Interview with GodlessBlue - an Insight inside the Spanish convention scene.

Y: Tell us a little about yourself and your work, your artistic style and chosen medium: anything about your art that you feel is important.

B: Hello! My name is Blue, I am a Spanish illustrator. I like to draw with a precise style, which over the years I have begun to define as ‘solid’: the lines are always equally thick, the edges of the silhouettes softer, all characterised by bright colours and rather rigid shadows, without many gradients. One way or another, I always try to achieve a result that is aesthetically ‘pretty’. I quite enjoy drawing the typical magical girls of Japanese culture, the so-called ‘majokko’ - generally, however, I mainly dabble in illustrations dedicated to One Piece and Pretty Cure!

Y: How is the art scene in the area where you live, or where you come from?

B: I can't describe it, honestly - I think it depends. I attended both the University of Fine Arts and a professional training school in illustration in my region (as well as attending several local conventions), and I always thought the level of quality was rather low, as if people enrolled in these schools just to do something. On the other hand, where I live there is a considerable number of professional illustrators, of a very high level, who work exclusively at an international level - unfortunately, in Spain there is a serious lack of work in any field, let alone in the art sector. Generally, I can say that there are many artists in Spain whom I deeply admire, especially at large conventions such as Japan Weekend in Madrid. Nevertheless, and this may sound controversial, I cannot deny that I see far too many people who have literally just started drawing and are already in the business. 

Y: What prompted you to enter the world of digital art? How did you start your artistic journey? Did you study anything specifically related to art, or did your interest stem from something else?

B: It all started when I was about 12 or 13 years old. My favourite series was ‘Adventure Time’ and I was looking for a lot of fanart about it at the time, so I got to know Deviantart. Thanks to Deviantart, I was able to approach digital art in all its facets. At first I copied the drawings I found online on pen and paper, so I could learn how to draw, and I also tried to create my own! My father, who is an artist, then taught me the basics of drawing, how to draw heads and bodies, colour theory and so on - I must admit that I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, because it didn't reflect the anime style I had become accustomed to and I didn't think it would help me. I was also influenced at the time by a classmate of mine, who had joined the ‘Sonic’ fandom on Google+ and taught me how to share my drawings with more people online. I soon received my first graphics tablet and began to master digital art. 

As for my studies, I attended the Spanish equivalent of an Italian Liceo Artistico and then entered an academy of fine arts. However, I dropped out of high school in my last year, even though I had already started skipping many classes in my second year. The art education path I was enrolled in was quite generic and, unfortunately, most of the teachers didn't view anime as a valid source of inspiration, or even illustration in general - due to this situation I became so frustrated that I began suffering from anxiety, which is why I dropped out before finishing. During the pandemic, however, I managed to finish high school - unfortunately Covid was a curse in this respect, because it did not allow any of us to understand what the ‘normal’ study experience would have been like. Anyway, in time I managed to get into a two-year degree course in illustration, where I am now finishing my first year. It is tough, I won’t deny it, many teachers think of us as complete beginners while others consider us experts - having said that, I am learning a lot from some professional illustrators with unimaginable talent.

Y: Art is a challenging, yet extremely satisfying field. What impact has it had on your life so far?

B: Drawing has led me through various negative experiences, from arguments with my father related to the subject to people approaching me on the daily just to ask for free gifts. However, it has also given me thousands of satisfactions and wonderful memories: I have made friends with so many artists, I have met some of my idols, I have been able to travel abroad several times, I have been able to buy things I have wanted for years - not to mention the flattery and compliments, the opportunities to meet new people and to improve my mastery of foreign languages. I want to draw for the rest of my life, even if it also has negative aspects, and I hope to reach the point where I can make a living by drawing.

Y: Does your art allow you to support yourself economically?

B: At the moment it is quite difficult for me. Due to the amount of work for the university, I still haven't managed to set up a proper online shop and I can't travel as much as I would like - if I missed too many lectures I would be directly suspended. Since I cannot attend conventions, have an online shop or promote my orders, I have practically run out of money to create new products or to pay for trips to conventions. This summer, however, I plan to get back to work! I have an internship programmed for next year, which means that a company will hire me in cooperation with my school. I hope that this will help me get back on my feet and give me what’s necessary to be able to travel around Europe soon, and also abroad, so that I can get to know people and make new friends!

