Home Features Magion02 – Feature 4 of 5 – Urban-Muse Magazine #2

Magion02 – Feature 4 of 5 – Urban-Muse Magazine #2

by Curt Anderson
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What you are about to read is an excerpt of Urban-Muse Magazine Issue #2, currently available as part of $5 pledge on Patreon.com. We have gradually been releasing 5  interviews, from issue #2 on the blog. Work on Issue #3 and a new set of artist features is already in progress. When you pledge on Patreon you will be sent a download link for Issue #1 of the magazine, as well as #2, and of course issue #3 when it is complete.  If you want to read all the features, see the specific layouts/images chosen, read additional articles that will not be on the blog, view the images in High Res Lossless Quality, and support the project ensuring future issues can be made. Please consider supporting the Urban-Muse Magazine Patreon here:

 

patreon.com/urbanmuse

patreon.com/urbanmuse

 

Magion02 is an artist on the rise. Urban-Muse has heavily been sharing this talented artists work for the past few years and the Urban-Muse fans have consistently made their feelings known, they love Magion02! Magion02 has an incredible traditional media look with seemingly perfect looking sketches, posted alongside expertly sharpened needle sharp charcoal pencils that allow him to get those precise clean lines he likes.

Magion02 like Alen Rocha in this issue has an extremely large project that he’s still fleshing out these days. Magion02’s magnum opus so far is his “Ms. Assistant” Project, the details are still sketchy at this point but when we ask him about it in the questions to follow, he says it’s about a young girl learning art and the adventures and pitfalls that accompany her adventure. In addition to the main character there is a large cast of supporting characters that each have very unique personalities and behavior, you will see many of these characters highlighted here.

Magion02’s work is a joy to look at and we’re excited on seeing more of his “Ms. Assistant” project as it matures and grows. The future is bright for Magion02 and art fans across the globe who enjoy his work!

Urban-Muse.com Introductory Statement: It’s a great pleasure to have you in this issue Magion02. You are one of the most popular artists right now on Urban-Muse! Generally I love to post your incredibly sharp and flawless looking pencil sketches mostly, many of the fans really seem to really get excited when Urban-Muse shares your work!

Urban-Muse.com: Let’s start off with where you’re from. According to your Artstation you are located in Borneo, Malaysia. What can you tell us about life as an artist living in Borneo? What’s life like there? What’s your day to day like?

Magion02: Borneo is a lovely place to live in, but probably not so much for an artist. I live in Borneo Sabah, which is located on the east side of Malaysia and comparing to the west (Peninsular), Borneo is considered left behind in many aspects which includes art especially when it comes to exposure and value. Trying to make a living by doing art in Borneo is near impossible. The only way that made it possible for me is having an internet access here which is the only gateway for me to reach out to my international clients and supporters!

Urban-Muse.com: Who are your favorite artists and inspirations? Contemporary and classical.

Magion02: There are heaps so I will point out the ones that have inspired and made me who I am today! In no particular order Akira Toriyama, Hayao Miyazaki, Tetsuya Nomura, Takehiko Inoue and Shunya Yamashita!

Urban-Muse.com: We see A LOT of familiar Video Games, and Anime referenced in your work, such as Dragonball Z, X-23, NieR Automata, Overwatch, Final Fantasy and many more. Which are your absolute favorite movies? Anime? And Video Games? This could be a BIG question so feel free to write a lot, there’s no limit. This probably has the most impact on your creativity in your work.

Magion02: Like most artists, I grew up watching Anime and playing Video games as if they were my daily nutrients. So there is no doubt that this lifestyle has always been the main source for my creativity and inspirations. If I were to name 1 title to represent each categories mentioned, then I would say “One piece” for anime, “Spirited Away” for movie and “Final Fantasy VIII” for video game! Speaking of Final Fantasy VIII, Tetsuya Nomura’s character design for FFVIII was the first “Semi realism” style that I fell in love with and it has made a really big impact in my art style as I tried to achieve the very challenging “Semi realism” style but never truly worked out haha! I may be able to do better today, but I can assure you that I’m still struggling to achieve that desired style inspired by Tetsuya Nomura’s art.

