Gotta post more memes... people here have been posting a lot and I've been procrastinating on filling them out.

RULES:

• Answer each question in as much detail as you like. Skip anything you don't know or would prefer not to answer.

How many usernames have you had? (You don't have to share them!)

• PaniniBritan -> [REDACTED] -> [REDACTED] -> [REDACTED] -> [REDACTED] -> BrookORoonie -> CoolOlRobbie -> Robinik -> [REDACTED] -> Grimmgall

• I've utilized many others, but these are regarding my primary accounts.

What does your current username mean?

• Grimmgall is a portmanteau of the word "grim," and a purposeful misspelling of the "gull" portion of the word "seagull." I consider myself to be grimdark in nature and I enjoy birds quite a lot, and while searching for a word or sound that could properly accompany the word, "grim[m]" in my username, I thought of my character, Harvey Gullberg, and his species, a seagull, and said to myself, "Grim... gull..." I enjoyed the sound of it but believed the name "Grimmgull" would look a bit strange. I decided to make a slight change in spelling without sacrificing the pronunciation of the word by simply exchanging the U for an A and, lo and behold, "Grimmgall" emerged and became my username for 5 years as of 2024. Seeing as it represents 2 aspects of my core interests since childhood that have not left me, I believe it is the best and most suitable username for me and I do not believe I will change it any time soon. Especially since it is a part of my penname, that I will not be changing for the time being either.

What is the first program you used to make digital art?

• My very first program is, of course, the most obvious and common—Microsoft "MS" Paint, of course. My first actual art program aside from MS Paint was GIMP, inspired by my mother who enjoyed utilizing GIMP for creating edits of her IMVU screenshots and photos, among other images.

Where did you first start posting your art?

• On the internet, I began posting my artwork, I believe, either on Fanpop or on Wikia. I also harbored an ancient dA account from when I was 9, but it was not my first official website for posting my drawings as I discovered Fanpop and Wikia before I discovered deviantART.

What is the first piece of media you drew fanart for?

• A children's network show from 2010. I will not state any specifics since I want nothing to do with the show anymore. Anyone who knew me before I became BrookORoonie will know what I'm talking about.

Who was your first self-insert/persona/fursona? What did they mean to you?

• My first self-insert was an anthropomorphic blue-jay character by the name of Jamie. They were meant to pair with a fictional crush of mine at the time, as well as to represent a power fantasy of mine, as I was struggling with depression and irritability as an 8-year-old, prompted by numerous life experiences from previous years, including parental divorce, being bullied at home and school, a lack of friends at school and friends who mistreated me at home, moving into my grandparent's house and their treatment of me, among other things. I created Jamie to basically be an idealized version of myself with beauty, power, superpowers, love, popularity, and some form of intelligence that was possible for an 8-year-old, et al. They weren't well-received online, of course, due to being a "Terry Rue" character, and I eventually developed tons of other characters thereafter before conceptualizing Brook Myers. I abandoned them very quickly, after approximately 1 year.

What phases/styles has your art gone through? (e.g. an anime era, a watercolour phase?)

