January 25, 2012: Hatena Featured Artist - judgedredd (id:judgedredd)

Welcome to the 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 here every week to see some of the most amazing artists on Flipnote Hatena. Maybe we'll even feature you someday!

Today's Hatena Featured Artist is judgedredd (id:judgedredd) from the Europe and Oceania region.

Please tell us about yourself.

Hi everybody! Wow it is FABULOUS to be here as a Hatena featured artist! I am a mother of three boys, and a partner with my husband in our own business.

Art was always my favourite subject at school. And as a child I was always at my happiest with a felt tip pen, pencil or paint brush in my hand. A popular saying for someone who is fortunate in life is that they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I think I was born with a pencil in my hand.

What are your interests or hobbies, and how do you spend your free time?

Apart from family time, Flipnote has fast become one of my favorite pastimes.

My husband bought me a Nintendo DSi XL after seeing how much I enjoyed doodling and helping my eldest son with some of his Flipnotes. My son, derp (id:ma33y), encouraged me to join Hatena and I have to thank him for that.

I also enjoy making unusual cakes for friends and family. I used a photo of one of my cakes in a Flipnote to announce I had my first 50 fans.

My favourite cake was a black Spiderman theme. The colour of the children's faces when they were eating, it was frightening! (Hehe!)

Please introduce some of your best Flipnotes, and tell us why you like them.

★ "2000JD" - This is my take on a graphic novel style Flipnote. I love comic book art and so I created ten hero type drawings featuring my Hatena friends. I then searched for copyright free music. This Flipnote contains a lot of text, but I have included this because I was so pleased with how the drawings turned out. It took me abound two months to complete, due to the details and text required.

★ "1958 School Prom" - This was my first big Flipnote that took me about 8 weeks on and off to complete, and it was the first time I realized that Flipnotes had a memory limit, which is why this comes to a bit of an abrupt end! The music and sound was put together by my husband - using an audio software called Garageband.

★ "Dreadlocks" - This is a drawing of Bob Marley that I put together for the Weekly topic: Hair, earlier last year. Bob Marley is one of our favourite music artists, and had fantastic dreadlocks. I am very happy with the way his dreads came out in this drawing. I gave this Flipnote a shaded background to make the image stand out more. I recently received a comment from another user who thought this flip was a photo until he watched it. This was a great compliment!

★ "Shoes" - This is another one of my Weekly Topic entries (Shoes). The different styles of shoes going down the conveyor belt are the shoes featured in the shop window. I took each pair and shrunk them once, which gave me the perfect size for my window display.

Flipnotes selected by Hatena

★ "Can you HELP!" - We want to introduce you to this nice collaboration started by judgedredd. She asked her friends to help her get to the hospital in one piece. You can see how some of her favorite creators and friends helped her out below.

What techniques or skills are you especially good at in your Flipnotes?

I would say that my strongest skill is drawing. I like to produce drawing flips that show an image coming together and this can take anything from fifty frames up to two hundred or even more, depending on the detail. I also like to include as much detail as possible into my drawings, giving them a full eye catching look.

What are some techniques or skills that you wish to improve?

I would really like to improve my animation skills to make my flips run smoother. I do look at some of the great animator’s flips on Hatena to try to pick up tips but I am thinking of taking a course in animation to improve this.

Please introduce some of your favorite Flipnote artists

★ mrjohn (id:mrjohn) - Mr. John has an amazing all round talent. His art and animation are superb and his ideas are so different and refreshing every time. You can tell he’s a perfectionist by his attention to detail. I regularly go through his flips frame by frame to try and get ideas. He is always more than happy to give out help and advice if needed. He’s a creative genius and Hatena Guru.

★ katt (id:katt2) - Katt was one of the first creators to welcome me on Hatena. Her flip style is unique and she expresses her personality by producing flips of a very sunny and happy nature. She has a lovely drawing style and I particularly like the flips that she sings on, they are great!

★ Lord Elmo (id:Lord-Elmo) - Lord Elmo is one of the younger creators on Hatena and it’s been great to see how his skills have improved over the months. I am particularly impressed with some of his recent block flips.

He is always funny and constructive in his comments too - Great work LE!

★ geezer (id:geezerdk)- Well what can I say? Hatena's funny man. You can not watch Geezers flips without sniggering or laughing out loud. He has a great character (Frank) who he uses to bring out his cheeky side. His flips show his great and sometimes warped personality but to me they are always very funny - Our creative comedian.

★ Simon (id:simon-a) - Simon is another great all-rounder and I love the fact that he uses his pet family dog Tara to appear in most of his flips. His drawing and animation skills are very good and he always produces very entertaining and funny flips. He is also a very good source of knowledge - Just Ace!

★ The Prince (id:Chaos_Cansu) - The prince is another one of the younger creators and his artwork amazes me. You really need to take a look at his Flipnotes, they are excellent! He also has a great unique style of drawing and animating and is the person that created my profile picture. Thank you again for that Prince.

★ Hope (id:flowerpix) - Hope's Flipnotes are always so happy, colorful and creative. I love receiving comments from her because she always give you that happy feeling like when you have just eaten your favourite candy and makes you feel like the best artist around - so, so, lovely!

★ Josecandel (id:goomer) One word - WOW! If you have not come across Jose's Flipnotes yet, you are missing a treat. He has not been on Hatena very long, but to me his art and animation is right up there alongside Mr John. His works are creative, funny and very well thought out and I believe he has created some of the best Flipnotes on Hatena!

I really want to write up about all my friends and fans on here but I can not do everyone so here are some more of my friends and fans that are more than worthy of a mention and take a look at their Flipnotes!

Is there something you would like to say to the Flipnote Hatena community?

Firstly, I would like to thank Hatena for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself to the whole of the Hatena community.

Hatena has introduced me to some great people/artists who have given me some great feedback and encouragement over the past seven months since I joined. I am constantly amazed at the talent of both younger and adult creators from all over the world, and I love the fact that Hatena is a forum for people of all ages, backgrounds and talents to display their work. I have always found the community to be very friendly towards me and hope it will continue that way.

I have noticed that spin-offs get a lot of bad press due to people just re-posting and claiming the credit. I do think spin-offs are a good idea and can be fun but if you are going to make a spin-off, please make it your own and keep Hatena a great place/community to show your art and share your ideas.

Click here to check out all of the Flipnotes by judgedredd (id:judgedredd)

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!