Home Features Artgerm – Feature 5 of 5 – Urban-Muse Magazine #4

Artgerm – Feature 5 of 5 – Urban-Muse Magazine #4

by Curt Anderson
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What you are about to read is the culmination of the Urban-Muse Magazine Project issues 1-4 thus far. And what we feel is our best work for this project. The Urban-Muse Magazine Patreon campaign was not large enough to make further issues possible until we find a way to get more support.  If you like what you are about to read and think we should keep doing stuff like this please consider helping us out on Patreon. Over the next few months we will be doing several paid artist cover features and are making re-investing into the artist community one of our top priorities. Artgerm is only one of many artists we have paid and commissioned over the years. But we can only support them so much. (I do this out of pocket, the amount of all the money generated by the patreon is less than the amount I pay artists). You will get download links to issues 1-4 and various other early editorials and features. Urban-Muse is struggling financially and needs help. Things are serious.  Patreon.com/UrbanMuse

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By Supporting Urban-Muse on Patreon you will receive Download links to Issues 1-4 of Urban-Muse Magazine. You can Get a free Preview of Issue #2 in it’s entirety below If you like it please consider supporting us on Patreon. The project can not go forward without more support.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

(This interview is LARGE
Click to Jump to that part)

Introduction
Marvel Films Infinity War
Working with Marvel and DC
Special Connection with Supergirl
Recent DC Films
Early Life – Hong Kong to Singapore
Working with Capcom on Street Fighter III
Early Work
Graphic Design Education
First Jobs
Origin and Meaning of the name “Artgerm”
T-Shirt Company “Animal Square”
The Start of Imaginary Friends
Imaginary Friends goes to Comic-Con
Comic Books and Manga
Video Games
Family Life
Positive and Negative Criticism
Trolls and Haters on Social Media
Constructive Criticism
The Pepper Project
Pepper Cosplay
Favorite Pepper
On Older Pieces
Teaching Ones Self Anatomy
References, Models, and Citation
Photobashing
Commercial Art Clients
On Creativity
Mental Sketches
Pleasing Publishers
Computer Programs
Brushes/Gear
Traditional Art
Gallery Shows
Darkstalkers
Life in Art
Strengths
Students Growth
Advice For Students / ARTTRA Discord
Livestreams
Art as a Lifestyle
Think Globally Act Locally
Fans = Clients
Artists Block
Depression in the Artist Community
The True Nature of Your Followers
Overcoming Adversity
Time Management
Importance of Family
Wishes for the Future
Parting Words

 

 

Introduction

Artgerm isn’t just an artist. He’s a brand, he’s a creative director, he’s a comic cover artist, he’s a concept artist, he’s a video game artist, he’s a toy designer, he’s the organizer of a worldwide art discord, he’s a teacher, he’s a husband, and he’s a father.

If you’ve been following digital art the past 15 years, particularly digital art on DeviantArt, you know who Artgerm is. Saying that Artgerm is one of the most well known, recognized artists in the history of DeviantArt I would say is a an understatement. Artgerm has been very popular on other artsites as well as Urban-Muse.com, virtually since the beginning.

Urban-Muse has posted literally hundreds of Artgerm pieces in our 10+ year history, and every single time they perform well. To see a popular character or concept executed by Artgerm is to see it with brand new eyes, and the fans seem to really connect with that.

Since this project began, Artgerm has been at the top of my list of people that I want to feature in this magazine, and feature them on the cover. But to be honest, I found Artgerm intimidating. I did not approach him for the first issue because of his sheer scale and the fact that we had never met I thought it was not the right time. The time is right. The time is now!

When Artgerm messaged me back after I sent the initial proposal, my heart started racing, I my blood started flowing and I got really excited and nervous. The closest thing I can compare that feeling to is when you finally get the courage up to ask that girl (or boy) out and they say YES! It’s that kind of ecstatic feeling.

Artgerm initially said he could give 1 hour for the interview over Google Hangouts, but he could go a little bit over if the conversation is good. We went for 2 hours. Initially during the interview I was nervous, but I broke the ice by immediately talking about the Infinity War Movie that had just released world wide. Immediately we were talking about something in common and starting to connect, from there it expanded to nearly every aspect of his life for the past 20 years.

When talking to Artgerm, his teacher aspect I think shines through. He reminded me of teachers I’ve had in the past. He is very patient, passionate, and is able to coalesce his big ideas into something simple that anyone can understand.

After the interview I felt so inspired, and like I learned so much, I felt that I got to know this man even though we never met in person. That is the feeling that I hope You the Reader get when reading this amazing article.

Urban-Muse.com: First of all I really want to thank you for agreeing to do this magazine project. About a year and a half ago when I started the magazine (I started the website about 10 years ago), you were one of those artists on that list I had that were a kind of like a “dream artist” scenario, so to get this opportunity, I’m just very humbled and grateful to get this chance to work with you in this capacity.

Artgerm: No Problem.

Urban-Muse.com: When we were preparing for this you let me know you wanted to focus on teaching and learning techniques for young artists to grow and improve their work and I was very excited when you told me that because it’s very much in line with what the magazines goal is and what I want to do with the project. I want young artists to be able to pick up this magazine, to see their favorite artists, and to get some inside information, inspiration, and tips. So that one day they can get to know the person, and of course the technique and skills required to make these pieces a reality. But also things like what your daily life is like, your family life, what gets you excited, games, movies, tv shows etc.

 

 Marvel Films Infinity War

Urban-Muse.com: Let’s start with the latest big news, have you gotten a chance to see Infinity War? (Note this interview was originally released through Patreon summer of 2018)

Artgerm: Oh yeah! I did! To be honest, I’m not always the biggest superhero fan, even though I work on so many superhero comics and covers. And actually most of the time I don’t really know and understand who I am really drawing. So for Infinity War it’s just my natural viewing, just like many people we start knowing more about the DC and Marvel Universes through the movies and TV Series. So with Infinity War I felt like since I had been watching all the Iron Man movies etc, I naturally needed to watch it, I didn’t actually know the Infinity Gauntlet story, so I just watched it as a normal person. And I liked it! But actually one thing I talk about quite a lot with my friends that makes it less exciting because we know that some of these heroes don’t really die. It’s not like watching Game of Thrones, that when people die, they REALLY die. So it’s ok, but I still think it’s quite entertaining for me, I don’t have any strong emotional attachment to any particular character, I just watch it and it’s entertaining! There’s some little loopholes here and there, but most of the movies I’m not too concerned about that.

 Working With Marvel and DC

Urban-Muse.com: And from what I can tell it seems like you do more work with DC than Marvel? Is that right?

Artgerm: Oh, I started working with DC Comics a lot earlier than I started working with Marvel. I don’t know why I just enjoy DC Comics more and have not touched Marvel stuff until recent years. Only 2 years ago I started working with Marvel.

Urban-Muse.com: In another interview you remarked that because it’s based on seniority, you actually make a little bit less when you work for Marvel.

Artgerm: Yeah, that’s true. It’s very strange that after working with DC for so many years, and even working with Marvel projects on statues and stuff, that I wasn’t considered a verified Marvel artist.

 

Urban-Muse.com: What does that mean?

Artgerm: Yeah! What does that mean right? It means that they need to somewhat approve me and put me into the database of verified artists for the covers. So in order to do that I need to somehow prove my worth. And even though I’ve done many successful projects on the DC side, somehow it didn’t impact the Marvel side in terms of the financial side of it. So they put me on the lower tier, and start to increase my rate progressively.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah it seems like that heroes you work with on the DC side you work with Superman, Batman, Supergirl, you know those are the big ones, but then with Marvel maybe not so much, not like Iron-Man or something. (Editors Note: Stanley has since started working on Iron-Man Covers)

Artgerm: Yeah that’s true, but I just don’t work on Iron-Man because I don’t work on characters without a face.

Special Connection with Supergirl

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, that makes sense. So speaking of that, this is something that might be different, you said something really interesting in another one of your interviews about Supergirl, that you wanted to take a character and you described as you wanted to find a character that you could “own.” A character that you could kind of put your own stamp on it so when people are thinking about Supergirl, and the best Supergirl comics they’re going to think of Stanley.

Artgerm: Yeah, that’s right, that’s something I really wanted to do, especially  for Supergirl. Before that I didn’t have any strong desire to “own” any particular character, but maybe because of the TV series “Supergirl” it made me fall in love with this character a bit more. So once I got the opportunity, and I was looking at all the characters, looking around, all of them pretty iconic, for Supergirl there’s no one artist that really defined the character. For example, with Catwoman you think of Adam Hughes.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, that’s who I think of, Adam Hughes for her.

Artgerm: It seems like he kind of “owns” the character, and he’s made the character more defined. So I wanted to do that for Supergirl. So when I visited the DC office, I was telling the Senior Editor that if you have the opportunity I really wanted to work on Supergirl covers, because I really wanted to own/define her for you. Not in a arrogant way but I just wanted to give a more defined visual positioning for the character.

 

Recent DC Films

Urban-Muse.com: (Continuing to talk about Supergirl)I think it’s definitely happening, even outside of the Artgerm feeds I see those images all over the internet. And instantly you can look at it and think oh there’s a Stanley. And I think because of the TV Show she’s never been more popular. The only thing is she’s not in a movie yet. And it seems like that’s probably going to change eventually. But it seems like the Movies for DC…they have a lot of problems.

Artgerm: Ohhhh yeah! Definitely.

Urban-Muse.com: I mean, Marvel’s doing fantastic I think they are one of the biggest, if not the biggest Movie studio on earth of any kind (in terms of Revenue). And DC Films is kind of messing it up, I wasn’t happy with “Justice League.”

Artgerm: Ok, I wasn’t happy with Batman Vs. Superman.

Urban-Muse.com: Same thing.

Artgerm: Don’t even talk about Suicide Squad!

Urban-Muse.com: Uhhh that was..ughhh… And the problem is…the problem isn’t the characters because the characters are great, they’re the characters we love, they’re fantastic characters, it’s just the way they’re handling it is so dark and it seems like they want to imitate Christopher Nolan. I don’t like it. Personally.

Artgerm: Yeah, I think for Batman very naturally it’s very dark and he has a very dark past. But it seems for every characters that are much more vibrant like Superman, somehow they have a really dark side of him, which I don’t really like.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah it seems like…well, are you familiar with “Injustice: Gods Among Us?”

Artgerm: No.

