Interview with Robin Sevakis
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Today is the much anticipated day of the interview with Robin Sevakis, artist and producer of the webcomic, Anime News Nina! Robin is a video game artist, and is partially responsible for her brother, Justin, founding Anime News Network. You can view Robin's deviantArt acount here!
My questions are in the bold, purple font. Robin's responses are directly below! Art will soon be added to this post, I need Myrrh to upload it so we can see it in all it's beautifulness, not livejournal fuzzy-ness.
KM Shea: What were you thinking when your brother told you he wanted to create Anime News Network? Did you ever see yourself making a webcomic for the site?
Robin Sevakis: To be honest my memories of the very beginning of ANN are not super clear. It was summer; Justin was 18 and I was only 14, so we both had a lot of things going on. But I think I recall being very excited by it, as I was excited by anything anime-related at the time. It was thrilling to see Justin getting more and more involved with the anime community, as previously he had been active in an anime club and then was a VHS fansubber. I was actually pretty envious of his deep level of involvement, so from pretty early on I was hoping to sneak my artwork on the site somewhere, as I felt like it was the only thing I could do at the time. That's how my personal character, Jadress, became ANN's mascot. Funny enough, we did have plans to do a webcomic for the site.. it was going to star Jadress getting a job at a US anime licensing company, and the comic was to be called "Super Licensing Unit Hack Job." It was a satire on the US anime industry, which at the time, we didn't really even know much about, so the whole thing was ridiculous and over-ambitious. I think I drew about three unfinished pages, and then we both sort of gave up on it.
How did you come up with the idea of Anime News Nina and her friends? In a similar vein, how do you come up with the various arcs of the comic?
RS: The idea was to develop of a group of characters that would be able to live all the different experience of anime fans, in all of it's funny, disgusting, weird, and exciting glory. First off, I wanted to base it around a very enthusiastic newcomer (because what time of fandom is more exciting than when everything is new?). Design-wise, I also wanted to, in a way, find a replacement for Jadress as the website's unofficial mascot. To be honest, Jadress is essentially a fantasy character who didn't really fit with an anime news website other than being drawn in anime style, but a lot of people did miss her when she disappeared from the site. Therefore, I wanted to make this new mascot character an elf as kind of an homage to fans of Jadress- thus, Nina the news elf was born. Kevin and Paola are both based on my idea of some fan-archetypes as well as aspects of myself and lots of other people I know. Likewise, a lot of strip ideas and story arcs are often inspired by real life events, both from personal experiences and from other stories I hear from my brother and other people in the anime community. Most readers easily saw through comics relating to Paola's artist alley antics as being based on my own experiences!
Can you describe the steps you take to produce an Anime News Nina webcomic?
RS: Well, first there's coming up with an idea for a strip, which is an entirely organic.. thing. Sometimes I may just be riding the bus or laying in bed, and an entire strip idea, complete with the right rhythm and dialogue will just pop into my head. Other times I will literally be rolling on the floor in agony trying to come up with an idea and failing. In those times, I usually brainstorm with someone, and after talking for a while, I can usually come up with something. Then I sketch the comic out in my sketchbook, very loosely (most people probably can't even read the dialogue, it's often so rough). After that, I scan the sketch, break up the panels and arrange them in Photoshop. That's when I add the text, so I know how much room it will take up. Then I ink it all and color it, all in Photoshop. Coloring is most often the part that takes me the longest, depending on how detailed the strip is.
What has been your most enjoyable/fun experience with Anime News Nina fans?
RS: My most enjoyable experience with fans has simply been meeting any of them! I actually don't get to go to that many conventions, and strangely since starting the comic, I have only managed to get an artist alley table at a convention once. This was partially due to me having a full time job on the side, so I didn't have time to try and get/run a table. I'm very grateful to ANN, who began bringing me along to AX a few years ago, and I've been able to meet and have some great talks with fans there. Also I was invited to New York Anime Fest a few years ago- they actually gave me a panel and an autograph session, and that was really exciting. My editor at ANN, Zac Bertschy, will tell me I have several hundred-thousand readers, but I feel so divorced from those numbers, that actually meeting people who are fans is always like "Wow, really?? That's awesome!" It's really hard to believe! Oh, and I can't believe I almost forgot- another amazing thing was having my comic translated by fans in different languages. So far, I've seen Hungarian, Russian, and Czech.
What is hosting a panel for a convention like? What kind of prep work do you have to do?
RS: Well, I have only run two panels before in my life- both at NYAF. One was an Anime News Nina panel and the other was a Photoshop "How I make my comic" art sorta thing. I don't really know if I did that great of a job! For the Nina panel, I tried to layout things to talk about at first, like the origins of the strip, and then I opened it up to questions. Not a lot of people were at the panel, so it was pretty short. For the art panel, I had beforehand picked out some artwork that I was going to show my different stages of completion for. I was nervous, but it really wasn't too difficult.