So yeah without these influences, I don’t think I can be the artist I am today. I feel very blessed to have lived through all that memories with me.

Urban-Muse.com: Which is your absolute favorite piece of yours of all time?


Magion02:
Let’s see, I think my favorite piece would be my Dragon Ball Z “Run! 18 Run!” piece (below) which is also the only Daily Deviation I ever received on DevianArt. But then… I also like my Angewomon from Digimon Adventure! This is hard one to answer to be honest because a lot of them carry important memories haha!

Urban-Muse.com: Do you have any specific brushes or plugins you use that you would recommend?

Magion02: Hmmmmmmmmm… I’m not sure but I think I will release some of my personal custom brushes in the future!

Urban-Muse.com: This is another big question specifically for you, what can you tell us about “Ms. Assistant” can you tell us the story behind that? I’m sure you’ve mentioned this before but “Ms. Assistant” seems to be the whole “Key” about understanding your work. Can you describe her? How she came to be, and what her story is?

Magion02:Ms.assistant” is actually the title for my upcoming manga which I’ve been developing since 2015. All the CG rendered girls that I’ve been posting under Ms.assistant series? They are basically the characters who will be part of the Manga. (Most of them if not all)

The manga will portray the common struggles all amateur artists faces in the present days and the journey to understand the true meaning of success as an artist. The story will be carried by Fuuchiko, the recurring girl character with the round top fedora, an amateur artist who has a big dream but not quite the skills. (Fuuchiko pictured below)

Urban-Muse.com: There’s also a series of recurring characters you like to use from “Ms. Assistant”, can you talk a bit about this and why you do this? It must seem like you actually know them quite well at this point because each of them seems to have a very specific personality!

Magion02: Yes that’s true. Each of the characters are from my “Ms.assistant” series and they all have their own personality and back story all thanks to my supporters. The more reaction a character receives from my supporters, the more I can develop the character and decide what kind of personality I can enhance on them. So usually ones you see recurring, they are the popular ones among my supporters.

 

Urban-Muse.com: This is kind of a big question because as we mentioned before we LOVE your pencil sketches, so can you tell us about what tools you use for Traditional, brand of pencils, exact knives etc and then separately for digital, what model tablet, computer, programs etc?

Magion02: For traditional art, I normally use 2b wooden pencil by Faber Castell/ Staedler and sharpen with a standard economical cutter. For mechanical pencil though, I prefer using Pentel’s graph series. As for erasers, I usually go for Pentel as well and Mono’s. To be honest, there is no particular brand of tools that I’m overly attached to for traditional art. As long as they feel comfy in the grip of my hand, then I can have a good drawing session.

Digital wise, I’m currently using a Wacom 22HD on Windows 7+Photoshop.

Urban-Muse.com: What is your process like? Where do you like to work? In your house, apartment, cafe, outside, what do you do to get into the mood to sit down and draw/paint? Maybe some special kind of music you listen to?

Magion02: I like to work in a place where I can seek balance anytime and that would be at home. When I say balance, I mean peace when I work and greenery when I relax. I live in a “country side”ish environment and that really blends well with the nature side in me. So when things start to stress me out, I will take a short break outside of my home where all the greenery is, and that always eases the steam in my mind. I listen to whatever music that feels right for the art I’m working on.

Urban-Muse.com: Do you have any specific brushes or plugins you use that you would recommend?

Magion02: Hmmmmmmmmm… I’m not sure but I think I will release some of my personal custom brushes in the future!

Urban-Muse.com: And finally Virtual Reality, recently re reposted a 360 VR image you did in the “Magion02 Art Gallery” our fans really loved it and it got reblogged a few hundred times, it seems to me like Virtual Reality and maybe even robots is likely in your future? It seems like these “Ms. Assistant” characters you’ve been creating could translate very well into synthetic humanoids that people could interact with so “Ms. Assistant” REALLY could be your assistant or something, either a a VR experience like Sony’s recent VR school girl tutor game, or maybe even in the future an actual android? Is this something you think about and would like to do if given the chance?

