This time on Artist Spotlight we talk with SkyTheVirus who has been creating art for us officially and as a community member for a long time.

What can you tell us about yourself?

My name’s SkyTheVirus. (some refer to me as Vitus) I am a 23-year-old, (soon to be 24 at the time of writing this interview) female, college student in Florida perusing a bachelor’s degree in Character Animation. I am currently in production with 15 other college (14 female and 1 male) animators as a character designer/storyboarder/modeler/texture artist/2D&3D Animator for a student film called Delivery. (check us out on Facebook / Instagram / Twitter)


Where does your name come from?

Well there’s two parts to it:

Sky was part of my original name back in my Minecraft days (2012 I’m guessing). My original username was SkySlayer3217 in which the “Sky” part was from a famous Minecraft youtuber SkyDoesMinecraft. and I was always into the whole “The sky is the limit” lingo. 

The other part was the whole theme I was going for with some the characters that were created just before college. “The Virus” is the underlining name for the affiliation of my characters which includes my personal OC, Commander Vitus, and plenty of others like Zarn, Virum and plenty more being created to this day.


How did you learn about Trove and why did you start playing?

It was around the time I started my first year of college, I was recommended by my sister SkyRider3217 who was watching and playing with a former twitch streamer named PhatDylanRules. (now called Vatronos, he doesn’t play Trove anymore) Originally, I was playing under her account just to try it out until I decided to create my own account.


What's your favorite part of Trove? What keeps you coming back?

My favorite part is seeing all the funny shenanigans that people get themselves into in Trove and all the creative builds, mods, and art that people create. It’s also what keeps me here even when I’m not playing trove as often or hardly ever, but I still try to keep up to date on what’s going on in the community.


How did you get started creating art for Trove and why?

It was a little bit after playing Trove was when I had the thought of drawing classes and mounts just for fun. There wasn’t any definitive reason other than, I want to.

Have you produced art for any other games?

 I did, most of my first artwork was primarily Pokemon, then it went into Fusemon (and regretted it because I didn’t know what I was doing DX ), then it was a moment of Dillon’s Rolling Western art (it was a fun game), and then Kid Icarus: Uprising, (which is one of my favorite games, the story was AMAZING and HILARIOUS, aside from the terrible controls. FLOOR ICE CREAM GIVES YOU HEALTH!) and now it’s Trove with a random Hollow Knight art somewhere in the mists of that.


What motivates you to continue creating art for Trove?

I would have to say the new mounts, dragons, allies and mobs that keep being introduced with unique designs that make me want to draw them, when I have the time. There’s also so much other scenarios (old and new) that I feel like drawing for the Tales of the Virus comic series that I’ve wanted to draw out.


Which other Artists on Trove inspire you?

  • Galeneos – Style is very simple but it’s pleasing to the eyes. Goes to show that you can make great art even when you don’t have the fancy tools to make good art. 
  • MrWhoever – The fully rendered art is very dynamic in many elements and many others are just adorable. I love the way he does his effects and backgrounds to compliment the characters portrayed. 
  • KawaiiCaretaker (also called BlackieMaiden) and Ainogommon – A wonderfully talented artists. The composition of every piece speaks loudly, and the execution is outstanding.
  • pokemon008 – Such a great style! I especially loved the stained-glass projects that he did.

How did it feel when your first art was shared on a livestream or highlighted in a contest?

The first time was a LONG time ago when TrionWorlds was doing their livestreams. It was like 3:00pm these streams were and one day they started a new segment on fan art. I was skeptical at first, but my old Pirate Captain Art was one of the fan arts that were shown off that day. That day, I felt a warm (good) feeling, like, it meant something to them. So that motivated me to continue doing art and get better. (will miss you Twixler ;( )
https://twitter.com/AlinaMArtist/status/1055437094586368001


What is your design and creation process?

What I normally do is draw out rough, sloppy sketches of just the body position and (maybe) a background. Then, I draw another sketch developing the main features, I don’t go into full detail. Next, is using lasso tools and breaking apart the sketch and dissecting it, making sure that parts are scaled correctly. And at this point, I usually just outline everything with making strokes/undoing, fill in solid color and then effects/shading/lighting.


What tools do you use to create art?

I primarily use Photoshop CC for all my digital artwork as well as small animations now. I’ve been using Photoshop for about 7 years now and was certified back in 2014 when I was using it for photo-editing purposes. I also have lots of traditional art supplies including sketching pencils, pens, polymer clay, and a ton of sketchbooks. (because I can never have enough of those :3 ) It all depends on how I want to create my art.


What is the most challenging thing about creating art?

The most challenging I’d say is having an idea and sticking to it. I have a bad habit of getting a project started and not finishing it. Either A) I lost the motivation of finishing this art, B) There’s not much free time to continue to do it, or C) I completely forgot about the project. I also have issues with proportions. Sure, a character can be exaggerated when it’s a cartoon style, but if I’m implementing a bit of realism and something is not scaled correctly, it feels off.


What advice would you give to new artists starting out?

Hm… where to start…

  • Practice - I think this might have been said a lot of time by several artist, but practice is KEY! Drawing a little a day can help, but not too much to the point that it becomes overwhelming. You need to understand what your limits are. Your art may not look good in the beginning, but with years of practice with research put in between, it will improve. 
  • Be Observant – Looking at things in a different perspective in terms of shape, color and such, it can give you a better understanding. Don’t be afraid to look up reference images, the human mind can’t remember things verbatim. I’ve gotten better just by doing still life drawings, it gets me to think a bit more on how I compose, arrange, and accurately use art principles and techniques to draw.
  • Take Criticism (with a grain of salt) – Get someone else to look at your art. They might see something that you don’t see. I’ve had many instances where I something good and I show it to someone else (who isn’t an art major) and she see inconsistencies. More eyes on your work could help better improve your work. When I mean taking criticism with a grain of salt, you have the choice to not take the advice if you deem it as unnecessary or insufficient. 
  • Have FUN – Art is more of a pleasant excursive that can destress you mind. Nobody is forcing you to do anything if you are doing this as a hobby (unless you’re that one person doing this in the middle of a lecture in school, please don’t. Pay attention, school is more important) unless you really want to take it a step further into perusing it as a career. 

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