Urban-Muse.com: Well Injustice, it’s a video game where all the characters fight and it takes place in an alternate timeline and there’s two versions of every character, and in one timeline Superman is evil, and because he’s so powerful he becomes like a dictator, and he’s basically the God of the planet. And it’s actually a really interesting storyline, and I think that’s actually the direction DC Films is going gradually making Superman into a Villain (and God). It kind of seems like that’s the direction.

Artgerm: Ahhh. Ok that’s interesting.

Urban-Muse.com: I don’t know if they are.. It’s just that…I think the actor is pretty good, I just don’t like the direction they’re taking things. Anyways…we could talk about that forever, let’s just move on.

 

Early Life – Hong Kong to Singapore

 

Urban-Muse.com: So in my research I found that you were born in Hong Kong, and you moved to Singapore when you were 17 is that right?

Artgerm: That’s right.

Urban-Muse.com: And you had to move because of your Dad’s work or something like that?

Artgerm: Exactly.

Urban-Muse.com: So you’re ethnically Chinese and speak Mandarin and Cantonese, but you identify lately more as a Singaporean?

Artgerm: Oh yes, two years after I moved to Singapore I was asked to serve in the National Service which means enrolled into the Army for two years, and after that I was allowed to apply for citizenship because of that. So after coming to Singapore for a few years I became a citizen of Singapore. So now I’m a Singaporean.

Urban-Muse.com: So yeah, and you have a family, you have an office and so that’s where you’re comfortable.

Artgerm: Yeah I’m married with a wife and two boys.

Urban-Muse.com: So when you came when you were 17 were you in High School still?

Artgerm: Yes, I was in High School and I had a lot of catching up to do because in Hong Kong we actually don’t speak English. So when I came to Singapore the national language actually English. So I had to work really hard to get to that level.

Urban-Muse.com: So in High School, you know there’s an Art class, and from what I understand you developed something of a reputation.

Artgerm: Yeah, I’m not so much of a study kind of person. Sometimes I would just skip classes just to go to the Art room to draw. Yeah, I was pretty rebellious not a very nice “model” student I must say. I think one of the mores interesting thing I did, I mean I would really skip classes or skip school with my friends and we would travel around the whole of Hong Kong to different arcade shops and play Street Fighter and challenge each other.

Urban-Muse.com: Which one?

Artgerm: Street Fighter II.

Urban-Muse.com: When I was a little kid I used to go to Church and there was a Church school you know and I’d sneak out and walk down the street to Pizza Parlor so I could play Mortal Kombat II, and my Mom would find me and yell at me and say “You’re not allowed to play that game! It’s too bloody! It’s too violent! Go back to Church!”

Artgerm: Hahaha

 

 

 Working with Capcom on Street Fighter III

(Stanley’s Cover Art for Capcom’s Street Fighter III: Online Edition)

Urban-Muse.com: So speaking of Street Fighter we can definitely use that, when you were playing Street Fighter II did you ever think that you would be doing work for Street Fighter III?

Artgerm: Honestly no. Back then I didn’t even know this art thing could be a so called profession. So back then I was just enjoying the game. But after working as a professional artist when I first got contacted by Capcom that was really exciting. Especially after working on the artworks for Street Fighter III Online Edition, and bought the game and loaded the game onto my system and my TV and to SEE MY ARTWORK *gasp*. That was really surreal.

 

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah! I have the game on my (PS3) system and just the other day I was scrolling through my games and there it was and I was like “There’s Stanley, I’m going to talk to that guy soon.” It’s pretty exciting. Are you familiar with the artist Shinkiro?

Artgerm: I’m a big fan of his work, but I’ve never met him before.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah me neither, I don’t know of any contact info for him. But one of the first features I ever wrote about for Urban-Muse was about Shinkiro (click to read) and a retrospective of his work over 20 years from his work from SNK, Capcom, SNK Vs. Capcom, and eventually Marvel. To me it seems like you and Shinkiro are the same kind of artist, to me at least personally in the way that you understand the characters and are able to bring them to life, they’re not human beings of course but you really feel like they’re alive. I think you and Shinkiro have really done some of the most iconic versions of those characters that I have ever seen.

Artgerm: Oh! Thankyou. It’s not easy to match up with expectations especially with Street Fighter III Online Edition. Many fans were skeptical about my kind of artworks because you know as fans we group with the official Capcom artist’s and those artists somehow defined the look of Street Fighter so well that when a new person like me, trying to do something different people are kind of like…well there are two different camps half of them are more inclined towards the older one, the older style rather than my current.

 

(Above this Chun-Li is interesting. It’s FAN ART! Stanley did this before even being hired by Capcom, evidently one of the producers knew of Stanley and likely this piece, and others, and he was in.)

 

Early Work

Urban-Muse.com: Back all the way to High School, we’re gradually working forward towards today, you developed a reputation, you were skipping classes, you were playing Street Fighter. It seems like they actually really encouraged you because they gave you a little solo art show in the school library. Is that right?

Artgerm: Oh yeah, that’s right that was in High School. I was asked to do a solo exhibition it was actually kind of bizarre I was like “Oh wow I can do a Solo Exhibition!?” So it was very small scale, they just let me put all my artworks in the school Library.

Urban-Muse.com: So was it your own creations or was it fanart too?

Artgerm: Oh yeah there was fanart, there were my pencil drawings, my colored pencil drawings, my gouache and watercolor stuff.

Yeah it was really random artworks, there was no theme to it.

Graphic Design Education

Urban-Muse.com: So let’s move on past High School. After High School you attended Temasek Polytechnic where you studied Graphic Design.

Artgerm: That’s right.

Urban-Muse.com: So how long was that? 3 years? 4 years?

Artgerm: 3 years. It’s a 3 year degree.

Urban-Muse.com: And from what I understand this was kind of interesting because it’s kind of like a trade school, you just focused on Graphic Design you didn’t have to do any Mathematics, Science, or Physics type courses, you were able to just focus on Graphic Design.

Artgerm: Polytechnic is something like an advanced learning after your High School, either by going to University or to schools like this. So I took up Graphic Design, because back then there wasn’t any digital art schools in Singapore. The closest thing was Fine Art which I’m not interested in at all, so Graphic Design seems to be a more complimentary skill for my artwork so I choose Graphic Design for that.

Urban-Muse.com: Looking through your portfolio I did find lots of examples of Graphic Design, and even though it’s not necessarily exactly what you wanted to do, you do use it.

Artgerm: Oh definitely, even with my digital artworks I do have my graphic design aesthetic embedded in them.

Urban-Muse.com: Was this before or after the mandatory military service?

Artgerm: That was actually after my national service.

Urban-Muse.com: And so after the national service did they give you any money towards tuition or anything like that?

Artgerm: Not really, but all the government schools are heavily subsidized so would pay a small fee to get in.

Urban-Muse.com: So compared to America it’s probably like 1/20th to go to school. (I have no idea).

Artgerm: Yeah, it’s much much more affordable.

First Jobs

Urban-Muse.com: You started 3 different companies it sounds like, is that right?

Artgerm: After I graduated from my Graphic Design program I was invited to work in a Advertising company as Art Director, it was an interactive company it was a company focused on websites and Shockwave Flash, back then it was very “in.” Building those Flash websites, so I was part of the team.

Urban-Muse.com: Now Flash is like banned, you’re not allowed to use flash it’s seen as an instant virus or something.

Artgerm: Yes. Hahaha

Urban-Muse.com: What was this company called?

Artgerm: The company was called ONM. It’s Ogilvy & Mather.  It’s an international advertising agency, so I joined the Singapore branch, for the interactive side of it. But I didn’t stay there long, I only stayed there for two months, I got sick of it because of the politics it involved and I hate that. So I decided to try something new and eventually a bunch of us quit and started Paprika where we did a lot of advertising stuff and interactive. So that was my first “office job.”

Urban-Muse.com: So one of the people you met was Kai, and you still work with him.

Artgerm: Oh that’s right! We run Imaginary Friends together today.

Urban-Muse.com: And so it seems like he’s super important to your life. So on DeviantArt he was ukitakumuki. So he was the guy who said “Hey Stanley, you know your art is really nice why don’t you put it on DeviantArt?”

Artgerm: Yeah it’s very interesting how life brings us all together. Kai was my intern back then when I was running Paprika. He was introduced by another person, Kendrick my partner at the studio now. Kendrick was introduced to me from one of my designers, we invited Kendrick over for a gaming session after work and we started to get to know each other And one day Kendrick came up to me and asked “Hey do you know this person ‘Kai’?” I said “WHO’S THIS DUDE?” He said, “He’s like 17 years old and he draws like a GOD!” So I checked out Kaiís work and I said Oh that’s very impressive. Why don’t I just bring him into my company as an intern so I can just observe him. So I just put him right next to my desk and just observed him every day to try and find out how he can become this good at this young age.

Urban-Muse.com: Was he better than you?

Artgerm: No, he was doing very different things, he was doing like spaceships and mecha and he was doing mods for games. So he was very very into sci fi type stuff, so I was just very intrigued by him and just had him next to me and talked to him. So after leaving Paprika and trying to start my own company Imaginary Friends, I invited Kendrick and Kai to be my partners.

Origin and Meaning of the Name “Artgerm”

Urban-Muse.com: So around this time must have been when you came up with the name “Artgerm” is that when you came up with it?

Artgerm: I had been using Artgerm even much earlier than DeviantArt, in the second year of High School I had this name with me already. Yeah.

Urban-Muse.com: Now, I’ve always been really curious about this. Obviously there’s “Art” and then “Germ” so I think of “Infection” and then after that “Viral.” And your work is definitely viral. So you get infected with it, and then your friend gets infected, and then everyone’s got the “Artgerm.” Right?

Artgerm: Exactly!

Urban-Muse.com: Alright!  So that’s what you were going for, because I didn’t understand because it’s kind of a strange name in that it’s very unique. So I guess that answered the question…I was right!

Artgerm: Yeah, I mean it is a stupid name to be honest. But I guess once you get to be successful know what you are doing then the name starts to sound cooler now.

T-Shirt Company Animal Square

Urban-Muse.com: And so working our way through your story, after Paprika it sounds like you did a T-shirt company for awhile?

Artgerm: Oh! That was interesting, I was running a T-Shirt label called “Animal Square.” With my wife, back then she was my girlfriend, and we wanted to save up some money for marriage because it’s not cheap in Singapore. So we created this T-Shirt project so we could work with each other and so we could accumulate some financial support for our wedding.

