Mirroredsea Q&A

[Batbrony 16,055]

Good evening, everypony, and welcome back to another Poniverse Q&A!!!  Today, I'm very happy to welcome a super special guest to our beloved forums, an incredibly talented and super friendly up-and-coming artist in the brony fandom, mirroredsea!!!

Now, many of you may not be familiar with the name, and that's perfectly alright and understandable if you're not.  You see, mirroredsea has only been actively posting art in the fandom for a little over a month, but he is already making a big splash simply because, to be perfectly honest, his art is absolutely gorgeous!  Mirroredsea displays talent and skill which few artists except for some of the very best and well known ones in the fandom have displayed from their earliest days of posting in the fandom, and it has been exciting to see not only how beautiful his art already is, but that he's continuing to improve as well.  We're very thrilled for one that we were able to land such a great artist for a Q&A like this so early into his time as an active fan artist within the fandom, especially considering it's increasingly rare these days to see exciting new artists emerge within the fandom.  He's been incredibly gracious and humble in our reaching out to him and getting this set up, and is very excited for the Q&A itself today!  For the next 2-3 hours, he'll be available to take and answer your questions, and we hope as many of you can join us as possible.  These Q&As have always been fun community events and gatherings, so please, come with your questions and ready to get to know mirroredsea a bit more!

If you'd like to get to know a little bit more about mirroredsea before joining the Q&A, you can visit either his DeviantArt or MLP Forums profiles here and here.  I would also highly recommend you peruse as much of his art in his DeviantArt gallery as you possibly can, and below you'll find just a small sample of some of the truly stunning pieces he's already produced!

Finally, as a bonus announcement, I'm super excited to announce that mirroredsea will be doing the top prize art commission for Poniverse's next fanfiction contest on Fimfiction, set to be officially launched tomorrow afternoon!  We're very thankful for his generosity in agreeing to do this and hope that it makes the contest even more exciting for the contest participants than it would have already been!

With all that being said, let's get this show on the road!  I'll start things off with two questions, a pretty basic one and a slightly more complex one.

First, mirroredsea, we all seem to have our own stories for how we joined the brony fandom, so what drew you to it in the first place?

Second, your art is incredibly unique in a variety of ways, but I'm especially enthralled with your breathtaking coloring and shading.  How do you manage to mingle so many vibrant colors together in your pieces and end up with works that look simply perfect rather than a garbled mess, which art with so many colors blended together could easily look like in less talented hands than your own?

[Jeric 46,851]

First, welcome @mirroredsea. I was extremely hyped for this since I stumbled on one of your earlier pieces by accident a few months ago and took notice of your style. 

My first question is this, you've been getting some positive word of mouth and notice of Equestria Daily and in other places recently. Were you surprised at the positive reaction to your work and style? 

[SFyr 1,982]

@mirroredsea! First off, I think I've told ya before but your art is just amazingly lovely to see. I'll toss a few questions of my own than I enjoy asking artists I don't know a lot about. Hope you don't mind a few different questions at once?

1. What inspired you originally to take up art, and why did you continue with it to where you are? Like, was there a major source of inspiration starting out, or some major thing you were working towards?
2. Do you have any major projects on the horizon? Personally, I have a bunch of ideas of huge projects I may "eventually" want to get into, and I'd love to hear what other people have planned in a similar vein. Can be completely unrealistic, like, "this would be amazing but impractical" of course, haha.
3. What would you say is your favorite part about the whole process of creating and drawing your works?

 

[TigerGeekGuy 4,662]

@mirroredsea Great art! Incredibly unique style and charm. My questions:

1. I've noticed that you often incorporate objects and scenery from the real world, such as modern architecture and technology. What inspires you to do this?

2. As a member of the MLP fandom, what do you find most interesting about said fandom and are there any fandom artists that inspire you?

3. Who is your favorite pony?

[mirroredsea 53]

3 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

First, mirroredsea, we all seem to have our own stories for how we joined the brony fandom, so what drew you to it in the first place?

Since I've never participated in something like this before, I don't know how should I start... But I'll start with a thank you, so thank you for having me! I'd also like to apologize for me future mistakes (since I'm not a native english speaker) and a slow responses

I actually found out about ponies and our fandom very randomly. I think it was 2013 when I first saw a picture of a pony. It was stunningly cute for me, so I decided to check it out  That was it. Ponies took over and I was seeing them every single day. And I love it! c: There's something about them that always made me smile  And I'm also very grateful, because ponies helped me find amazing and very supportive people! I won't have enough words to describe how much it helped me
 

25 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

Second, your art is incredibly unique in a variety of ways, but I'm especially enthralled with your breathtaking coloring and shading.  How do you manage to mingle so many vibrant colors together in your pieces and end up with works that look simply perfect rather than a garbled mess, which art with so many colors blended together could easily look like in less talented hands than your own?

