Artist Interview: Gawki

Hello, everyone! I’m Chris Alan Peuler, an aspiring professional artist, and today I have an interview with a fantastic artist that goes by the handle of Gawki.

I recently met Gawki at a group illustration show in small-town Illinois, and I immediately fell in love with her work. After some convincing, I managed to get her to agree to do an interview with me for Capes + Cartridges. Let me just say that I, along with everyone on staff at C+C, couldn’t be happier to feature so much fantastic artwork from a young and talented artist whose career is on the rise!

It was a pleasure conducting the interview with Gawki. She is a very thoughtful person, and therefore gave us plenty of passionate and inspirational responses. She definitely follows her heart when it comes to making her work, and that is always invigorating to hear. If you’re in the mood for some inspiring stories related to making art and getting in touch with your inner child, then look no further.

First off, congratulations on the daily deviation! I bet that has to be a fun experience to go through after logging in to DA? 

Gosh, thank you! Yes, it was. I’m currently having a fallout with that site, and being featured can’t and won’t change my opinion about it, but overall it was definitely an honor and a surprise to be featured.

I’m sensing some strong opinions or perhaps some strong “feels” surrounding DA. Care to elaborate a bit more on your fallout with the site, or is that a topic for another day?

Haha! It’s because Deviantart furthered the problem (you could also say enforced the problem) of underpaying artists with their new commission beta widget. The price ranges they had people choose from reflected realistic prices of what artists were already asking for, but the fact is… Artists are already setting their rates lower than they should and I find it to be a problem because it continually diminishes our value to society — not that it is or was our fault in the first place but our jobs are looked down upon.

As one of the biggest sites for artists, the fact that they valued their artists as low as they already think they’re worth (which is NOT worthy enough, by the way) really appalled me. It felt pressuring even to some, who might have been asking for more, to lower their prices because they didn’t fit into some of those lower ranges.

Anyway, it was and IS still beta, so they probably have changed some things. Anyway, it’s a strong opinion, but I could be wrong about Deviantart. There are other reasons too (like some of the people in the community throw rather immature opinions around), but I can’t really blame the site since most of the people on there are usually younger individuals.

 

I didn’t know that about DA, It’s interesting (as well as a little disheartening) that a website dedicated to showcasing and spreading art could actually help exacerbate an already prevalent problem for artists. I know of artists complaining about not getting work from DA, but this issue is definitely new to me. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, it’s definitely something to consider.

Yeah, pretty disappointing.

Now, dialing things back to where you came from, when did you know you were an artist?

When did I know? Haha, this is a really hard question. I’ve heard this saying a few times in a different wording (and a more general meaning), but it kind of stuck with me: I think every kid is an artist, but I think staying an artist as they grow older is what gives them the right to stay labelled an artist. So, with that, I think I’ve always been an artist. When I was a little kid a lot of people asked if I would be an artist when I was older, and I just said yes, so I never really mentally decided to be an artist. I just persisted on drawing and painting into my adolescent years and my current young adulthood so I could hold onto that title of artist. Right now, I know I have to hold onto that title, because I honestly can’t see myself doing anything else with my life. The funny thing though is that when all these people asked if I would be an artist, I’d just agree without realizing there are tons of different fields of art. Entering college actually shocked me, because I realized how little I knew about the industry.

What is it that you love about illustration?

Wow, there are so many things I love about it. Illustration is how we communicate without having to use words (something I struggle with by the way). I also find that it can portray messages a lot louder than words. To me it’s sort of an escapism, like gaming and reading can be. I can create characters and worlds that don’t exist and make them visible, and that’s probably my favorite thing about it. It’s endless in its possibilities. I also love the fact that there are tons of artists all portraying their ideas in different ways. It gives you a visual of how each one thinks, and it shows and proves there is variety in human beings. Like no matter what, if five artists get the same theme or idea to draw, even if their styles are similar, then their voices will portray the theme or idea differently from the rest, and it’s beautiful.

Your passion for illustration is very endearing, and if you don’t mind me saying, I feel it shows in your work! Especially in your character designs.

Awe. I find an importance of spreading love and happiness without lying about the harshness and sadness in the world. That’s one of the things I try to reflect in my work. Thank you.

What is it about designing your characters that you find most intriguing: presenting their individual story, or creating a captivating design?

I kind of surround my characters with designs that are unique and with stories that capture. Although I don’t write full-on stories, I try hard to make them unique but simple, and I do the same with their designs. I’m really indecisive and can’t really choose between those two options you gave me, but I might be leaning more to having captivating designs appear stronger than their stories only because I’m more of a visual person than a storyteller. Although, I can agree a good character design with a bad story can break it and vice versa.

Speaking of story, I love the aesthetic of the original characters you make, especially their style (I’m referring to a few on DA like Lyle and Bitter, but I’m not sure of what is an OC or not). I was hoping you could elaborate a bit more on them. How deep do you go into their story: do they have motivations or struggles? Do they exist in the same world, or is a new world created for each of them?