Y: What platforms do you use to promote your work? Do you think they need to be fixed and improved in any way? Do you think a new platform concerning only digital art could be useful?

B: I mainly use Twitter, Tiktok and Instagram, as well as having recently resurrected my Deviantart account. The latter is clearly created for artists, as it has many options and functions designed for both the artist and the client. The others, on the other hand, are much more generic, the ‘search’ section is not optimal and they all work with AI - a tool that puts our work at risk. 

I get very excited when finding new websites designed for artists, but unfortunately they hardly ever work, they remain in closed beta for too long, are never officially launched or people simply stop using them. So far I haven't seen anything better than DeviantArt, although it certainly isn't perfect and has lost a lot of users over the years, at least it is still focused on the progress of artists and customer contact.

Y: Have you ever had problems with copyright and its management?

B: Yes, a few years ago my Etsy shop got suspended because I was selling my Demon Slayer fan art. At the time I spent almost a month looking for solutions and information and talking to people about the incident, and they told me that the person who had reported my listings, complete with first and last name, was a failed artist who was trying to get personal revenge by reporting other artists in the company's name - without actually being affiliated with Etsy. The platform, however, did nothing about it and did not even respond to my contact requests. I thus found out that contacting the customer service was practically impossible, and in the end they simply closed it down for good. I found out later that I could get it back if I cancelled the listings, but by then it was too late to try. 

As for my own work, unfortunately I don't draw many original works because they don't sell well, but at least I have never had any problems with people claiming that one of my drawings was drawn by them. Of course several fandom accounts have uploaded my fanart several times without permission or credit, but they always credited me once I caught their attention, and I gave them permission without any problems.

Y: What would you change about the current art scene if you could? What do you expect from the future of art?

B: I would definitely eliminate generative AI. At the moment they are still quite shoddy and many companies have already stopped hiring illustrators and artists, I don't want to think about what the situation will be like when this technology develops further. Personally, it always upsets me to see a book from a good publishing house, or a board game, whose illustrations are made with artificial intelligence. I think art is a luxury - if you can't afford it, it's not a problem, it's not a primary need, but that doesn't include professional cases, when the client has economic possibilities that can be invested in the creative sector. 

Another thing I would change concerns new artists, who have just started to design and decide to enter the business. I understand that people have to earn a living, and in Spain the situation is not the best, but it is not fair for experienced artists to be left without a place at conventions, or without a job, because someone who can barely draw has decided to bypass them.

Finally, I would change practically the entire landscape of comics conventions in my country. Even the smallest cities charge as much for a table as if we were in Vienna (200€), the bigger organisations often purposely create problems with artists: like not refunding the deposit for the table or lying about the tickets sold - some of the organisations of these events can even be considered real mafias. In general, they don't make things easy for us here, which is why some friends and I have started to try our luck abroad - unfortunately it doesn't seem to be much better. I have the feeling that people are spending less and less on artists.

Y: What do you think about the management of artist alleys at conventions nowadays? Are there any experiences you would like to share with us?

B: As I mentioned earlier, it seems that the Artist Alley management is going from bad to worse. Artists make less and less money and only manage to cover the cost of their table, travel, food and accommodation when they are lucky. Honestly, there have been times when I have not even recovered that money, even though the convention was huge and my stand was in a great location. I hope the situation improves from now on, I really enjoy travelling and experiencing trade fairs, I always have fun and I would like them to be positive memories to carry with me in the future.

I will make a small excursus on the cost of the table, so as to explain the situation better. In Spain, when I started, the price was between 50 and 100 euros, but in recent years some conventions have raised the prices a lot. In Salamanca, Coruña or Levante, very small towns where the attendance at conventions is rather low, they have raised prices up to 200 euros. Surprisingly, in the larger ones, such as Madrid, they have maintained prices, but in exchange for a much lower quality of table space.

We thank Blue again for participating in the interview and remind you that you can find them on Instagram at @godlessblue. Take a look at their work, you won't regret it!

If you have any questions, doubts or queries regarding copyright management and the protection of your works, the RightsChain team is always at your disposal.

Thank you for your attention, 

Yako.