Welcome to the sixth issue of the
ANTHRO ARTIST INTERVIEW/FEATURE
This time we speak with =ArbokCobra
_{Deviant since 4 years ago, has more than 2000 watchers, more than 10.000 favourtes received, and got featured with a Daily Deviation twice.}



If you get to know =ArbokCobra, you'll soon notice she doesn't give you free compliments if you don't deserve them, but maybe the most constructive critique ever, even if it hurts a bit. To be brutally honest may not give you the "friendliest deviant of the year" award, but for sure helps artists here to improve and do it better next time. I don't mean she's rude, not at all. She has been my friend since waaaay back ago, and I think she's the nicest, kindest, most wonderful persons you can ever meet... but she won't lie to you if you ask her about your art C:

So, don't expect this interview to be full of sweet words, flattering, or useless phrases, but professional hints and tips, wise and honest advices, and other useful thoughts coming from one of the deviants I admire the most, and I proudly call also "my friend" Enjoy!




Personal Information:

So, in order to make this interview a bit more friendly, do you want to share your name with us?
I don't have a name, so for the remainder of this interview you may call me anything you like.


Mmmmmm OK then, I'll use "AC" since it will make things easier.... So, AC, what is your age?
18


And now, to get to know you better as an artist: Do you possess any formal artistic training?
I was self taught up until this year when I started college. I had high school classes but those are really just pats on the back and in my school if you were headed towards any artistic career you just more or less got A's and no critique or much help at all. Thats when I relied on feedback from friends and the net the most. College wise I've had my freshman year foundation courses where I get critiqued pretty much 24/7 when Im not sleeping or eating. I find it's the easiest way to grow art wise and I feel I've done a lot more this year in college than I have in high school.


Tell us, AC.... do you feel like a furry, or are you simply an anthro artist?
I don't like this question, I feel it's silly, mostly because no matter what you say people are going to think you love a good romp with animals anyway if they dont like anthro art. And even worse! If they are a fan of the art they think you're lying to yourself if you say you're just an artist and tell you to come out of the closet. Very interesting indeed.
Personally I'm neither of those things, all things considered. I'm a medical illustrator, and by saying that I'm sure I've just made a lot of people very grumpy. BUT just to appease their anger I will say that in my personal time I like to doodle anthros because it's very easy to put a personality into them and they're downright just more fun to design and create for me than human characters (though I do have a fair majority of those myself, they're best left for writing purposes). I do almost all of my spare work digitally which is why most of the material that gets uploaded is anthro related. I don't own a scanner, it's actually very sad.

So I guess the too long didn't read version of this all would be. I'm an anthro artist, I don't actually believe that I was some critter in my past life or whatnot.


Do you have a Web site we could visit, if we want to see something else not in your deviantART gallery?
Personally myself? I don't have a website to my name that I could consider a portfolio of any kind though I should probably get one up and running for job purposes. My website would probably be the most colorful collection of fruit colored bones and muscle tissue you've ever seen in your entire life.



Your Inspiration:


What is your source of inspiration? Could you share it with us?
For my leisure activities probably music or how im feeling at the time, and sometimes even just little ideas that I have to put down on paper that pop up during the day. For my normal work I like to get my inspiration from artists, mostly Pop artists and naturally my drive is either fueled by money or grades which is EXCELLENT fuel by the way. Food is also a good fuel, I always suggest a good breakfast to anyone who's about to create fantastic art. I honestly haven't have a good breakfast in over 2 years and I'm suffering greatly.


What artist do you look up to?
I don't have a lot of artists I look up to personally but I do greatly enjoy the works of Escher and Claes Oldenburg as well as other artists who can work with giant food and get away with it. A lot of movie art has attracted me to the big screen as well lately, im not sure if there's any specific film or CGI that has caught my attention though.


At least yet... Now, to change subjects a bit, what do you do when you come across an “art block?”
Thumbnails of ANYTHING that pops into my head. The best way to get rid of artblock is to come up with an idea you love and run with it. Never stop drawing just because you have no inspiration, no matter how crappy you think your art will come out just thumbnail and sketch anything and everything usually it will bring you out of your slump and quickly. If all else fails you can always complain about it as well. Journals on DA are very good for explaining to the world the immense POWER your art block has over you. Well, honestly that hasn't solved the problem for anyone as of this date... and yet everyone does it.



Concerning Your Persona:


Who is your persona or most popular character?
So... about me saying I wasn't into animals people.... eeeeehhhhhhh. No I'm just kidding. She's more of a muse than a persona anymore really, though I still use her for situations I get into or to express my emotions in picture form. She's sort of just turned into something I have fun designing and drawing now more than something I identify with personally.



I guess a lot of artists have the same feeling about their characters, hehehe. How long have you had her?
Er several years, though I'm going to say about 5 or 6 just to put a number out there for everyone. I made a persona at the time because it was the popular thing to do and I wanted to be a cool kid too. I actually didn't know about 'furries' until recently in the past year and a half or so. I used to have no idea why people would ask me "are you a FURRY?" so much.


