Colors Gallery, meet DT_and_FB
@DT_and_FB is the creator of the awesome Unity of the 16 comic. They're a cartoonist with a passion for animation and telling compelling stories! Now it's time to tell THEIR story!
Who are DT_and_FB? What should we know about you?(your name makes me think you're two different people)
"Who are DT and FB? Well first DT is the one with the blue jacket, poofy hair and hat, he is also kinda a personified version of me however I keep the name vague so anyone can put their feet in his shoes. And FB is the square robot/automaton that is also a stand in for you or a person/friend you know."
Happy new year!!! by DT_and_FB
You have a lot of inspirations it seems! What are those inspirations and how do they influence your current works? What do you take from those inspirations and how do they motivate you? Also how long have you been drawing?
"Where do I get my inspirations from and how long have I been drawing? Well, where I get my inspiration from other than them just popping into my head from time to time are from watching several sci-fi, fantasy, and comedy movies along with reading books and shows. BUT above all else I mostly got it from the mother/earthbound series, and anime. Oh and i've been drawing since I was about 6-7 years old so 9 years I'd say."
Earthbound's Aniversery! by DT_and_FB
How did you find out about Colors Live? What made you set up shop in our community? Is there any features you'd like to see in the future?
"How did I find out about colors? I first found out about colors through the nintendo announcement on my switch and then checked out the trailer for it and everything in my head just clicked. One feature I would like to see added is a way to draw straight lines and smooth circles like in procreate."
Your comic called Unity of the 16 seems really cool! How did you come with it and what's it about?
"How did I come up with my comic and whats it about? Well the one source that I got inspiration from is the bible and where i got the idea, is how each story from the bible talks about separate people from different places on earth or different times on earth and it all comes together to one person. Unity of the 16 is about 16 different main characters from different parts of the universe and time coming together to one “thing”."
Unity of the 16: lots to learn page 8 by DT_and_FBcenter>
How did you come up with the character designs and plot of your comic? Is there anything story wise you would change if you could?
"How and where did I come up with my character designs and any story wise changes? I based them on the MBTI 16 personalities and came up with the characters in different parts of my life. I wanted to make each one seem different from one another and make them fit where they live and how the way they look tell you who they are and what they do. One thing I would change is I would replace some characters with others and change to the new artstyle I made. Who knows maybe I might do that."
Colors art you're most proud of?
Unity of the 16 by DT_and_FB
Top 3 favorite Colors artworks?
Unity of the 16 by DT_and_FB
woops - D by DT_and_FB
Swingy J by DT_and_FB
Favorite artist on and off Colors? How do they inspire and motivate you?
"Favorite Artist? All of them!" ( I can't decide )
What's the most important tip(s) for coming up with your own distinct art style, a compelling story, and an idea overall that stands out among many?
"Important tips! When coming up for an artstyle look through different artists whose art you like and whose you like, or go to any art based social media and look at the top trending art, any art styles that catches your eye and save them for later as reference you may need to create a style that you like."
"A way to make a compelling story or idea is to know what is happening, how is it going, and what's up next? And make sure what you are doing isn't too close to something that already exists."
Unity of the 16: lots to learn page 9 by DT_and_FB
Do you plan your story well ahead of time or do you create as you go?
"Do I plan my stories? Well yes and no, I know certain events that will happen but the rest and lead up to those events i am making up along the way. Currency I am planning on actually sketching them out before hand and not stressing out about it."
Advice for artist of all skill levels?
"Advice for artist skill level. Pretty much try drawing every day weather it be home, work, school, come up with any designs of a character, and if you have no idea then practice drawing basic shapes and different angels and with time observation of others you can improve your skills."
Any advice for making comics or coming up with compelling stories and interesting characters?
"Comic making advice. Well first the layout of the comic is your choice, however keep in mind a layout can tell the reader how a situation is going and what the story is going to be like. A way to come up with a story is to create a situation then find ways to solve that situation, or make up any kinds of recipe to how a story will go. A way to make a character is to make something or someone as simple to draw in a consistent way since you will have to make the same thing over and over, and the background can be whatever you want, so if it is a character that you sympathize with either make the reader feel bad for that character or give them like able traits that you want others to treat you like. And for making an unlikable or villain character then give them traits you hate in a person. or mix it up a bit and see what you like."
What's a random interesting fact about you that you're willing to share?
"Interesting fact about me. Well currently I'm 15 years old (turning 16 in july). and I was self taught on how to draw sense at my old middle school. They didn't give out any art classes and so I learned off of my family, youtube, and just studied art for fun by looking at different drawings. Also I'm barely passing math and physics with a C- in both."
If you could make a comic for any other IP what would it be and why?
"Any IPs I would like to make comics for and why? Well I haven't even planned on working for any comic IPs, instead I was thinking more on working in the animation industry and even there I have no clue who i want to work for haha."
Discord question from @Jikkermanccini: Your comic art is so clean! What are some of your inspirations? Do you have any tips for other artists who want to do comics?
"Well some of my inspirations I guess are webcomics that have a driving plot to it and an art style that I would like to go for that are usually on the artists website or Patreon, that or at my schools library."
"A tip that I would give to someone making a comic with a story SKETCH OUT THE PAGES FIRST! obviously when I made my first announcement that I wanted to make a comic i just started making them without any idea on where the thing was going and made the story up as i went along, also watch YT tutorials or if you can find any watch a speed paint or a pre sketched version of any comic!"
Discord question from @ThatChurro: I was wondering how you came up with your cool character designs? What inspired some of their designs? i haven't seen anything like them before!
"Oh what inspired them? Well first there was DT now he wasn’t anything to special I pretty much based him off myself, FB I actually created him since I was 5 years old in a sketchbook when practicing my shapes, Juan is next now I wanted to make a character that was obviously insane but fun at the same time so I actually based him off a meme of some YT video with the cover of a man with a bucket on his head, Brook is next now him and Rom are based on a video I saw about the mbti 16 personality’s, Aryveir was mostly made up in my head along with Xavier and google searching cool sci fi armor, Havey I kinda based on studio ghilbli castle in the sky, hue I actually made at the end of my middle school year with my friends, shabi is just a cat I wanted to make look cool, aster I just looked up cool fantasy clothing but who knows I might redesign him , Neto is based on a stick figure I drew in class, Willy (the white and orange guy with Juan) I based on the super hero plastic man, clockwise was based on a different Spider-Man genre, and bellatrix I made because I wanted to make a cute moth design."
Anyone you want to shout-out?
"Shout-Outs! I would to thank @ThatChurro @xx_sleepydragon_xx @The_Adjudicator @hannawallbank for all the endless support and always reminding me that there are people who care about me and my art!!!"
That wraps up our interview with @DT_and_FB ! We at The Colors Team would like to thank you for your time! Keep an eye on them and don't forget to check out their comic too!
Check out our interview with our previous artist of the week @Jikkermanccini
http://colorslive.com/page/Meet-Jikkermanccini
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.
Recapture your youthful imagination in #wc538 "Childhood Wonder"! Unleash that latent creativity by January 21st, 2024!
Stay creative!
Zyik & The Colors Team
