@kmau - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index
Q: How would you describe living from your perspective? Would you say that your experiences have changed the way you see life? How do you view life differently now? What advice would you give to people about setting goals that align with their personality?
Haha, I'd describe my life as that of a wandering hermit. I observe more than I participate and retreat into my cave for a period to apply those observations to my art. Learning to filter information for the sake of my craft or mental well-being is what changed my outlook on life the most.
Regarding setting goals that align with personalities, I can really only speak from my perspective: I am a person who knows exactly what they want and move forward to get there little by little. My most basic advice for that type of person would be to set your goals high while working towards smaller milestones along the way.
Q: How would you describe art has impacted your life?
My interest in art started with cartoons, videogames and later anime and manga, but what impacted my life the most was the dawn of the internet and discovering websites like Newgounds. Before that, I didn't really consider pushing it further; but the internet has shown to me that any weirdo with a good-enough drive could become an artist or animator. I was about done with the education system at the time so this provided an alternate path towards what I really wanted.
Q: Your experiences with the Internet
I had unsupervised access to the internet very early during the pre-social media wild west. Saw some things I shouldn't have seen, saw some things that changed my outlook on art, as mentioned earlier. Lowering the barrier of entry really made the internet a worse place over time, but there are still good corners and interactions if you know where to look.
Q: How did you become interested in post-apocalyptic and sci-fi themes? What elements of these genres intrigue you, and what are some future implications for humanity that you find fascinating?
Playing the old Fallout games sparked an enduring fascination with possible outcomes for humanity within me. I like the optimistic aspect of it, wiping the slate clean and starting over without all the baggage of previous power structures. What will stick around? What's gone? So many new possibilities that are nontheless informed by what came before.
Post-apoc blends very well with sci-fi elements.. so when I talk about sci-fi I actually refer to a "dark age of technology" type of deal where impressive technology exists, albeit derelict and nearly incomprehensible.
Q: How did you discover the NG website? What made you decide to join the community? Do you feel differently about the site now compared to when you first joined?
I first encountered Newgrounds in the computer room of my old school when I saw some classmates play a crudely put-together flash game with ripped Dragonball Z sprites, as was the style at the time. I only made an art account when the Art Portal came around, but I've been here much earlier..
Newgrounds largely stayed the same, at least to me. The faces may change, but an overarching spirit remains.
Q: The story of your username: kmau
I originally went by Kamui, shortened to Kamu in a certain online game and my guildmates kept misspelling my nickname.. henceforth, I was known as kmau. Spelled Ke-mau, with the e almost silent. Don't pronounce it like KAY-mau, that will trigger my gag reflex.
Q: What habits do you consider necessary for cultivating skills in art?
There are many ways to go about art, but I consider developing a natural curiosity for the real world to be very important. You shouldn't lean on fictional inspirations and other media as references exclusively.
Q: Please, it would be awesome if you could share your experiences with autistic career development!
I assume you meant artistic career development!
My experience is pretty boring, I played it safe and learned a less risky career path - one that I absolutely despise, I might add - until I happened to apply at the right company at the right time.
I didn't feel very qualified for professional animation at the time, but since I was dropped into a room with both rookies and veterans, that job became a better learning experience than anything before. I consider myself a very lucky person who just stumbles into these things like a stray dog.
Q: What are some misconceptions you see people having about art, and what is your favorite piece of advice you've learned after more than 10 years of experience in 2D puppet and frame-by-frame character animation?
Hmm, one misconception that I really don't agree with is that you don't need to be able to draw to animate. Learning to draw gives you the fundamentals to understand the materials you are working with.. muscles, implied weight and posing, all of that will be enhanced in animation if you already know how to draw appealing static images.
My favorite advice for puppet animation is that you should strive to make it look as close to frame-by-frame animation as possible to get the best results. That doesn't mean reducing fps like some 3D cartoons do, but to apply the same construction workflow with keyposes and to make lots of manual tweaks to interpolation frames. This obviously can't be applied to all projects, it really depends on intent, time and budget.
I don't really have anything new to say about fbf animation, it feels so thoroughly documented.. maybe try to animate straight-forward without onion shells for practice if you haven't already!
Q: Why do you like the childhood-friend trope in manga and cartoons?
When you asked for obscure facts, I should've anticipated that I would be questioned about them..
There's an implied, primal trust and understanding between childhood friends that can't really be matched by friendships formed later in life. That's how I would put it, haha. I am already a fan of non-verbal communication between characters and this trope just leans into that so well. Naturally I want to use it in my own stories, too.
Q: What was it like working at a drone manufacturer?
Just to clarify, we made camera-bearing drones, not the military kind. I was in charge of illustrating and translating instruction manuals. Really weird as a first job experience but it was funny at times, especially since customers would often crash the bloody things anyways. I eventually designed a drone frame myself, but the company shut down before it could be constructed. We had discovered that our boss left a lot of bills unpaid and he actually fled to his home country to avoid prosecution. Wild.
Q: How would you describe living in Germany?
Every german will tell you that it's safe, boring and that the german railway company sucks. Two of those things are true.
I grew up in the countryside next to nice forests and moved across several states during my career, so I came to appreciate the different cultures germany has to offer. The food and living standards are fantastic, I just wish our government had better priorities for the taxes we pay - but you could say that about any country I suppose.
Q: Art and animation resources you would recommend
I'm not much of a study person, me and my aquaintances just put our pen to the paper. Aspiring artists today have access to so many resources and I'm completely out of the loop there. Still, I must insist that the best resource is the study of life itself.. and The Animator's Survival Kit.