Colors Gallery, meet ponopzop
@ponopzop is an educator, an artist of many styles, a lover of plushies, and most importantly a fellow appreciator of the majestic manatee! They have a charm and grace that makes this gallery even more of a special place! Now let's educate ourselves about them!
Pop on in and tell us about yourself @ponopzop ! What's your origin story and what are you all about?
"Hello! First of all, thank you so much for inviting me as artist of the week! This community and program means a lot to me and I am so ecstatic to be doing this. :) My name is Amy, and Ponopzop has been my username on everything for as long as I can remember. (I got it from spamming the keyboard on a PS2 karaoke game lol.)"
"Usually my response to "tell me about yourself" questions is that I am an educator, but Colors Live is the one place where I would describe myself as an artist first. Drawing is something I do purely for fun, I try not to take myself too seriously!"
stuffies by ponopzop
Such a vibrant gallery full of colorful characters that you have! What would you say are your biggest inspirations?
"I had to think about this one for a while. I can't exactly pinpoint where my inspiration comes from, but I grew up in an environment where my imagination always ran wild. My older sister and I would always be either drawing together or engaging in imaginative play. I think years of built up lore of playing Fairy Barbies with my sister and Littlest Pet Shops with my brother probably sparked something in my artist brain. I always loved watching my siblings play videogames too, especially the Legend of Zelda and other Nintendo titles."
Drawing with no tools by ponopzop
We see that you joined our lovely community all the way back in 2012! What made you join Colors Live and how would you say in influenced your artistic growth?
"I grew up with a sister who loved drawing and a brother who loved Nintendo, and in true littlest sibling fashion I loved copying everything that they did. A drawing game for the 3ds was a dream come true for 11 year old me! I've always found that the most motivating reason to draw is for/with others. Having a Colors Live community to connect with always kept me coming back, even 12 years later! I still talk to, and have even travelled across Canada to connect with people I have met from the Colors Live community over the years. The butterfly effect this game has had on my life as both a person and an artist is hard for me to comprehend sometimes.
10 Years of Colorslive by ponopzop
What other software or mediums do you use? How does Colors Live fit it? Are there any features that you want to see in the future?
"I use Clip Studio Paint on my laptop and tablet from time to time, but if I'm being honest I am lazy and I love how Colors Live is so portable! I would love to be able to select and resize photo imports for reference purposes, and to upload more than one photo. I would also love if there was an option to shade with textures, like in Flipnote."
That Colors artwork of yours are you the most proud of and why?
Aye-aye Captain by ponopzop
"I am guilty of staying in my comfort zones while drawing so this was a challenge in many ways that I was really proud of. I'm planning on making another portrait soon."
Top 3 favorite Colors artworks?
Team Work! by Silly Skeleton
@Silly Skeleton (who I mention in the next question) was a huge inspiration to me when I was a young artist, I lost my marbles seeing this at 13 hahaha.
do u have games on ur phone by ichiqwerty
@ichiqwerty is one of my favorite artists that I met in recent years on Colors Live, and this manatee painting is probably my favourite image I've ever seen.
dtiys by mimo00
@mimo00's art never misses, his color palettes *chefs kiss* please check out his whole gallery!
Favorite artist on and off Colors Live?
"Oh my goodness this is a tough question! If I had to pick one, it's @Silly Skeleton. When I was a young artist they were always so kind and supportive to me. Being supported by an older artist who was so talented and kind felt so meaningful to me. I want to follow in their footsteps for other artists on Colors Live today. I really wish I could thank them!"
Rain, rain, go away. by Silly Skeleton
Your #PonoOC are quite a cast of characters! Especially your character Mars who is quite a cute cyclops. Is there any lore or story? Are you working on or plan to work on a comic with them in the future? How did you come up with everything?
