Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexander Poone. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Alexander, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
When I was about 9-10 years old, my friends and I in school used to make our own versions of games that weren’t available in Lesotho. We made things like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards back then as toys were also not allowed at our school. While I say we, it was mainly one friend of mine that did almost all of the drawing. I had some skill myself, but nothing near what he had. Some of my uncles were artists but not professionally so it wasn’t really something I thought I would want to do. It wasn’t until I was about 14-15 that I realized that I really loved comics, animation and games – much more than just viewing but I wanted to tell my own stories. I started creating a few stories here and there and drawing characters for these stories. That’s when I decided that this is what I wanted to do!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m an South African illustrator, game designer and writer. For the last few years, I’ve been working on a comic and game named the Traveller – a story that follows a teen named Retro who uses gaming as a way to find balance in his life.
I started creating characters, worlds and stories when I was in high school, I furthered my studies at the Open Window institute where I learned animation, game design, sequential narrative and Film arts and theory. Since then I started working on my own comic book based on one of the worlds I had created. Outside of that I also work as a freelance graphic designer, taking a more illustrative approach to the work I deliver. Because I have a lot of experience with illustration – I can create almost anything I can imagine.
I’m a character designer and world builder at heart, always creating characters and their stories. I am really proud of this as over the years I have grown to produce characters, both for myself and clients, that are unique and appealing.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Growth.
Being an artist requires a lot of patience, you don’t often see the fruits of your labor for a long time. When starting out, one does not often have the skill to match their imagination and this can be discouraging – worse now with the rise of AI art which can place a lot of stress an burden on wanting to create. What I have learned is to try challenge oneself to create over a set period of time – like two to three months. While this may not yield impressive/impressive results in the interim, looking back at the results will show some growth. Growth as an artist is rewarding in itself, but seeing the results and getting closer to the vision/goal one has imagined is really powerful and inspiring.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I’m creating a fictional universe called the Shattered Universe. Since I was a kid, I’ve been creating stories an worlds that have culminated in something much bigger than just one story. The project I’m currently working on – The Traveller – is a world from this fictional universe. I want to create something similar to Marvel and Dc comics but a more streamlined timeline with an African take and aesthetic. We have a lot of culture, stories, history and beliefs that can be shared, and with a twist from the imagination can be extrapolated further. The goal is to share these stories through comics, gaming and animation which is what I’m currently aiming at with The Traveller which has its story told through a webcomic and a 2D action adventure game.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satrduni/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/satrduni/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-poone-a162858a/
- Twitter: https://x.com/satrduni
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@satrduni
- Other: Webcomic: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/the-traveller/list?title_no=43619
Game demo: https://dream-shards.itch.io/the-traveller-2d
Image Credits
All artwork was created by myself – Alexander Poone.