Arterview: aXl
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As most people know, art can encompass a lot of things. A whole lot, to the point where it becomes difficult to decide what isn't art. However, we're not here to philosophically debate the proper definition of art, but instead to direct the spotlight towards a kind of artist we seldom feature on the arterview: a spriter. Granted, this artist has also successfully picked up both traditional and digital art alongside it, but his roots remain the same, and it's none other than aXl, who also goes by the name Falgaia. Let's jump right to it!
Bummer
Let's start with the basics: how would you introduce yourself?
aXl
Well, I'm a college student majoring in Architecture who likes to procrastinate, said procrastination usually involving drawing Pokémon.
Bummer
Architecture is certainly something directly related to your interests, is that something you've aspired towards during early years or something you figured out recently?
aXl
It definitely came late, and I think I only really settled on it around senior year of high school. I think I originally went into it because it looked like a mix of art, science, and math, and those subjects all kind of appealed to me in high school. Turns out it's a lot more focused on art and design rather than math and science, which is even better for me personally. I wish I had a bit more time to myself in the semesters, but the work hasn't killed me yet, so I think I'm doing an okay job with it.
Bummer
Looking into what subjects you excel at and then finding a line of work that combines them is certainly a great way of choosing your future career. Magistrum is also someone working in the architecture field, you two ever exchange tips?
aXl
Every now and then we chat about it in passing, but I always seem to miss Magistrum whenever he comes to the art room, so it's usually a fairly rare occurrence.
Bummer
So how come an architect like yourself likes Pokémon?
aXl
Well, Pokémon sort of is the reason I got into art in the first place. I think before sixth grade, the only real art I did was painting miniatures for various games I'd play with my brother, which felt a bit like coloring inside the lines of a coloring book to me. Smeargle's Studio was what got me into digital art back when I stumbled across the old spriting megathread and wondered how people went about fusing Forretress's head to Roserade's body and other such weirdness.
Spriting started to get me interested in sketching, and then eventually digital art more recently. I think that, had I not stumbled upon Smogon through Pokémon back in sixth grade, I'd probably have never really gotten into art early enough to really consider Architecture.
Bummer
I personally believed you were a somewhat recent artist, but a quick glance at your profile reveals that you joined in 2009. Was the art forum much more sprite oriented back then?
aXl
I think, at least in the Pokémon communities, that that's just kind of a general statement. Back in Gen IV, when I got started spriting, it wasn't too difficult to make official-looking sprites, since they were still static and didn't require too much technical knowledge. But now we're in Gen VI, where sprites aren't even used anymore, and I think the art form has started to lose popularity within the communities as a result. That said, Smeargle's Laptop has surprised me with how it's been able to keep afloat these past few months, so maybe it's starting to see a resurgence.
Bummer
There are obviously large differences between regular digital drawing and spriting, even though both use the same hardware. How do you feel going from sprites to drawings?
aXl
It was pretty difficult for me starting out. I think before I got into spriting, the most I had ever drawn was maybe some stick figures, and I spent a lot of time early on doing a bunch of art studies on Pokémon using the Gen IV guidebooks. I saw sketching as an easier way to create poses for sprites rather than just trying to place pixels on a blank canvas, so it was easier working backwards to be honest. Nowadays, I've been doing a lot more drawings because I still have a lot to learn in the medium and I think it's probably a bit better for teaching light, form, and shading, since I'm not working on such a small scale.
Bummer
We rarely have a spriter here on the arterview, so I'd love to take the opportunity to ask if there are any certain things newcomers need to think of if they want to get into spriting?
aXl
Well, for starters, it's not a hard medium to get into. Hardware-wise, you'd be surprised how well stuff that's as simple as MS Paint can work for sprites. Aside from that, one exercise I don't really see a lot of newcomers try is just a simple pixel study of whatever art form they're trying to replicate. It can be really insightful trying to recreate an existing sprite from scratch without tracing over it, just zooming out every few pixels and seeing how their placement changes the way the piece looks. Moving one pixel or darkening a color just a smidge can be the difference between making a good-looking set of eyes or an unholy abomination that shouldn't be let near children in this medium. I feel it's really good for newcomers to experience that logic firsthand.