Oh, gosh. An OC means original character and I’m really happy you want to hear about them. I think trying to describe original characters as a whole is really difficult and it’s really different from person to person. They’re basically what you see in movies and stories (like Harry Potter being a really big one, etc). Personally, mine are sort of pieces of my own personalities and tastes. I definitely try to avoid the Mary Jane character types, because I like to view things more realistically and I see flaws in all of them. Their stories I try to keep short and simple, but interesting with an attempt to be impactful and original that can somehow grab the viewer’s emotions and twist them – make them angry, make them sad, make them confused, etc.

Although their stories are currently very short and vague (mostly because I like to keep them open to being able to do anything because I’m indecisive), I like to think maybe someday I can elaborate more information into them and attempt to possibly combine all their stories into a single universe to relate them to each other the same way they all relate to me in a way. I think it will be a mix of illustrations and storytelling, but because I feel I have a huge skill level difference between my writing skills and drawing skills, illustrations are my best way to communicate with them. At the moment they’re just growing with me and slowly changing as my tastes change. I think about them quite a bit (sometimes even dream about them) and ideas just hit me on what I can do next. As for their purpose, personally they’ve helped me learn about myself and what I’m looking for in my art. They sort of represent what I’ve already said about escaping from this world and bringing everything I want with me to places imagined and unimagined. Sorry if I’m sort of overlapping a lot of what I’ve already said.

Kind of funny story about my desire to escape: I just remembered when I was a little kid I would sit on my bed with my favorite belongings, and sometimes a friend, and we would pretend we’d be blasting off into space with our favorite things. I remember it being so fun back then.

Did you want to hear about an OC’s individual story by the way, or just general which I just shared? I guess I’ll let you figure out what you want to ask with the next question. Heh.

Haha, alright Gawki, I’m not that much of a noob! I know what OC means (but the statement I made was a bit ambiguous). However, I am still a big noob when it comes to some of these cool trends I see on Tumblr and Deviantart, all brought to my eye from checking out some of your gorgeous work. What exactly is an “adoptable”? I see you posting a ton of awesome character variations with that word attached.

But your original characters are what I can’t wait to hear about. Tell me all about this girl and this girl. And while you’re at it, I don’t know if these are OC’s, but tell me more about this one and this one. I’d like to hear about those two simply because the illustrations you did of them are wonderful.

Haha, sorry I misunderstood. I guess it’ll help anyone else that doesn’t know? I’m flattered to hear you have an interest in them and that you’re watching what I’ve been doing! Adoptables are a pretty loose thing, really. An artist creates pre-made characters or creature designs, sometimes custom ones, and sells them or gives them to anyone who might be interested. There are many different rules an artist can attach or not attach to them (like don’t resell them, for non-commercial use, etc). A lot of people argue positively or negatively towards them. It can go pretty deep and I could talk for ages about them. They’re really fun though, and I’ve learned quite a lot from working with them.

Oh, ok! Well the first one is Lyle (I like to think it’s pronounced as “Lily,” but even I sometimes just say Lyle.) I only have a short summary in mind as a gist of her back story.

She’s just a really young girl who ends up so close to death that she appears in limbo before completely passing. She meets a shadowy figure that speaks to her enticingly, asking her to free him from his prison that is limbo. She asks what she will get in return and he offers her her life back. She ponders for a short moment, recalling her peaceful life with her foster parents who treated her very well and pampered her. This causes her to regret running away for a selfish taste of freedom. Before she could hear the details, she agrees and he surrounds his shadowy body around her, whispering to her what will happen to her starting at this moment. “You’ll gain immortality, never reaching adulthood, and forever be looked down upon as a mere, ignorant child. Your hair will change to the sweet hue of greenly ocean waves that you drowned in. The make-up you favored on your favorite doll currently washed up on the beach will permanently conceal your cheeks. You will be but a shell that represents your last life and its purpose will be a vessel for me to use to enter back into the mortal world.” She is transformed and lifted back up to the surface (kind of how this image portrays) before waking up and running back home.

Personality-wise, I chose to display her life a century or so after this occurrence. She becomes bitter and hates the ignorance that creatures and people spew around their disgusting mouths. She moved to the middle of a forest away from other intelligent life forms. Leech, the demon that is attached to her, doesn’t recall what happened in limbo. He’s actually rather kind and is currently Lyle’s caregiver and guardian. Lyle treats him like crap sometimes, but Leech can’t really do anything about it since the only thing he remembers is that if he hurts her in any way or kills her, then he dies too.

Bitter is still very much a WIP story-wise. She wanders in lands full of static, almost like worlds that were created before the creators knew how to shape forms that had a sort of purpose. (Kind of like early sketches of children that knew nothing of what they were doing and scribbled). She has really strong legs that help her maneuver worlds fast, and she can jump multiple times the height of a human being. What she is and her purpose is the reasoning behind her endless wandering.

