts or comments you'd like to add?

ShirtTurtle: I hope people read this...

Me: Yeah me too.


Here are some of the many examples of his artwork:





I suppose that's all for this issue. Feel free to note me with any suggestions for a featured Flash artist, although I have a pretty sizable list lined up already.

See you next time with another featured Flasher!