MonthlyEmoticonist (September) - Synfull

1. Hey, how's it going? Wanna introduce yourself to the readers?

Hey. My name is Karen and I've been an emoticonist for a little over 5 years.

-----

2. That's a pretty long time! You've obviously accomplished a lot in your time here. What program(s) do you use the most to make emotes with?

I use two programs to make emotes - PaintShop Pro 12 to make static emotes or individual frames, and Ulead Gif Animator 5 to string frames together to make animations. It's a bit of an odd mix, but having used them so long I find it hard to use anything else.

-----

3. Hey, if you're good with it, stick with it. Can you show us one of your greatest works / accomplishments that you're proud of?

I know it is the wrong time of year, but I  love how this piece turned out:

I really enjoyed making the piece and feel it's a good example of how I've grown as an emoticonist.

-----

4. I like the background shading, personally, it's very well done. What do you feel like is the toughest part of making an emote?

I find expressions are one of the toughest parts. It can be difficult to shrink emotions down into so few pixels, and even harder to transition between multiple expression in a smoothe manner.For this reason I tend to stick to a few basic expressions.

I also struggle with animation. Due to using two programs, I can only work on one frame at a time, which can make it difficult to animate things together. It's also tedious to go back and make alternations frame by frame, so I've swayed more towards detailed static emotes than emotes which require animation.

-----

5. Some expressions are hard to get right, and animation is always hard to start up on, especially if you have to alternate between programs. Do you have any advice for someone that's new to the emote making game? Any suggestions for tutorials, words of wisdom, etc.?

I would definitely recommend checking out Emotication. There are tons of brilliant tutorials and articles throughout the group which are useful to both new and more experienced emoticonists.

As for words of wisdom, don't be put off if your first emoticon doesn't go to plan. It can take a while to get the hang of the art form and learn the best way to create certain styles or effects.

I would also recommend trying to integrate with the emote community. It's a fairly small tight-knit group of people who are fantastic at offering advice and support. Be sure to join contests, projects and events to help get yourself known and consider making an emote OC to help make yourself a little more recognizable.

-----

6. Very helpful advice from a true expert in the field. Do you look up to anyone in the emoticon community as a mentor, idol, something like that?

When I entered the emote community there was a large number amazing emoticonists creating stunning emotes each week. I have to say I admired a lot of them, though the few that spring to mind include CookiemagiK, Droneguard, LeoLeonardo, Kermodog and Krissi001.

Although she isn't in the community anymore, I found nillemotes to be a fantastic mentor. Her guidance and constructive feedback really helped to push me out of my comfortzone and make numerous improvements to my emotes.
-----

8. All three of those are very well respected emoticonists, and nice idols to look up to. Where do you think you get most of your inspiration / ideas from?

When I made chat friendly emotes, I found the majority of my ideas came from the dA community. I would see people trying to use emotes that don't exist, or spot situations on dAmn where I felt an emote would be useful. I found it fun to try and make emotes to fit into those situations and enjoyed seeing my emotes used in chats and the wider community.

Now I've moved away from Chat Friendly emotes, I find a lot of my inspiration comes from my personal interests, such as films, books etc. When it comes to contest themes, I often look up different ways a word can be used and try to find a reference I can work from to give me starting point.

-----

9. That's how I make some of my emotes as well! Can you name anyone who you think deserves more exposure?

Rather than focus on particular deviants, I'd like to give a shout out to a few things I think emoticonists should check out:

ee-motes - This is an awesome group which hosts monthly contests on interesting themes.
Emote-Style-Swap - This is a new group with a unique concept aimed at encouraging emoticonists to try new and different styles.
EmoteADay - A brilliant group featuring one emote from the community on a daily basis.
Emote Exploration - A new news article hosted on #Emotication exploring the wide variety of resources the community offers.

-----

10. One of those plugs seems oddly familiar... So what do you think is the best part of being an emoticonist?

Personally I find being part of the emote community is one of the best parts of being an emoticonist. It seems an odd thing to choose, but I find the community to be an awesome, caring group of people that offer great support and can help pick you up or inspire you when you are feeling down.

Another awesome part is seeing your art work being used by people throughout dA. Instead of being confined to your gallery, you can see it bring life and emotion to people's conversations and with the addition of the new emote sidebar and the mentions system, it has never been easier to see the impact your work can have.

-----

11. A lot of people in the emote community like the community, it seems to be one of the most common ansers.. As the last question of the interview, tell me an odd fact about anything that someone might not know.

In English, the number 11 is the smallest positive integer requiring three syllables to pronounce.

-----