Nina Martin Conventions, Fandom

Anime LA: Artist Alley Spotlight on Artinggrace

By The Collected Mutineer

A few months ago, we had the opportunity to catch up with artist Artinggrace at Anime Los Angeles. We have purchased a lot of Grace’s art over the years (the Collectress has several pieces hanging in her office right now) and we eagerly look forward to the next time we can visit her!

Read below for some insight to Grace’s work and her creative process! 

Note: all artwork is posted here with permission from the artist. 

by artinggrace

How did you first become interested in creating fandom artwork?

I’ve technically drawn fanart for most of my life, with some of my earlier memories drawing Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh from my elementary school days. It was fun to create art to show my appreciation and love for a series I really enjoyed (plus positive feedback & attention is great). That sentiment hasn’t changed, just evolved into a deeper love of transformative side of fandom and exploring ideas I feel with particular characters.
by artinggrace

What inspires you to create art?

Interesting characters &/or concepts are my main source of inspiration for drawing. The art itself may not be particularly meaningful (I do draw lots of silly things & mindless doodles) but if I like a character, I like to express my love for them through my art. It also doubles as a way for me to share my thoughts or ideas about them and their interpersonal relations with other characters.

Do you have a particular process for creating art (i.e. when I write, I have to outline everything on post-its or nothing gets done…some people have to drink a particular type of tea…etc)? 

No particular process… basically, I get an idea, I sketch out a few thumbs, and then draw it. Pretty standard stuff.

What is your preferred artistic medium?

Digital for finished works (Wacom MSP 16, Sai & Photoshop for programs), and pencil & brush pen for sketches/doodles/inked stuff.

Who is your favorite artist? (Classic, current…list as many as you like)

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, JC Leyendecker, Nell Brinkley, Robert McGinnis, Tom of Finland, Fiona Staples, Hiromu Arakawa, Naoki Urasawa, Nagabe, Gigi Cavenago, Enrico Marini, Leinil Francis Yu, Chris Samnee, David Aja, Hyeonjin Kim, Old Xian, Tan Jiu, Audrey Mok, Jayd “Chira” Aït-Kaci, I’m going to stop now but the list is endless.

by artinggrace
We are very much looking forward to catching up with Grace next weekend at WonderCon (you can find her at booth E52!). If you’re not at WonderCon, you can also find her on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and  you can purchase charms, stickers, and more at her store on Storenvy as well.
Go leave her some love, Collectors!