Urban-Muse.com: I really like that. But you’re not doing that too much anymore right?

Artgerm: No, we ended that after we got married.

Urban-Muse.com: So it was kind of a short term project then?

Artgerm: Yeah.

The Start of Imaginary Friends

Urban-Muse.com: So now it’s about to get really interesting, what year did you start Imaginary Friends?

Artgerm: Honestly, it was a very kind of naive decision, because after my departure from Paprika, Me, Kendrick and Kai wanted to do something that was closer to what we truly love which is illustrations for entertainment type jobs. And we wanted to create an art studio that we can actually draw for the entertainment companies. But we didn’t really have any idea of how to do it, especially for people like us where we invest a lot of time into art. So we are not very good “businessmen or entrepreneurs” and there wasn’t any company in Singapore for us to model after so we tried to figure everything out by ourselves. We were really inspired by this company called “Massive Black.”

Urban-Muse.com: I was going to ask you about that! Yeah, I know some of those guys, from when I used to live in San Francisco I knew Justin “Coro” Kaufman. I was actually going to compare “Imaginary Friends” to “Massive Black” so I’m really glad you said that!

Artgerm: Yeah we met up with Jason Manley when he was in Singapore. It interesting, I mean we liked the model of housing a bunch of different artists in one studio and trying to work on the project together. I can tell you it was a really tough journey for me. We made so many mistakes. Because our earlier vision was “let’s get a lot of friends who are passionate about art and create art together in a studio.” But not knowing that I was going to be the one responsible for their livelihood, their salaries and their survival. So eventually I spent a lot more time managing the art direction part, giving ideas, and finding business to sustain the company. When we initially started “Imaginary Friends” we wanted to position our studio as a “One-Stop-Shop” who provide mechanical designs, draw hot chicks, monsters, comics, cute stuff, everything. Now this sounds like a very ideal situation, but at the same time it’s almost impossible to find all these kinds of jobs for the studio on a monthly basis. So most of the time we have half of the studio working really hard on a project and the other half is not really doing much.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah but it seems like it’s also part of “outsourcing” because even today a lot of your projects are worldwide basically right?

Artgerm: Yeah that’s right.

Urban-Muse.com: So if it was just focused on Singapore there wouldn’t be enough jobs?

Artgerm: We do have a lot jobs, but the job is always geared towards one kind of artist. So half of them are really busy and the other half is like playing video games or something, and we still have to pay them a salary.

Urban-Muse.com: That seems REALLY stressful, I wouldn’t want to be in charge of that.

Artgerm: Honestly I had no problem. I’m not thinking too much about making money, I was more concerned with the survival of my artists back then because of the reason we call it “Imaginary Friends” because we run the whole studio like “Friends.” And that is a good and bad thing because you can make harsh decisions easily. So my job back then was just to make sure that they had enough to survive, that’s all. Especially as we ran the studio longer, people started to get attached, to get girlfriends, start to think about marriage, then their life expenses increase and we have to be the person to support that.

Urban-Muse.com: But you did it! You did it right!?

Artgerm: We did it! But…barely. It’s was not easy though. So now we don’t so much “house” them in the studio as much, we work with them on a freelance basis. So they explore the opportunities outside and try to build their own clientele and their own relationships and new projects. But at the same time we have projects come into the studio and we send it to them. So we’ve really become more of an agency.

Urban-Muse.com: So how does that work, obviously you are the Art Director so are you the one who makes the calls for these projects? Like Kai is right for this one, this other guy is right for this other project?

Artgerm: I think it’s a mutual thing. We know each other so well, we know that these certain people are capable of certain things that we would have the capacity to pick up those jobs.

Imaginary Friends goes to Comic-Con

Urban-Muse.com: So this leads into my next question, which I think if it was a movie it would be a really interesting part of the movie. So you guys were like we really need to get jobs, so you guys all got on a plane and you went to the San Diego Comic-Con. Is that right?

Artgerm: Yeah.

Urban-Muse.com: So tell me about that. And it actually ended up working for you because you got a job out of it right?

Artgerm: Yeah because, when we first started the studio back then the only thing we knew was to find a place, buy the computers, and to furnish the whole place. And that’s it! We had no idea how to find jobs. We basically spent half a year doing nothing, just waiting for jobs to come in, and nothing came in. Before we almost closed the studio. So why don’t we put together our last bit of money and just print our art in our first Art Book? And then we fly down to San Diego Comic-Con with our art books and just give it away like brochures to potential clients? I mean we got really good responses with the people with we met, and 2 weeks after we got back from San Diego we got a call for a job, a coloring project for G.I. Joe comics.

Urban-Muse.com: Ahh G.I. Joe! And so did that lead to other projects then?

Artgerm: Yeah, definitely! I mean after G.I. Joe the company introduced us to even more titles, and from there more jobs from coloring them, and then interior pages, and we just built on that. Until the point when we didn’t need to keep looking for jobs because the jobs just kept coming in.

Urban-Muse.com: This leads me into another question I had, before you said that sometimes working with companies their expectations can be a little unrealistic. For instance they want every single panel of a comic book to be as detailed as the cover.

Artgerm: Haha for some companies, yes but that is very unusual, most don’t expect the quality of the interiors to match the quality of the cover.  But I have encountered some companies that asked for that, which is really painful, because every panel you have to just spend so much time on it. I remember a company, which I don’t like to mention the name. But we put 5-7 people working on the book, so we had to have the quality so high and it was crazy.

Urban-Muse.com: Did it come out good?

Artgerm: I would say it was good, but personally I’m not the kind of artist who appreciates too much detail in the panels. Because it can be so awesome that it slows you down from progressing through the story. So I don’t think it’s a good idea. I like the flow and I feel like over-rendering the information can slow down the flow.

Comic Books and Manga

Urban-Muse.com: So in your free time are you reading a lot of comic books? Or is it just something you’re sick of because you see it all day?

Artgerm: I read a lot of Manga. Not so much American comics, I don’t read american comic at all, yeah.

Urban-Muse.com: That’s interesting. So what Manga’s are you reading?

Artgerm: Oh, of course the usual ones, One Punch Man, of course My Hero Academia, this cooking manga called Food Wars, and of course One-Piece.

Video Games

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah so those are like classics. I think before you said that when you come home from work gaming is a big part of your life, is that still true?

Artgerm: It was. It was before I got married. Ha ha

Urban-Muse.com: Now you probably don’t have time probably.

Artgerm: Now I don’t have time for that. I mean I do play games every now and then, I think I buy games more than I play them. I mean I look at the intro’s and play the first few rounds. And that’s it. That’s enough.

Urban-Muse.com: So the biggest one these days is God Of War, I’m working on that right now, have you gotten a chance to try it out?

Artgerm: Yeah! I’m still in that. I’m still trying to find time to play that.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah same here!

Artgerm: It has been amazing, sometimes it’s really bad being an artist because I will just pause the game, or slow it down and just look at the environment and just look around and think how they achieved this in the 3D engine, but it’s really fun.

Family Life

Urban-Muse.com: So your married, when did you get married?

Artgerm: I got married like 10 years ago.

Urban-Muse.com: And you have two boys, how old are your boys?

Artgerm: One is eight one is six.

Urban-Muse.com: So the reason I ask is, do you watch shows with you boys?

Artgerm: I do, I watch One Punch Man with then as well as My Hero Academia, and sometimes we play games together. I play Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite with them. Because they know the characters, they even have the “Character Bibles” so some of these characters they know more than me!

Urban-Muse.com: So that’s really interesting, what do they think having a dad who gets paid to draw these characters sometimes?

Artgerm: I don’t think they have a really strong idea of how a professional artist is like? They know like, Oh, I have this dad who calls himself Artgerm and likes to draw, and when he goes to conventions people like to take pictures with him. I think that’s pretty much what they know about me.

Urban-Muse.com: So like what would happen if you loaded up Third Strike, and said “Hey I drew that.” What would they say?

Artgerm: They would say “Oh, that’s very nice.” But they would not see the impact because they do not have the emotional attachment to the game.

Urban-Muse.com: That’s pretty cool. I think that must be a pretty interesting way to grow up. Maybe when they get older they will understand and like it more.  So that leads into my next question, since they are so young are you starting to see some artistic qualities in them yet?

Artgerm: Yes, I would assume that most kids like to doodle, and my kids like to draw, and I think they see me draw so they inspired to draw themselves. But I do not have any so called expectations of them, like “Oh, I am going to shape them to be the next generation of artists or my successors.” So to speak, but I didn’t.

Urban-Muse.com: So, no pressure?

Artgerm: No pressure! No pressure at all. I would say that even learning to draw as a hobby is a very fun thing to do, and that the mindset, the mentality of art can be applied to different kinds of jobs in the future. The creative thinking part of it.

Urban-Muse.com: So it’s kind of like Lebron James, he has two sons, and there’s these expectations of them one day being able to play in the NBA like their dad. You don’t do that, you’re not expecting them to be Artgerm 2 and 3 when they grow up or anything. Just do whatever they like.

Artgerm: No I don’t.

Urban-Muse.com: That’s pretty cool, and that leads into my next question, your wife, she’s pretty creative too, you guys did the T Shirt label together, what else does she do creatively.

Artgerm: She’s more in the marketing role, and currently she’s running a lingerie business selling bra’s and panties for people, it’s a family business. That’s why we initiated the T-Shirt business because she’s good with the marketing part of it.

Now she’s even more creative because recently she got into calligraphy so she started doing lettering and stuff. That was fun, that was a side of her I did not expect to see.

Urban-Muse.com: Would you say she’s influenced you and you’ve influenced her in that respect?

Artgerm: Yeah, I think she’s definitely inspired me. She’s kind of my devil’s advocate, so when I work on something she comments on it from a more layman perspective, so she sees thing that I really don’t see as an artist. So I think that’s good to have a person next to me that can do that. Because it’s really hard for people to comment on my stuff, they’re like “Oh you’re Artgerm, I’ll try not to offend you.” or something like that. They try to be more courteous, but I think my wife is really blunt ha ha.

 

Positive and Negative Criticism

Urban-Muse.com: And that can definitely be very useful sometimes, that’s positive, constructive criticism that you appreciate; and that kind of leads into another question I had. This is a question I ask every artist in every issue, what do you do when there’s just this one guy, or a handful of people that are just being way too negative, nasty, and sometimes just trolling? What do you do with these people?