View this 360 VR “Ms. Assistant” experience here. (Click)

Magion02: To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be that popular haha! I’ve never thought of going that far to make a legit VR assistant. But the reason why I made it in 360 form is to allow my supporters to submerge into the Ms.assistant world and to allow them to catch each of the character’s personalities first hand. For example, in the 360 image if you turn 180° to your back you will notice how “playful” assistant Hyuna is who’s trying to pull a scare prank on the viewer while assistant Kyoko who is right next to her tries to stop her from such act ( Even though she seems to be enjoying it too.) it almost feels like something a real person would do right? So yes, if given the opportunity I would love to produce or to see my characters somehow intractable in VR because that would make them even believable.

(Click)

Urban-Muse.com: This is a big question for this issue, but how do you deal with artists block? What do you do when you know you should be creating something, but the ideas just won’t come? How do you find the inspiration?

Magion02: Artist block is one of the things that is inevitable no matter how good you are in art. To overcome that, I usually take a break, go for a walk, watch Anime or play my favorite game. Basically, do things that you “enjoy” as an “artist” and eventually it will lights up the bulb in your head (Literally, do the things that I mentioned earlier) and it usually won’t take long.

Urban-Muse.com: Has there ever been a piece that you REALLY struggled with? What did you do? What did you learn from that experience?

Magion02: Honestly, every single “Ms.assistant” piece that I did was a struggle. The more mistakes I make, the more I know what to do in the next piece. But then, that doesn’t mean the next piece is going to be easier because there will always be new obstacles that appears. If you are struggling and feel stuck at some point, my advice would be to accept that you are struggling, because you are most likely lacking of skills. Accepting your own weakness is the best way to move on from the struggle because only then, you are more open to seek help from better artist friends or just learn from tutorials. It helps me improve faster.

Urban-Muse.com: You’re on many art sites and social media outlets, including Patreon, which has been most important to you? Which are you most popular on? Which has been most important to building your fanbase and interacting with those fans?

Magion02: I think I’m getting more supporters on Instagram and Facebook comparing to other social media outlets therefore they’ve been quite important to me because that’s where I can interact and receive most feedbacks and supports from my supporters!

Urban-Muse.com: Speaking of Patreon, how have you liked it? You seem to be doing really well and providing some great content, Urban-Muse is obviously using it as well and I’ve personally found it really motivating to know that people care enough to drop a few bucks to help us out. What do you think of it?

Magion02: Thank you! About Patreon, I’m not promoting it too much at the moment due to limited content. I literally just post my PSD+Stepbysteps+Videos of the only many illustrations I can produce in a month as the reward. But I’m very grateful that there are still quite a number of people who are willing to spend their money on my Patreon page despite the low amount of content.

I may not be earning as much as other creators out there but still, I’m very grateful that I’m able to make at least a hundred dollar a month (couple hundred if I’m lucky ) and It has been a great support to me financially especially this couple years where I was able to use the sum to ease some of my monthly bills! For those who are reading this, if you are supporting/supported me on Patreon I would like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

 

Urban-Muse.com:  When I was putting this together I realized just how many of your girls wear glasses, in fact most of your pieces all have a “glasses version.” I am a big fan of glasses as well and Urban-Muse has a long history of having very popular glasses posts. I also noticed you don’t wear glasses yourself but seem to love them, the same goes for me!

Magion02: You are into glasses too? Well, you and I should have a drink together sometime! Haha, I’ve always been amazed with how much of a difference a glasses can change a person. One and without really shows a different personalities as if there are 2 different persons! It’s always fun to experiment by creating 2 different version for all my characters and to see what the viewers have to say about it. There are times where they can see a unique personality on the character with glasses on comparing to one that is not wearing any or vice versa which I can’t see myself and to me, that is really interesting. So yeah, GLASSES FTW!

Urban-Muse.com: How do you find balance in your personal life as it relates to art? Do you set time out of your day to create?

