For December's arterview, we're talking with lei! You can check out her twitter here, and her art thread here. Please feel free to reply with any additional questions of your own after reading! 
tiki: Hey Lei! For those who aren't familiar: how would you introduce yourself?
lei: hi tiki! i’d say i’m an artist, and a mixed odds shiny hunter. i LOVE cute things, and i try to show it off in all my drawings! i like to think i’m an approachable person, and i’m always down for a chat c:
tiki: You've drawn a whole bunch over on Smogon, how did you end up finding out about the forums?
lei: i’ve been a fan of pokemon since i was really young, and i found out about showdown through youtube. from there i met with a few friends who taught me about smogon and encouraged me to join!
tiki: Any other interests/hobbies you'd like to share with us apart from mons and drawing?
lei: i’ve been learning how to speedrun games i like lately! nothing submitted yet, but its a really fun pastime to learn how to do something from scratch and challenge myself.
tiki: Sounds interesting, from an outsider perspective speedrunning has always sounded super difficult, good luck with it! Back to art, do you maybe have any advice for those just starting out? Or just sharing some of your experiences so far in general o/
lei: i think anyone who is learning how to draw should not feel afraid to use references! whether it be for poses or coloring or anything really- learning anatomy and the like early on will seriously help. for me, for the art i do, i think its good to reference official media of anything you want to draw! the arts and culture room on ps has a page on their website with impeccably useful sheets of pokemon references, which helps me so much. :D dont feel afraid to ask for help as well! getting criticism from the right people can help loads. as for general experience, well, i think ive been pretty blessed. the people i surround myself with are so warm and loving! it really is important to be in a nice environment while you learn.
tiki: References are a huge help! Def a good thumbs up, don't hinder yourself by avoiding using them esp when starting out. Glad to hear you've been enjoying your experience so far, do you maybe have a single favorite piece you've done until now? If you do, tell us more about it!
lei: i think its my oshawott sailor image! its done for my dear friend boat, who requested it a while back. it wasnt a particularly detail oriented or time consuming piece, but i really started to work on using gradients during that one, so it holds near and dear to me in my art journey, given how much i adore using them now! i also learned how to shade using separate layers in that one, which was REVOLUTIONARY lolol way easier just to slap a filter on
tiki: Do you have any favorite artists from the forums?
lei: yes!! particularly i feel inspired by kaiju bunny, ausma, fusion flare, and you. the forums harbors some amazing talent, and you all have such unique art styles that i feel so happy to see your work! i think my absolute favorite is ausma, because her art style is so fluffy and warm to look at, but it’s so hard to pick favorites like that!
tiki: It's super exciting seeing so many artists group up around the forums for sure! So many different people to look up to. As far as your own art journey goes, is there anything you're currently looking to improve on/something you want to learn more about in the coming year?
lei: DEFINITELY perspective! i find that my drawings tend to look very flat and i want to make them pop out a lot more- its my biggest goal! i would also like to work on proportions since every pokemon i draw looks chubby T_T
tiki: Wishing you all the best with that! Is there any topic you'd like to talk about or share something more about yourself that we haven't covered yet?
lei: not particularly! i think i covered all the grounds :>
tiki: Alright! All that's left is the most important question, what's your favorite pokemon?
lei: there's so many, but i'd say a tie between cleffa, raichu, and cinccino is fair ^^ ;; theyre all so fluffy and cute!
tiki: Thank you for taking your time to answer these questions, studio visitors will be able to follow up with any additional ones afterwards!
Notice: On pause for the month of January! Arterviews resume in February :)

tiki: Hey Lei! For those who aren't familiar: how would you introduce yourself?
lei: hi tiki! i’d say i’m an artist, and a mixed odds shiny hunter. i LOVE cute things, and i try to show it off in all my drawings! i like to think i’m an approachable person, and i’m always down for a chat c:
tiki: You've drawn a whole bunch over on Smogon, how did you end up finding out about the forums?
lei: i’ve been a fan of pokemon since i was really young, and i found out about showdown through youtube. from there i met with a few friends who taught me about smogon and encouraged me to join!
tiki: Any other interests/hobbies you'd like to share with us apart from mons and drawing?
lei: i’ve been learning how to speedrun games i like lately! nothing submitted yet, but its a really fun pastime to learn how to do something from scratch and challenge myself.
tiki: Sounds interesting, from an outsider perspective speedrunning has always sounded super difficult, good luck with it! Back to art, do you maybe have any advice for those just starting out? Or just sharing some of your experiences so far in general o/
lei: i think anyone who is learning how to draw should not feel afraid to use references! whether it be for poses or coloring or anything really- learning anatomy and the like early on will seriously help. for me, for the art i do, i think its good to reference official media of anything you want to draw! the arts and culture room on ps has a page on their website with impeccably useful sheets of pokemon references, which helps me so much. :D dont feel afraid to ask for help as well! getting criticism from the right people can help loads. as for general experience, well, i think ive been pretty blessed. the people i surround myself with are so warm and loving! it really is important to be in a nice environment while you learn.
tiki: References are a huge help! Def a good thumbs up, don't hinder yourself by avoiding using them esp when starting out. Glad to hear you've been enjoying your experience so far, do you maybe have a single favorite piece you've done until now? If you do, tell us more about it!
lei: i think its my oshawott sailor image! its done for my dear friend boat, who requested it a while back. it wasnt a particularly detail oriented or time consuming piece, but i really started to work on using gradients during that one, so it holds near and dear to me in my art journey, given how much i adore using them now! i also learned how to shade using separate layers in that one, which was REVOLUTIONARY lolol way easier just to slap a filter on
tiki: Do you have any favorite artists from the forums?
lei: yes!! particularly i feel inspired by kaiju bunny, ausma, fusion flare, and you. the forums harbors some amazing talent, and you all have such unique art styles that i feel so happy to see your work! i think my absolute favorite is ausma, because her art style is so fluffy and warm to look at, but it’s so hard to pick favorites like that!
tiki: It's super exciting seeing so many artists group up around the forums for sure! So many different people to look up to. As far as your own art journey goes, is there anything you're currently looking to improve on/something you want to learn more about in the coming year?
lei: DEFINITELY perspective! i find that my drawings tend to look very flat and i want to make them pop out a lot more- its my biggest goal! i would also like to work on proportions since every pokemon i draw looks chubby T_T
tiki: Wishing you all the best with that! Is there any topic you'd like to talk about or share something more about yourself that we haven't covered yet?
lei: not particularly! i think i covered all the grounds :>
tiki: Alright! All that's left is the most important question, what's your favorite pokemon?
lei: there's so many, but i'd say a tie between cleffa, raichu, and cinccino is fair ^^ ;; theyre all so fluffy and cute!
tiki: Thank you for taking your time to answer these questions, studio visitors will be able to follow up with any additional ones afterwards!
Notice: On pause for the month of January! Arterviews resume in February :)
Last edited: