Introduce yourself!
I’m Anna Malone, and I’m a second year Illustration major at CCAD.
One of your submissions to Botticelli was a drawing of an older woman and a young boy. What’s their story and how did you come up with it?
When making these characters, I thought, ‘What would be the most unlikely pair?’ I came up with the idea that this powerful, stoic fighter (General Ragnar) and this frail, witty little boy (Luc) form a familial relationship out of circumstance. Growing up on the streets, Luc never had any family and often spent most of his time alone or pilfering through strangers’ pockets in order to survive. Then, one day, he decided to pick the wrong pockets and ended up interrogated by General Ragnar herself. After his questioning, Ragnar understood that Luc didn’t need punishment, but instead needed a family, someone to look over him. Taking him under her wing, Luc started to change, and Ragnar’s tough exterior began to diminish over time. This obnoxious little boy unexpectedly taught this tough soldier how to love again, and she would do anything for him.
What inspires you as an artist?
My inspiration comes from all over the place, like music, novels, animations, or video games. My biggest inspiration would be anything fantasy. I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons, and it made me realize how limitless the possibilities are in a world. That’s what I love the most about fantasy: anyone can be anything.
Can you give us a run-down of your drawing process?
My favorite thing to create is characters. Whenever I’m creating a new one, I like to start by making a mood board and pairing that with music that the character might listen to. I feel like this part really helps me step into the life of this character, giving them more personality. I might also spend hours giving my characters a detailed backstory in order to fully understand who they are, what they’re like, and what they’ve been through. Then, I do so many sketches, thumbnails, and even more sketches of their emotions and body language to get to a design I’m really happy with. Afterwards, I usually take the sketches into Photoshop for color and line art and then I’m done!
What would you like to do in the future as an artist?
For my future career I want to design characters and environments for video games or fantasy illustrations for cards. Some game design companies, like Supergiant Games and Larian Studios, I really look up to and hope one day I could work for them. Another long term goal of mine is to finish and publish a graphic novel. I’ve been working on this passion project for a few years now and it is, ultimately, what has been motivating me to improve as an artist.
Interviewed by Alexis DeWitt
