Interview with the 1st place winner of Derby 48
Sokowa has been around for a long time and has had several shirts printed before this one. Here's a bit more about her.
Shirt.Woot Stats? (first derby / shirts bought / shirts printed)
21 (Winter) / 11 / 4. Including all the shirts I purchased using my free-shirt coupons, I've bought 23 shirts. This is my 4th printing (I came in 3rd in the Dream derby, 2nd in Lyrics Illustrated and 3rd in Motion).
What are you tools of choice?
Paper/pencil, then scan into
Photoshop and clean up using a
Wacom Tablet. I've been learning
Illustrator as well.
What is your typical process for going about a design?
When i see the new theme I immediately grab some paper to draw on (napkin, work report, receipt, occasionally I happen upon a sketchpad) and start to free-sketch. Just let anything pop out. Eventually, I make my way home and scan in all the sketches (those that i don't use are stored for possible future use). I pick the drawing I really want to draw and then clean up the lines, go into illustrator and wrestle with the colors for the rest of the evening.
What design or art experience do you have outside the derby?
I've been doing art as a living for 7 years now, but more 3D rendering/architectural things. T-shirts are something completely new to me.
Would you like to do art/design full-time? If so, what is your dream job?
Well I do a form of art right now as a living but it's completely different than t-shirt design. Woot is one of the reasons I dusted off my 2D art skills and I haven't looked back. I guess I'm doing my dream job (game development) but the hours can really get to you. This is the way I relax.
Any plans to sell your designs outside Woot?
I've thought of it, but the website isn't up yet. I'm more addicted to the process of designing than making a profit off of it. Just knowing people are interested is an awesome feeling. I'm trying to find the right commercial website that offers high quality and reasonable prices for shirt printing.
What advice do you have for new derby artists?
Go into each derby thinking of it as an opportunity to learn a new technique, I still learn things all the time. Listen to people's critique of your art but make your own decisions. It's your design after all. Even if you don't place in a derby, you still have a finished piece of art to show for it, that's a lot. Keep everything you do and review your older work from time to time when you get frustrated. You'll notice that you're getting better and that's valuable experience. Eventually, you may hit that crazy Woot voting wave and place!
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