ArtWomble – Artist Interview

We took our giant butterfly nets out on Wimbledon Common and wrangled ourselves an ArtWomble who was happy enough to come answer a few of our questions…

ArtWomble is an artist from Wales who specialises in digital illustration, animation, and character design. As a Twitch streamer, he began building his own stream but now offers a wide range of services for streamers including emotes, overlays and even avatars. Regular visitors to the stream may find themselves put in a jar on a basement shelf, but at least they get to enjoy the karaoke and join in the regular community Gartic sessions.

What inspired you to follow art as a career?

In short, redundancy. In long, I’ve been actively drawing since childhood, growing up with a pen in my hand as it were. I’d always wanted to do something creative with my life and initially I set my sights on becoming a 3D artist, with Pixar being my dream workplace, but after graduating from University and being met with rejection after rejection I settled into the minimum wage retail worker lifestyle in my small Welsh town. I went through several jobs until a pandemic happened which left me physically disabled and jobless. Not the brightest origin story but it did force me to actually chase my dream of working creatively, and from there I set up my stream and the rest is history.

Who are your biggest influences?

If I think back to some key points in my art journey, I can name YouTuber and digital artist Nico Di Mattia as a huge influence when I started digital art. I watched their speed-painting videos on repeat trying to pull any information I could in an attempt to improve my own art. Some more recent influences are tied to my want to improve my realism in art, people like Dylan Eakin and Dave Rapoza are hugely helpful in capturing extreme detail, Dylan being a traditional graphite and charcoal artist who creates amazing photorealistic portraits, and Dave a fantastic digital artist who excels at capturing detail and colour.

Which skill do you wish you learnt sooner?

The answer to this is always the next one I find out exists. I feel I’m never done learning when it comes to art, as soon as I see some art I like I set a goal of trying to emulate it. One thing I love about the newer generation of artists I’ve found through Twitch is I can see their art, find their streams, and watch how they work. It’s never been easier to learn how to draw and it’s a really exciting time to be a part of the art world (as long as you can ignore the AI and NFT rubbish).

You’re currently getting ready to debut your new Live2D avatar, how has the process been for you?

It’s exciting! I do think I could use a little more time to work on it but it’s going to be a really fun new advent for the stream. There’s so much more you can do with a Live2D model so while I’m looking forward to the debut, I’m looking even more forward to everything I can do beyond it. Adding onto the fact that while preparing for it I’ve been learning how to build and rig models, which is a whole new form of revenue too. Exciting times, to say the least!

Why ArtWomble? Is there a story behind your avatar?

There’s actually not an awful lot of story behind the name. I was looking to create a cohesive brand when I was starting to stream and I wanted it to very easily portray certain aspects of myself. The first being that I make art, so having art in the name was a no-brainer. The second being I wanted something that represented my nostalgic side, something I grew up with and immediately was a little nod to anyone who recognised it. Anyone who joins my stream and knows who the Wombles are, I can assume is of a certain age and is more than likely British. It’s like a little secret pass that lets me know I’ll have at the very least one in common with that person. And to everyone else, it’s just a cute little creature who draws on stream.

What’s the thing you’re most proud of from your career?

I think the thing I’m most proud of IS my career. The fact I’ve managed to build a small community and have been able to watch them grow through the last couple of years really fills me with a sense of accomplishment. Every now and again I’ll have someone say to me how they’ve been inspired to draw or delve further into art after finding and watching me and I’ll just be immediately filled with such an overwhelming sense of pride. Bringing more art into the world is all I’ve ever wanted to do and the fact that people are bringing more art into existence because of me is an amazing feeling to have. And that is something I’m immensely proud of.

What advice would you give to someone looking to work in the industry?

I think the most important advice I could give is, that all skills are learned. It may sound silly and obvious but I see a lot of people who say things like “I could never do that” or “All I can draw is a stickman”. What people sometimes don’t realise is that every artist no matter who you look at was once at the level you are now and it’s never too late to learn. All it takes is time and practice.

And as far as working in the industry goes, as someone who delayed their art career until it was the only possibility left to them, my advice is to start. Just grab your pen and make some damn lines before it’s a year later and you regret not doing it right now.