Colors Gallery, meet Rivertyna
A self-taught aritst hailing from the UK, @Rivertyna champions a style a of slick painting that the Colors Live Gallery was made for: Fantastic art featuring Nintendo or Nintendo-inspired artwork!
Her fan created characters are of such quality that they wouldn't look out of place in an official game from Nintendo themselves! It's time to get to know the artist behind the fanart!
Curiosity about you is overflowing! Care to tell us about yourself? Who are you, what're you about, and when did you begin your journey as an artist?
Hi, I’m Rivertyna. (She/Her) I am a self-taught artist from the UK and have been drawing since early childhood. I remember my grandparents giving me drawing books and me only wanting to colour in the pretty girl pictures. Guess that’s never changed. They are still my favourite things to draw now.
Snom by Rivertyna
The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem franchises seem to be your main thing(great taste!). How did you get into them? What other inspirations do you have, and how did they influence your growth or style as an artist?
My first encounter with The Legend of Zelda was back in 1998 with Ocarina of Time. I used to watch my brother play it and be amazed with the story and high-tech graphics! Then in 2005, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance was released, inspiring me more with all the unique characters and beautiful designs. Like many people, I wanted to put myself into these fantasy worlds and the best way for me to do that was to draw myself as one of them. Then I met someone who was equally into Zelda and we began creating our own little story together. This fueled my desire to design more characters and led me to where I am today.
Willow by Rivertyna
Your earliest Colors artwork is from 2012 and I have to say you've made an enormous leap in skill as artist! The leap is so huge that at first glance it's almost hard to see it's from the same person! What is your process and what important tools did you implement into your style that you would say made the biggest difference for you?
Ahh thank you so much! Sometimes I can’t believe it myself how much progress I’ve made since then. Haha.
I think having a reference photo is very useful as a starting point. They help me to visualise an idea I have in my head and taking photos of my hands, for example, helps with angles and poses.
I also found that once I started using different colours in my shading, it added more depth to my artwork, making them more dynamic and colourful.
Groose's Fantasy by Rivertyna
How did you discover Colors? What gave you the courage to join the community and what would you say keeps you around?
I can’t remember too much how I came across Colors as it was so long ago now! But using a 3DS to draw seemed like a fun idea to try. And it was! Bringing it onto the Nintendo Switch has opened up a whole new level of convenience, too! I would say that the Colors community has been the driving force to keep me posting. Everyone is so kind and encouraging! And even though I don’t always get around to replying to comments due to life, I always read them. They bring me so much joy.
Thank you! by Rivertyna
Which Colors Live artworks of yours are you most proud of? What was your most challenging painting?
Ethiel by Rivertyna
Prince Daphnes by Rivertyna
These two are my favourite artworks so far. I am still impressed with the pose of the first one and looking at the re-draw of my OC, Daphnes, makes me happy. His original drawing didn’t turn out quite the way I liked!
Link Dotour by Rivertyna
I tend to struggle a lot with backgrounds so this one has been my most challenging yet.
Favorite artist both on and off Colors Live? How do they influence you and what about their works do you admire most?
Unfortunately a lot of my favourite Colors artists have moved on, but I’d still like to shout out @higashi and @garasya. I don’t know who originally started CMA (Colors Magic Academy) but I loved looking at the character designs they came up with for it. It would be amazing and fun to do something like that again!
As for off-Colors, brookskim (https://cara.app/brookskim), proserpiiart (https://www.instagram.com/proserpiiart) and mirays (https://www.instagram.com/m.i.r.a.y.s) are amazing artists who have influenced me in one way or another.
Top 3 favorite Colors Live artworks?
なぜ神様は人間に翼を与えないのでしょうか？ by Acchan
I love their use of colours in shading.
. by Teallicht
The striking blue works so well with the pale cream and oranges.
Valentine★Miku by garasya
This one is from 2019 but I can’t get over the level of detail put into it!
On the dev side of things we're hard at work brainstorming ideas for a switch 2 edition of Colors Live/Colors Live 2! Feature wise, what would you personally like to see?
To be honest, I’ve only just found out that you can flip a piece of art with the selection tool, haha. I’m not sure there is anything that needs to be improved. Colors already offers everything I need to make beautiful pictures, so thank you for that! I can’t wait to be able to draw on the Switch 2!
What other apps or mediums do you use? What significance does Colors Live have in your process?
I also have a Cintiq 16 and PaintTool SAI 2, but the Cintiq is heavy, bulky, and has too many wires. Colors Live doesn’t take much time to get started when the creative juices flow. It’s just so convenient!
Your fan character designs are excellent and wouldn't look out of place at all in the games that inspired them! What would you say are the biggest tips you can provide for making fan characters or just character design in general? What makes or breaks them?
When I create designs I like to look through fashion magazines and websites, picking out bits I like and trying them out in a drawing until I feel it works.
There’s usually a lot of erasing! Looking for colour palettes is also another important step in my character design. I usually have a main colour in mind and look for what colours could go well with it. When putting the colours to canvas, it’s usually trial and error until I get it just right.
Alisette Design Change by Rivertyna
Have you had a good 2025 summer so far? Have you done anything really cool or memorable? Do you have any goals for the near or far future?
This summer has been great so far. It has been sunny and warm, I’ve met up with friends, and I’m currently participating in ArtFight, drawing some amazing original characters for other artists and to help my team win. Let’s go team Crystal!!
Olivia by Rivertyna
As for the future, I am looking forward to next spring when I will be travelling to Japan. It has been a dream of mine to go there for so long, and now I have the chance!
Nature, nurture, or a bit of both?
I would say nurture. To me, art isn’t something that came naturally. I had to practice for years to get where I am now. You can see my progress just by looking at my gallery, haha. If someone is not very experienced and thinks their current art looks bad, don’t give up! If you keep creating what you love you will eventually become the artist you always wanted to be.
Kaiya by Rivertyna
What's some important advice or life lesson you've learned over the years that's helped you as an artist or even just as a person?
Keep on drawing if it makes you happy. Others may think it’s childish or a waste of time, but if you genuinely feel happy drawing, keep on doing what you love.
How do you handle burn out? What's your secret remedy?
I take time away, do other things, and try not to worry. I don’t usually like having a deadline to finish things, so if I start feeling burnt out I leave it for days, maybe weeks, until I feel ready to come back. I also find taking a screenshot of a work in progress helps me figure out what is working and what isn’t. I sit looking at it for days until I feel ready to come back and correct my many mistakes.
Anyone you want to shout-out? Who deserves some much needed praise your your opinion?
Even though @DreamersArcadia can’t draw now due to health, she still inspires my drawings a lot by RPing with me. We have created so many characters together!
001 by DreamersArcadia
That wraps up our interview with @Rivertyna! The Colors Team would like to thank you for your time! Flow on over to their gallery and keep checking them out!
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Stay creative!
Zyik & The Colors Team
