Describe yourself like an Instagram/Twitter bio:

Zoe/20/Los Angeles
Obi-Wan Kenobi enthusiast

What do you do?

I'm a fine art student who's hoping to get into illustration and comics. My art is mostly digital, primarily Star Wars and DC/Marvel fanart. I also occasionally take commissions in my free time.

How and why did you start?

I've been drawing my whole life, but I didn't get serious about art until around a year and a half ago, in my first year of uni. It mostly started out just as a hobby, but then I started getting feedback on tumblr and I realized that it was something that I wanted to do as a career.

What are you currently working on/what should we be looking forward to?

I'm aiming to start exhibiting at comic conventions at the end of the year, so at the moment I'm working on expanding my portfolio and making prints and other merch that I can sell.

I also have a webcomic currently in development, but it's taking a while since the writer and I are having some scheduling conflicts. I'll probably be making an official announcement about it in a few months, so keep an eye out for that!

What's your advice for people who want to get started?

Obviously there's all the usual stuff you can find in any art advice column - take life drawing classes, learn color theory, spend hours practicing - but quite frankly, the best advice I've ever gotten is to surround yourself with people who are better than you.

With the advance of technology it's so easy to have a wealth of contacts and resources right at your fingertips. I've learnt so much just by hanging out on picarto or twitch livestreams of artists that I admire, and befriending people who have more knowledge and skill and experience than I do. If you know that someone is objectively better than you, their advice, criticisms, and encouragement are going to be far more useful to your improvement than showing your art to your mom, who’s going to tell you that you’re great and not give you any constructive feedback.

Lastly, shamelessly plug yourself!

My art is mostly hosted on tumblr, at spookyrumba.tumblr.com. I’m also on twitter and instagram, @spookyrumba.