Colors Gallery, meet Jikkermanccini
@Jikkermanccini visits the gallery bringing with them character concepts and deep lore! Did you know they aspire to be a character designer? No? Well read this interview and find our more about the lore of our 41st weekly artist!
Alrighty, jikker! It's time to tinker with your brain a bit! Who're you and what're you all about?
"I am a young man from the American south who loves all things nature and art. I grew up barefoot in the woods studying woodlice and other critters, then at the age of 8 started keeping saltwater aquariums. Ten years later, I have four reefs in my basement and various other animal collections. The intricacies of nature have always brought me joy, be it birth or growth, and have totally defined my art through the ages. Having 11 artistic siblings doesn't hurt either."
You have a lot of cool character concept designs! What inspired you?
"The animals I would catch in my backyard heavily inspired me as a kid, but my biggest sources of inspiration have to be the games I played & movies I watched as a kid. Kirby, Viva Pinata, Yoshi Story, Kameo, and Little Big Planet are some star examples. Film wise, I've always loved Jim Henson movies, and The Dark Crystal in particular always spoke to me. The animals I keep as pets are also a major source of inspiration, and are super handy references when they decide to stay still haha."
Piic Worksheet by Jikkermanccini
Tell us a bit about #beastbane and #rustlegame! How did you come up with these ideas? What are they about? Do you have any other stories we should know of? Outside of Colors how long have you been doing what you do?
"These are two of a handful of worlds I use to keep my characters and stories in order. Beastbane began on Colors!3D about 9 years ago as a Roleplay (titled 'The Dragon Gem') and has become the setting for an epic fantasy novel I *plan* to write someday. It's a story about a world built on the remains of a dead god, which imbues it with inherent magical power & danger around every corner."
Vaull Untouched by Jikkermanccini
"Rustle is an art project I've been tinkering with for a year now where I plan to design an entire video game from the top down, save the actual game part. I have many documents and folders of mechanics, plotlines, sidequests, and characters that will all get a full artful treatment at some point. It's about a peaceful island in crisis, so the Pixies that take care of nature have to arm themselves with shape shifting abilities to fight off hordes of slimy black invasive species. The primary inspiration for this game is Rare's Kameo (2005). Rustle is meant to be somewhat of a 'spiritual successor", if you will. Some of my favorite character designs come from this world, and I'd love to bring it to light as an *actual* game some day."
Nautilexus by Jikkermanccini
You have some sweet character design sheets! Are you working in a big project of some sort like a game/comic/graphic novel etc. ?
"Thank you kindly! I am working to become a professional concept artist/creature designer, so a lot of what I make is both for portfolio and practice. As mentioned before, I am tinkering with a couple of projects, but nothing is being seriously pursued at the moment. In a perfect world, I would be working with a big game company to release Rustle to the world while simultaneously publishing the Beastbane trilogy and a few other stories living rent free in my head."
Character design sheet by Jikkermanccini
How did you discover Colors and what keeps you coming back? You mentioned that digital art you're still improving at so how has that transition been while using colors? Did Colors accessibility make things a bit easier for you? What other mediums do you use, how does Colors fit into that workflow, and are there any features you'd like to see in the future?
"I discovered Colors after some of my siblings (Both married with children now! :scream") started tinkering on it around 2014-15. What brings me back is a mix of nostalgia and the pure simplicity of the app; most digital art software is way too complicated for my peabrain to use effectively."
"Digital art is an active learning curve for me. It's a lot like oil painting when it comes to laying down color, but it really is it's own beast. 90% of the artwork I produce is done with a cheap ballpoint pen, so working with color, lighting, etc. is something I'm just starting to really hammer down. Colors is a very valuable tool for both quick thumbnailing (an essential part of creature design) as well as color tests or full renders."
"Features I'd add? Not much to be totally honest. Custom brushes could be fun to mess around with, but what I would really love to see is a palette saving feature. Picture this: You have a character design you really like. You use the color picker to select the color, go to the menu and select "add to palette". This would take you to a list of palettes with various names and a sample of the colors within. You would then select the palette to add the chosen color to, and that HEX code is saved for later use."
Colors art you're most proud of and why? What's something you would want to do over?
