Colors Gallery, meet GuineaPig24
@GuineaPig24 is a unique breed of Colors artist! Their gallery is filled to the creative species, cool ocs, and of course dragons so what's not to love? Gather around and let's get to know them!
You've been part of our community for quite some time! Tell us about yourself!
"It’s actually so incredible to see how long I’ve been part of the community. I remember the day I first got colors for my 3DS like it was yesterday! I got on this website when I was 11 years old, so I’ve posted every phase of who I am and was on this website for the past 10 years. I’m 21 now, working as a part-time server and attending college with a STEM major."
Doodle by GuineaPig24
So many cool character designs! Especially your species! What would you say are your biggest inspirations?
"When creating my characters at the time, I was super interested in magic and the idea of fantasy creatures. There was a point in time where I really wanted to get over-the-top with designs and play with the idea of animals and humanoids that had some scientific ideals from the real world. My main inspirations as of now definitely stem from the D&D and Pokémon franchises!"
Squaaak? by GuineaPig24
How did you discover the Colors community? What kept you coming back after all these years?
"I got it on my 3DS when I was really young. Initially I got super into Colors because it was easy for me to just draw and put out things I thought were exciting. Even when I was super young and not as technically skilled as I am now, the community here has been nothing but kind and encouraging. The community on this site has always been just incredible. Everyone is so sweet and I’ve made some lifelong friends on here."
What's your typical process when it comes to art and how does Colors fit in? Are there any other software or mediums that you incorporate? What feature(s) would you like to see in Colors Live at some point?
"Colors is one of the only digital software that I use and actually enjoy using. It’s simple on all interfaces, which limits me to my resources and allows me to actually create art without overthinking about all the brush options that I get bombarded with. I’ve been drawing traditionally as of late, so I’ll create a basic sketch in a sketchbook or on scrap paper, and then redraw it on Colors."
"I think on the application itself, it’d be nice to have an optional autosave, since I’m guilty of forgetting to save my art sometimes. I also don’t have a sonar pen, so for the non-weighted pens, it’d be nice to have even smaller pen options."
"In terms of the website, I think it’s still great! I love the weekly challenges and I’m glad that they’re still being done."
Don't @ Me by GuineaPig24
Your username is guineapig24 so I assume you've had guinea pigs as pets? I remember in grade school having one as a class pet!
"I LOVE guinea pigs! I’ve owned them since I was 8, with my first being (cleverly) named Guinea. I actually got the username from this wolf game I used to play (I think it was called Wolf Quest?), and I really wanted my username to be “GuineaPig” but that was obviously taken. Haha! GuineaPig24 was a suggested username, and it ended up just sticking. July 24th is my birthday, so the number made sense to me. I’ve had this username for so long that it’d be silly to change it now."
Beginnings by GuineaPig24
What Colors art of yours are you the most proud of? Which would you redo if you could?
"If I had to choose, probably my drawing titled “Good fight!!”. From a technical sense, it just looks much cleaner than my other drawings. I think that my style in general looks much more mature in that. Like the start of a new era."
"I would probably redo any of my artworks! They’re all cool, but they’re so old and they show just how young I was when I started getting creative. I’d like to see where I am now in terms of skill."
Good fight!! by GuineaPig24
Top 3 favorite Colors artworks?
"My top 3 favorite artworks on Colors from other people absolutely have to be “Blade of Kusanagi” by Lady Ama, “Atmosphere” by FadingGlory, and “Stained Glass” by Kjumper. All three of these artists and pieces felt like the faces of Colors for quite some time! Everyone on here is so incredibly talented in their own ways, and it’s beautiful to see everyone’s unique styles. These three just stood out an extra amount to me because they have in their art what I always strived for!"
Blade of Kusanagi by Lady Ama
Atmosphere by FadingGlory
Stained Glass by Kjumper
Favorite artist on and off Colors?
"My favorite artist ever is Stephen Gammell. He’s the guy that did all the creepy artwork in the original Scary Stories book series. I also adore Junji Ito’s work as well. His manga style is just incredible. On Instagram, avogado6_jp, posts some super eerie art that really pulls some weird emotional strings."
