We recently connected with King Alexander and have shared our conversation below.

Hi King, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

When I first picked up drawing, I taught myself what I could. Keep in mind though, I started in middle at about 10, so the rules were simpler. “If it looked cool, it worked” was what I stuck to. Eventually, I took proper art classes throughout middle school, high school, and now college. I always wanted to learn animation ever since I saw All Dogs Go to Heaven on my dad’s VHS player, but never really knew where to start until I went to Riverside City College. My professors, Will Kim and Jian Lee, taught me everything I know about about animation and then some. If I had to pick a way to speed up the process, I’d tell my younger self to learn to draw on a tablet! I draw everything with good ol’ pencil and paper but, if I knew how fast technology would advance back in the early 2000s, I would have invested in a Wacom. The most essential skills are DEFINITELY knowing anatomy. Even if what you create isn’t human, you’d want at least some human body language for the audience to understand your vision. Think of the snake character in Disney’s Robin Hood, he moves his tail sometimes like an arm or hand to emote a “shush” or cross his (metaphorical) arms. Definitely know your anatomy EARLY. As for obstacles, there are two things I still struggle with: self-motivation and my medium of choice. Self-motivation, no doubt, is a global struggle for any artist, especially the younger artist or those who choose to produce it for fun. On one hand, you could create this cool thing just because you can. On another, you’re painfully aware of how much time you lose in a day to just getting through the beginning stages of it. It can be exhausting. Number one way to combat that though is scaling it down. You don’t have to create the Sistine Chapel every day, or even every week, months, year, etc. You just have to create SOMETHING to keep those skills sharp, so doodle! Put it on a sticky note, an index card, redraw a meme if you want. Just be sure to keep at it and keep creating consistently, it helps a lot. The second problem though is more personal. As I had already mentioned, I draw on pencil and paper. Problem is, though, everything today is digital, so translating my work to a digital space can cause some issues. Thankfully, a scanner and some editing skills can help mend that. For anyone else who wants to produce traditional animations, After Effects is great for editing but Capcut is more beginner-friendly (and free). Also, if you don’t have a scanner, get a tripod with a clicker for your camera. Thank me later.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is King, or that’s what my friends call me. I’m a 23 year old artist and animation student. I got into my craft by honestly just having fun and doodling about 13 years ago now. I draw both for fun and for money with character commissions. I do both art for other creators and make character designs. I think what sets me apart from others is just my medium. Most people work digitally, that’s what’s easiest if you have the right skills. Why waste money on pencil and ink after all when you have every and any tool you want digitally? No shade though, honest haha! Plus, there’s some charm with seeing little flaws and textures that digital works can’t really provide. Number one thing I’d want my clients and fans to know is that everything I do is handcrafted and every detail matters. I want my work to be just as high of quality as you do. As for what I’m most proud of? Definitely the fact that I kept drawing for 13 years (and counting)! It ain’t easy but it’s honest work.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I cannot stress this enough: SUPPORT 👏 SMALL 👏 ARTISTS👏 Don’t waste time on AI creations and piss poor NFTs. Find an artist and get a personalized, one of a kind piece of work. It keeps creators afloat and you get a new thing to flaunt. Also, to social media sites, make better algorithms please and don’t use AI to take from creators just you can shave off a couple bucks in advertising and mask it with some fine print you know no one reads. Theft is theft.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The best reward is always the end product. Artists dump hours and days into a project just to see it through. Something about seeing the cosplay you finished, hearing the song you just produced, or admiring the details is the art piece you just finished coloring hits different, y’know?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @cmdr.king.wrath
• Youtube: @cmdrkingwrath
• Other: Discord (commission contact): @cmdr.king.wrath Carrd: cmdrkingwrath.carrd.co

Image Credits
Photograph by Max Gibbs (@glichievirus on Insta) All art created by me