What casual gaming company do you work for, and what do you do there?
RS: I work for a company called GameHouse, which is owned by Real Networks. (Interviewer's note: Haha I was right! Thankyou MobyGames!) Unfortunately, as of writing this, tomorrow is my last day, as we had massive rounds of layoffs! But I had worked on several titles doing all sorts of artwork. The studio made a lot of hidden object games, where I got to work on developing and painting backgrounds, hiding hundreds of findable items, creating UI (user interface) artwork, making some animated cursors, and any sort of random graphics you need in a game. The company is making the move into social games for facebook, and I did a lot of art for an unreleased project I can't talk about. I learned a great deal about making games and worked with a ton of really fantastic creative people, so I'm definitely looking forward to my next game job!
How many hours a day do you spend drawing/on art?
RS: Wow.. I never thought about this before. I suppose if you add a full day of working at a studio job together with things I do on the side like Nina, it might average to around 8-9 hours a day, give or take. And yet, there are still so many art projects I have not gotten around to doing!!
What do you hope to do, or accomplish in the future?
RS: I am extremely passionate about creating artwork for videogames, so I would love to continue to work in the games industry. As far as the comic, I'd love to keep it going for as long as possible, and I really want to eventually get merchandise made- Myoopi plushes, t-shirts, maybe even a print version of the strip. I also have all sorts of creative dream projects that range from making sculptures and cast figures, to working on my own indie game projects. I want to do everything!
Is it difficult to be a female artist in the video game industry, or in the art industry in general?
RS: I was lucky enough to work for a game studio that had quite a few female developers, producers, and artists, though still the minority. In our old studio office, it was actually sort of a boon, because 8-10 women sharing a small bathroom was way better than 50 dudes sharing a small bathroom!! In general, the casual games industry has a larger female presence than "core" games, but at times it was frustrating that most of the decision makers were male (and making all the decisions about games marketed *towards* women!). Still, my experiences were generally very positive and I hope they remain so.
What piece of advice would you give female artists who wish to pursue a career in art?
RS: I say stick to your guns, keep practicing, and don't give up. There can be a lot of discouraging experiences in the art world, and there are certainly a lot of "boy's clubs" in different communities here and there. Try and learn what you can from other artists, and accept people's help.
Any additional thoughts? Closing comments?
Thanks so much for the opportunity! I just wanted to mention, since I'll be on the look-out for a new job soon, I will be completely re-doing my 6-year-old website, so please look forward to new art and stuff there! :D
Today is the much anticipated day of the interview with Robin Sevakis, artist and producer of the webcomic, Anime News Nina! Robin is a video game artist, and is partially responsible for her brother, Justin, founding Anime News Network. You can view Robin's deviantArt acount here!
My questions are in the bold, purple font. Robin's responses are directly below! Art will soon be added to this post, I need Myrrh to upload it so we can see it in all it's beautifulness, not livejournal fuzzy-ness.
KM Shea: What were you thinking when your brother told you he wanted to create Anime News Network? Did you ever see yourself making a webcomic for the site?
Robin Sevakis: To be honest my memories of the very beginning of ANN are not super clear. It was summer; Justin was 18 and I was only 14, so we both had a lot of things going on. But I think I recall being very excited by it, as I was excited by anything anime-related at the time. It was thrilling to see Justin getting more and more involved with the anime community, as previously he had been active in an anime club and then was a VHS fansubber. I was actually pretty envious of his deep level of involvement, so from pretty early on I was hoping to sneak my artwork on the site somewhere, as I felt like it was the only thing I could do at the time. That's how my personal character, Jadress, became ANN's mascot. Funny enough, we did have plans to do a webcomic for the site.. it was going to star Jadress getting a job at a US anime licensing company, and the comic was to be called "Super Licensing Unit Hack Job." It was a satire on the US anime industry, which at the time, we didn't really even know much about, so the whole thing was ridiculous and over-ambitious. I think I drew about three unfinished pages, and then we both sort of gave up on it.
How did you come up with the idea of Anime News Nina and her friends? In a similar vein, how do you come up with the various arcs of the comic?
RS: The idea was to develop of a group of characters that would be able to live all the different experience of anime fans, in all of it's funny, disgusting, weird, and exciting glory. First off, I wanted to base it around a very enthusiastic newcomer (because what time of fandom is more exciting than when everything is new?). Design-wise, I also wanted to, in a way, find a replacement for Jadress as the website's unofficial mascot. To be honest, Jadress is essentially a fantasy character who didn't really fit with an anime news website other than being drawn in anime style, but a lot of people did miss her when she disappeared from the site. Therefore, I wanted to make this new mascot character an elf as kind of an homage to fans of Jadress- thus, Nina the news elf was born. Kevin and Paola are both based on my idea of some fan-archetypes as well as aspects of myself and lots of other people I know. Likewise, a lot of strip ideas and story arcs are often inspired by real life events, both from personal experiences and from other stories I hear from my brother and other people in the anime community. Most readers easily saw through comics relating to Paola's artist alley antics as being based on my own experiences!