Oh, and never save any sprite as a JPEG, and be sure to turn off anti-aliasing, it'll ruin the image immediately.
Bummer
Do you have any particular good memories from your earlier days on Smogon? Did you participate in any Weekly Sprite Contests?
aXl
Yeah, I think I participated in a dozen or so? I never won any but got inducted in as a judge in the last few weeks it ran for, so that was neat. As for other good memories, the old spriting crowd had a bunch of cool people, and there were a couple of projects I helped out that crashed and burned, so those were some good memories.
Bummer
Needless to say, you've become quite adept at drawing digitally as well, as your work can often be seen featured in Pokémon of the Week on Smogon's Facebook page, among other places. Anything you're currently trying to improve upon?
aXl
To be perfectly honest, I kinda suck at creating my own designs. I kinda missed out on the stage of my drawing career where you just doodle your imagination onto a sheet of looseleaf and I feel I'm not very creative as a result, so I've been trying to find ways to try to rekindle that part of my brain a lot recently. A part of that's been driving my desire to learn as many mediums as I can get my hands on recently, as I see it as one of the best ways to kick myself outside of my comfort zone. So yeah, I guess doodling.
Bummer
You're also fairly active outside of Smogon, anything you'd like to plug here?
aXl
I'm trying to get into the habit of splitting my student work and my personal stuff into separate accounts, so I tend to have a lot of multiple accounts on the same website. I generally use Falgaia as my personal art username on sites like DeviantArt, Instagram, and even Facebook, and I've been using semiAquamatic as my username for posting architecture stuff. I also have semiAquamatic as my personal blog on Tumblr, since I accidentally blocked myself out of Falgaia, but that's neither here nor there.
Other than that, I also have a sketch blog on Tumblr under the username okayRathskeller that I try to update to pretty frequently, but yeah.
Bummer
Anything in specific you'd like to say about yourself that I lack the foresight to ask about?
aXl
I'd like to think that I am sort of living proof that even the most talentless people can become decent at art if they try long enough, so there's that.
Bummer
Alright, then let's wrap this up: what's your favorite Pokémon?
aXl
Mega Banette for sure. Gallade if we aren't including Megas.
Bummer
Exquisite choice. Thanks for spending your time with me.
aXl
No problem, always a pleasure.
Critique
A quick glance through aXl's art gallery shows that he's not an artist who shies away from experimenting, but instead someone who's actively seeking out new styles to try out, be it watercolors, digital drawings, or of course, sprites. Some of my personal favorites are his contributions to last year's front page contest (the Mega Diancie below being one of them), where the clean lineart, lively poses, and vibrant colors together made for a stunning submission. His watercolor pieces are also highly fascinating, where the abundance of details and fluid colors make for eye-catching illustrations that Smogon's Facebook page greatly benefited from (see Mega Ampharos below).
But while seeking out new areas to improve within is all fine and good, one does well to apply what they've learned from past experiences. For instance, aXl's more rougher paintings could greatly benefit from specific focal points so that the whole image doesn't seem rushed, which is something he's applied frequently in his older work. Innovation is certainly beneficial, but to an artist, it's not everything. Over the course of time, everything an artist has experienced will ultimately refine and polish their own style or become new skills that can be used for specific occasions. Knowing how to apply that knowledge in each new image is where veteran artists truly shine.
That said, if aXl can keep this pace up, not only will his art continue to improve, but he'll also move on as an artist with an open mind and a whole arsenal of techniques and tricks up his sleeves. If you want to explore more of aXl's work, look no further than the links below!
DeviantArt | Tumblr | Instagram | Facebook Page | Smogon Art Thread
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