Viet-My Bui (online alias ravenskar) is an up and coming illustrator hailing from Melbourne, Australia. She is also one of my longest standing friends. Here I will share some thoughts from this wonderful artist.

DJ Goh-Goh – 2010

Thanks for agreeing to do this interview Viet-My. Firstly, I’d like you to tell our readers a bit about yourself. What you do, where you’re from, how old you are etc.

I’m twenty one years old, now. I was born & raised in the beautiful city of Melbourne, Australia. I’ve a Vietnamese background, though; my parents escaped the wartorn country to start a new life for my sister & I. My friends call me a banana (white on the inside, yellow on the outside), but I really do appreciate both cultures. I’m fluent in crappy Vietnamese, haha, and LOVE Asian food.

Speaking of food — eating is my favourite thing to do, aside from drawing. And apart from that, sleeping, shopping & loving (friends, family, my fellah) come very close.

I’m studying the Bachelors of Commerce & Laws at the University of Melbourne at the moment. I’m in my third year and have two left (D:). I draw as much as I can on the side, taking comissions and personal projects. I hope to one day pursue art & design in the form of a postgrad course and then later as a career.

I know you’ve been drawing for a while now, when did you start taking it seriously?

Hmm, I guess it’s all relative. When I was asked that question years ago, I’d tell everyone that I started taking it ‘seriously’ when I was about 12. And again, when I was about 14. But in retrospect, I realised that I didn’t take it seriously until last year.

Up until that point, I’d just been drawing indulgently. Sure, things started to move faster as I got older, particularly in the last few years, and my style has changed progressively. But for the most part, I was drawing without a purpose and without a real push for improvement or growth.

It was last year, when I had something of an epiphany, that I realised how much I loved it and that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. My outlook completely changed and I’ve never felt more passionate & more clear about where I want to go. So yeah, I guess – since last year.

RR Project: 002 – 2008

Tell me about Raven, I know she’s been a constant presence in your work.

Raven… has been my baby for more than a decade. She’s my muse. I created this character in my mind when I was just a little kid – about eight. She started off as just another drawing of a pretty girl, but I soon warmed to her design & kept drawing her over & over. Back then, she was completely different, of course; she’s had dozens of revisions throughout my life. She was one of the first characters I ever created, and I put a great deal of thought into her design. It sounds pretty juvenile, but I was entranced was I was a kid. I poured all my hopes & dreams of a wannabe-artist into her. I thought she was the best thing ever; I was so proud.

To me, she was my alter-ego, my imagination & creativity personified. She grew as I grew, and changed as I did. But I my ideas started growing stale, redundant and unoriginal, and so did her design. And then I couldn’t draw her any more. I started hundreds of sketches, but scrapped them all because I was so dissatisfied. It was during these years that I struggled along with my “anime ^_^”-phase of artwork, regurgitating statically smiling damsels. I was uninspired and drawing without much point, I guess. It was a self-indulgent process, without an aim for improvement or exploration.

It wasn’t until much later that I wanted to have a real go at art — to find my groove, so to speak. And it was during this stage that I finally decided to give a real go at drawing her again. So, based loosely on my old designs from my childhood, I redesigned her and adapted her into my new (& evolving) style. And it was refreshing & challenging. That’s when I decided to start the Raven Revival Project.

What is the Raven Revival Project?

It’s a project of growth, I guess. Artistic growth. This is going to sound really lame but it’s also a project about finding ‘myself’. The artist in me, understanding why I draw, what I love about it, where I want it to go. Raven is a representative of myself (as I mentioned in the last email), of my abilities and of my aspirations. She evolves as I do, and she’ll come with me as I experiment with colours, styles, techniques. She’s very, very dear to me and she is my muse. So with her as my focal point, my catalyst, I experiment and explore and I hope to keep drawing more and more pictures of her just to see where I go.

I don’t have that many pictures in the series right now, but you can already tell the changes I’ve gone through, and how she has changed. Her expressions, her design. I also tend to remove pictures that I feel are not representative of her character, and then I draw new ones to replace them (hence the pieces being numbered out of order).

And in each picture I reveal a little more about her – her character, her background. My friend told me recently: “With each new picture in your RR Project, we learn a little more about Raven — and a little more about you, too.” And I guess it links to why I don’t want to write a comic about her or anything. I want it to unravel a little at a time.

Trelise – 2009

So for you, establishing a character’s personality before drawing is very important? Do you think this is something everyone should practice?

Oh yes, establishing a character’s personality is extremely important. For me, the whole point of depicting a character is bringing out their personality — whether it’s the whole lot, or just a simple slice, a little tease — for others to see and to digest. I think it’s pretty pointless to draw a character and not consider the personality. Your picture will have no purpose; it won’t be a real capture of your creation.

Even if original characters aren’t your thing, if you want to invest your time into drawing fanart, you’d still have to deeply consider the character’s personality. The entire picture is based entirely on what you want to illustrate. Is the character flirtatious? Calculating? Shy? Malicious? Are you going to express it through their eyes, or their smile, or their gesture? Are you going to have it a simple portrait, focussed solely on their face? Or are you going to have a dynamic image that represents the character as a whole?

I try to input as much feeling and soul into the pictures I create as possible. I’m still learning, but every little nuance counts. Being able to bring your subject to life is an important part of being an artist; it’s a practice of expressing yourself.

Who or what inspires you to draw?

My main influences are probably photography, music, fashion & artwork.
I love, love photography. Especially portraits, spontaneous shots, fashion editorials and journalistic photos. There’s just something about the quality, the colours and the emotion one can convey through photography that I adore.

I have really broad tastes in music, and I’m always listening to something as I draw. Sometimes I create a specific playlist to help me finish a piece. Or sometimes I’m compelled to draw from the emotion/imagery the music evokes.

Fashion also has a dominant influence in my work. You can probably tell by the costumes and outfits I design, as well as the hair & ‘make-up’ on my characters. I’m also hugely inspired by the colours, shapes and silhouettes found in fashion.

And of course, art & design are always great sources of inspiration. I can become completely absorbed in going from one art site to another. Going through my ‘Favourites’ on DeviantART, or perusing my blog, will give you an idea on what sort of work inspires me.

Finally, life in itself is an inspiration. As kitschy as this sounds, everything around me can become a point of inspiration. The little things in life: a conversation, someone’s laugh, a ladybug, or a storm. I also tend to observe the colours and shapes around me. The people in my life, those who are important to me, will always be an inspiration. Anyone who appreciates my artwork is an inspiration, too.

Viet-My Bui

Let’s wrap this up then, is there any words of wisdom you wish to impart on anyone wishing to follow your footsteps? (Eat food, smile often, practice every day etc.)

Lol eat food… umm….. well actually eat food is a good one. It’s always good to have at least three good meals a day, it gives you the energy to be inspired! But also, i would highly recommend artists not to compare themselves with other artists, it puts you on a dangerous path to jealousy and competitiveness, etc., plus you lose sight of your own abilities and goals. I don’t know, some artists find that competition helps them get going, but I find that it mostly jeopardises your own voice. Art’s not about beating someone else, it’s about doing the best that you can. A personal best.

For more examples of Viet-My’s work, please visit her deviantART account or her Tumblr blog.