Can you describe the steps you take to produce an Anime News Nina webcomic?
RS: Well, first there's coming up with an idea for a strip, which is an entirely organic.. thing. Sometimes I may just be riding the bus or laying in bed, and an entire strip idea, complete with the right rhythm and dialogue will just pop into my head. Other times I will literally be rolling on the floor in agony trying to come up with an idea and failing. In those times, I usually brainstorm with someone, and after talking for a while, I can usually come up with something. Then I sketch the comic out in my sketchbook, very loosely (most people probably can't even read the dialogue, it's often so rough). After that, I scan the sketch, break up the panels and arrange them in Photoshop. That's when I add the text, so I know how much room it will take up. Then I ink it all and color it, all in Photoshop. Coloring is most often the part that takes me the longest, depending on how detailed the strip is.
What has been your most enjoyable/fun experience with Anime News Nina fans?
RS: My most enjoyable experience with fans has simply been meeting any of them! I actually don't get to go to that many conventions, and strangely since starting the comic, I have only managed to get an artist alley table at a convention once. This was partially due to me having a full time job on the side, so I didn't have time to try and get/run a table. I'm very grateful to ANN, who began bringing me along to AX a few years ago, and I've been able to meet and have some great talks with fans there. Also I was invited to New York Anime Fest a few years ago- they actually gave me a panel and an autograph session, and that was really exciting. My editor at ANN, Zac Bertschy, will tell me I have several hundred-thousand readers, but I feel so divorced from those numbers, that actually meeting people who are fans is always like "Wow, really?? That's awesome!" It's really hard to believe! Oh, and I can't believe I almost forgot- another amazing thing was having my comic translated by fans in different languages. So far, I've seen Hungarian, Russian, and Czech.
What is hosting a panel for a convention like? What kind of prep work do you have to do?
RS: Well, I have only run two panels before in my life- both at NYAF. One was an Anime News Nina panel and the other was a Photoshop "How I make my comic" art sorta thing. I don't really know if I did that great of a job! For the Nina panel, I tried to layout things to talk about at first, like the origins of the strip, and then I opened it up to questions. Not a lot of people were at the panel, so it was pretty short. For the art panel, I had beforehand picked out some artwork that I was going to show my different stages of completion for. I was nervous, but it really wasn't too difficult.
What casual gaming company do you work for, and what do you do there?
RS: I work for a company called GameHouse, which is owned by Real Networks. (Interviewer's note: Haha I was right! Thankyou MobyGames!) Unfortunately, as of writing this, tomorrow is my last day, as we had massive rounds of layoffs! But I had worked on several titles doing all sorts of artwork. The studio made a lot of hidden object games, where I got to work on developing and painting backgrounds, hiding hundreds of findable items, creating UI (user interface) artwork, making some animated cursors, and any sort of random graphics you need in a game. The company is making the move into social games for facebook, and I did a lot of art for an unreleased project I can't talk about. I learned a great deal about making games and worked with a ton of really fantastic creative people, so I'm definitely looking forward to my next game job!
How many hours a day do you spend drawing/on art?
RS: Wow.. I never thought about this before. I suppose if you add a full day of working at a studio job together with things I do on the side like Nina, it might average to around 8-9 hours a day, give or take. And yet, there are still so many art projects I have not gotten around to doing!!
What do you hope to do, or accomplish in the future?
RS: I am extremely passionate about creating artwork for videogames, so I would love to continue to work in the games industry. As far as the comic, I'd love to keep it going for as long as possible, and I really want to eventually get merchandise made- Myoopi plushes, t-shirts, maybe even a print version of the strip. I also have all sorts of creative dream projects that range from making sculptures and cast figures, to working on my own indie game projects. I want to do everything!
Is it difficult to be a female artist in the video game industry, or in the art industry in general?
RS: I was lucky enough to work for a game studio that had quite a few female developers, producers, and artists, though still the minority. In our old studio office, it was actually sort of a boon, because 8-10 women sharing a small bathroom was way better than 50 dudes sharing a small bathroom!! In general, the casual games industry has a larger female presence than "core" games, but at times it was frustrating that most of the decision makers were male (and making all the decisions about games marketed *towards* women!). Still, my experiences were generally very positive and I hope they remain so.
What piece of advice would you give female artists who wish to pursue a career in art?
RS: I say stick to your guns, keep practicing, and don't give up. There can be a lot of discouraging experiences in the art world, and there are certainly a lot of "boy's clubs" in different communities here and there. Try and learn what you can from other artists, and accept people's help.
Any additional thoughts? Closing comments?
Thanks so much for the opportunity! I just wanted to mention, since I'll be on the look-out for a new job soon, I will be completely re-doing my 6-year-old website, so please look forward to new art and stuff there! :D