"I've honestly never cared much about the backstories of my characters, I know this is backwards from a lot of artists but I always cared more about making a design I liked and fudging the lore afterwards. I have a tendency to gravitate towards drawing fantasy creatures like aliens and fairies, I couldn't tell you why! I think it would be fun to make a comic again like I used to a decade ago on colors, something about an alien on Earth being an allegory for being neurodivergent would be fun!"
Mars! by ponopzop
I love how you blend in your more realism focused pieces! Your piece where you painted by putting your switch in greyscale was especially intriguing to see! What's your usual process when it comes to blending, coloring, and just drawing/painting in general?
"I don't usually draw with any specific idea in mind, I just open up a new canvas and let my hand do the work. This is a curse and a blessing; I love to let my creativity flow, but it plateaus my skills if I don't put in the conscious effort to practice with references!"
"Especially for my realism pieces, I really do not have any particular method. I draw an outline of what I think the reference looks like and I paint over it, I've been told that my process is not typical, I have no idea. I watch playbacks of other artists and I envy the coherence and skill of what's happening haha. In terms of technical skills, I think I'm the worst person to ask, I just keep on painting until I like how it looks."
Drawing in Greyscale by ponopzop
Do you have any major goals or plans in the future? If so, what's your endgame?
"My favorite thing about being an artist is that it's something that will never go away. No matter where I am or who I become, drawing will always be available to me. Beyond middle school, I really stopped caring about being an artist professionally."
"I love the craft so much and I would hate for it to be intertwined into my professional life too much. After a long day at work, I love that art is always there as an escape. I graduate in a couple of weeks from now and will be pursuing teaching, and I am also currently an early childhood educator at a daycare."
"I have had so many opportunities to use my art skills during teaching, and it brings me so much joy that I never need to draw professionally, but it enhances the work that I do. I've found a happy and healthy balance that I love. If I had to pick an endgame, I would love to create a graphic novel one day."
What advice would you give to aspiring young artist? If you could mentor them what would your most important lessons be?
"DRAW HANDS, or you'll be a 23 year old artist like me with no idea how to draw them !! In all seriousness, the best advice I can give is to enjoy the time you have being a young artist. There is so much joy in discovering yourself as a person and an artist simultaneously."
"Use the Colors Live community to your advantage, in my eyes there is no better reason to be an artist than for it to be a bridge towards humanity and connection. Also, it's okay if you lose your spark. I have gone years without drawing and I promise you, your artist self will always come back to you when you need it to. You aren't any less of an artist if you hit a wall."
"I used to be so caught up in the idea that I'm an artist and my entire identity revolves around this. Art is meant to be an extension of you, you aren't an extension of your art. Practice practice practice. You're doing beautifully, be you!"
hand practice by ponopzop
What's the key to really coming into your own as an artist or as a person in general?
"I think it's really important to create something that you can personally invest yourself into and feel excited about drawing."
"For me, this was making characters that felt important to me for one reason or another. Maybe they were an extension of myself, or helped bring out important feelings I had trouble expressing. Making a comic was also a great way for me to break my artist shell."
"Becoming your own person will come naturally, but I am certainly grateful for how art helped me get to where I am. You are so very loved, please don't be afraid to reach out for help from others."
Anyone you want to shout-out?
"Thank you again to Zyik for the thoughtful questions and all of the lovely artist of the week interviews that you host!"
"Shoutout as well to my Colors Gang and True Fruitloop Slayers, I am so lucky you are in my life! Shoutout to the developers of Colors!3D and Colors Live, this application means so incredibly much to me regardless of if I'm actively using it or not. Thank you."
That wraps up our interview with @ponopzop ! The Colors Team would like to thank you for your time! If you like to zop and pop then we recommend checking out @ponopzop!
Check out the interview with our previous artist of the week @Cierastu
http://colorslive.com/page/Meet-Cierastu
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.
When you look at this image, what do you see? Draw what you imagine in #wc558 "Rorschach Inkblots!"
Stay creative!
Zyik & The Colors Team