Artgerm: Yeah usually I will tell a young artist, that when they get offended like that. That there’s always going to be 1 or 2 people that come in there like “Meh. I don’t like it. It looks like shit.” And they don’t even say why they don’t like it, they just drop the comment and go. And many artists get affected by that, and many artists even do things like stop drawing for a year or whatever. And to me that’s a very stupid way of doing it, because firstly you have no idea of who this person is. And I always tell them you should never invest your time in people who don’t believe in you. For example, you have 1,000 followers on your social media who love what you are doing, and just because of this one negative person comes and gives you a completely unfounded comment, and they affected you and make you stop you drawing, then how are you going to respond to that other 1,000 people who believed in you?

Urban-Muse.com: So it gets more difficult though as you scale up, so instead of that 1,000 followers you have close to a million, so instead of those 1 or 2 guys you might have 2,000 people like that.

Artgerm: Yes! But that’s normal you see, in art, anything in music, in games and even in movies. Some people tend to hate it, and some people tend to like it, and I’m not going to make sure that everybody loves my work, but I will try my best.

Urban-Muse.com: It can be impossible.

Artgerm: No,  if people don’t like it so be it. For example you have 2 restaurants, 1 you hate, 1 you love, If certain people don’t like a certain kind of food they don’t go in the restaurant you hate and tell them you hate their food.

Urban-Muse.com: Right, yeah. Ha ha

Artgerm: Right? But people do that on social media now, because it’s so convenient, and  everybody has a voice and some people just don’t know how to behave properly like a person or a human being. So they just go around shitting on people pages and saying whatever they like. And I mean it’s just so obvious now because of the social justice warrior. In the past, comic guys, comic fans, would go to the comic shop and buy their comics with the sexy covers, Vampirella those stuff. They’re ok, they buy it they keep it in their own stash.

Urban-Muse.com: Nobody gets offended.

Artgerm: Yeah, they may show their girlfriends or whatever, and they might say “Oh! What’s this sexualized shit!?” or whatever. But there’s only one person speaking, you and your girlfriend. But now it’s different, you show a cover online that is sexy that doesn’t conform to their own personal sense of morals or whatever and then they start to flare up and tell everybody they hate it.

Trolls and Haters on Social Media

 

Urban-Muse.com: So I guess my question was, is when that happens do you totally ignore it or do you actually ban people sometimes?

Artgerm: No I ignore, but when they become hostile then I’ll just ban them.  I have no problem just banning those people.

Urban-Muse.com: Don’t waste your time basically.

Artgerm: Yeah, I think that if you have not walked this path, doing what I do, at least the art path you are not in the position to tell me what to do.

Urban-Muse.com: Exactly, and I mean it’s kind of nasty to say. But sometimes when I see these people I’ll click on their profile, and I’ll ask myself well is this person even an artist. And often if they are, but maybe it’s really really bad. Or they were at one point but they failed. And they have no reason to attack someone who has been doing this for 20-30 years. I mean who are they to say this you know?

Artgerm: You know I can tell you, I have so many artists in the professional level and none of them go to some other artist’s place and shit on them. No! They would not do it. Those people who do it are either not an artist or they thought they were an awesome artist, but they are not.

Urban-Muse.com: No, and that’s absolutely true, in my experience running this website/magazine, I’ve met hundreds of artists in person, and thousands online. And it seems to me that the ones who make it, that are really successful are the ones that are humble, and like you said can behave like human beings and are not be nasty like that. They have a good social community, they have friends, a girlfriend, wife, significant other, they have balance. The ones who are really nasty, those haters, they usually are not the ones who make it. It just doesn’t go together, if you want to be successful you can’t be that way.

Artgerm: Yeah, Exactly.

Urban-Muse.com: I like to ask that question to artists because often their responses can give me strength, but at the same time sometimes you see those comments and it can just kind of ruin your day.

 

Constructive Criticism

Artgerm: I know, but if they really give you some really solid comments on certain areas or certain aspects of your art that you can really look at objectively. But for example someone will say, oh your hand should be bigger, the hand should smaller, bigger head, bigger hips…no that’s preference. To me that’s personal preference, I would tend to ignore that. But if someone says “Oh, you drew six fingers.” then yeah that’s a fundamental issue that you should really look into.

So you need to to be more objective in those comments. And I always advise people who make comments on peoples art, because artists tend to be sensitive, you should always start off with a compliment. What you liked about the art first, and then offer a suggestion not a command, a suggestion of a good way you think they could improve this piece of work. As an opinion. Not as a command: “You should do this! You should do that!” I don’t think that’s a good way to do it.

Urban-Muse.com: No I agree with you completely. I went to the Academy of Art SF, actually a lot of the Massive Black guys went there.

Artgerm: Nice.

Urban-Muse.com: So the most important thing I learned when I was in art school, for like life figure drawing, painting, fundamentals of form etc, you do the critique sessions at the end of the class. So everyone gets around in a circle or against the wall and we all talk about each other’s work. And so that’s exactly what I would do, so sometimes there would be someone with a really nice piece it’s actually pretty decent but there’s something really wrong with it. Six fingers like you said is a good example. So I would say, I really like this, I really like the way you handled the hair, the way you did the eyeliner etc, but…that leg is way too short you know? haha

Artgerm: Haha Yeah, sure.

Urban-Muse.com: But I think conversely when they do it to you, ok yeah you did all that but one guy he said to me, you know the piece is nice, but it doesn’t matter how well the piece is rendered, how well the hair was drawn…if the eyes are pointing in two separate directions. And I was like…AHHHH! He was completely right, and I just couldn’t not see it after that. He got me really good.

Artgerm: Oh yes, definitely.

Urban-Muse.com: And then the second he said it I was like “OH MY GOD THEY’RE DERPED!” He was 100% right, but wow he got me good.

Artgerm: ha ha ha

Urban-Muse.com: So those critique sessions were the most important part of art school to me. Because you really need to get over yourself, you think you’re good, you’re amazing or whatever, but when you have a whole room of people tell you, you stink, this forces you to get better.

Artgerm: Of course.

 

The Pepper Project

Urban-Muse.com: There’s definitely several things I really want to talk about, and Pepper is really one of the biggest ones, if not the biggest one. I want to tell you a story that around 2008 or so, when you released the Pepper Wallpaper of her on the beach, that was my personal computer wallpaper for about a year. I loved that image, so to get a chance to talk to her creator all these years later is really exciting for me.

Artgerm: Oh, nice!

(Above: Said Wallpaper)

Urban-Muse.com: So from what I understand, Pepper is definitely a personal project and it seems that you use it as a way to challenge yourself.

Artgerm: That’s right. Pepper was created during my days in Paprika, I didn’t get a lot of chance to draw, so I wanted to create a project that I got to draw on a daily or regular basis, so Pepper was created. I was the Art Director at Paprika and my job was to inspire my designers, with different art directions. So I would like to be a person who can be sensitive to different art styles, so I created Pepper as a way to expand the scope of my art style. So basically I drew her in a different style every time, and just have fun with it.

 

Urban-Muse.com: How many do you think you’ve done now?

Artgerm: Oh, I don’t know.

Urban-Muse.com: Quite a lot though, right?

Artgerm: Yeah, at least a hundred.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, atleast. But, have we seen them all?

Artgerm: I believe so, some might just be sketches, so I might have forgot to post it somehow. But yes I did draw her quite often.

Urban-Muse.com: And there was a period, I can’t remember if it was a contest or something, but for awhile there was a lot of other people drawing Pepper too?

Artgerm: Yeah, you know during the DeviantArt days, you know when it was kind of the only art site around, I initiated a Pepper contest so people could submit their own vision of Pepper, to me and then I selected about 100 of them and printed the first Pepper Art Book. It was running for about 2 months and we had about 1,000+ entries.

Urban-Muse.com: Wow, so which one of those do you think ended up being your favorite?

Artgerm: Oh! There’s so many! Really, really creative. I really loved them. And especially for a character without any backstory I think she did really well.

Urban-Muse.com: The character, she’s always very cheerful, we definitely know that. But it seems like she’s the kind of character everyone can create their own story for.

Artgerm: Yeah, definitely.

 

Pepper Cosplay

Urban-Muse.com: Earlier, while I was scrolling through your Facebook pictures I saw something really cool. You were at a con or something, and someone cosplayed Pepper! (Shin)

Artgerm: Oh yeah! This was Tokyo Comic-Con last year when I was in Japan. I was so shocked when she came up to me in the Pepper costume! I was like “Oh my god!”  I have never had anybody cosplay Pepper before! And I didn’t expect someone in Japan to do that! It was a really amazing experience.  I was really shocked. I was like frozen.

 

Urban-Muse.com: So when she was coming up were you like:”Hey that kind of looks like Pepper..wait! It IS Pepper!”?

Artgerm: I didn’t even see that. I was sitting drawing, and I looked up and I saw Pepper right in front of me! I was like “Ohhhhh my god!”

Urban-Muse.com: Ha ha ha, That’s really cool, I’m sure she was really excited to meet you as well and it was a great experience for her too.

Artgerm: Yeah!

Urban-Muse.com: So with Pepper, it really seems like the kind of thing you’re going to keep on doing forever, basically?

Artgerm: I mean naturally speaking, I should start to develop a story for her, which I do, have a story for Pepper. It’s just that to really put all that story together into a comic, for example,  it would really take up a lot of my time. And I’m not sure if I’m committed enough to make that jump.

Urban-Muse.com: But it’s something I’m sure you’re probably going to be thinking about in the back of your mind, probably for a very long time.

Artgerm: Yeah.

Urban-Muse.com: Personally, I think you will. I think you’ll eventually get that inspiration.

Artgerm: I hope!

 Favorite Pepper

(Note: this is one of Favorite Peppers mentioned in this interview, and actually the same Pepper cosplaed in Japan above)

Urban-Muse.com: This leads to another good question, awhile back someone asked you what your favorite painting of yours was. And you replied that it was probably the Pepper where she’s reclining in a metal mecha type bed/pod. Is that still your favorite? (Editor’s Note: I didnít even realize, this is the version the cosplayer Cosplayed! Wow!)

Artgerm: To be honest it’s very hard to pick my favorite. I do so many works every year. And that one, I mean was really iconic because it captured the full body of her, and I don’t usually do that. I put her in some sort of mechanical object. So I thought that was quite interesting for me,  it looks very complete, for my tastes. But I can’t think of one specific piece as a favorite. I just like most of the stuff that I draw.

