Meet The Artist: @_eatslugs

Today we have a fun interview with @_eatslugs !!

Nope, we did not eat slugs! Just in case you were wondering, no slugs were harmed in this interview!

We first met @_eatslugs when we kindly asked to animate their art! Here is one that we did! (Check out our Instagram page to see the animation)

1. What is your Instagram account? Do you have any other social media accounts for your art?

My Instagram is @_eatslugs and that is where I share the most variety of works, but I’m basically on every other possible platform!

I prefer Instagram and Twitter because that’s where I can interact the most with people.

2. What was the first art piece that you remember impacted you or inspired you to make art?

Actually, the very first inspiration came from my favorite game “Life is Strange” and not from one particular art piece.

When I first played the game, I remember being completely immersed in those sceneries. Even just walking in the forest was such an intense experience with all those beautiful lights and intense vibes!

Everything from the colors to the expressions of the characters filled me with nostalgic and heartwarming feelings.

Right after finishing the game in 2016, I remember having an urge to recreate those scenes and actually explains why my very first artworks are mostly Life is Strange fan art!

*laughs*

It really inspired me a lot… here is some of them:

3. When did you realize you enjoyed making art or when did you start making art?

In a way, I always found myself drawing every now and then. But what I never realized was how passionate I was!

In my early teenage years, I was a big anime fan, and I really wanted to cover my entire room with anime prints, but we didn’t have a printer!Instead, I was redrawing my favorite images just to be able to have them on my wall!

*laughs*

Later, even with all those Life is Strange fan arts, I was still just recreating something that already existed, so I never really had a goal about making art.

I realized I could be more serious about my art back in October of 2017 when my favorite artist Ilya Kuvshinov shared a very inspiring post about his art journey.

He talked about his inspirations and achievements from the start.

That really opened my eyes, and made me want to start getting into art with purpose and dedication, so I started studying and drawing every single day and have not stopped since!

4. What style of art did you start off with and is it the same today? What else have you tried? What are your favorite styles of art?

I started off drawing mostly figures with a very anime-ish approach, like most of us I believe!

But even then, there was something “wrong” with it. My approach to body proportions was much more semi-realistic than anime-like, as I was using pictures of myself for reference. Somehow, it came out looking weird all the time!

*laughs*

I realized I was forcing myself into drawing big anime eyes and chunky hair because of anime influences. I thought it was the way I am supposed to draw, but somehow it just didn’t feel natural to me.

From time to time, I kept slightly adjusting things, trying to understand what was the most natural way of drawing for me.

That resulted in small stylized dark eyes, less stylized hair, and more organic bodies and clothing folds. It wasn’t something I actively decided to do, it was very important to me to just let it flow as naturally as possible!

I still use a lot of bright colors, just like anime usually does, I really like the cheerful feelings they bring!

My favorite art styles would be exactly the ones that are halfway between anime and real life.

Great examples of this would be Satoshi Kon and Ilya Kuvshinov .

5. Which is your favorite art piece that you have made and why?

It would probably be this one!

I remember drawing this right after a big breakdown!

*laughs*

I kept feeling like something was missing, like I wanted to do more than just figure studies and portraits.

That’s still something I often do as practice, but the day I drew this piece was the day I decided to come up with my own stories and try to illustrate them.

I have done many pieces on the same wave after this and I have to say those are the most satisfying to do!

When you put something about yourself in your own works, it really shows up how engaged you were with the piece.

My favorite part is hearing people’s theories about these artworks. Sometimes they come up with better stories than the one I was thinking about while I was doing it!! That is so awesome, beautiful minds!

*laughs*

6. When did you decide to start a social media account for your art? Were you nervous? Excited?

I actually never really decided it.

At first, my account was a mixture of daily life photos and drawings.

Little by little, as I noticed my drawings were starting to get a bit of attention, I turned it into a full-art account and started posting them on other platforms as well.

7. How has your experience been with your social media account(s) for your art? What are the positive outcomes? Is there any negative outcomes?

The most positive thing from this experience is surely the connections you make with others.

Whether with your own audience or with other artists, there’s an ocean of beautiful people ready to shower you with love and inspire you, and it’s something that can really make your day!

In my beginnings, there were times where I’d post a drawing that really looked horrible to me, but somehow people were still leaving comments of appreciation or sending me messages about how inspirational I was for them.

That’s still so unbelievable to me, every time it happens, it hits me right in the heart strings!

Another positive outcome is that it really helped me with consistency.

When you know there are people waiting to see what you create next, it’s almost impossible to just leave it alone or give up!

On the other note, the more I grow artistically, the more I feel the pressure to prove that I deserve the response I have been getting.

As artists, we are already so harsh on ourselves, so it’s a real challenge to ignore the hateful comments trying to drag you down…

Luckily, the amount of positive comments is so overwhelming that, in the end, you realize how many people there are ready to support you compared to hateful people. Those are the people that will stick with you everyday, not the hateful ones that are just random lightning bolts crossing the sky.

Please never get discouraged because of people like that!

8. What advice would you give any artists out there who are considering sharing their art on social media?

My advice is: Stop considering it and start doing it!

All the time you spend thinking about whether you should do it or not, it’s wasted time…

Just do it and do your best to keep it up!

Also, enjoy the ride because it’s really fun and it teaches you a lot!