Today we got something special, and we will take a look at a talented, ambitious and up-and-coming Polish illustrator named yenkoes. She works as a freelance illustrator and shares some of her work several times via Twitch's weekly streams. An upcoming V-Tuber debut is also already planned.
In the following we will shorten ourselves with MP, we hope you enjoy the interview. For all German readers: A German version is also available at the end of the interview!
MP: Hello Yenko, thank you very much for answering our questions as part of this interview.
Yenkoes: Hello, nice to meet you! It’s a pleasure.
MP: How long have you been drawing, and how did you get into it?
Yenkoes: I get this question a lot, but I never know how to answer. You see, for me, there was no definite moment when I started drawing. We all drew when we were kids - I just never stopped! After a classmate introduced me to Sailor Moon, I got into anime and manga, and I got inspired by the style. But if I had to think of something that would mean a "beginning" to me, that would be in 2010, when I got my first graphic tablet!
MP: Are there people who inspire you or you look up to?
Yenkoes: Yes, in fact, there are a lot of artists that inspired me throughout the years, but as my top inspirations, I would name Anmi, Rosuuri and Nagu. Anmi because her style defines perfection to me, Rosuuri not only because of her beautiful style but also because of her hard work and success in the Japanese industry. Nagu for similar reasons as Rosuuri, but I also admire how she achieves perfect illustrations in a very short amount of time.
MP: You work as a freelance illustrator and have managed to turn your hobby into a profession. To what extent do commissions from fans, via Patreon or Twitch, play a role for you?
Yenkoes: Patreon and Twitch are a huge help each month, but the commissions are my primary source of income. If it weren’t for the other two though, I would not be able to post original content and fanart, so I’m very thankful. I do commissions for commercial and personal purposes, it’s always something different, which makes my job interesting!
MP: One often hears how illustrators have mental issues, such as the pressure they get from fans or the high demands they have for themselves. Have you experienced that yourself; how do you deal with that?
Yenkoes: That’s right; I think that it affects all artists at some point. It is often due to the process of improving - despite spending many hours on an artwork, I end up hating it. Sometimes I just post artwork, never look at it again, and just promise myself to do better next time. There can be a feeling of pressure to make a perfect artwork with a growing audience and fear of criticism, but most often, it is ourselves who are our own biggest critics.
MP: How difficult has it been for you to switch from traditional to digital drawing?
Yenkoes: It isn’t exactly how it went actually. I grew my audience the most during my traditional phase, and that’s why many people don’t know it, but I actually started as a digital artist. I was posting on Deviantart under a different name back then. Then I joined Instagram and became a traditional artist and barely touched my tablet for a few years. And one year ago, I decided to switch back. To answer your question, yes it was tough, despite my previous experience with digital art, it kinda felt like I had to re-learn from scratch. My works were very stiff and unnatural for a while. I feel a bit regretful about the break from digital I’ve had because I lost years of precious progress, but at the same time I benefited from my traditional phase too, so I feel like I’m in no place to complain.
MP: What materials do you use for work? (digital and traditional)
Yenkoes: For traditional, I mainly use watercolors and COPIC markers! For digital, I draw in Clip Studio Paint, and use a Wacom Cintiq Pro tablet!
MP: What does a usual working day look like for you?
Yenkoes: I often get inspired and draw late at night, so I usually wake up relatively late. In general, when I’m not streaming I either work on commercial work, Patreon work, or I prepare sketches for the stream. After streaming, I usually like to rest for a few hours, hang out with my community on my Discord server and doodle on my iPad in bed before sleep. And finding time to cook and eat in between all that. Nothing exciting to be honest. haha
MP: Thousands of people follow you and your art on various channels. Has this changed anything for you compared to when you were “unknown”?
Yenkoes: A long time ago I remember that I celebrated 100 followers, and to me, it felt like a lot already haha. I think that bigger following helped me mainly in terms of not having trouble of finding commissioners. And in general, I have a lovely and supportive community now, which honestly keeps me going during harder days. But as I mentioned before, there can be pressure to perform well sometimes.
MP: Has your style changed over time and how long did it take you to find your personal style?
Yenkoes: My style definitely keeps changing; however, I think that during the time, I was focusing on traditional art was when I developed my style as a signature of my work. Something that made people say: "Oh, yenko drew this". It definitely took a long time, but developing a style isn’t something to worry about at first, it comes naturally when you decide on what features you like and what you’re going for. I think that my goal was always to try and be myself with my style, even if other artists inspired me, I never wanted to be the same, just unique in my own way. It might have been a slower path to take in terms of improvement, though.
MP: What would you recommend to up-and-coming artists who are just discovering or would like to discover drawing for themselves?
Yenkoes: If you want to do it, you just gotta do it! And remember that you don’t need an expensive setup to start. It can be hard to stay motivated when you’re just beginning, but you will improve naturally in no time if you just enjoy it. Your surroundings may not always be supportive of it, but please don’t give up, and people will appreciate your passion in the end.
MP: Which working step do you enjoy the most?
Yenkoes: Recently, I’ve been enjoying linearting process. I used to hate it the most before, though. I also like the final steps of the work, where I add all the color changes and effects to make the artwork look better overall.
MP: Do you have any plans for the future?
Yenkoes: I think it’s hard to plan anything these days, but I’d like to continue working hard to achieve my goals and maybe release an artbook at some point. I’ve always wanted to make one, but somehow I always think that I could do better if I waited a bit more.
MP: Do you have any words for your fans?
Yenkoes: I’d like to thank you all for supporting my work and taking your time to give me a few words of encouragement every time I post or stream. I want to stay humble and appreciate every one of you for the coming future. I hope not to disappoint you!
MP: Thank you very much for answering our questions for this interview.
Yenkoes: Thanks for your time!