On Older Pieces

Urban-Muse.com: So conversely, now when you look back are there some pieces that you just hate, you can’t stand them?

Artgerm: I would say most of the pieces that I drew in the past, when I look at them I always think that I could have done something better with it.

Urban-Muse.com: Sure. But have you ever deleted pieces, say on DeviantArt because of that?

Artgerm: No, never. I think it’s very important for artists to be able to keep those artworks online. And use that to see the history of the growth. Of course there are pieces that I really hate, and I see lots of mistakes, but I still keep it anyway because that was the best I could do back then. That means something.

Urban-Muse.com: Another really important thing we need to talk about is, that you’re a self taught artist.

Artgerm: I am.

Teaching Ones Self Anatomy

Urban-Muse.com: So essentially you learned from books, and learned from doing. But what I can’t understand is how the HELL are you so good at anatomy?

Artgerm: I did spend a lot of time studying anatomy in my earlier days, you need to understand that back then there wasn’t even internet. So basically I learned my knowledge of anatomy through books like Andrew Loomis, and other so called anatomy masters. I would borrow the book from the library and copy every single diagram in the book, and copied exactly what I see, and I would try to memorize it so I could do it without looking at it. And I’ve been doing that for many years.

 

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, I remember those Loomis books as well. Do you remember any other specific anatomy books, I’m sure that’s something the readers would love to know.

Artgerm: I think currently my favorite anatomy artist is actually Glenn Vilppu. He’s an older dude, but his construction of anatomy is really effective and really useful for artists like us. So I strongly recommend him to young artists.

 

References, Models, and Citation

Urban-Muse.com: So that leads into my next question. You really aren’t the kind of artist who uses models are you?

Artgerm: No, not really. I mean, ok the idea is, if you are asking about references right? You really need to understand that we, all artists use references. And the references come from 2 places either from your memory or from a photograph from life. So I group them into two groups, either from memory of from what you see. And just because you do not look at reference while you draw, does not mean you are not using references, because you’ve seen it before, the reference is already in your head. But many artists think that if you can draw without reference you are more awesome that way. For example we’ve seen so many of these anatomy art poses before to the point that it becomes part of our memory, so when we draw, we just draw from what we see inside.

Urban-Muse.com: No, I agree completely. And honestly that can be one of the most annoying things on social media. Sometimes on Urban-Muse there’s an artist posted and someone will come in and post the reference photo as if they are dropping brand new knowledge, and art atomic bomb or something.

Artgerm: Hahaha

Urban-Muse.com: And it’s just like, first of all most artists do always post/cite their references. It’s not a secret, and there’s nothing wrong with it. And I just think that people that get too hung up on that, are just missing the point really.

Artgerm: Yeah, I think for an artist it’s always good to cite your reference, to protect yourself, try not to hide it or to pretend that you are not using any visual references. I don’t think there’s any shame in using that.

Urban-Muse.com: And I’m also friends with a lot of photographers, and almost always the Photographer loves to see it. They love to see their work transformed like that.

Artgerm: Yes.

Urban-Muse.com: It’s a positive thing, so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. And people that get really wound up about it really just need to calm down, and basically just find something else to get upset about.

Artgerm: I mean I do see a lot of young artists these days, they do “photo studies.” They find a nice photographic portrait and then they map their own artistic style onto it, according to the lighting of the photos. And some of those artists do cite their references.

Photobashing

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, you have to cite. You have to. But this kind of leads into something you probably don’t do at all, but what do you think about photobashing?

Artgerm: Yeah, photobashing is a very very realistic skillset that we use in visual development especially when developing games and movies. You need to do photobashing all the time, because your development time is costly to the company. Because sometimes you need to quickly put together an idea and present it to your team. And to see whether this idea flies or not. So for example if you have a forest, you do not have to individually paint the forrest’s trees, but put together some photos and give the visual to the team, and to see if this is an interesting,  and that saves a lot of time.

Urban-Muse.com: And like you mentioned with games, so with games. With games it’s just standard operating procedure sometimes to use screenshots, right?

Artgerm: Yes. I think the whole idea is that, there’s two different parts, one is illustration, the other is concept art. Concept art is not the final product, it’s a process to facilitate the development final product whether it’s games or movies. But for illustration is different, the illustration, the art itself is the final product. You’ll be more cautious about using photographs in that, especially other peoples artworks.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, like you said it saves a lot of time, and I think for a video game when you use a screenshot it’s going to be really close to the exact art style they’re looking for already so that can save you some time too.

Artgerm: Well look at matte painting, and basically matte painting is photo manipulation. And it’s a highly celebrated skillset.

Urban-Muse.com: Oh yeah, definitely. Conversely though I do think there are some people that abuse it. They’ll photobash a photograph or even someone else’s painting, and just smudge it a little bit and say, I did that, that’s my creation. I don’t think that’s good.

Artgerm: Yeah, that’s not good. I think many times a matte painter will take their own references.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, I think that’s the way to do it, or for figurative, hire your own model and do a photoshoot etc. And that can be pretty fun too.

Artgerm: Yeah.

Commercial Clientele

Urban-Muse.com: So, in terms of commercial art. You’ve said that the number one priority is the client’s objective. So it’s not so much about what you want to see, but what the client wants to see.

Artgerm: Of course, when you’re a commercial artist it’s your job to answer the brief of your clients. And they always have some problem creative challenges that they want you to tackle, and it’s your job to answer that beautifully. And that’s what I always do for my clients, I always want to make my clients look good. Because my clients may not be the bosses, sometimes they are just the project manager or so-called facilitator of the project. I want to make them look good in front of their bosses. So they give you more creative freedom and I can increase my rates substantially.

Urban-Muse.com: Now you’ve done so many big projects, you’ve done Supergirl, you’re trying to “own” that character. Is there still such a thing as a “Dream Project” for you? Something that you really would want to work on in the future?

Artgerm: Hmmmm.. After working on Street Fighter I think my so called “dream project” is already kind of done.

Urban-Muse.com: You achieved your dream basically.

 

Artgerm: Yeah, so I don’t actually have a dream project. I mean nowadays when you look at a project, whether I take it up or not is based solely on how fun I think it’s going to be.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, because you’re so in demand you can be picky, right? (Ed Note: Lucky us!)

Artgerm: Yeah, in the past you know you didn’t really have a choice, because you need to survive. But now I’m in the position where I can really choose the projects that I would like to work on, so I am picky about what I work on. Especially because I have very limited time.

Urban-Muse.com: From my perspective I think that dream project is probably going to be Pepper. Something that takes everything you’ve done and everything you know and puts it together into something big.

Artgerm: Mmm hmmm, I hope so! hahaha

On Creativity

Urban-Muse.com: I think the fans would probably agree with me on that one too. Now another thing you said that was really interesting, was your idea of creativity is taking something that exists and put your own spin on it. Is that right?

Artgerm: I think that’s always the case when it comes to art, we always try to find a new relationship with something that exists. Which means we are looking for a new relationship with something that you are familiar with  and packaging it differently, so that it feels more creative, to create something that people have no relation to and cannot relate (to something they’ve seen) before. So even in movies, in games, in comics, things that you really like are certain attributes in the story or characters you can relate to because it’s very close to what you have seen or experienced before in life. But you are packaging it in a brand new way so it brings some fresh perspective to that. So I think that’s very important and that’s how I always pursue creative things like that.

Urban-Muse.com: And that kind of goes into what you were just saying before, that even if you’re not using a reference, you are using something from within your mind that you have seen before, and you’re using it in the future/present.

Artgerm: Yeah.

Mental Sketches

Urban-Muse.com: This also makes me think of something else really interesting I have heard you say. Throughout the day you do what you call “mental sketches.”

Artgerm: That’s right.

Urban-Muse.com: And that kind of blew my mind. Now, I can kind of get what you’re talking about, like for example if I see a table, I can deconstruct the lines and imagine how I would go about drawing it. So my question about it is, do you think you have any kind of photographic memory or something like that?

Artgerm: Not at all. Not at all. If you talk about someone like JungGi Kim of course he has the photographic memory, but for people like me I just need to look at something hard enough repetitively enough for me to remember something about it. So the idea of having a mental sketch is not because I think it’s a “cooler” way of doing it, it’s out of necessity. For example on weekends I don’t draw, I devote my weekends to my family. I love to draw, and sometimes the only chance I get to draw without actually drawing is by drawing in my head. On weekends I like to think of interesting ideas that I might want to work on when I come back to my studio. I do a lot of mental sketches and try to think of which one will fly which one will die. And so when I come back to the studio on Monday I will just start drawing them.

Above: Stanley and JungGi Kim

Urban-Muse.com: And that’s super interesting because you said because of that you don’t really carry a sketchbook with you ever. It’s all up here. (gesture towards head)

Artgerm: It’s really weird that when I’m managing my kids I still need to think about a sketchbook. I spend a lot of my weekdays late at night in my studio so I really don’t want to take up that bit of time with my family during the weekends.

Urban-Muse.com: So if your mental sketchbook works like a real sketchbook, that means you have thousands in your head then?

Artgerm: Uhh, I’m not as ambitious as that. For example this weekend maybe I’ll just try thinking of a new way to draw Supergirl, so I’ll think to myself. “Oh, my next Supergirl cover, how am I going to draw her?” So then I’ll do some thumbnails in my head, and be like ohh maybe I can take this approach or that approach. Or maybe I’ll just think about one particular idea I want to see and how I can composite it to the point it looks interesting. So the mental sketch becomes more compositional rather than conceptual.

Urban-Muse.com: You know it makes sense to me right now when you’re talking to me about it, but to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about it quite like that. It’s pretty unique.

Artgerm: Hmm…you see whenever I create something I always think of it as a photographer taking photos, because I like to take photos. I would think of it as a photographer, for example Supergirl flying past the cityscape. What exactly is she doing? Oh! She’s smiling, playing with the dove, or playing with the birds in the air. Or is there a better idea? Is there wind? Yes there is wind, so show her cape is flapping in the wind and her hair is flying. So is there sunset or sunrise, or mid-day? Oh, I want to do the mid-day so it’s a blue sky. So I have all these elements in place, and then I’ll place this character in my head in a three-dimensional space, like how a 3D Modeler would do it. And then after that I will position myself as a photographer. And then say, ok what kind of lense am going to use? Am I going to use a wide angle lense, a telephoto lense, a fisheye lense? And I will pick the lense and then I will say, ok now I have this kind of lense, where should I position myself to capture this moment in the air? And therefore, oh this angle would be the best for me to portray it, so I would start making sketches of that in my head.

