Subsign: First, can you tell us a few things about yourself?
Sebastian: My name is Sebastian Țiplea, I am 20, currently studying economics at FEAA University from Iasi, first year. I was born, grew in, and got educated in Iasi, Romania. I am a creative type and get the most satisfaction from doing creative tasks and get easily bored by mundane, repetitive ones.
Subsign: What was your childhood like? Do you think your experiences from childhood have influenced your present creative endeavors?
Sebastian: My childhood was a pretty calm one. I grew with my grandparents since I was 8. My parents are working in Spain ever since. My childhood was full of legos and similar toys. I loved them over everything else as they gave me a chance to live in my dream world or in the worlds of my favorite movies back then (such as LOTR or Star Wars).
Sebastian: I got my first PC when I was 7 and with it my first ever video game (I think that was Hercules, people my age or older probably still remember it). That was the moment when I became a gamer and a new world opened for me, that later proved to transform into a fiery desire to create artwork for video games.
Subsign: What did you want to be as a grown-up?
Sebastian: I remember wanting to work at Lego at some point in my childhood. I was simply absorbed by them and loved them a lot! After I discovered video games, a burning desire for creation began to rise in me as I was more and more absorbed by the beautiful world of video games and its artworks. Currently, I still want to be an artist for video games!
Subsign: How does your workstation look like?
Sebastian: My workstation is pretty simple. I have a desk with my laptop and my graphic tablet on it. I like to plan my days using an agenda, as it feels nicer than noting things in an app. On my right, I have my library of books. I really love my books not gonna lie!
Subsign: Do you have a work style? How would you describe it?
Sebastian: I do not consider to have a defined style. My artwork is currently in development as I still learn the fundamentals. However, what I CAN say about my work style is that I love to work clean. I organize everything and make before preparations, then I begin a piece. There is a specific charm about working freely in a sketchbook but for important work, I go through a lot of planning and iterations.
Subsign: Can you share with us how your creative process works?
Sebastian: My ideas can come anytime in the day. Once I have the opportunity to catch an idea, I immediately note it on my phone. When I get home I start exploration with the said idea, that including doing thumbnail sketches, trying things, playing with shapes and colors, etc. After I am pleased with a direction, I go on the paper(or a new document in digital cases) and I sketch the bigger picture.
Sebastian: I work from a rough sketch to clean line art and then glazed on top with colors shadows and effects. I like to have a good organization in my things. Being able to know where you are in the process at a given moment is very important for me!
Subsign: What is your favorite work you have done so far?
Sebastian: My favorite work so far is my most recent project on Instagram where I illustrate on photos a good friend of mine takes. It’s the first time when I experiment with this idea and I very pleased with what I could obtain!
Subsign: Who do you follow for inspiration?
Sebastian: I am following a lot of artists on Instagram, really. But if I was to name a few of my all-time favorites, the would-be Jake Parker, Gabriel Picolo, Thiago Lehmann, Peter Han. I get inspiration from all artists I follow and not only. I am also on different groups on Facebook such as Character Design Challenge. Other sources of inspiration would be Artstation and Pinterest.
Subsign: What advice could you give to someone starting out in the creative field of work?
Sebastian: Start with the fundamentals! NO EXCEPTION! It would save you a ton of frustration on the long road, even though the process of learning the fundamentals is a bit rough and boring.
Sebastian: I would highly recommend you start with drawabox.com, a free website that teaches you the best fundamentals ever and that is learning to see the world around you in simple shapes. Once you learn this crucial skill all you have to do is to build on top of it with more fundamentals! The process is really fun and enjoyable if you know exactly what you have to do next!
Subsign: If you would a superpower, what would it be?
Sebastian: I think that being able to give life to your creations would be a neat superpower! You could basically become God if you learn to draw all the things you want to bring into the world. Who wouldn’t like to ride a dragon the drew themselves. It’s a real dream for every artist!
Subsign: Can you recommend for our readers a book, a song, and a movie?
Sebastian: One of my favorite fiction books is “The natural history of dragons” by Marie Brennan. It gave the fantasy genre a really fresh breath, going against all the stereotypes that got really boring after a while. In this book, the protagonist is not a mighty knight that wants to slay a dragon, but a biologist and artist who wants to know everything about them and will do anything to achieve her dreams!
Sebastian: A must-read for all dragon lovers around here! The song I suggest is anything by AURORA, really. The girl is an angel, both in aspect and voice and her message is pretty powerful. Sometimes she makes me wonder if she’s born on our little world haha! And a must watch a movie is the full series Lord of the Rings. I don’t think there is anyone who didn’t already see it or at least heard of you, but for you guys that didn’t see it, you don’t even know what you’re missing!
Subsign: If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for?
Sebastian: I would throw a party where I would invite all the artists that I know or I want to know better! I think artists should know each other as we are all amazing people with great imagination and a lot of inspiration to offer! It doesn’t really matter what kind of party would it be because, in the end, they all become the type we are familiar with: with lots of laughter, music, drinks, food, dancing, all that (and I love it!)
Subsign: What famous people would you invite to the party and why?
Sebastian: I would invite my favorite artists to the party as I am sure they are amazing human beings and really fun to be around! They surely have some crazy stories and ideas they would share with the rest of us and I am sure they would love to share them as much as we would love to hear them! Who doesn’t like a good party, after all?
If you know an artist that should be in the spotlight, contact us at jojo@subsign.co.
Thank you Sebastian for being a part of our Spotlight!
For more of Sebastian‘s work, you can follow his work on the links: Sebastian on Instagram, Sebastian on Facebook.