That'll be a little hard to describe, too ^^ I mostly don't think while drawing, because I'm always getting swept away by some song and letting it lead me  Maybe it sounds a bit weird or something, but it's just how I mostly do things with colors  But! Since there's many interesting things to try to, later I'll make a video about all my favourite things with coloring  I could explain most fun things right away, but I think it'll be more interesting to watch and see

And once again, I'm very sorry for my slow responses ^^

[Woohoo 34,237]

@mirroredsea You have some stellar artwork, possibly some of the best fan-art I've seen. Onto the questions...

1. Favorite Season of MLP?
2. How would you rank the seasons of MLP?
3. Favorite shows aside from MLP?

[Lunar Echo 10,335]

When did you start doing art?

[mirroredsea 53]

29 minutes ago, Jeric said:

First, welcome @mirroredsea. I was extremely hyped for this since I stumbled on one of your earlier pieces by accident a few months ago and took notice of your style. 

My first question is this, you've been getting some positive word of mouth and notice of Equestria Daily and in other places recently. Were you surprised at the positive reaction to your work and style? 

At first I thought that nobody would get hyped for this, but you and other people really proved me wrong   Makes me very happy!

I was super surprised! Never thought it get so much attention, because I've saw my art as only sketch-like stuff. At first it fun, but after all this, the fun has been doubled!  
I'm very happy I'm getting all these supportive messages, because they're like a real fuel to me!  

 

35 minutes ago, SFyr said:

@mirroredsea! First off, I think I've told ya before but your art is just amazingly lovely to see. I'll toss a few questions of my own than I enjoy asking artists I don't know a lot about. Hope you don't mind a few different questions at once?

1. What inspired you originally to take up art, and why did you continue with it to where you are? Like, was there a major source of inspiration starting out, or some major thing you were working towards?
2. Do you have any major projects on the horizon? Personally, I have a bunch of ideas of huge projects I may "eventually" want to get into, and I'd love to hear what other people have planned in a similar vein. Can be completely unrealistic, like, "this would be amazing but impractical" of course, haha.
3. What would you say is your favorite part about the whole process of creating and drawing your works?

 

You did I'm very thankful for those kind words!  Like I said, it's all like a fuel x) And yes, of course I don't mind

1. There actually was a major source of inspiration, yes! But even though it's a Q&A, I think I should keep this to myself at least for now... But I can say that it was one artist that inspired me to draw  I don't think I'd try it if he wasn't there
2. And yes, I do have two major projects coming up! Well.. They're major for me, I guess  I hope I'll get them done by the end of the summer, but I still have doubts about this. They're both in 3D, so it's harder for me to do it fast ^^ I'm more like a 2D kind of person 
3. Well, I can't highlight anything particular, because I really like it all

 

 

30 minutes ago, TigerGeekGuy said:

@mirroredsea Great art! Incredibly unique style and charm. My questions:

1. I've noticed that you often incorporate objects and scenery from the real world, such as modern architecture and technology. What inspires you to do this?

2. As a member of the MLP fandom, what do you find most interesting about said fandom and are there any fandom artists that inspire you?

3. Who is your favorite pony?

Thank you!

1. There's an idea behind this for my future project  I don't know when it'll be done, but for now it all works like a premise for it
2. Predictably, I should say it's MagnaLuna ^^ Their art inspire me a lot! There's something about their art I just can't explain but love  Maybe it's creativity, but I think there's something more to it.. Anyhow, I love it and it inspires me to try and be more creative as well!
3. My favourite pony was Rainbow Dash for a veeery long time, but now I have to say Fluttershy c:

[Kiri 7,289]

Hi there! You have a great art style.  

Before ponies, what were your favorite things to draw?

Aside from art, what do you like to do for fun? 

[mirroredsea 53]

34 minutes ago, Woohoo said:

@mirroredsea You have some stellar artwork, possibly some of the best fan-art I've seen. Onto the questions...

1. Favorite Season of MLP?
2. How would you rank the seasons of MLP?
3. Favorite shows aside from MLP?

Thank you soo much!  

1. I should say it's the first one ^^ Of course, other seasons and new ones are great, but I just can't stop loving the old ones  It also was a better time for me when they were still new
2. They've all been and are great, but I guess I can only honestly give my 10s and 9s to 1-3 seasons. Even though I still watch new episodes, there's a huge gap in the middle of my watching session ^^ 
3. Aside from MLP, I watch lots of anime c: Being one of the fandom's artists, it's a bit embarrassing, but I guess I watch anime a lot more than mlp :0

 

22 minutes ago, Lunar Echo said:

When did you start doing art?

I first started in 2015, but after 4 or 5 drawings I've put it on a long long hold. So I guess now I'm catching up

[Batbrony 16,055]

1 hour ago, mirroredsea said:

That'll be a little hard to describe, too ^^ I mostly don't think while drawing, because I'm always getting swept away by some song and letting it lead me  Maybe it sounds a bit weird or something, but it's just how I mostly do things with colors  But! Since there's many interesting things to try to, later I'll make a video about all my favourite things with coloring  I could explain most fun things right away, but I think it'll be more interesting to watch and see

That's super cool that you use music to help lead you along as you're drawing something.  I can almost even see that within your art, I'd say.