Urban-Muse.com: So after all this is done, when it comes time to sit down and actually work on it, the decision making portion is already done.

Artgerm: Yeah, that’s right. So the sketch is already ready. So sometimes it’s also good for me to give it a bit of a day or two to let it sink in and to see whether it will still fly after two days. And sometimes I may not like it after two days, so I will just scrap it and move onto something else.

 

Pleasing Publishers

Urban-Muse.com: So that leads into another question, so at this point obviously you like it. But does it ever come to a point where the publisher says “Oh, we don’t like this at all, you have to do it again.”?

Artgerm: So far, I have never come across anything like that. I think working with DC and Marvel, they are really open to what I am doing. I think mainly because my cover(s) have been proven successful everytime. So now they don’t even give me a brief, they just go “Hey, draw me a Supergirl” Hahaha

Urban-Muse.com: They don’t even give you the story?

Artgerm: Hahaha, not really. For example when they did Mera, the first cover of Mera, they said “Oh, we would like you to work on a Mera cover.” So I said, “Oh, ok, so what is the idea?” and they said “Just make it look cool.”So (that’s it).

Urban-Muse.com: So, it really seems that they have trust in you then?

Artgerm: Exactly.

Urban-Muse.com: And it works for them and they’ve done it again and again, so they trust you at this point. It might not have been that way during say your first cover, but now it really seems that you have that trust.

Artgerm: Yep.

 

 Computer Programs

Urban-Muse.com: And this is a really important question, and I already know the answers but the people always want to know, what computer programs are you using?

Artgerm: Oh, wow. Ok, I started using Photoshop when it was Photoshop 5, not CS5, when it was just Photoshop 5, 20 years ago. And I also started using Corel Painter, when it was Corel Painter 1, and now it’s version 15 or something. So yes, I am using mainly Photoshop and Corel for my work.

 Brushes

Urban-Muse.com: And then the next question I have to ask, because basically every artist gets asked this all day long, is what brushes do you use? Because for some reason they think that’s going to make the big difference. If I use Artgerm’s brushes, I’ll be just as good or something.

Artgerm: Hahahah, I know. For photoshop I just mostly use the default brush, and some of the very simple texture brushes that are built into photoshop. I do have a bunch of brushes that people have passed around to me, but I don’t actually  rely on them much. I’m a simple person.

Urban-Muse.com: And I know it’s kind of an annoying question, because I am constantly seeing people asking this, so I just put it in the interviews just to get it out there. And almost every time an artist will respond that they use the default brushes, it’s usually nothing special.

Artgerm: Hmmm.

Urban-Muse.com: It kind of goes into my next question, I’ve seen you and other artists say that it doesn’t matter the technology you’re using, or what kind of a setup you have, it has to come within you, and rely on your foundations and what you have inside of you. Is that right?

Artgerm: That’s true. But I also believe that if the tool itself can inspire you to draw…for example some people like to draw on a Cintiq because they think it will make them more professional, and more effective, whether it’s true or not. To me, if that device inspires you or motivates you to draw, I think that’s a good thing. And the same thing for Cameras, because some people like to use a very expensive camera, but the actual quality difference can often be quite subtle. But if that piece of gadget inspired you do something, I think it’s a good thing.

 Traditional Art

Urban-Muse.com: And that makes me think of another question. Now we see see you with your classes, doing the copic drawings and stuff, but it really seems that you’re something like 95% digital, a mostly digital artist.

Artgerm: Yes, I was a traditional artist 20 years ago. But as soon as I discovered the first Wacom tablet, I switched to digital very early. And now I’ve been doing digital now for more than 20 years. Only recently have I started going back to more traditional stuff, because people, like art curators have been contacting me and asking me if I have anything to sell. So back then when I was only doing digital, I didn’t have anything to sell. So I said ok, maybe after 20 years I will try to do some traditional again. So I started working on Copic markers, and in recent years charcoal pieces. And it seems to be doing really well, people really love it, they try to collect as much as they can.

 

 Gallery Shows

Urban-Muse.com: So obviously you’re super busy, but do you think you would ever do another solo show?

Artgerm: Many art galleries have contacted me for that. A notable one in the US, and another in Paris. The thing is, if I do a solo show, I have to create new pieces of work. And once I create the new traditional pieces of work, I have to ask the gallery “Ok so what kind of a percentage are you going to take in terms of money?” And they will reply “Oh we’re going to take about 50%.” So every piece I create, 50% will go to them. Now, in the past it made a lot of since because because artists would rely on galleries like this to increase their visibility and their profile, but now with social media, you don’t actually need to do that. You can curate your own artwork. And honestly most of my sales for my artwork, my originals, are done online, with Instagram, Facebook messages, and even e-mail. So I don’t actually need a curator or an agent to sell my stuff. So what’s the point of me doing a show? So that’s the question I am always asking myself.

Urban-Muse.com: So another way to do it is just to rent out the space and just do it yourself.

Artgerm: Yeah, exactly.But the visibility, compared to online, this is nothing. I mean I can have a solo show here in Singapore, and a few dozen people come in. But now everytime I post a piece of work  online there’s a million people looking at it. So there’s a very thing.

Urban-Muse.com: It’s difficult. Yeah, I know what you mean. 50% is the standard that’s basically what everyone asks. I can see it from both ways though. Because I’ve seen some amazing art shows here in LA and back in San Francisco when I used to live there. It’s just that when you walk into a gallery and you are confronted with the work face to face, so to speak, it’s just something so different than viewing it on a phone or a computer screen than with your own eyes. There’s something just so special about it, it’s almost a magic experience.

Artgerm: It’s true. Yeah.

Urban-Muse.com: You’re going to get more eyes (online) it’s just it’s such a special experience. So, it’s a kind of a trade off, so I don’t know the answer.

Artgerm: Yeah.

Urban-Muse.com: Maybe the answer is skip the galleries and go right to a Museum exhibit or something.

Artgerm: *Chuckles* Yeah, really.

Urban-Muse.com: It’s definitely possible. Now, it seems that you’re mostly doing your classes, your commercial projects, and of course comics. Now the video game projects that I know of are Street Fighter III Third Strike: Online Edition, Darkstalkers Resurrection, and King of Fighters: Maximum Impact. Am I missing anything?

Artgerm: So far that’s it.

Urban-Muse.com: Those are some really big ones though.

Artgerm: As a studio we work on a lot more game projects, but those are the ones I’ve worked on personally.

 DARKSTALKERS

(Above Stanley’s official Cover Art for Capcom’s Darkstalkers Resurrection)

Urban-Muse.com: So thing is with Darkstalkers, I really want them to make a NEW Darkstalkers, fully 3D, fully modern. Not just re-using the same sprites from the 90’s over and over, and over again.

Artgerm: Hmmm….

Urban-Muse.com: So I know you were a big fan of Street Fighter, were you a fan of Darkstalkers?

Artgerm: Oh, yeah definitely.

Urban-Muse.com: So, Morrigan and Lilith they’re really great characters. I mean the other guys are great too but Morrigan and Lilith are the stars.

Artgerm: I think when I was interviewing with Yoshinori Ono the executive producer of both Darkstalkers Resurrection and Street Fighter Third Strike Online. I think he told us was the challenge of Darkstalkers is making it with a 3D engine. Because Darkstalkers has a lot of deformations of the characters, way more than Street Fighter, so for almost every move of every character they have to create entirely new 3D objects, to depict the move. So it becomes extremely difficult and costly for them to make in 3D.

Urban-Muse.com: But they do have had those characters show up from time to time, like in the Marvel Vs. Capcom games. So I think someday they’ll do it. I think everyone really wants that.

Artgerm: Yeah, I think so.

Urban-Muse.com: And hopefully you’ll do the art for it! Haha

Artgerm: haha I hope so!

 

 Life in Art

Urban-Muse.com: In another interview you said that your goal is to include art in all aspects of you life.

Artgerm: Mmm hmmm.

Urban-Muse.com: So you’re walking around and you’re looking at things, and you’re thinking what do I like about this? What don’t I like the about this. What could I improve on this? Maybe what color scheme here can I include in my own art? Is that the way you view the world?

Artgerm: Yeah. I think we can learn a lot from reality, from life, and you just need to pay closer to that. Because many of the artworks we create are inspired from experiences in life. It’s just that many of us take things for granted, we just go through life and look at things as if they are in the default position. But if you look closer, you can actually learn a lot. In fact most of my knowledge from art, comes through observations from life and how things work. For example when looking down the street, I can see the lighting here looks great, oh the shadow areas look very interesting, how does it look like this, WHY? And just analyze the surroundings and try to make some sense, or create some theory to explain of this phenomenon. Then later I would go onto Google, and try to find out if what I thought I observed is really correct

Urban-Muse.com: Do you take photos with your camera of things like this?

Artgerm: Yes, I do.

 Strengths

Urban-Muse.com: So let’s say that somehow you were able to step outside of your body and examine yourself externally, what would you say Stanley Lau’s strengths are?

Artgerm: I would say that my strength is pretty much in doing character works, and he has a pretty good sense of lighting, colors, and compositions, as well as a very strong sense of graphic design, I think those are obvious in his work. I believe he’s also a person who has a heart for the community, he cares about artists a lot, and the growth of other people. I also believe that he’s a good teacher, he’s able to pass down knowledge, in a manner that people can understand easily, and even inspire them.

 Students Growth

Urban-Muse.com: I think so, I think millions of people have been really inspired by you, so I think that’s definitely true. And from what I’ve seen from the students that you’ve worked with at your school, the before and after photos, the growth can be really dramatic.

Artgerm: Yes, it’s true. Many of them came into the school, without even the knowledge of how to use a Wacom tablet, or how to use photoshop at all. So they learn everything from scratch.

Urban-Muse.com: So in order to do this, I have to think it takes an insane amount of patience?

Artgerm: Well you have to understand, and put yourself in their position, and know that they are newbies, they are facing the challenges that I faced when I was a newbie. So you need to see that from that perspective and try to pass down the knowledge that they can manage, and stop using those jargons and high level stuff to explain.

Urban-Muse.com: So at the end of the semester when you’re looking all the final projects and you can see this progression, that have been a part of, is that something that is really satisfying to you?

