1-Who are you?

Hello! I am Lindsay Lee and I am an artist for Fantoons Animation Studio. I’ve been drawing since I was about two years old (according to my parents.) God gives us all gifts, and I have fortunately never had to wonder about mine! I can’t say I’ve had a solid trajectory in my artistic career, only a vague idea of wanting to do something art-related in my life. I’ve been relatively content just making art for the fun of it, while working retail for a living. I have gone from starving ‘Deviantart’ artist, to aimless Twitter artist, to now, starving ‘professional’ artist. ;)

2-What do you do for a living? How does making art fit in your life?

As stated above, I work for Fantoons Animation Studio, an animation studio and book publisher located in Los Angeles, California. I have several roles at the company, mainly storyboarder, layout artist, and colorist. I am occasionally an inker, proofreader, writer and brainstormer (with whatever is left of my brain, that is.) I am beyond grateful and humbled to work for the company, it was without doubt a blessing from God. With several health issues over the past few years, being able to work remotely with a relatively flexible schedule has also been an immense blessing.

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

How would I describe my style?…Mediocre. (Does that count?) This is an evil question! Something I have long struggled with is an art identity. Looking back at my art through the ages, I have had somewhat of a chameleon style–my art (poorly) mimicking whatever influenced me at the time. With a sharp eye one could maybe pick up on a recurrent style throughout my various phases, but that is lost on me. What I have at least tried to always be consistent in, is expressive faces for characters and a strong focus on lighting. Is an artist’s style ever fully developed? Not trying to be philosophical, I honestly don’t know! Watching hours of cartoons and reading comics has been the biggest aide to my style’s, or lack thereof, development.

4-What helps you find inspiration personally? What motivates you to keep going when art block hits?

Music has always been my go-to source of inspiration and motivation. My biggest passion in art is creating characters, and so for me, listening to music of any sort instantly brings pictures and stories to mind–helping me to craft narratives and the subsequent characters that belong. (Pro-tip: Progressive rock albums with twenty-minute long, epic ballads are the best for this.) What keeps me motivated is keeping food on the table. No art, no money, no food. Hunger is a great motivator! But seriously, having dealt with many, major art blocks throughout my life, I have learned the hard way to just let them be. When I face an art block, I do not fight it, I happily move onto other creative outlets. In fact, I quite enjoy these breaks and usually come back more motivated.

5-Name a couple of artists that you admire, and that made an influence in your own art.

Being a lifelong cartoon watcher, two of the artists I admire most are Glen Keane and Bruce Timm. Glen Keane was a character artist for Disney during their ‘90s renaissance era, and being a child of the ‘90s, his style was forever burned into my retinas. I adore the expressiveness of his characters, especially the large communicative eyes. His style is familiar, yet versatile, and even translates beautifully into 3D, i.e. Tangled’s Rapunzel. Bruce Timm was the co-creator, producer and character designer for the greatest cartoon of all time, Batman: The Animated Series. His minimalist, angular style continues to take my breath away. His art says so much with very few lines, the complete opposite of me! He’s also apparently self-taught, which is encouraging! (I’d also like to give an honorable mention to Jack Kirby, the iconic Marvel comic book artist.)

6-When did you discover digital art? How was your first experience with Procreate? What role does Procreate play in your everyday life?

Oh man, it feels like it’s been ages since I first discovered digital art! I can recall being 10, 11 years old and fantasizing about a “computer sketch pad” that I could take wherever I wanted (Where’s my check, Tim Cook?) I first started dabbling in digital artwork around the time of Adobe Photoshop CS, back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth and not every program had a damned subscription plan! I am sure many can relate, but these were the days of drawing with a ball mouse–the horror!

Fast-forward to only several years ago, when I was first hired at Fantoons: I had moved from the PC to a Samsung Note Tablet, and when Samsung discontinued that line I had no choice but to get an iPad Pro. Thanks to the very helpful suggestion of a fantastic artist, talented brushmaker and awesome co-worker I was introduced to Procreate. Normally, the learning curve of a new art program is a nightmare for me–having to “un-learn” gestures and shortcuts, as well as years-old muscle memory–but something about Procreate just…clicked. Instantly! I say with no exaggeration that Procreate has been the easiest and best art program I have ever used, and I could not do the work I do without it. Certain work still requires Photoshop, and those are dark, dreadful days indeed. (I am in no way sponsored by Procreate.)

7-What would you tell someone approaching Procreate for the first time?

It depends. If they’ve used other art programs, I’d tell them to start very simple. Find the brushes that best suit you (Manero has plenty), and just go back to basics. In time, you will learn each feature as necessity demands. This is totally subjective, but Procreate’s shortcuts, gestures and U.I are very intuitive, as well as refreshingly simple compared to the fustercluck that is Photoshop. If this person has never done any digital art, I’d simply say: have fun!

8-What is your favorite Procreate Manero brush set and why? How do Manero Brushes fit in your workflow?

My favorite Manero Brush Set is undoubtedly the Comic-Book Artist Brush Set! You’re gonna have to pry those inking brushes out of my cold, dead digital hands. They are lifesavers for many, many projects that work requires. The Smooth Inker in particular, is one of the most natural feeling brushes I have worked with. It behaves exactly as I expect, as if we have a telepathic relationship. I use it for nearly everything. I should change my answer above about my style to “Smooth Inker Brush” style, because I use it in 99.9% of my work. There would be no workflow without these brushes. I also want to shoutout to The Crosshatching Experience and The Dynamic Stippling & Patterns Brush sets, they complement any inking brush incredibly well and save hours of time!

9-Where can people check out your art?

My art can be seen in many Fantoons productions–viewer beware!

Check out the Fantoons website!

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!

Check out Lindsay Lee's favorite Manero brush sets for Procreate, and many more!

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Cheers!

Ittai

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