Friday Friend-spiration! Andy Helms

Andy Helms is my husband!  And even though we're married I still consider myself a fan.  I'm in constant awe of his diverse talents and how he conceptualizes his ideas.  Plus he's absolutely hilarious ^_^ Andy is a constant source of inspiration for me and I'm so glad I get to share some nuggets of wisdom from him.  



1. What inspires you?

I honestly don't know, and that is kind of how I like it. I think it is hard to say that any inspiration that I have had came from any one place or one thing, I think of it as a bunch of things that all come together in the right combination at the right time to make a moosh of things that your brain puts together in an interesting way. Aspects of one thing taken apart and applied to another.

Sometimes it is just the idea of a character, of how they would look in a style, or a composition of a photograph I saw, of how could i push that to be something or something else. Or how can you turn this simple shape into something else - like a teardrop becoming a pretty chill gnome. (below) I dunno. be flexible and make connections even if they don't initially seem to make sense.

2. Do you prefer digital or traditional mediums?

I want to be a cool ultra-romantic guy and say traditional, but I have been making stuff pretty much digital only for several years now. I don't think it is because "it is more forgiving" or "easier" (spoiler: it is), but it also gives you so many options for experimenting and executing very fast. Plus generally a wacom tablet and a laptop don't smell as bad as turpentine or rubber cement. Unless you're doing something wrong, i guess.

3. The discription on your tumblr is phenomenal..."silly artwork that is only serious about not being serious" . Can you speak to this philosophy? 

It's a cop out. I take stuff I work on pretty seriously, but generally my only criteria is "does this look cool, do i like this?" I guess in another way it is taking a pot-shot of some of the heavy melodrama on the internet.

4. You can do pixel art, hilarious gifs, wonderful illustrations and incredible comics!  Is there anything you can't do?

Everything else? I dunno. I like "imma gonna make this thing" rather than "i'm going to work in this medium" if that makes sense. Doesn't mean that is going to be right or good.

5. Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

Isn't the usual line "make stuff all the time! take risks!" and "do what you like be yourself!" and all that? Better qualified people have said big things. I don't think I am a "successful artist" and I don't ever want to feel that way. Who knows? Find some artists you like and rip them off a ton until you get what it is you like about them, freak out about how you've been ripping them off, then take that junk and turn it into something else. There is a lot of freaking out and despair. If you still manage to make stuff through those terrible moments then you won the game. Oh, and don't draw anime forever. Draw it a little though.

6. And most importantly...are you ever going to finish Alarming Predicament?

No!

To check out more of Andy's work or just stay in touch, you can find him here:

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