Artgerm: Yes, I think it’s really meaningful to be able to make an impact, or somehow assist these students on their journey of art. To give them some kind of a leap, or a launch pad, kind of idea. To set them on a much more solid foundation so they can grow with more stability.

 Advice for Students / ARTTRA Discord

Urban-Muse.com: So I think, in the future when this is printed and eventually put on the web, there’s going to be thousands of people, who knows maybe even millions of people that are reading this, that wish they could be Stanley Lau’s art student, but are unable to. So maybe they don’t have access to any art school at all, or they’re going to try and be self taught. What would you say to someone who is just starting on their art journey, and they want to get on a similar path to where you are today?

Artgerm: Honestly speaking, my path is way too long for artists in these generations. Because my lack of internet and access to information. So I would say that for young artists it’s very important to get involved in a community with like-minded people. People that are positive, eager to learn and grow. Surround yourself with those people, especially with the rise of social media you face a lot of challenges or negativity on social media. So it’s even more important to come together and fight this battle, which is exactly the reason why I created my online community on discord, it’s called ARTTRA . So basically it’s a place for artists around the world to come together. In this place we focus on growth, and learning and that’s the best I can offer for now, for those people that cannot actually attend my art school, to be able to interact with me, and other awesome artists to gain some insights on how we achieve what we achieve today.

 Livestreams

Urban-Muse.com: And also you’ve done a lot of livestreams as well before that. And it seems like maybe it’s not so necessary today, but back in the day people would make a lot of tutorial DVD’s, is that something you might ever do?

Artgerm: No, not really. I did the livestreams because I thought it was something fun to do, and I did that for a few years from livestream.com, and then to youtube, and facebook live. And it was fun, but to a point where it became more draining  than fun to me. People started to get too comfortable with that, to the point where it became a part of their daily routine, they wakeup and they just switch on my livestream and listen to me, or look at me do things from the background, so it becomes a background noise or background music to them. So finally it became less meaningful to me, because I didn’t get the chance to actually know the people who are watching me or interact with them. It’s very 2-dimensional in a sense, so eventually I decided to stop my livestreaming and moved onto a community where I could actually interact and know the artists and do a private google hangout with them, and answer their questions, and even do demonstrations with them. Then I can see the growth, and it becomes a more meaningful approach than just livestreaming. I mean I did have an ambition to grow my youtube channel to have millions of followers and to try and make money off my youtube channels, so that’s why I did not invest too much time in that currently.

Urban-Muse.com: And of course youtube has problems too, for instance with the advertising (and partner programs) It’s become more difficult to be successful with that than it used to be.

Artgerm: Yeah, that’s true.

Urban-Muse.com: In the past you described yourself and your tools, as a pair of aesthetic eyes, confident hands, accompanied by the knowledge of Photoshop and Painter. Is that correct?

Artgerm: Hahaha you can say that. But I think it’s more important to pay closer attention to life, and always ask the question “Why?”

 Art as a Lifestyle

Urban-Muse.com: Another one that we’ve  kind of already covered, but in the past you’ve said about advice for artists is, to be curious, to seek knowledge everywhere, and to think internationally. And that Art is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle.

Artgerm: Yes, that’s very true. You are an artist no matter where you are, whether you are changing a diaper for your babies, whether you are having your meal, whether you are playing your sports or doing exercise. There’s always something to learn from, in everything that you do, and that’s very vital to your personal growth as an artist. So I think you should include art (in everything). You should see the world through the eye of the artist.

 

 Think Globally Act Locally

Urban-Muse.com: And also I think it’s really important like you said to think globally, to think internationally. To try and think about how your work is going to be viewed, not only in your own small sphere, but globally how is it going to be perceived? Art is kind of special, it’s a universal language, you don’t need to speak, German, English, Japanese, Cantonese, we can all understand it.

Artgerm: Mmm hmm.

Urban-Muse.com: So when you said that, so were you talking about fans, were you talking about fans, or just in general with how the art is perceived?

Artgerm: Firstly I would say that clients and fans are pretty much the same thing. I always want to make sure that my clients are my fans. And usually enough, I would say 99% of my clients are my fans. And when I’m talking about the international appeal, I’m talking about where you position your art, what unique vision do you have that you can offer the world, from a different vision, I’m not just talking about East or West as a whole, but something uniquely yours, but at the same time something that the market wants to see. That’s what I mean with the positioning of it. There’s some artist that have mass appeal, and there’s some artists that are more niche. So you need to understand the battle that you are fighting. I wouldn’t say that one is better than the other one. For example, some people would like to open a food chain like McDonalds that cater to a lot of people, whereas others want to create a very unique restaurant or a diner that appeals a very small group of people but does it very well. So it really depends on your expectation.

Urban-Muse.com: And there’s another really interesting thing that’s been said of your art, because it has a really unique look that seems to be both Eastern and Western at the same time.

Artgerm: It’s not actually something that I had an objective to arrive at, at this point. But because of my upbringing, I grew up in Asia, heavily influenced by Anime and Manga when I was young. So when I came to Singapore I started to open myself up to something more western, superheroes and stuff so my art changed and evolved naturally.  So now my art appeals to both sides. To be honest with westerners, or some of my comic book collectors some of them look at it and they hate it and they say “Oh, it looks too anime!” You know?

Urban-Muse.com: Well, I don’t know, It depends…

Artgerm: And when it comes to an Asian audience, when they look at my art, they say “Oh, it looks very western.” *chuckle*

Urban-Muse.com: I see. I think most people generally like it though. I think both of those are kind of extremes. The haters maybe.

Artgerm: It’s no problem at all, I think that’s good.

 

 Fans = Clents

Urban-Muse.com: It was kind of interesting with what we kind of talked about the fans, and thinking globally. You said something that I thought was pretty brilliant, you said you have to view the fans as clients, because who knows, maybe 10 years down the line this guy/girl will be an Art Director and may be in the position to hire you. So it’s going to kind of come full-circle like that.

Artgerm: Yeah, it happens to me so regularly. It’s something that has been proven to be true. Because I go to so many clients and I ask them “So how, did you find me?” and they say something like “Oh, because I’ve followed your art since college days.” You know?

Urban-Muse.com: Sure.

Artgerm: So that means that when you’re building your fanbase you need to invest (yourself), and do not belittle these “little” fans, because they can become somebody important in the future.

 Artists Block

Urban-Muse.com: So this is another common question, but do you ever get Artist’s block where you just can’t get the ideas to come out?

Artgerm: No, I never get Artists block. My problem is always a lack of time to draw. Usually when people have this problem, it’s when you have this habit of thinking of what to draw when they are in front of the computer or when you open up a sketchbook, and only then do they start thinking of ideas, and many times the ideas won’t come. The best way to avoid that is to make sure that you consolidate and record down your ideas even though you are not drawing. Then you should always have a sketchbook with you, and if something interesting comes to you mind then you can even make a little doodle, or a little sketch, or even write it down with words just to recall it. You can allow that to sink in, and just do a little digestion with your head, and then next time that you want to draw you have this whole book of ideas to think about and to make use of.

Urban-Muse.com: And so building on what you have just said, a lot of time when people are talking about this, artists have said it’s not so much about having the idea or having to have the inspiration, it’s about just sitting yourself down and just to start working. And the inspiration will come, because it has to, that you really have to treat it like a job, just sit down and do it. Would you agree with that?

Artgerm: Well, sometimes. I mean I know some artists just like to do that for example I call it “ArtFarting.” So basically you just “fart” around with your art. You just put some stuff on the canvas and see how it goes, and try to just play with it or something like that. So yes it’s true, but at the same time I think if you have a clearer direction of what you want to achieve in this piece of work, it will give a much better idea. For example if you don’t have any ideas, then you do photostudy, but you study with an understanding of what you want to achieve in this. When you don’t have new ideas, you can find old ideas. For example, you can re-do nostalgic characters, and I always advise artists or young artists, that there’s a few things that you can actually do to make your work more appealing to people, for example something that’s fun! Or Funny! Or Cute! Usually this will get noticed. Or something that’s trending, that’s obvious, when something is trending people will take notice of it. Or something that is controversial, make people talk about it. That’s very shareable. Something that’s nostalgic, something that rekindles your love of this character from when you were young. And that can be very interesting. For example I did a Sailor Moon coloring piece contest piece, people loved it because (they’d say)  “Oh my gosh! Sailor Moon I used to love it when I was young!” That gave them the chance to look at this old character in a new perspective, that’s also very useful. And lastly (you can create) something that’s educational, when you can create something that’s a little bit more tutorial based, and show people how you do certain things. I think that will also have a very strong impact for your social media.

 Depression in the Artist Community

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, I think that’s very good advice. I think that’s fantastic. So, in every issue of Urban-Muse Magazine each issue has a theme, and in the third issue we dealt with depression in the artist community. Now, you seem like a pretty happy guy, but have you ever dealt with depression?

Artgerm: No. But I do have many people around me who have face (or are facing) depression. I think this depression thing has become a much bigger problem in the recent years again from Social Media.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah. I agree.

Artgerm: I would like to talk about that a bit more. Because I always have this idea of “Internet Artist” and when I say “Internet Artist” it means basically all the artists that you follow online (combined) into one person. Now the young generation of artists like to follow artists online, and they like to follow hundreds if not thousands of artists online. So when they wake up the first thing they do is grab their phone and look at those artworks. They thought that by following all these artists online that they would get inspired, and make better artwork because of that. But many artists they will get discouraged, threatened by these people, because now these 1,000 artists that you follow you have lumped them together into one person. So this one artist can draw: hot chicks, cute stuff, wacky stuff, mecha, machines, creatures, and environment. EVERYTHING. And you put your work against this “Internet Artist” and you feel threatened, of course. You can never match up to this expectation. So eventually it makes you feel fearful of even trying, and many of them get into depression because of that.

Urban-Muse.com: I really appreciate you speaking on that. Because like you said you are surrounded by people with it, and throughout writing this magazine I’ve learned that it seems like virtually every artist has dealt with it before or is dealing with it currently. And that this issue might be even more prevalent statistically in the artist community than anywhere else.