So since I'm a fanfiction writer myself, I do have to ask if you read any MLP fanfiction on Fimfiction?  If so, do you have a favorite genre?

[Lunar Echo 10,335]

Do you own any plushies or mlp merchandise? 

[mirroredsea 53]

Just now, Lady Kiriness said:

Hi there! You have a great art style.  

Before ponies, what were your favorite things to draw?

Aside from art, what do you like to do for fun? 

Hello and thank you! 

I have to say it's nothing, becasue I mostly drew ponies ^^;
And once again, it's nothing  I used to play various games, but now art is my only favourite and fun thing to do! 

[Batbrony 16,055]

1 minute ago, mirroredsea said:

And once again, it's nothing  I used to play various games, but now art is my only favourite and fun thing to do! 

Do you have any professional aspirations with your art, or do you intend to strictly keep it as a hobby?  Or do you even hope to like sell prints at a pony convention at some point?  I think people would gobble your art up at a con if it were on sale. 

[Woohoo 34,237]

More questions...

1. Least favorite episode of MLP?
2. What is your taste in music?

[mirroredsea 53]

6 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

That's super cool that you use music to help lead you along as you're drawing something.  I can almost even see that within your art, I'd say.

So since I'm a fanfiction writer myself, I do have to ask if you read any MLP fanfiction on Fimfiction?  If so, do you have a favorite genre?

Yes, music is a very-very important part for me ^^ And I'm very glad that you can see it in my art!

I wish I did, but I don't really read fanfiction nor anything else... But me and my friend once had a favourite fanfic!  It was about rainbow dash and it was super adorable, but I don't remember its name  Hopefully I'll find it and will draw something as a tribute to it  

 

 

12 minutes ago, Lunar Echo said:

Do you own any plushies or mlp merchandise? 

I don't, but've always wanted to have at least something  Who knows, maybe later I'll get the chance and will purchase something!

[Lunar Echo 10,335]

Are you open about your love for the show in real life?

[Batbrony 16,055]

Got another art question for ya: what is the most important element for you in any piece?  Capturing or conveying a certain expression you're going for with a character, conveying a certain feeling or emotion in the colors you use both with the subject and background, or something else entirely?

[mirroredsea 53]

7 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

Do you have any professional aspirations with your art, or do you intend to strictly keep it as a hobby?  Or do you even hope to like sell prints at a pony convention at some point?  I think people would gobble your art up at a con if it were on sale. 

I guess it's just a hobby for now  And of course, selling prints and stuff could be great, but it'll only be temporary. I feel like a have chance to show something much bigger, so I'll be trying to do it! ^^
 

10 minutes ago, Woohoo said:

More questions...

1. Least favorite episode of MLP?
2. What is your taste in music?

1. I don't really have a least favourite one, because there's always something in each one of them that is at least a bit interesting
2. It's very random ^^ I just listen whatever I find and like
Anything from loud to quiet goes 

[Woohoo 34,237]

7 minutes ago, mirroredsea said:

2. It's very random ^^ I just listen whatever I find and like

Anything from loud to quiet goes 

In that case... do you like Metallica? 

Edited June 25, 2017 by Woohoo

[mirroredsea 53]

7 minutes ago, Lunar Echo said:

Are you open about your love for the show in real life?

 I don't really have much people to be open about it with (only those who are in love with the show already), but I guess would be  There's nothing bad in it 
 

9 minutes ago, Batbrony said:

Got another art question for ya: what is the most important element for you in any piece?  Capturing or conveying a certain expression you're going for with a character, conveying a certain feeling or emotion in the colors you use both with the subject and background, or something else entirely?

I'd say it's the feelings that matter the most for me  I enjoy showing people something that I could never describe with words. It's one of those things that art has.. Expressing yourself using brushes is amazingly refreshing!  I really hope I could master it someday

[Jeric 46,851]

Since your music helps you get into the flow of arting (your muse if you will) I was wondering it you recall what you had on when creating this Daybreaker?

 

[Lunar Echo 10,335]

Do you like kitty cats?

[Batbrony 16,055]

Just now, mirroredsea said:

I'd say it's the feelings that matter the most for me  I enjoy showing people something that I could never describe with words. It's one of those things that art has.. Expressing yourself using brushes is amazingly refreshing!  I really hope I could master it someday

I'd say if you keep up the kind of work that you've been doing, you're well on your way!  I love the passion you clearly display for what you do and can't wait to see what else you can come up with.

Random, silly question, but I just have to ask, what inspired your hilarious and ridiculously adorable pic of AJ with a chicken on her head?  It is so randomly cute and funny, cracks me up every time I see it!  

[mirroredsea 53]

Just now, Woohoo said:

In that case... do you like Metallica?

Along with other rock bands, I used to listen it a lot all the time  Now my taste changed, but I still like it  I like that music can hold this feeling within itself. You can listen to a song and recall all the good times with no problem