Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist
Nicola Yao
Instagram / @nicolayaoart
Featured Artist / #108 ScrawlrBox
Nicola is a British artist specializing in Illustration and concept work in videogames. Diverse in styles and mediums (ranging from digital to traditionalmeans) Nicola also dives into different areas from Illustration, Conceptwork, GUI / UX and technical art all the way to pixel work and video editing.Currently she is developing skills in animation and eventually 3D modeling.
Besides Video Games she has also done work for art supply companies likeCrafters Companion (Spectrum Noir) and Kuretake doing live demonstrations,presentations, workshops and product teaching in stores like at The LondonGraphic Centre and Rymans as well as at conventions. She has done theseall these across Europe (such as Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia) includingdifferent parts up and down the UK. Additionally she has created multiplecolouring kits with Spectrum Noir and worked on the illustrations featuredon some of the packaging of various products.
Freelancing has also been an adventure from creating Magic The Gatheringtokens with a s
We love your Manga style! Would you saythere are other genres that have influenced your style?
Definitely! I grew up playing a variety of videogames; horror, fantasy, adventure, roleplay etcand they all had different styles from manga tocartoon to realistic to comic book and so manyof them inspired me to draw and create.Reading comics and manga are an obviousinspiration but perhaps a not so obvious onewas going to museums and galleries to admirethe paintings of old and history in itself wasinspirational to the areas of my art. As I draw afew different styles each of these have certainlymade a big impact.
Is there a Manga film or series you aremost inspired by?
My two favourite anime/manga series growingup were Dragonball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh! So thosehave probably been my two most largestinspirations in the manga style. Both haveinteresting story-lines and the styles are sounique, I really appreciate that. Films such asthe Studio Ghibli movies which have wonderfulstories, are beautifully animated and hold such ahigh level of artistry and the Akira movie whichwas far ahead of it’s time were animations thatI don’t think anyone could argue against beingquite significant influences in a lot of peoplesworks. The manga style is also found in videogames such as the Final Fantasy and Zelda seriesand within the artwork for games likeResident Evil or Tekken and more which werealso big inspirations!
Is there an artist you would love to meet?
This is such a tough question. There’s quite a fewartists I would love to meet so I’ll just mentionthose in the manga/anime world! Two of thosewould have been Akira Toriyama (creator ofDragonball Z) and Kazuki Takahashi (creator ofYu-Gi-Oh!) but unfortunately they have bothrecently passed away. I would certainly like tomeet Hayao Miyazaki (creator of Studio Ghibli)and have a look into his mind and how heimagines his movies.
What are your dreamcombination of supplies?
Choosing a dream combination is tough as Ialways love to try new things and it feels likeI haven’t been able to try enough to concludethat! But I would say my “comfort” onesare mostly the ones included in this box-Pigma micron, a white pen, Bristol board,mechanical pencil, eraser and alcoholmarkers. Those are my easy go-to choicesbut not my dream combination- I’ll haveto get back to you on that!
Do you enjoy other creative outlets orhobbies outside of art?
Video games has always been a hobby as wellas reading, baking and writing! Sometimes Itake long breaks away from certain hobbies andreturn to it later on but I always still enjoy itwhen I come back to it.
Let’s say you are staring in your own Comic-Are you a hero or a villain??
Ah... I would like to say a hero but I think my innerself probably sees myself as a super villain whenI choose working on art or gaming over sleep...which happens maybe more often thanit should..!
Do you enjoy creating content for social media?Or is it just something you feel like youhave to do?
I’m -currently- not that consistent with usingsocial media. Not that I don’t understand it butI’ve always struggled to latch on to it. It’s one ofthose things where I keep trying to regularly postart, especially as I want to connect with othersbut get busy and then it gets forgotten for awhile. (I’m so sorry followers, please be patientwith me!) I have slowly been getting better at itand am trying to set up a schedule. I can’t tell youhow much I appreciate the support I have fromothers on social media and I’d definitely like toshow that by making more for them!
And lastly, if you had a super power whatwould it be?
Some sort of time control for sure. I don’t mindtime passing by but I would definitely like tostretch the days out a bit longer, they’re alwaysover so quickly!