Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keira Percy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Keira, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

Covid has not only changed the way in which I operate within the animation industry, but has also changed my mindset on how I approach the arts industry as a whole. As the world went into lockdown, people were removed from their usual sources of entertainment and leisure time. We saw an increase in animation production, and people making the switch to creative industries. COVID really forced people to reconsider how they navigate their lives. For a lot of people, being taken away from a regular routine was enough to highlight where their passions and priorities lie. It removed the friction of everyday life, or maybe put it into overdrive, but this paradigm shift sprung questions that may not have been raised for us just going through the motions.

Personally, I already knew I wanted to go into the creative industry, but Covid really highlighted how much harder I would need to work to get in a viable position. With the increased popularity of remote work, better online frame works for international work, and people flooding to social media more than ever, you aren’t just competing for a job with those around you anymore. You are competing with thousands of people around the world, all on the one platform where most swipe after a few seconds. And when I went to break down how I could get into the best position I can with the least friction possible, the main outcome was to just focus on doing what I love. We only have so much creative energy, and if you are competing with this many people, why try and be something you aren’t?

Alongside personal growth, I have noticed a greater vested interest in supporting local arts and animation. With a world’s worth of content in our pockets, and a reawakened appreciation for real life personal connection, there has been more drive to build local communities around common interests. In the city I live in, Brisbane (Australia), we have seen illustration fairs after artist markets, to animation nights at Loop de Loop. This is across industry creatives and the general public. When you can physically see those close to you come together, excelling in their creative domains, it makes you feel like you are apart of something larger, rather than a number online. It gives me an enormous amount of motivation, and I don’t believe I’m alone in that.

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.

Gday! My name is Keira Percy, also known as Pumpkiinface online. I am a visual storyteller from the sunny banks of Brisbane, Australia who works in visual development, illustration, and 2D animation. I work in a variety of styles and indulge in an array of aesthetics, but at my heart, I love all things sunny, sandy, and silly. My personal work leans into tropical hooliganism, taking inspiration from a lot of Australiana, bogan, and skegg culture. I want my work to make you pick up a pencil, but also pick up a surfboard and have some sausages on the beach at sunset, leaning into the universal feeling of just taking a break. Whilst my art gets to take a kick back, my work ethic and attitude is anything but that. Art is such an expressive and fun medium to me, and I serve an energetic and driven attitude at my workplaces. I’ve got the excitement of a dog who’s just been told they’re going to the beach, and I believe it comes across in my art.

I always had a keen eye for project direction and creative design growing up, taking on leadership roles in my youth and setting up creative side projects after school. I shine best in a team environment where different ideas can be challenged and collaborated on, it often brings the best creative solutions out of any task at hand. I try to build these work skills in a welcoming way to up and coming creatives. Fostering an environment with the creatives around me that makes them want to pick up a pencil, even to create a silly animation, means a great deal to me. Currently, I cohost the Brisbane branch of Loop de Loop, which is an Australian monthly looping animation competition and a lifeline for animation connections down under. Alongside this, I have been working on TV pitches with a few local artists and prepping my own personal projects on the side. Throughout my projects, I bring a balance of polish, movement, and expression to my works. I follow the philosophy that every line serves a purpose in the larger story, and it’s always a fun challenge to push more with less.

Going forward, I would like to bring my visual development skills such as background layout, painting, props and characters, to TV and online media production. I am also on the lookout to harness my tropicana thunder to the music industry in terms of poster, merchandise, and album art production. But overall, my main job is fostering an enthusiastic art environment through the work I put out. I build this heavily through my social media outlets, mainly Instagram, under @pumpkiinface, so take the plunge and have a gander.

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

The most rewarding part about being an artist is what your work does to those around you. People from different walks of life, at different skill levels, sometimes not even in art, will reach out to me and tell me how motivated they are. You get drawings and sketches from people you didn’t think would want to pick up a pencil. But its not the art that makes it rewarding, its seeing those close to me try something new or keep going at something they love. To try harder in a world where everything is constantly grabbing for your attention, and to then help build each other up from there. I try to convey a sense of belonging and community through my work, and having that happy place in my mind rub onto other people makes it all worth it.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that I should be working all of the time. Because our line of work is so emotionally integral to us, there is this need to constantly engage and create. It almost cycles into a fear of “if I dont work now, I wont make it. And now is all of the time so you better start”. Its a really dangerous mindset, and it has really blurred the line between who I am as someone who provides creative solutions, and who I am as a person. A lot of self esteem and imposter syndrome can arise from constantly needing to go, where if you take a second to breathe you are failing. Which simply isn’t true. Artists aren’t robots, we aren’t a generative AI, we need time and space outside of art to be creative.

In a way, I’m glad this journey is happening for me right now rather than before. I am more aware of things, and am around likeminded people who have their own thing going on the side. They may be a great illustrator, but they are also an amazing folk singer and make nice meals. Or they may be a talented animator, but they have fun playing indie video games and spending time with their loved ones. All of these things then bleed into their art and give it the visual charm they have. I am learning a lot about myself, who I am as an individual and how I interact with the world. It gives me such an awe appreciation to life, where I take in new perspectives, and implement a whole new experience into my art production. I’m not saying “go into the studio, come out and dont touch art at all”. No, that sounds depressing, but its also healthy to pick up life as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kpercy2004.wixsite.com/pumpkiinface
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pumpkiinface/?next=%2F <-- Primary media outlet
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keira-percy-3296ab1b3/

Image Credits

Photograph taken by Rueben Tomars

All artwork created by Keira Percy