Personality-wise for her, she’s a bit stuck up, and when she meets with other living forms that have any sort of intelligence she watches them and then possibly toys with them, even taking their things out of curiosity. She talks very little. The balls in her hair talk for her most of the time. One is rather insulting and a loud-mouth, while the other is coy and a worry wort. They hold her extra things, like ingredients and objects she finds.

That was really fun — thanks for asking about them.

As for those other two that you mentioned, they’re just OCs that belong to a few people I’ve come in contact with. Chisari (a really rad pixel artist) and I art-traded.

With Poplerpig, I loved their OC so much I had to draw them. I think they’re both worth looking into. <‘:

I’m really happy you like them, though. Thank you.

All I have to say is damn, those are some intriguing and really compelling stories for your characters. It goes to show that a character with an informed history is that much more likely to have a strong visual impact when illustrated successfully. Lyle and Bitter are awesome! I really love their narrative. I’m curious if you are thinking about taking any of these stories further? For example, developing a series of comics or storybooks focused on any of these characters?

I’d love to do more with them! But at the moment I’m really not sure what exactly the best approach would be for me. Comics might work, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in my ability for long-term things that require much of my attention and devoted interest. I might do some short comics/illustrations for sure, though! Like I said before, eventually I’d like to try to combine some of my characters into a single universe where they might come across each other and interact, but that’s something stowed away for later until I figure out more about them, their individual stories, and when I have more confidence in my own abilities. If I could make a video game with my own characters, though… That would probably be my life dream goal.

Now I have to ask: if you make a game with your characters being involved with the story, what type of game would it be?

Gosh, to be honest I’m not really sure what kind of game I’d choose for my characters. It would probably be action-based but also rely heavily on story and imagery. Probably something along the lines of a choice game, with extreme choices only the character would choose to make the player really uncomfortable.

How have video games, or nerd culture in general, affected your art? I’m guessing from your daily deviation that you are a big fan of Zelda (spoilers: me too!). Has that game series inspired you creatively?

Oh yeah, I’m definitely inspired by Legend of Zelda games! I’ve played a bunch of different genres, but there are many different reasons why that game series is one of my top favorites. One reason is because they base the story on 3 key characters and a plot to destroy evil, and then they take these few things and use them in in brand new worlds with their own individual stories and twists. It’s so open and they could literally take these characters into any kind of world they want to imagine. It gives them so much room to be flexible and I think that’s what makes it fun for the game developers and players.

I also really love the character designs. They’re so exaggerated and unique, and each one yells its personality in every game. It’s something you don’t see a lot in video games nowadays. I also honestly love Wind Waker’s style. It pushes the 2D look in a 3D environment, giving it the best of both worlds — something I’m very fond of and like to use in my art. I also love the Animal Crossing series because it also feels like it really pushes towards 2D as well with its over simplification and its use of patterns. Jet Set Radio also pushes 2D, and that game is just really rad, colorful, and interesting conceptually to me, dang. Lately I’ve been playing Tera online and Starbound. I know Tera has affected me and blown me away with its use of foliage, and Starbound is just playfully colorful and interesting conceptually, so we’ll just see how that affects my art later.

Are there any projects you are currently working on?

At the moment I’m really only doing personal projects and private commissions. The personal projects are shaping my characters’ worlds and stories, and doing illustrations of them along with buffering out my style towards something I’m more fond of using to express myself. I’m currently not engaging in professional concept or illustrative freelance work, but I wouldn’t mind if some landed on my lap at the moment (like any other artist I’m sure, haha).

What are some of the art-related websites you’ve been checking out lately, and who are some of the artists you think we should check out ourselves?

I’m a bit of a Tumblr junkie, so I tend to look at art there more than anything else. I do like to hop around other sites, like CGhub.com and conceptart.org, to look at art and job listings. I also have a thing for muddycolors.blogspot.com. I honestly think I ought to expand my list, but who knows? I have created a Twitter and cghub to slowly expand myself into other social media sites! Hopefully I can make on on conceptart.org as well and post some work there.

Is there anywhere we should look for you and your art in the near future? Any plans for cons, workshops, or events?

I do plan to hopefully go to C2E2 and Anime Midwest. I don’t plan to get a table, though. I prefer walking around and seeing everything there is to see!

And finally, any advice for your fellow artists still in school or just starting out?

Art takes a lot of patience and hard work. School helps a lot, but if you work hard enough you won’t need it. I’d say go if you can afford it, though! Consider how much you’re going to make as an artist. You won’t make as much as a lawyer, so don’t pay as much money as they are to go to college unless you have 100k lying around. Also, don’t pay tons to go to an expensive college if you think that will be the magical step to your art becoming amazing. You’re running the show, so don’t think going with the flow is going to make you the best. You must work hard! If you want to improve the fastest, don’t draw the same way twice in a row and keep trying new things! If you aren’t struggling, then you aren’t learning.

Thanks to Gawki for taking time to answer our questions. If you made it this far you should definitely check out some of her work below and on her deviant art page!