You know how stereotypes are, I guess... How did you develop your character? Do you role-play with her?
Roleplay, no not at all I find that a bit excessive honestly. Too much effort goes into that and i'm a lazy person. Thats beside the point though. I developed her over the years by pretty much combining different animals I liked into obnoxious hybrids. I'm pretty sure at one point i have some rainbow fennec fox....... thing before she turned into a Chimera from Greek mythology. Why a chimera? Well... that's probably *seel-dingo's fault. One day she just draw AC as a chimera because I'm pretty sure she misunderstood what species AC really was. Ever since then the idea has pretty much stuck.


What else would you like to share about her?
Nothing. Actually that's a lie because I love typing. I would like to say though, that for all the people who think I ACTUALLY get butthurt over people calling her a rabbit need to realize that I find it hilarious too. She does look like a rabbit and it's a poor design error on my part but I love it too much to change it. So by all means, I don't mind when people call her a bunny and I find it very silly when people apologize profusely for it.




About Media:


What media do you most enjoy, AC?
Paper cutouts, pastels, gouche, charcoal and anything you can get your hands dirty in really.


Then, which media do you like the least?
Transparencies, Foam board and any mounting board really. Some little gremlin always comes in the middle of the night when I have to mount something and dulls all my box cutters, so my presentations material always looks awful when I'm through with it.

Now, please share with us your favorite piece from your gallery. Explain why you favor it.



For the amount of time I spent on this I still love it which says a lot since I usually hate most of my artwork minutes after finishing it (or starting it). Unfortunately I don't have the original piece anymore. I gave it away to my Biology teacher in high school.


Let's say I challenge you to try something new. If you have the time, what might you try?
Fixing Cars has always been my secret passion.




DeviantART as a Community:


How has DeviantART aided you in developing your artistic talent?
Networking, as in meeting new artists that have inspired me to become a better one myself. There is nothing that motivates me to get better more than having friends and peers that are better than me or one step ahead of me. DA provides me with competition and rivals who are able to better themselves faster than I can catch up, this always keeps me on my toes!


As long as it keeps you interested and wanting to create more art, that's amazing! What do you enjoy most about being a member here?
Comments, both reassuring and critical. It's always good to come here and be able to hear great things about what you're doing but at the same time get help when you need it without having to leave your room to discuss your work with a professor or having the pressure of just parking yourself in a critique community. It's really pretty nifty.


What would you like to see changed in order to improve the anthro community?
I don't go here because when I GO HERE, as in right here right now... I end up offending far too many people then what's really necessary in an online news post.




Last Thoughts:


In your experience, have you any advice on building a better portfolio?
I have no idea about professional portfolios but for colleges I can suggest only one thing: Diversity! Do not just fill your portfolio with cartoon dogs or people just because that's what you're good at. Most colleges aren't looking for people who are good at cartoons no matter what art major you're in they're looking for someone who's well rounded in all forms of drawing and art. Someone who can pick up a pencil and be proficient with it and explore. A lot of colleges wont take you seriously if you have a portfolio just full of anthros. I Had one anthro piece in my portfolio for college and it was only to show digital technique and was an advertisement/graphic art piece. Most of the items in my portfolio were landscaped, portraits, medical drawings of hands feet and natural materials as well as 3-D work.


You know this interview will get a lot of exposure: What other wisdom would you like to impart to our readers?
CRITIQUE:

For the person on the receiving end: Don't consider it an attack just because someone finds something wrong with your work and anatomy, most of the times when people point these things out it's not because they're trying to harm you. They're trying to help you grow as an artist TAKE IT LIKE A MAN BABY!.

For the person giving: There is a difference between a good critique and a useless one, it's highly suggested that you do your research for each one. A good critique is not just saying "take some anatomy classes at your local college because your anatomy looks horrible" and leaving it at that. No matter how constructive you feel that comment is, telling them to take a class isn't really a critique all on it's own. Now, telling a person "this hand looks a bit off, I think the fingers may be bent a little too much and the palm may be a bit too short considering the perspective -provide diagrams of a hand from google- this may help for future reference" Is a better critique. Be as specific as you can with your critique to avoid confusion! Vagueness can be mistaken for rude intentions whether you meant it that way or not. I've seen too many dramatic fights break out because of this. Professors are blunt with you in college but they're never nasty about it and even if they are you can usually tell they're not trying to hurt you as a person because you see them every single day. Not only that but college students past the first year can usually take brutal critique very well since they're used to it.


Best answer to this question so far Now, before we end this interview I hope you have enjoyed as much as I did, do you have any other comments you would like to share?
If you found typos in what I just wrote, I'm terribly sorry I type with EXTREME SPEED not accuracy. If in any way the typos made me sound ignorant, stupid or just plain unimaginative I deeply apologize for having wasted your time here today.

I also should be working on assignments right now, that's a big foul on my end there.


~

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