Colors Gallery, meet studiocritter
@studiocritter is an aspiring animation, cat lover, and a dimension hopping android from outer space! They also happen to one of the many talented in out gallery! They have much to tell about themselves so let's get to the interview!
Tell us about @studiocritter ! What's it all about? What's your origin story?
"I came from outer space to study extraterrestrial lifeforms and report back to the space program who built me....oh yeah and I do art as a side-gig. But really I chose the username studiocritter because it sounded cute, kinda like Studio Ghibli."
Vibrant Dusk 2.0. by studiocritter
What made you start your art journey? What would you say were your biggest inspirations and motivations?
"While I've been drawing since I was a little tadpole (not on a computer but with the nostalgic medium of crayons and pencils), the movie that made me super passionate about art and animation was the 1950 animated classic Cinderella. Where do I start? The art style was lush and and colorful, the characters where simple archetypes yet charming thanks to the writing and the message was super uplifting: Anybody's dreams can come true if they worked hard enough for it...so I decided, why not create my own stories with art?"
Floral Greetings by studiocritter
How did you discover Colors Live? How do you fell about the community and what made you decide to join?
"I stumbled upon a VeggieTales x Pop Team Epic mashup, and it was from an artist who used this program. So I was all like: "*gasp* I CAN DRAW WITH MY SWITCH LITE!?" and BAM, the rest was history."
Do you use any other mediums or software outside of Colors Live? How does Colors fit into your workflow and are there any features you want to see in future updates?
"I dabble with MsPaint (aka my childhood bestie) and Krita, I plan on drawing with my IPad once I get a more compatible stylus for it. Also I was wondering if could the nice folks running Colors make it so that we could be able to make full-fledged animations on there? That would be metal!"
Any Colors artwork that you're the most proud of?
"The ones that make me laugh the hardest and/or the ones I have the most fun experimenting on....with the color pallet of course! I'm not an unhinged mad scientist or anything! (^o^')"
Multicolor Twilight Bunny Shindig Under the Stars! by studiocritter
Favorite artist on and off Colors Live?
"There are many I would consider my favorite but Rebecca Sugar for just how much her work on Adventure Time and Steven Universe means to me and so many others."
Mom Squared by studiocritter
Top 3 favorite Colors artworks?
"That’s a tricky question I will admit, because there’s a lot of really cool stuff on there."
Your cat noodly-armed cat character Pipsqueak Squiggles is incredibly cute! How did you come up with such a cute mascot? Were they always planned to be your mascot or did you have other designs/characters in mind? In your opinion what makes for a good mascot design?
"Aw, tysm! <3 Two major factors helped bring Squiggles to life: One was that I wanted to make a cartoon character that embodied what I loved about animation and all the cool things you could do with it. There wasn't really many characters that could hit that sweet-spot between the chibi style like PPG or Sanrio and the classic "Zany Toon" aesthetic so I plopped the two styles in the blender and out came Squiggles. The other inspiration? I had this little black kitty I named Luna for a few years, she was like this IRL cartoon character with these big green eyes and this super squiggly expressive tail, the way she walked also looked kinda squiggly...and she was TINY even as an adult. She also liked tasting donuts! So I put two-and-two together and started drawing Squiggles on paper then drawing her digitally. While Luna ran away back in 2020 and I still miss her, I still have her likeness + all the fond memories we shared in this tiny yet spontaneous feline."
Loads and Loads of Squiggles by studiocritter
Yet Another Squigglethon by studiocritter
Fellow animation fan here!! Your gallery bio mentions that you that you're an aspiring animator! What are your goals for animation? Since your Colors name is studiocritter do you strive to create your own studio or or animation projects? What would you want to create?
"I have a whole lotta stories in the backburner taking on different genres (albeit a lot of my story ideas are Science Fantasy, and/or Musical because I’m a weeb who’s a theatre kid at heart), breaking new ground and subverting expectations...like not-so-much rejecting all that could be considered hackneyed cliches but rather taking them and turning them over their head to create something entirely new. Most importantly of all I want these stories to mean something, like how I cited Rebecca Sugar as my favorite artist. I want my platform to be a beacon of hope by making groundbreaking stories with relatable characters and uplifting messages so I too can save people like how Steven Universe saved me."
Stacked Buns by studiocritter
What goals and ambitions do you have for the future?
"Not only do I want to deliver visual art but I want to create music too, I am an amateur lyricist who's been at it since a young age, I also like toying around with instruments and singing. I can't wait to make my first animated musical."
The Best Dancer EVA!!! by studiocritter
What advice would you give to up and coming artist? What advice is useful for animators?
"Don't go thinking to yourself: "I'll never be good enough to draw/animate" or "I'm not as good as [x]", I had that mentality for years and it made me miserable. Anybody can draw/animate, you just have to have the motivation and passion for it, and it don't matter what program you use whether it be Toon Boom Harmony or even freakin' Mario Paint on the SNES (that was how Homestar Runner was born) and whatever you do, DON'T pitch it to a mainstream network!! While I never pitched to a mainstream network myself, I have been burned by my favorite shows like being cancelled left-and-right and in worst cases (like Final Space), used as tax write offs."
How to you handle creative burnout?
"Usually I’ll take a break from drawing/writing by listening to music, watching a favorite show, playing a game, etc. during my free time and after a while I suddenly get a burst or two of inspiration that motivates me to draw/write again! It takes time so don’t rush, let yourself cook."
Feelin' HOT HOT HOT! by studiocritter
Anyone you wanna Shout-Out?
"Anyone can go check out who I follow on Colors to find a treasure trove of awesome and talented artists like @coal-is-the-name, @BHPineapple, @__Cinnabunn__ and SO many more! Especially most important is that there’s this new artist on the block whose art is really good but only has 17 followers and that honestly has me stumped! Y’all do yourselves a favor and follow @Flouresence ‘k?"
That wraps up our interview with @studiocritter ! The Colors Team would like to thank you for your time! Be sure to check out their studio!
Check out the interview with our previous artist of the week Aaron Leonard
http://colorslive.com/page/Meet-Aaron-Leonard
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.
It would be quite handy if you took the "Opposite Hand Challenge" #wc562 !
Stay creative!
Zyik & The Colors Team
