1-Who are you?

My artist name is Fatbeard and I’m from Hong Kong. Ever since I was a kid I enjoyed drawing a lot. I doodled a lot in class and as part of my extracurricular activity my parents wanted me to have, I was sent to learn art class in all mediums except oils (even though I wasn’t as adequate as my other peers during that time). Fast forward to high school where I really started to understand more, became more passionate about art and eventually drew better, that’s where I fell in love with oil paintings.
Reality didn’t hit me when I made the decision to quit my day job and pursue a full-time career as an artist. I encountered the harsh reality of the art industry, especially in Hong Kong. Art was predominantly viewed as an investment, with little appreciation for the actual artistic value beyond an artist's reputation and monetary worth. This posed a significant challenge for independent artists like myself.
After struggling for a few years, I decided to change my direction and delve into pixel art. I had long been captivated by the pixel art style, inspired by the Gameboy era and the emergence of social media platforms like Instagram, where artists showcased their pixel artworks. With a persistent desire to explore pixel art, I stepped out of my comfort zone, leaving behind oil painting temporarily and I embarked on my pixel art journey that has spanned almost two years. Every day, I am grateful for the opportunity to discover something new in the realm of pixel art.

2-What do you do for a living? How does making art fit in your life or what's your daily art routine like?

I still remain a freelance artist. Drawing has always been my passion and I am very adamant with chasing my dreams when it comes to this. One of the harsh elements that led me to change directions was the struggle with finances. At the time, I wasn’t making a lot through oil painting as I had an odd job here and there, but it wasn’t good enough at all. I was drawing slowly and it takes a lot of time especially for oils to dry and repaint compared to acrylics. This led me to consider digital art as an alternative, which would require less upfront investment, allow for faster delivery, and yield quicker earnings. In less than two years, I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with prominent corporations, which has provided continued support and funding for my passion in art. I am immensely grateful for these opportunities
Since I currently work full-time as an artist and do not yet have an office space, maintaining discipline is crucial. Working from home can be challenging due to various distractions, such as social media, gaming, real-life issues, and relationships. To overcome these distractions, I have adopted a strategy. Everyday, I dive straight into my work immediately upon waking up. However, I have learned that it is important to avoid spending the entire day sitting and drawing continuously. Instead, I work in intervals and ensure that during breaks, I physically distance myself from electronic devices by lying on a sofa or bed. This helps me stay focused and really allows my mind and eyes to rest. Lastly, achieving a balance is essential. It is crucial to allocate time to spend with friends, family and significant others. Isolating yourself at home all day can be detrimental to your mental well-being.

3-How would you describe your art style? What do you think helped you develop it?

As mentioned earlier, my current focus revolves around creating pixel art illustrations. Unlike many pixel artists who primarily create game or comic-style assets (an area in which I still struggle), I draw upon my background in oil painting and incorporate my landscape knowledge to craft pixelated landscapes. I find great satisfaction in the landscapes I produce at this stage of my artistic journey.
Although I haven’t mastered the skill set yet, I can see an improvement compared to when I started, which is far more valuable than realizing you’re stuck in the same place.

4-How do you tackle the "fear of the blank canvas"?

I still face this challenge to this day! The trick that works for me involves starting by filling the background with a darker shade of any preferred color. For me it’s typically blue or green, since I enjoy drawing nature landscapes. Working with a darker tone makes it easier to establish the foundation, as it allows me to clearly see the outlines and elements I have drawn.
Afterwards, I typically prioritize identifying the key elements within the composition, such as a character, animal, or building structure. Once I have a rough outline or draft, I focus on drawing these key elements first. This approach ensures that the backdrop serves to enhance and support the main subject of the illustration, rather than overshadowing it. Of course, there may be instances where your backdrop IS the focus.

5-Is there a piece of art (yours or someone else's) that changed your life? How?

I believe it was the first pixel art that I came across in my life, but it was from a long time ago, so I don’t recall anymore. But there are definitely artists on Instagram nowadays that I idolize, and they heavily inspire me to continue working until I gain some reputation within the pixel art community. Some artists that I know dedicated almost a decade of their lives in the craft, so it’s a long, long way for me! Also massive gratitude to Ittai’s excellent pixel art tutorial that gave me the final push to begin this journey!

6-Do you have a favorite podcast or specific music that you like to listen to while working on your art?

Music plays a significant role in providing inspiration for my artwork. I have a diverse taste in music, but in recent years, I have found myself listening to a lot of Japanese songs. Inspiration often works in mysterious ways, with certain songs triggering a mental image or scene that I want to capture through my drawings. Once I identify a specific song that resonates with my mental image, I listen to it on a loop, allowing the image in my mind to become more vivid. However, it is a lot harder than the other way round. My mind keeps telling me: maybe listening to that kind of music will steer and inspire me in that direction, but it doesn’t work that way unfortunately.

7-When did you discover digital art? How was your first ever experience with Procreate? What role plays Procreate in your everyday life?

I discovered Procreate and other digital drawing software back in March 2022. Learning how to use these tools was a challenging process, because I had no prior knowledge of digital drawing software. I looked up a lot of tutorials on YouTube to finally figure it out. The most difficult part was to learn all the software functions (not just Procreate) such as what each function does, where are they located, learning those shortcuts or how those tools may help you out. One of the worst moments occurred after I understood the basic functions. Along the way, I would occasionally stumble upon shortcut methods that could have saved me significant time. Time that I had already spent inefficiently. It was frustrating to realize that I had wasted valuable time by not knowing these shortcuts earlier. Till this day, I’m sure there are still functions that I haven’t discovered yet, so we’ll cross that bridge when it comes. Currently, I use Procreate daily to draw my pixel art, and I only use Aseprite to work on GIFs/animations.

8-What is your favorite Procreate Manero brush set and why?

Well of course it has to be Manero’s Pixel Art brush set. It’s the only one that I use and I think it is very user friendly and helpful! Ittai provides FREE updates over time even after you’ve purchased the brush set. I believe I’ve had 3 updates so far and each update includes very useful shapes, textures and dithering patterns to help shape who I’ve become today.

9-Where can people check out your art?

I mainly use Instagram, DeviantArt, Twitter, ArtStation & Reddit.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/that.pixel.artistt
DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/fatbeard91
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fatbeard991
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Fatbeard91
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/fatbeard
Society6: https://society6.com/pixelbyfatbeard
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/pixelbyfatbeard
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/that.pixel.artist
Thank you so much for your time! Have a great day!

Artist Spotlight is a place where I'm interviewing artists that I personally admire, who's art I find very inspiring, and that also happen to use Procreate and my brushes as part of their artistic routine. Watch this space for more interviews in the future, and make sure to check each artist's links to show your support!

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