Summer Of Interviews: SalienCat

Q. When did you discover dA and what made you start using it? 

A. I initially discovered it in early 2012 when I was on Facebook the 1st time around, an artist had linked their commission prices journal from here, the site didn't really capture my fancy back then though. I left Facebook around May-June the same year and spent quite a while offline until finally early January this year I joined DeviantArt, the reason was only to commission  for new art of my fursona, I use to think it was only a drawn art based community until I realized there was a lot of photography which I'd never really looked into before but often enjoyed capturing a sunset every now and then which is what made me started submitting photography deviations and getting a little more serious with what was actually a very small hobby before this.

Q. What made you choose your username? 

A. Salien is the name of my Fursona who is obviously a cat :3 basically pronouned "alien" with an "S" at the beginning, SSSSssssalien xD Reason for that name is I have an interest in extraterristrials, mainly because if their existence was revealed to be true, which I believe, it would surely cause a much needed worldwide self review of ourselves as a whole on this tiny planet floating through this galaxy, hopefully making life much more enriched. 

Q. When did you begin drawing? 

A. That's kinda tricky to say... I remember back in 7th-8th year of school in art class we were given a black and white photo of half a woman's face (split vertically, the other half of the paper was blank) for homework. I wasn't really interested in art at all back then but we had to complete the rest of the photo and I spent a long time on it and was pretty surprised with the result but I never turned it in and lost the drawing xD
I guess when I started really drawing was in early January 2012, I wanted to create a gift for a friend who was sick at the time, the majority of all my art that year was drawn in Microsoft Paint with a laptop mousepad and each piece took minium 7hrs and maximum 48hrs; I'd begun to hate drawing because of this and gave it up not wanting to get back into the "trap" that I thought it was at the time. I was compelled to start up again this year in late Febuary with Traditional drawings after a crash course of learning from Art Academy on Nintento DS and it's now, though still time consuming, much more enjoyable, definitely beats erasing mistakes pixel by pixel xD 

Q. What influences your work?

A. For photography: The beauty of life that is sometimes missed when we don't slow down enough to just enjoy the most basic things, such as when the planet turns to let the sun give light to fellow beings on the other side of Earth, a sunset.
For drawn art: The people I draw for, I think it's amazing to have hopefully put a smile on people's faces.

Q. You seem really focused with connecting with the dA community, whether it be with features, tags, contests or giving out prizes and drawings. What made you start doing that? 

A. Along with the saying "Treat others as you would yourself" I tend to often think of others in the way I see myself, someone with a story; past, present and future, everyone's unique, and online is no different, we are not just text on a screen, though I understand things happen offline in their lives that don't even involve art or the DeviantArt community as the same is for my own. To conclude simply, I just like to try do something nice once in a while and hopefully create some fun.

Q. What tips would you give to an aspiring artist? 

A. Never compare, bash your own work or self doubt, it will do absolutely nothing for you. Don't strive to be amazing "someday" otherwise you'll never get there, strive to be amazing with every piece. Above all, appreciate and marvel at your own work.

Q. What hobbies do you have outside of dA? 

A. I love to film and edit videos when my friends are willing to help, I'm a furry, I enjoy walking around in the dead of night listening to music when I'm able too, reading, I rollerblade every now and then, I enjoy cooking though I know very few basic recipes, I have an interest in Zentai/Morphsuits but I must state it is not a fetish for me, I only like the artistic side of it and the mysteriousness it causes. I'd say videogames but I haven't owned a console in a year, soon though, I've been waiting ages to finally play Mass Effect 3, it's one of my favourite game series with such an incredible in depth story and world *.*

Q. What made you choose to do varied art, rather than focus on one type of art? 

A. I didn't like the idea of putting myself in a box, repeating the same stuff/process over and over again would become tiresome, resentfull and boring. Doing different things or something new altogether is always a fun adventure and keeps things interesting.

Q. Is there any type of art you can't stand? 

A. The art that the original creators bash, I don't like looking at something if I know the artist hated creating it or didn't like the finished piece, it ruins the magic.

Q. Is there anything else you'd like to share about yourself? 

A. My dream job is to be a Div 1 Registered Nurse, I love helping people and for it to be my life's work would be incredible, I'm currently working as a Food Services Assistant within a Hospital but I will be submitting an application to learn Bachelor of Nursing for the 2014 intake sometime around August this year when they're open again