Colors Gallery, meet Cierastu
@Cierastu is a lover of pastel coloring, vtubers, and also animation! They also aspire to be an animator! Let's get animated and learn more about them in this interview!
It's time for use to see who you really are @Cierastu ! Animator, Illustrator, anime artist,
what do you have to share?
"Hello! I have gone by a ton of pseudonyms online, but in the present I am Cierastu! I
started my journey as a digital artist back in 2011 using the Nintendo DSi application
Flipnote to create short animations, and my passion for illustration and animation
has only grown since then. I recently graduated college as an animation major, but
I’m still learning more and more every day!"
sylveon by Cierastu
You paint with such soft and sweet colors! Like cotton candy! What're your inspirations
how did they influence you and your art?
"I have always been a fan of candy-like color palettes which are largely inspired by the
art styles seen in anime like Lucky Star and Ojamajo Doremi. The kind of art I love to
look at is the stuff so sugary sweet with rendering that it forces you to stop and
stare, so I try to use my colors similarly!"
How did you come across the Colors Live community? What made you decide to take up
shop?
"Back in 2013, Flipnote Hatena was officially shutting down on the DSi and there was
a worry in the community that all these young artists would never find each other
again. I mean, we were young and didn’t have access to expensive art tablets or
anything, so it felt like this huge part of our lives was going to be lost. Colors!3D on
the 3DS was a new home for a lot of young artists so naturally I migrated there as
well. Unlike Flipnote, there were more than 2 layers and an entire color wheel to
illustrate with which felt like such a massive deal at the time. I simply fell in love with
the program and so I was ecstatic to support the Colors Live Kickstarter the moment
I heard of it. I owe so much to the application and community for my progress as a
young artist over the past decade."
If you could have any feature(s) in Colors Live what would you want and why?
"Of course this is my bias as an animator, but I’d love to see some version of GIF
animation integrated into the application. I spent my fair share of time exporting
PNGs from Colors Live individually in order to Frankenstein animation in the past, but
a proper in-app feature for short animations would be a dream!"
Do you use any other software or mediums? What do you use to animate?
"Just this year I started using FireAlpaca, a free digital software for both illustration
and animation. I actually had to adjust the app's settings to feel more like Colors Live
at first! I’ve also been studying 3D animation in Blender."
What Colors art of yours are you most proud of?
"I would have to say it is my artwork of HoloAdvent’s Shiorin. It was one of the
drawing sessions where I spaced out for 6 hours and then said “Woah, did I draw
this?” I surprised myself!"
Shiorin by Cierastu
Favorite artist on and off Colors Live? How do they influence you?
"One of my favorite artists will always be Fleesveon ( @Fleesveon555 on X), an
Ecuadorian artist who also picked up art back on Flipnote Hatena and Colors!3D. Her
rendering is gorgeous and has that ability to make you stop and stare as I mentioned
before! You can see traces of her coloring style in my own!"
Pikastar Cutie by fleesveon
"On Colors Live there’s an artist who goes by @SaltineCracker who has art so cute
and always wonder if she’s really doing it all on her Switch! She is incredible at
making use of her canvas and setting a scene in a way that inspires me to do the
same."
☆★Colorful Stage★☆ by SaltineCracker
Top 3 favorite Colors Live artworks?
* by kanisabure
"Aside from being a massive fan of Gumi, this work just stunned me when I
saw it. The line work is so clean and smooth, and @Kanisabure drew it on the
3DS! Those screens are incredibly small and using a tiny plastic stylus is
certainly not easy, so the illustration itself is all the more impressive."
Stuck in a Bottle by Kiwi
"This piece is from nearly a decade ago but I look back on it often because it is
so charming. @Kiwi was one of the first artists I followed after joining the
Colors!3D community and this piece was my introduction to the capabilities
of the new application. I had only ever seen her OC Kiwi drawn in Hatena
using simply black and one shade of blue due to the limits of the DSi, so this
illustration was like an old film being colorized!"