• When I was young (around 6), I decided on a whim to abandon my typical style that was more organic for a stick figure style instead. That was abandoned by the time I turned 7, of course. I didn't quite draw as often for a while until I was approximately 9 years old. Afterward, I developed a style that was quite chibi-ish, cutesy, big-headed, big-eyed, etc. I don't currently have any art on hand from that era for obvious reasons, but I drew as was expected from a 9-year-old. Around the time I turned 11, I attempted little by little to recreate the style of my favorite cartoon, occasionally recreating styles from other cartoons when drawing other characters, and by the time I was 12, I was able to convincingly recreate that art style, with some more detailing and modifications, in fact. I would draw clothing folds, detailed jeans based on observations of my brother's jeans (inspired by a Tumblr post complaining about how artists drew jeans), etc. Eventually, I discovered a furry artist with the initials AD and decided to replicate their style to the best of my abilities. Eventually, as I became infatuated with Five Nights at Freddy's and FNaF fanart, I decided to take inspiration from numerous artists and FNaF fanart over the years. My first art style was a mix of AD's style with my own twist for the eyes (almond-shaped), and evolved over time depending on which artist I was attempting to imitate. Eventually, it went from a unique art style that was difficult to describe to something more cutesy and chibish, to being inspired by aggravated-assault by more cutesy and less detailed, to being inspired by UrsaeRigor, to being inspired by semi-realism, especially a drawing by hydde/neonhorns, and, eventually, attempting as much realism as possible. I feel as though if I had stayed at the AD-inspired/almond-shaped eyes phase and built upon that or discovered and loved semi-realism sooner, my artwork would have improved immensely by now. Unfortunately, because I never learned the fundamentals of art, shunned learning realism, strayed away immensely from semi-realism, never utilized real-life photo references, et al., my artwork is quite subpar, especially for the amount of time I've been drawing "seriously," and I am improving very slowly. I currently still consider myself a beginner, particularly as I'm practically a complete newcomer to realism, art fundamentals, anatomy, and utilizing photo references. Hopefully, if I continue practicing, I will become sufficient in the next 10 years...

What/who do you think has influenced your art style the most?

• AD for about an entire year. But, thereafter, I believe aside from hydde, it would be artists such as brushnik, drawalotosaur, and ARCR_cric. I want to get inspired by EldritchBeast on FurAffinity and similar artists but, unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult for me to decide which aspects of which artists to borrow, so I tend to be more inspired by real-life, to be quite honest.

What/who inspired you to be an artist?

• I was always infatuated with art, but the thing that caused me to be a serious artist would be the children's network show I used to watch. I was through with wishing to be a musician due to how difficult it is to read and learn sheet music so when I became a fan of that show, I realized that creating a show or a comic would be what I wanted to do with my life, the career I'd love to have. From then on, it's guided me.

What tools are integral to your current workflow? (e.g. Programs, brushes, references.)

• I typically utilize Medibang Paint. It is my go-to program and has been for almost a decade now as of 2024. It is the most familiar to me and the most useful. I may eventually purchase a different program such as Clip Studio Paint, but as a free program, I prefer Medibang. I occasionally utilize MS Paint when I am stumped as to how to properly depict something in Medibang.

• I utilize more than 1 layer for sketches and lineart, typically for dividing multiple components of either in different layers, and I tend to utilize Overlay/Multiply eventually.

• I also prefer utilizing textured brushes.

• I required myself to utilize at least one real-life reference of whatever subject I wish to draw (unless it is the ocean; then I will utilize a tutorial). For this, I typically utilize Google, Pinterest, and stock photo websites. When drawing Roger, it is required that I utilize a velociraptor skull nowadays for accuracy. For Beckham, I typically go to borzoi_gandalfthegrey's Instagram account and search for photos/videos of Odin with the proper or appropriate pose when available due to Odin resembling Beckham's facial traits the most. (When you draw borzois as often as I have based on real-life references, it becomes apparent that borzois possess different facial structures and appearances among themselves, even if only subtly. Not quite as prominently as humans, but enough that you'll be able to tell different facial structures apart.)

What improvements have you made recently?

• I've been improving slowly in anatomy and in drawing Roger's face, particularly semi-consistently. I am also becoming better, in a sense, at composition. Unfortunately, I am re-learning how to draw Beckham and borzois again after months of not drawing them regularly.

What steps would you like to take in the future?

• I would love to teach myself to properly draw realism, to properly paint and render as detailed and realistically as possible, and to animate. I plan on first creating a comic or graphic novel/illustrated book before upgrading to animation and creating my own animated series, and, of course, creating a full-head mask of my fursona, as well as dolls of my favorite personal characters for personal use. I would also love to sell merchandise and prints, and eventually begin selling commissions regularly.