"The painting "Furcifer Jikkercanum" is definitely top of the list, followed closely by "Nautiligo". Though digital art eludes me most of the time, I occasionally get a sudden strike of inspiration to create something great. I wish I could just control that tendency haha."
Furcifer Jikkercanum by Jikkermanccini
Nautiligo by Jikkermanccini
Top 3 Favorite Colors artworks in the gallery?
"This is a tough one! I have so many favorites from over the years... "New Chapter" by @FadingGlory is one that took my breath away when she released it. She's one of the artists that inspired me to start incorporating more realistic anatomy in my art."
New Chapter by FadingGlory
"Anatomically Incorrect Dragon Yelling at Something" by @Twarda is another gem; this piece started my exporation of what could, and couldn't, work when designing creatures.
Anatomically Incorrect Dragon Yelling at Something by Twarda
"Monsterrrrr" by @EndlessCrust is a piece that reminds me to stay silly with my own artwork. Giant noses are a personal favorite of mine when designing fun creatures.
Monsterrrrr by EndlessCrust
Favorite artist on and off Colors?
"On Colors, I would have to go with @FadingGlory. She has sinced moved on to "greener pastures", but her art was monumental to my growth as an artist. Off Colors I'll have to go with Karl Kopinski, specifically his ink sketches. His is a style I try to emulate with my ink artwork, and the way he captures emotion and attitude is captivating."
The Land of Fantasies by FadingGlory
Long term goals and plans for the future? What's your endgame? What do you hope to accomplish? Any new years resolutions?
"The endgame is to finish building my coral growing farm, get a position as a creature designer for some company, get married, and release Beastbane and Rustle to the world for you all to enjoy. My current goal is a bit more realistic: excercise more, eat healthier, study my Bible more, and treat people around me with more respect. My new year's resolution is to learn to do a full split in addition to the usual 'improve my art' and 'be happier'."
Do you ever have to combat art block? If so, what do you do?
"When it comes, I usually ride it out! Sometimes you just don't feel like making art. When I do try and combat it, I will usually draw very simple, cartoony characters or doodle random patterns on the page just to get the juices flowing again. A good soundtrack can help as well, something inspiring and peaceful (Studio Ghibli music is my go to!)."
Any advice for new artist, especially the many new artists that joined our community during the holidays?
"Keep at it! Remember that it's not a contest of champions, we're all just drawing because we love to do it. It's easy to feel discouraged when you see the masters at work, but even they started somewhere. I suggest working both digitally and with pens, pencils, crayons, etc. because every medium teaches you something new. It's easier to learn a new skill on paper than it is digitally in my experience."
Nature or nurture, talent or skill? How would you rank these in terms of what people need to exceed in art?
"Nature and talent are big, big players when it comes to anything. Some people are good without even trying, and others need to study for years to reach that level. All of our brains process and apply information differently, and that extends to creating art. While the brain isn't actually a muscle, we do need to stretch it, in a way, in order to learn new things."
What's an interesting fact about you that hardly anyone knows(that you're willing to share of course)?
"I have a patch of blonde hair on my head as well as flecking of blonde in my otherwise brown beard. I have no clue where it came from, both of my parents and all of their parents had brown hair, and only two of my siblings have light hair at all. It's a fun thing to tell new friends as I search my scalp for the 4 blondes that snuck in."
Anyone you want to shout-out?
"Loads. @Hailss, @Smallpoly, @The_Adjudicator, @gorgonzola always blow me away with their artwork. @Witzke, my first friend on the platform, has graduated to being a full time animator online! He now goes by Michazike and posts to X, Instagram, and Youtube in addition to working for a Storytime channel as an animator. Check him out, he's got some good stuff. I would love to shout out all of my followers for sticking with me through hiatus, breaks, and little to no communication over the past 2 years or so. If you haven't already, go through my followers list and check each of them out! There are some brilliant artists just waiting to be discovered in there."
That wraps up our interview with @Jikkermanccini ! We at The Colors Team would like to thank you for your time!
Check out our interview with our previous artist of the week @sammysomething
http://colorslive.com/page/Meet-sammysomething
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.
Let's keep getting stronger! The weekly challenge #wc537 "Level-Up" is ongoing! Try to reach your max level before January 14th, 2024!
Stay creative!
Zyik & The Colors Team
