Instagram Artist: Allison Menck 

Question 1: Tell me about yourself. What were you like as a kid? What were your passions? What was your childhood like?

 “I grew up in a big family. I’m one of six kids and was homeschooled until college. I was always quiet and had a big love of reading. I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. However, as I got older and started taking art more seriously, I discovered that art is what I’m really passionate about and what I want to pursue professionally. I’m currently a sophomore at Savannah College of Art and Design studying Sequential Art. My interest in art was always there. I was definitely the “art kid” In my family, but I didn’t see it as a real career path until I got older. “ 

“ The biggest thing you need to know about art is that it’s not a talent-it’s a skill. Talent implies that artistic ability is an inherent gift, something you either have or you don’t. A skill is something you work for, Art is a skill. I find it annoying when people compliment my art by saying “You have such a God-given gift!” or “Wow, you’re so talented. I could never draw that, all I can draw are stick figures.” The comments are well-intentioned, but they downplay the hard work that goes into creating art. Anyone can learn to draw. I don’t expect everyone to do so, but anyone can, you just need to start.

Question 2: What purpose do you want your art to serve for people? And what is your dream goal you want to achieve 

“ I want to create stories with my art. Whether that be through webcomics, visual development for animation, or both I’m interested in telling stories about character development and human connection.”

Question 3: What type of artists do you look up to? And how do they influence you to do great

“ All of the artists I follow online inspire me in different ways. Here are a few: 

• @deadsophism, who is the artist and co-creator of one of my favorite webcomics, Purple Hyacinth. I find her inspiring in her speed, storytelling ability, and use of lighting 
• @painting.roses, whose cute, whimsical style I’m obsessed with. I want to study everything Josie does. 
• @chantal.art, who doesn’t post as frequently anymore, but whose portrait paintings have definitely been one of the strongest influences on my own style.
• @glenkeaneprd, who is one of the greats in animation history. Glen’s loose sketches are packed with movement and I could spend hours studying them.

Generally, though, I think knowing what you don’t like can be as important as knowing what you do. When you notice something you dislike about an artist’s work, you can avoid it in your own creations or figure out how you would’ve done it better.”

Question 4: What advice would you give somebody who is learning how to draw and is struggling? And what are you still learning about yourself through your art?

“I recommend isolating one thing you don’t like about your art and focusing on how to improve that. One thing, not a whole list for example faces. If you struggle with faces I would make a Pinterest board full of pictures of faces and start copying them and draw as many as you can. Try drawing the same reference image in two different styles and see what you like better. If you like the way one specific artist draws faces, then copy a drawing of theirs. (Don’t post art you’ve copied online without the artist’s explicit permission, but there’s nothing wrong with using it for practice offline).

“It’s easy to get discouraged by the many things you want to improve in your art, and if you try and get better at everything all at once you’ll get overwhelmed and make no progress. Focus on one thing no matter what that thing is, the solution usually involves references, references, and references. Using references is very important and it’s not cheating.

“My art is constantly changing. I’m learning different art styles, how to draw faster, and how to create stronger compositions. At school, I’m learning that I hate using charcoal. Sometimes it’s hard to see all of the progress you’re making in your art at the moment, but it’s there.”

Question 5: How long does each of your art pieces take to make? And what type of brushes help you the most with your art?

“ My art can take anywhere from a couple hours to about 20 depending on the style and the level of finish I’m going for. I’d say normal is about 5-8 hours.  I’m very picky about my brushes and only use four regularly: 6B Pencil, a default brush on Procreate, which I use for sketching, and messy lineart. Syrup also defaults brush on Procreate which is a good brush for clean lineart. It has a crisp edge and great pressure sensitivity.

The default Round Brush is good for filling in large spaces of color and sometimes for shading. And Painterly by @artofmaxinevee which is what I use for all of my “painted style” artworks and most of my shading It has a great paintbrush-like texture.

Question 6: What made you want to do art in the first place? And how has that changed your life?

 “ As a kid, I was very motivated to create art Because I got complimented on it. Attention from other people is not necessarily the best motivator long term-it tends to lead to burnout but as a kid, it can be very inspiring when someone you look up to puts your doodle on the fridge. As I grew older drawing became something I just enjoyed doing and I wanted to get better at it so that I could better execute the ideas in my head.

Art has completely taken over my life. Art is how I express myself, how I communicate, and how I appreciate things I love. Art is what I do for school for fun and sometimes for work I draw every day. When I haven’t drawn in a while, I feel like something is wrong. And while sometimes it can be exhausting to be creative all the time, I genuinely love what I do and wouldn’t have it any other way.”