"On Colors, my favorite artist has to be @CreamyPashy. They were a huge inspiration to me growing up, and they really nailed the complex designs. I think a lot of my design choices were inspired by them, and my art wouldn’t look like half of what it is today without them."
Cheripu by CreamyPashy
Tell us about a bit about your characters like Frost and your species! How do you come up with such awesome and intricate designs? What's their backstory/lore? Do you have a favorite among them?
"My absolute favorite original character of mine absolutely has to be Frost. She’s just perfect! I could ramble on and on about how much I love her, but she’s been with me since I was 8. Initially her design was very obnoxious- she was able to transform from an ice wolf to an electric wolf, and her human form initially was a little girl with silver hair. That’s why, for quite some time, her wolf form had a silver nose and ears."
"When I tried to redesign her for the first time, this is where I decided to give her black hair. She was initially a straight rip off of Black Rock Shooter, down to the minor details. I only changed her eye color."
"Of course, that was not something I wanted to keep going with, so I had decided to continue thinking about her in a more fantasy way, but keep the ideas of what I liked from Black Rock Shooter’s design. So I gave her armor instead of a jacket, made her hair more dramatic, and gave her big boots."
"This second redesign didn’t stay for too long, since I redesigned her again. I wanted to make the fantasy really well known, as well as make her powers more obvious. This design of her character was very over-the-top. I went too crazy with details, but I think the creativity of her design was pretty dull. Her most recent redesign warmed up her color palette, simplified some elements, and made her armor more realistic and easier to read. I also made her weapon simpler but gave it a more fantasy feel."
Frost! (Again...) by GuineaPig24
What advice would you give to young artist? If you could give your past self advice what would you tell yourself?
"My main advice to anyone starting with art, and this also goes for artists who are experienced, is to keep trying always. Draw what you want and don’t let anyone discourage you from doing what you want."
"Draw your FNAF OC, draw an anime character, draw random pictures of couches; if it’s something you find joy in, keep doing it. Get creative with it, escape your comfort zone a little, but stay passionate and always, always try."
Do you have any plans for the future? What do you see yourself doing in the next few years?
"I’m currently studying biology, with the hopes of going into veterinary sciences for my next years of university. That being said, I’m not sure what I’ll be up to in a few years! I may drop science and continue to pursue art! I would love to help design characters for video games!"
You come up with so many cool designs you surely are immune to creative burnout, right? If not, how do you address it?
"I absolutely get burn out! It’s part of being an artist. I went to a very visual arts-heavy high school and was forced to push out tons and tons of art that I wasn’t super in tune with. After graduating in 2020, I experienced the WORST burn out of my life. I barely drew for 3 years, and have only recently been starting to get back into it more consistently again. I had to try out different mediums and styles just to remember what I wanted to do."
"To whoever is experiencing burn out: Be kind to yourself. Burn out can be a healing process for your mental and physical health. Do things you love, but don’t force yourself to draw big things if you aren’t ready to try. Keep doodling to get your art flowing, but there is no need to force yourself to push out full artworks that you aren’t proud of or passionate for."
Who do you want to shout-out? Any additional comments before we wrap up?
"I would love to send a shout out to all of my friends I’ve met on this website! They are such encouraging people and are all incredible artists who work hard at what they do."
"And to the Colors community! Thank you for this wonderful opportunity! The never ending flow of new creativity coming into this space is just amazing. I’m proud to be part of such a diverse and talented community of artists. Everyone is so inspiring! Keep pushing forward!" <3
That wraps up our interview with @GuineaPig24 ! The Colors Team would like to thank you for your time! Make sure to keep up with them!
Check out our interview with our previous artist of the week @PoodleKingdom
http://colorslive.com/page/Meet-PoodleKingdom
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.
Did you know that Colors!3D only had 3 simple but powerful brushes? Push the limits of your creativity in the"Triple brush challenge" for #wc552 !
Stay creative!
Zyik & The Colors Team