Magion02: I work from 10am-10.30pm ( with couple of breaks in between) every day and head to bed at 1am. Working longer than that will expose myself to health issues which I want to avoid at all cost.

Urban-Muse.com: Are there any external factors that might help you become a better artist? Sleep schedule, diet / exercise, relaxation techniques, relationships with friends romantic or just friendship? Do you think these things are important to being a balanced human being and then a good artist?

Magion02: To be honest, I actually spend more time drawing than doing all the other things you mentioned. I’m not the fastest artist when it comes to speed so I need all the time I can have in a day in order to complete an artwork hence less time participating in other activities. But at the same time I do think it is important to have a good balance in order to keep the stress level under the line because I’ve been where I neglected my other life activities such as exercise, meeting friends stuffslike that and that has done a terrible impact to my health where I had to take a long break in order to heal up. Ever since then, I try to exercise every day to keep my body as healthy as possible (Eating right too ). I’m not the social type of person so I’ll usually go out meeting friends like once every 2-3 months and I can live with that. Most important of all, do your best in work but also know your limit! Healthy body equals better production.

Urban-Muse.com: What would you say to an artist who wants to get better?

Magion02: Stay humble, be kind to one another, lower your ego, work hard and work smart.

 

Urban-Muse.com: What would you say to an artist who is struggling and perhaps wants to give up on art for whatever reason? Maybe it’s too hard, maybe they don’t think they’re good enough? Everyone has probably felt like this at some point? How do you find the strength to persevere?

Magion02: There’s always a reason behind such mindset, try sit down and pin down those reasons and overcome it. For example, let’s say you think that you are not good enough, ask yourself why do you think that? Are you comparing yourself to another artist (again)? If so then you need to understand that every artist has their own pace in climbing those hills of obstacles and you have you own. You won’t be be able to live the exact same “success” as theirs simply because you are walking on a different path. You may mentally reference other successful people as motivation, but not to do exactly like them because things that worked for others doesn’t mean it will work for you. Work at your own pace and like I said before, work hard but work smart and be grateful for every struggle you have faced. The struggles you are fighting now will be the strength you need in the future. No pain. No gain. Also remember to take a break to avoid burn out, because that’s when negative mind set normally kicks in.

Urban-Muse.com: Did you go to art school? How did you learn to draw and paint?

Magion02: I went to an art university for a year after graduating high school for the foundation, but then I realized that my family couldn’t afford the fees and stuff so I quit after that. From there on, it’s all self-taught via experience and tutorials online.

Urban-Muse.com: If you could talk to a younger version of yourself knowing what you know now what would you say?

Magion02: I probably have the worst ego when I was younger so I would first, slap my younger version and then say “You may have a big passion and dream but there always someone better than you. Stay humble and learn from others.”

 

Urban-Muse.com: What can we expect from Magion Zero Two in the future? Do you have any future projects lined up? Do you have some specific goals for yourself and your work?

Magion02: I do have an art book coming soon and once that’s done I’m planning to work on my Ms.assistant manga and some other projects which I can’t say at the moment!

 

Urban-Muse.com: What do you think the future of art holds? What do you think society can do to help artists? What technological advancements could be made to help advance art further into the 21st century?

Magion02: With all the high tech influences nowadays I think people are getting used to digital art due to much simpler techniques with all the new short cuts and that only means more expensive gadgets. So funding your favorite artists is the best way to help as it keeps them going.

With that being said, from another perspective of mine, art can only get better visually as technology advances, but it will never be comparable to what is produced traditionally.  Technology shall be used to preserve the fundamentals, not replacing them.. I hope it makes sense LOL.

Urban-Muse.com: Thank you so much for being a part of this Magion02! It’s a pleasure to have you in this issue!

Magion02: Thank you so much for having me! I wish Urban-Muse all the best and keep supporting indie artists! You guys rock!

 

You can follow Magion02 here:

artstation.com/artist/magion02

youtube.com/user/magion

instagram.com/magion02

magion02.deviantart.com

facebook.com/Magion02

patreon.com/magion02

magion02.storenvy.com

 

 

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