The @notderrian Artist Q&A
Courtesy of Derrian’s website
Interviewed By: Andrés Nelso
Where are you from?
I was born in Indonesia but grew up in Singapore for most of my life. I came to America, specifically Boston, for college so I've been living here for the past five years.
Has your hometown shaped you in anyway?
I think people are shaped by their environment heavily so I definitely gained a lot of values of hard work, ambition, diversity, and collectiveness through the culture that surrounded me in Indonesia and Singapore.
Are you in school? If so, what's your major?
I'm finishing up my final semester studying for a Bachelors in Biochemistry (I know, a little departed from the whole art thing)
How important has your family been in your journey?
My family has definitely been very important in my life. They have always been supportive of all of my dreams and interests ever since I was a child and they've always just taught me to work hard to pursue whatever passion I have.
Are you friends supportive of your work?
I definitely have a lot of friends who are supportive of my art aspirations. I made my art account in early 2022 without telling anyone about it and I kind of just used it as an outlet to practice being more vulnerable through artistic expression and it started off as almost a journal for the different artistic explorations I was interested in learning. I also kept it pretty anonymous because I didn't want people (including friends) to follow me unless they were actually interested in seeing my art so fast forward to now, I have lots of friends who stumbled upon it and have supported me throughout that journey and even moreso, I've been able to connect with old and new friends because of my art.
How did you get into 3D art / motion graphics?
I first downloaded Blender (the 3D software I primarily use) during the summer lockdown in 2020 and I wanted to learn it because I was interested in some 3D graphics that I saw on an album that I was listening to heavily at the time, which was Dreamland by Glass Animals. After working with my old Macbook and a trackpad, I pretty much gave up after a week. Then during winter break in 2021, I was bored and found the Blender app on my laptop and just started watching lots of tutorials on Youtube and ever since, I've pretty much been on Blender everyday. Another inspiration was definitely @mute.psd, who is a good friend I knew from middle school and he definitely was responsible for making 3D art well known to me and he expanded my view on what digital 3D art could create
Who are some of your biggest inspirations?
Some of my favorite artists are James Jean, Sam Spratt, Lauren Tsai, and Miles Johnston. I'm also really inspired by a lot of fashion designers like Virgil, Pharell and Salehe Bembury, but I also get a lot of inspiration from musicians, movies, cartoons, games, and figurines.
What are some of your daily routines?
I honestly don't really have much of a routine which is not that great. I've been trying to get better at discipline and making myself stick to some organized routine but I usually make a list of things I need to accomplish the following day and try to plan out when I have time to do those tasks, but usually, my day to day is pretty different since I have to juggle classes, job hunting, working at a lab, working on client artwork, working on my own art, etc. but I just try to get everything done whenever I can.
What’s something you do fun fun away from art?
Honestly not much. Art was kind of that fun hobby/activity away from school and work and it hasn't really changed. But when I do need a break, I am usually watching football (soccer), playing video games, or watching movies or shows.
Where do you go when you need motivation? (Physically or Spiritually)
Whenever I need motivation, I go back to the drawing board, and for me that can be a scratch paper, a post-it note, a whiteboard, or a page on my iPad. At every minute of my life, there's always something I can do and even when I've checked every box on my to-do list, there's still more I can learn. So when I'm feeling unmotivated to get things done, I just try to start with making small goals and doing them one at a time. Usually, that feeling of unnmotivation wares off after like 15 minutes of actually doing something. If I'm really unable to get started on anything, I usually listen to myself and take a break from everything I need to do and this is where I'd watch a show, or play a video game, or do anything that involves actively not doing something.
What puts you in a good mood?
Doing work I love puts me in a good mood. Connect with other artists and followers about my art puts me in a good mood. My family, friends, and girlfriend put me in a good mood. Cat videos put me in a good mood. Good music puts me a in a good mood. Haha I don't know what else to say.
What are your opinions of fan art?
I think fan art is great. I mean most of my art is fan art so I think I kind of have to say that, but I think fan art is just artistic expression about something that inspires you. For me, I make fan art because I want to express my take on how I view a piece of art like an album or a song and what that piece of art means to me. Moreover, I make fan art as a tribute or expression of gratitude to my favorite things. I definitely don't want to end up just being an artist who only makes fan art and I am setting a goal of establishing my own style so that my art can exist in a plane outside of just fan art and hopefully I can cultivate an audience who enjoys and is inspired by my art and not just because I'm doing an animation or an artwork based on their favorite musician.
What drives you?
I'm driven by a desire to learn new things. As I've said previously, I started making art just to make art and I never would have thought I would have 100 followers, let alone more than 5000 so I'm just trying to learn and get better at things that interest me and just listen to my heart on what I want to do. A year ago, I wanted to make art to practice my creativity and to practice being vulnerable in expressing myself and while there are some added factors of followers who care about my art and finding ways to sustain and support the hours I put into my art, at its core, I'm still driven to do art because that's what I enjoy doing.
Please speak to the importance of consistency
I think consistency in the effort and hours you put into a task is definitely important. You learn and get better by repetition so it's crucial to do something everyday, especially when you want to learn something and get better at it. Not only is consistently putting in the work important, but it's equally important to learn from your mistakes and find ways to optimize your efficiency to work smarter and faster.
How important is social media to be a successful artist?
Social media is definitely essential for artists to grow, gain exposure, and connect with other people for opportunities. There's definitely so many talented artists who don't get the attention they deserve because of a lack of social media presence or maybe because their social media strategy isn't great. On the other hand, there are also a lot of less talented artists who are very big on social media so yeah, there's definitely some skill and strategy involved in leveraging social media to push your art and it's more important now than ever before.
How do you battle creative blocks
Whenever I have a creative block, I've learned not to force anything out because usually, that leads to some really terrible, half-hearted art. I try to expand my horizons and just be a sponge for new ideas and creative inspirations. Since a lot of my art is inspired by music, there are sometimes weeks where I'm not listening to anything new and music is just stale for me so I try to absorb different types of content that I'm interested in. It also helps to dip your toes in different forms of creativity and I've taken many breaks from the 3D space to work on some sketches, illustrations, graphic design, fashion design, and more. I think of creativity as a workout and when one specific muscle is sore, I take a break and focus on working out different creative muscles but it's definitely important to keep engaging that creativity one way or another, even in the tiniest of ways, to overcome a creative block.