@JohnnyUtah - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: What is the story behind the 🏄 - News Post

The 🏄 is just a reference to the movie Point Break. The character, Johnny Utah in that movie is a FBI agent learning to surf.

I guess I just use it as a fun way to say “fuck yeah”. maybe I’m just being lazy lolol.

Q: What are your thoughts and feelings on Newgrounds turning 30?

Time sure fucking flies by doesn’t it?

Q: What advice would you give for being part of the community?

I guess just try to stay active. Try to stay positive. always be willing to give helpful critiques without tearing people down. it’s just good to learn how to give advice without necessarily discouraging young artists.

Q: From your observations, what practices and habits are required to gain skills in a field?

Practice your craft as much as possible. try to work on weaknesses and improve those and not just keep making the same errors over and over. for example, if you’re really poor at drawing muscles, don’t just keep drawing the same shitty muscles over and over. you can dramatically improve if you focus where the weak spots are.

Don’t be afraid to try different things and don’t be afraid to get criticism or feedback on all of it. that kind of thing can sting, but it’ll ultimately make you better. Plus you’ll have the benefit of not being in a bubble and seeing what people like more. if you can sort of hone in on what people like most, you can evolve that into more visibility and success.

Q: What is your perspective on motivation?

I guess I see motivation just being tied to your mental state and that can be a fickle thing. it’s not hard to have one little thing ruin your day and sap all that motivation away. it’s happened to me more times then i can count.

The end goal is to feel excited about what you’re doing, and sometimes that also means surrounding yourself with material like books that can spur on ideas and also having some solid friends that can give you positive feedback to keep you going until you’re finished. save the criticism from strangers for when you’re done. you can take that and sleep on it for a few days and try again to make something better.

any creative person is gonna have good and bad days and that’s just how it is. just recognize that’s normal and push through it.

hope that helps