Interview No. 155

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is an underrated artist who many will probably know more from his NSFW art. Dig deeper though and you will find an artist whose works range from video game, to creativity, and nostalgic. He has perfected his craft throughout the years on Newgrounds. I am pleased to welcome, @SenpaiLove.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join? Also your username used to be Plazmix. What made you want to change your username?

A: I found Newgrounds mainly through old animators and flash games back at around 2009 and I didn't make an account till around 2011. Plazmix was my gamertag at the time and I didn't really establish a proper pen name till senior year of high school. I have gone through a few names but SenpaiLove stuck after one of my friends gave me the idea.

Q: You've been drawing since the age of 4. Could tell us what it was you first drew and how would you say you developed as an artist over time?

A: The first thing I drew was legit a little yellow duck with some flowers. Ever since that time I just kept growing more and more accustomed to drawing letting my inspiration flow as a child. It was when I started watching more animated movies that my passion grew more and I wanted to become an animator.

Q: Did you study art while at Corona High School and Lee V Pollard High School?

A: I was mainly self taught when it came to drawing traditionally just trying to freehand drawing Mega man X, sonic, and Naruto characters. I had taken graphic design in both my junior and senior years and I didn't get into an art class until my senior year of high school. Art books were never an option for me either since libraries though it was too vulgar since characters start off without clothes even though no genitalia is shown.

Q: What brought you to study at Norco College?

A: My mother had me take a 3D Design course to get a degree within something but after my 4 class I could no longer finish the course due it running out of funds and it was cancelled.

Q: How does Monty Oum inspire your artwork?

A: Monty had a huge inspiration on me with the animations he had created. I've watched his Master Chief vs Samus waay before knowing it was even him. Some of the inspiration went into me taking the 3D Course to create character models just to make fight scenes. It just sucks I couldn't get to finish my course even after having past experience with using blender. 

Q: What is ArtCorner?

A: ArtCorner was made to show my artwork in video form with using sped up videos. I did plan on making tutorials but I was too nervous and still felt inexperienced enough to teach properly. Once day it may become the main hub for some practice animations.

Q: What is David the Panda?

A: So before I started anything nsfw related I wanted to make an enjoyable comic for kids to read just like Gamercat. So I created a bunch of cute animal characters with simple designs. I had lost interest after a while since I had burnt out on ideas from posting almost every week for about 2 years. I do plan on remaking them in the future and making it into a book like the Garfield comics were made. 

Q: One thing to note about you is that you draw commissions and suggestions of characters and thus make NSFW material. You are not the only one to make NSFW art and others have their reasons. Why do you do it though?

A: So at first I actually hated anything nsfw related for a very long time until a friend of mine convinced me that I should try it out. After doing it I had actually gotten addicted to drawing nsfw since it helped me to build better anatomy within my work. It also became nice change of pace after doing sfw all the time so she's pretty much the one to blame about me doing nsfw altogether.

Q: Your first piece posted on Newgrounds is entitled A. Looking back on this piece and where you are now you seem to always be interested in the design of a character first and foremost. Does this hold true today? Also looking back on that first piece and how your art has grown what all can you attribute to that growth?

A: I absolutely love well designed characters it's one of the reasons I do so much fanart of other characters I see on social media or in anime. It helped me to work on different styles and aspects of art, anatomy, clothing, characterization, etc. I do thank from all the feedback that I used to get, it really helped me to improve whether the feedback had good or bad intentions.

Q: Another thing I notice is you place importance on eyes. When CosmicDeath was here we talked about her fascination with eyes. She stated...

I think realistic emotion or feeling is one of the hardest things to depict and replicate in drawn characters, and a lot of that is in the eyes. The behavioural aspect of oculesics gives more insight into why and how this is so important. But for now let's just say that eyes create an emotional link to the viewer, even when they aren't attempting eye contact..

How do you feel about eyes in your art and eyes overall?

A: This is something you'll get to know of me very quickly while getting to know me. I Love Eyes! Eyes can capture you very quickly at just how captivation they can be from their colorization to the raw emotion. You can learn how a persons personality can be just by looking deep into them. There are so many vast styles that I would love to get into using and improve more upon my style of them!

Q: What is in your opinion, the definition of art?

A: Art is the form of expression you draw what's from the mind and soul creating what we as humans can't always have. It's such a vast form of emotion and it's very sad that a lot of people really don't get that. So many are ignorant to see what art has even created for us in our everyday lives from the designs of our phones, clothing, apps, animation, games, architecture, furniture, etc.

Q: What can we expect from SenpaiLove in the future?

A: I plan on working on animations, creating more prints for conventions, and making more designs for shirts. I also have some comics that are in the works as well as a novel. It will take some time to get these all done but I will be getting them done nonetheless!

SenpaiLove, much like TheShadling, was a person I was fascinated with. I do find it intriguing why someone would draw NSFW material. We know it exists. However there is an art to it. Much like the statues during the time of the Greeks, a la David. SenpaiLove has a lot to offer us. In terms of his art and craft. He is slowly, but surely coming to master the human figure and re-imagining of a lot of our favorite characters.