Welcome to Hatena Featured Artist section of our blog, where we introduce Flipnote creators from around the world.
We post the Hatena Featured Artist every week on Wednesday, and hope to introduce a variety of different artists that will inspire and entertain you.
Be sure to check back here every Wednesday to see some of the most amazing artists on Flipnote Hatena. Maybe we'll even feature you someday!
Today's Hatena Featured Artist is Ashie (id:Ashie) from the Europe & Oceania region.
Please introduce yourself!
Hello! My name is Asha; I’m a 17 year old art student from Australia.
How do you get ideas for your Flipnotes, and how long does it usually take you to create them?
That’s actually a pretty tough question! My ideas can come from anywhere, but most often I’ll have a small itch of an idea pop into my head from nowhere and start to evolve. Or sometimes with my music Flipnotes, I’ll be walking down the road and hear something that sounds like a beat, and work on a tune based around that beat in my head before converting it onto the Nintendo DSi.
I can get pretty lazy, so my Flipnote production is quite slow, but I sometimes get huge bursts of motivation and make several rough Flipnotes in one day. I know it must be annoying having to wait for so long in-between Flipnotes, but if I’m going to post an animation I like it to be good quality, and that means spending a lot of time perfecting frames.
What hobbies or interests do you have (besides making Flipnotes)?
Art. I really am an obsessive drawer. I love to draw my Flipnote characters (mostly Jashi the lemur) or funny comic strips. I love the whole “mad scientist” concept and base my art heavily around this subject. But other than that, animation is really my biggest hobby and I’m going on to study it next year and hopefully one day make a career from it. To tell you the honest truth, I would have never discovered my love for animation if it wasn’t for Flipnote Studio!
Who are some of your favorite creators on Flipnote Hatena and why?
First off is my friend MdM (id:MdMbunny) who I often collaborate with for my music Flipnotes. It’s not hard to see why I love his animations so much. They are seriously amazing and I hope that one day I can be as insanely talented as him in animation & art.
B’Liquid (id:Bimboliquido), Cheval (id:rectogab) and Oliver (id:olivercd) all have original ideas and mind blowing skill in movement, that is definitely worth checking out.
I have many more favorite creators, especially my friends from the S.F.A.C (you guys rule!) but I don’t want to make this too long :)
Do you have any advice or tips for other Flipnote creators about how they can improve their skills?
Yes I certainly do! I know it gets annoying to hear it over and over again, but PRACTICE is the absolute key to progress. When I first started making Flipnotes I was so angry that I wasn’t getting instant results. I wanted my animations to be fantastic, right then and there. But now I see not every single Flipnote you make has to be super amazing and gain loads of stars.
One of the most important pieces of information I can give is that getting thousands of stars is not what makes an amazing Flipnote artist. The sign of a great Flipnote artist is the time and effort they put into their animations. A great Flipnote creator is someone who doesn’t get frustrated and give up just because there are others out there with better skill and more stars. There is no such thing as a bad artist. Just everyone has different ways of drawing.
What kind of Flipnotes would you like to create in the future? Are there any new things you would like to try?
In the future I would love to make Flipnotes with solid storylines staring “Jashi the Cybernetic Lemur” and his inventor “The professor” (a quirky character that I plan on introducing soon), rather than music loops. Flipnotes with story lines are much more of a challenge animation-wise than music loops and would take a lot longer to make, but I’m sure I could do it if I set my mind to it
What are some additional features that you would like to have added to Flipnote Studio and/or Flipnote Hatena?
With Flipnote Hatena I think it would be really cool if there was an option (separate to normal comments) in which you could critique a Flipnote and give it a rank out of like 5 stars. This type of feedback would be great for people wishing to improve their skills but don’t quite know what areas they need to work on.
Aside from that, I would just love to see more colours introduced to Flipnote Studio.
Is there something you would like to say to the Flipnote Hatena community?
Yes definitely! I would love to say a gigantic thank you to anyone/everyone that has viewed my Flipnotes, given me comments or stars and supported me in general. My fans have kept me posting my Flipnotes, and without you guys my motivation would be few if not at all.
I wanted to say a special thanks for the people who have stuck with me since my very first Flipnote. You guys mean a lot :)
Thanks for checking out the Hatena Featured Artist, and please let us know any feedback that you have in the box below. Also, please be sure to check out Flipnotes by the creator we interviewed here, and show them your support with your stars and comments!