Dinner™ by SaltineCracker
"I have to mention @SaltineCracker once more, who takes advantage of
everything the Colors Live application has to offer in this piece. Her coloring
style is just so charming, it’s eye candy in every sense of the word!"
Goals and ambitions for the future?
"Honestly, I’m at an odd place with my art at the moment. I’ve always been driven by
large concrete goals; get an art tablet, design 3D models, get a degree in art, and so
on. However, lately I just want to draw whenever my mind feels like drawing. I have
been taking a laid-back approach and not stressing myself over taking breaks or
recovering from creative burnout. I’m always learning and growing as an artist, but
right now I’m focusing on taking things one day at a time."
TryTry by Cierastu
Being an animator do you want to work on animated series or work at a specific animation
studio? Or would you rather work on your own animations and illustrations independently?
"I think I’ll always gravitate towards my independent ventures. As an animator, you’re
always told “Oh, so like Disney?” by people outside of the industry. For some people
that’s the dream path, but I haven’t been too interested in animating at a big studio
before. I’ll never say never of course, but for the foreseeable future I am more than
happy working independently!"
I notice you've drawn a lot of Vtubers! Do you have a favorite? Would you want to be a
Vtuber someday or would you like to design models for others? What would your ideal
model be like?
"I am a huge fan of Vtubers! Recently I have been watching a lot of FUWAMOCO who
have personalities that are just as adorable as their designs. I’ve done commissioned
illustrations for a lot of Vtubers so naturally I’ve certainly considered designing and
creating models as well! Unsurprisingly I always gravitate towards the more
bubblegum pink models adorned with ribbons or animal ears, anything and
everything cute I will never say no to!""
FuwaMoco by Cierastu
A lot of illustrators love animation and a lot of animators love illustration despite the
different workflows. What should an animator focus on learning to excel at animation and
what should an illustrator focus on? Where is the middle ground between them both?
"That’s a great question! The fundamentals of both mediums are similar, so any
animator or illustrator can pick up the basics of the other medium fairly quickly if
they remain motivated enough at the start! The hardest part is always the beginning.
As someone who is primarily an illustrator, I remember feeling like a novice when I
began studying animation in college. What gave me confidence was short GIF work,
just a handful of frames to create a character walk cycle or even a character blinking.
That’s just a few illustrations, so it felt familiar and not so intimidating. You have to
remember that the brief learning stage that comes with every new software fades
away quickly. Stay determined and you’ll become motivated to push your boundaries
in no time!"
Anyone you wish to shout-out? Any final comments before we wrap up?
"As mentioned above, @Fleesveon and @SaltineCracker are incredible as ever,
so please check out and support their work! I also appreciate everyone whose
been so kind to me both on Colors Live and elsewhere throughout my journey
as an artist. And of course, all the thanks and appreciation in the world to the
Colors Live team who helped me fall in love with digital art to begin with. I owe
so much of my growth to you! Thank you so much!" ♥
That wraps up our interview with @Cierastu ! The Colors Team would like to thank you for your time! If you love pastel colors and are feeling animated I'd say check them out!
Check out our interview with our previous artist of the week @SilkieFeathers
http://colorslive.com/page/Meet-SilkieFeathers
For those who may need a reminder
The Artist of the week will be posted every Friday so be sure to tune in! Prior to that, the artist may be contacted via email or other means at least a week or more in advance so be sure to check your emails( and spam) so you don't miss out on a chance to be featured. If you don't reply within 48 hours another artist may be chosen to be featured for that week instead and you will be in a future artist of the week update.
The announcement of who is the upcoming featured artist will be announced at least 2-3 days in advance or eariler so look out for that too! If you would like for any of your questions or comments to be featured in an upcoming interview please check out colorslive.com/discord and visit the official artist of the week channel to submit questions/commentary for a chance for those to be answered before Friday.
Suggest a new artist for artist of the week on the forum post on my gallery or by posting with the #heyzyik tag.
Cierastu's art has shown true"Pastel Power!" Show us yours in #wc557!
Stay creative!
Zyik & The Colors Team