Artgerm: Yep. I think it’s very important for us as artists to understand that we are not here to cater to every single person and to satisfy their artistic need. Some people like Portraits, some people like Anime, some people like environments. And so be it. We only offer what we love to do, what we do the best, to the community and to the art industry as a whole. So if some people don’t like what you are doing, it’s fine. So you need to understand that part of it. And try not to be the person who tries to match up to this “Internet Artist” and try to do EVERYTHING. Because you can’t. You have to pick your battles. And you always need to choose something that you truly enjoy. And appreciate those things that you can’t do and appreciate the people who can. I think that’s important. And know that the reason they can do what they can do, is because they’ve invested a great deal of their time into what they are doing. What we are seeing is only the outcome of it. We did not see the hard work that went into making it. For example I have been drawing for over 20 years, and draw over 8 hours a day. So if you ask a young artist who is depressed (about their work) if they have even invested half of that time into their own work? No, they don’t. Right?

Urban-Muse.com: No, it’s true. My personal feeling is as an artist you should try to build other artists up, not to tear them down and shit all over their work. If you do this, trying to be positive and build people up you’re going to be a much happier artist and person.

 The True Nature of Your Followers

Artgerm: Yes, I guess that’s true. But the problem is that a lot of the people are being too harsh on themselves. They set a very unrealistic goal with their artworks, especially younger artists, they try to achieve something that they are not yet capable of doing at this point in time. Or they want to get to the point where they can achieve that in a relatively short period of time. For example if I put up a piece of work and only get 10 likes. “Oh man, it doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t even try. Nobody cares about my work.” But they are very early in their journey, and they see that their social media “likes” are so critical and somehow defines them. But I always tell my students. “Do you know that your followers are not your friends?”

Urban-Muse.com: What do you mean? Explain that.

Artgerm: Yeah. You see followers are not exclusive to you. The ones who follow you may follow another one thousand artists, so they follow you maybe because they like one piece of your work, or somehow see some potential in your work that may be able to fill up their social media feed to make it more interesting. But they may not be emotionally committed to you . Fans (not followers)  are those those people who are committed to what you are doing, and support you no matter what you do, even if you change your artstyle, you change your job, you change your direction they will stick by you to see where you go with that, and those are your true fans. I can tell you, that if you have maybe 10,000 followers on your social media, oh ten-thousand? Maybe you only have 1,000 of really devoted fans. The rest are just like casual people.

Urban-Muse.com: Yeah, just the audience, the observers, are not necessarily the people that are going to support you.

Artgerm: I mean it’s so true when you look at artists who go on Patreon to try and make money with their artworks, and I will see that the artist will have maybe 300k followers, and so they will think “Oh Wow! I have 300k followers, I think it’s time for me to open up a Patreon!” And then I open their Patreon and I look at how many patrons actually support them. Maybe 20?

 Overcoming Adversity

Urban-Muse.com: The next question is pretty important, each issue has a theme and this is the theme for this issue. The theme is “Overcoming adversity.” So if maybe someone had like a personal tragedy or something, how do you overcome that adversity, conquer it, and come out the other side stronger, to grow from it and to become a better artist?

Artgerm: Can you say something more specific about that. What kind of adversity?

Urban-Muse.com: Well for me, I think your answer would be quite similar to my current adversity. I ask these questions often for myself because I am hoping they can help inspire me too.  For me the adversity is this magazine project, and trying to make it successful, and to get it to the point where it can grow and be printed thousands of times, even though financially, emotionally, time wise etc it can be extremely difficult.  That’s my adversity. But if I am successful with it, if I am able to accomplish this and make it a success I’m going to be really proud of myself for overcoming all these huge obstacles. So I was thinking that with ìImaginary Friendsî this is kind of what you did.

Artgerm: Oh wow. I see. I would say that everything is a journey. I don’t actually hold onto the idea of “failure” that much, because I always think that I learn something from some of the mistakes that I do. And it makes me a better person. For example everything that I do I might have 10 options for that, if I have no idea of how to do something, I may use those 10 options and half of them maybe a wrong decision.  But as I grow more, as I learn more, as I make more mistakes, the ten options may become eight options, to five options because I have already figured out that those other things don’t work. It just sharpens me and makes me a better decision maker and so I would not hold onto the idea of “failure” too much.

Urban-Muse.com: Someone who is important to me told me something important, she told me “The only true ‘failure’ is not trying.”

Artgerm: Yes, that’s very true. I believe that. I say the same thing to my kids every day. “As long as you try, you’re a winner.”

 Time Management

Urban-Muse.com: Now this next question is probably going to be very important to this interview and our readers. I want to talk to you about your daily schedule and time management. How do you find time throughout your day for work, coming home to be with your family, for play, and for personal projects? What does your daily schedule look like these days?

Artgerm: Now officially on weekdays I work from 10AM to 7:00 PM. Officially. But usually I will stay there a lot longer, sometimes until 2:00 AM at my studio before I head home. But luckily Singapore is a small country so my traveling time is not as crazy. But it’s always a struggle when it comes to time management, because I have my own studio to run, I have my commercial projects, I have a school where I teach, I have an online community that I facilitate, and then most importantly my family. So I have a lot of things I have to juggle daily basis. So I’ve had to build some kind of structure with my wife in order to get some kind of a compromise. It’s not easy because most people do not have artists as their husbands, you know what I’m saying? It’s not easy for them to see that what we are doing is something that defines who are, as a life, as a person, not so much as a job. Many of them might brush it off and say “Oh! You are such a workaholic! You work so hard!” I’m not even working. I always tell my wife that Monday thru Friday is where I have my holidays. My weekends are my actual work days because I actually have to manage my family! Ha ha ha! That’s my actual work days. Monday thru Friday is my fun time where I do what I truly love, it’s like breathing. So in order to get them to understand I have to build some kind of structure for them. For example on which days I can work in the studio late, and which days I have to go back home for dinner and spend time with the family. That kind of structure I have to be very vigilant about it.

 Importance of Family

Urban-Muse.com: So something that I’ve found by meeting so many artists is that some of the most successful ones, the ones who make are the ones who have a wife, who have a family, or who have a significant other that supports them. And to build on that of those significant others, it really seems to help if that person is creative themselves, they can understand that artist lifestyle a little bit better. Is that something that you’ve found?

Artgerm: It’s true. I think for example I wouldn’t expect my wife to completely understand what I am doing, but she trusts me enough to to give me the space, and to trust me, and believe that I am doing the right things. I think that support is important, although they may not know 100% what we are doing.

Urban-Muse.com: So this is fun question. Imagine that you are sitting in your house and then all of a sudden there is a loud KNOCK! At the door, and you open the door and it’s Marty McFly and Doc Brown in front of the Delorean. They tell you that you have to come with them into the past to save the future! They take you to the past and you are confronted with a young version of Stanley Lau. What would you tell him?

Artgerm: I would tell him to work harder when he was young, and play less games. Ha ha ha! And draw more, I think I took a long path to get to where I am.

 Wishes for the Future

Urban-Muse.com: And I want to end with this question. In 2006 you did a really nice interview with this guy called “MidnightExigent” I think it was on DeviantArt. And this was in 2006, so he asked you “Where are you going to be in five years?” so that would have been all the way in 2011. And your answer was: “I’m going to be married to a beautiful wife, I’m going to have kids running around bugging me, I’m going to start an Art School, I’m going to be running Imaginary Friends, and I’m going to be even more passionate about art.” 

Artgerm: Oh! That’s exactly what I am doing now! That’s awesome! Ha Ha Ha!

Urban-Muse.com: And you said it and you manifested it into reality. You kind of “Spoke it into existence.” So you had that goal, and that’s EXACTLY what happened!

Artgerm: Yeah, but it doesn’t happen often you see. Even running a studio like Imaginary Friends I don’t have any specific goals for what I want to achieve. Even as an independent artist I don’t have goals like “I need to achieve this and this by this age, and stuff.” No, my idea of making art isn’t even about making money, my whole idea of making art is really to enjoy the creative part of it, and see my vision come to life. In fact many people will ask me “So, how do you see money?” And I always say “Whether I make $1,000,000 a year to $10. My passion won’t change. I’ll still draw.” My whole idea of earning money is to provide for my family so that they will leave me alone when I draw!

Urban-Muse.com: Ha ha ha ha!!!

Artgerm: Ha ha ha ha!!! That’s All!

Urban-Muse.com: That’s it! Ha ha ha That’s the only reason!

Artgerm: Hahaha that’s it.

Urban-Muse.com: So the next part of the question is, since you did that so well last time. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Artgerm: Hopefully, I hope that I can be a much more influential person. I’ll be going to many different countries and giving talks and inspiring the new generation of artists to make a difference in their lives. And I hope to grow a lot more with the online community and see myself managing and facilitating this much larger community, that helps people to have the positive mindset to help each other to grow.

 Parting Words

Urban-Muse.com: Well, I think that really sounds wonderful. And that’s a good place to end. And I want to thank you so much. But before we go is there anything else you would like to leave the readers with?

Artgerm: Yeah I think at the end of the day, for those people here who are listening to (or reading) this, as an artist, to always remember to love what you draw, and draw what you love. There are a lot of people who might come down on you or discourage you but I think eventually you have to always hold onto the idea that the reason you started to draw is because you love it. And don’t change that because of the growth of Social Media. You have more “friends”, “followers” and you start to listen to what they want you to do. You should always cast the first light to every piece of work that you do. Whether other people like it or not it becomes secondary. Hold onto that first love that you had, when you first decided to be an artist. And continue to grow that part of you. Because I believe that once you put a piece of your heart and soul into every piece that you do, people can feel it, and that makes your art more attractive.

Urban-Muse.com: That’s wonderful, Thankyou Stanley. I really appreciate it.

 

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What you have just read is the culmination of the Urban-Muse Magazine Project issues 1-4 thus far. And what we feel is our best work for this project. The Urban-Muse Magazine Patreon campaign was not large enough to make further issues possible until we find a way to get more support.  If you like what you have just read and think we should keep doing stuff like this please consider helping us out on Patreon.

Over the next few months we will be doing several paid artist cover features and are making re-investing into the artist community one of our top priorities. Artgerm is only one of many artists we have paid and commissioned over the years. But we can only support them so much. (I do this out of pocket, the amount of all the money generated by the patreon is less than the amount I pay artists). We would like your help and encouragement that what we are trying to do is a positive force in the artist community. But we cannot do it alone. You will get download links to issues 1-4 and various other early editorials and features. Urban-Muse is struggling financially and needs help. Things are serious.  Patreon.com/UrbanMuse

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Urban-Muse posts the best art from around the world all day long, and does features/interviews with the world's greatest artists.