Arterview: Magistrum

The Philippine beaches laid beautifully before my eyes, enduring an even battle against the roaring waves. As I fended off a swarm of mosquitoes, I checked again if I had arrived to the correct address. After my last trip to Texas to interview Andrew, my superiors figured that I had grown immune to the perils of hot weather and thus assumed I could handle a trip to the eastern tropics. The pearls of sweat resting on my forehead made for a powerful counterargument.

Nonetheless, our next featured artist was none other than Magistrum, and I had successfully managed to arrive at the address he had provided us. Not far from the salty shores, there were impressive mansions built on an adequate distance from each other, each equipped with lush gardens and expansive driveways. As I stood there trying to figure out which one of the architectural monuments Magistrum lived within, I saw a man wildly gesturing for my attention, whom I shortly afterwards identified as Magistrum himself. As I fumbled to get my recording instruments in place, he informed me that none of the mansions were his own, and that they were projects similar to what he's usually working with. After making one last attempt to ward off another legion of mosquitoes, a swift press of a button made for the beginning of the interview.

Let's start with the basics. Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm just your run-of-the mill guy with architectural designing as a job profile working on an architectural firm. I do art as a hobby to vent off boredom from AutoCAD and such. I actually have been an artist in our college paper since a few years ago, so I guess that's where I got my skills honed (not that it's good enough at the moment).

Ever so humble.

That's quite a lot of information to take in! How did you manage to get involved with illustrating school articles?

I actually wanted to do fine arts as my college course, but in the country I live in, fine arts offer so little job opportunities, so I went with architecture. End of the line, I got kind of burned out in the middle of the course (passion is a fuel I must consume), so I applied to my college paper's art section since it actually does a few magazines aside from the paper that require artwork. It's not limited to comic strips and such.

I was about to ask if there was anything wrong with comic strips, but luckily, I bit my tongue.

So I was like, "why the heck not", and luckily I got in after some power-tripping initiation. That's how I soldiered on with my architecture course. The college paper also cuts the tuition fee according to your contributions, so that's a plus.

Many artists need to make the important decision of pursuing their art interest or educating themselves into something else, but architectural design seems to be a fair mix of both. Do you find that your job helps you evolve as an artist, or is it strictly professional?

I think some architectural elements do help; after all, architecture is both art and science combined, in my opinion. Some things like lighting, proportions, perspective, freehand techniques, and overall balance (shape and colors) are elements shared in both my art hobby and architectural design. So even if I don't want to, some of the things I do in my architecture projects seem to find themselves in my artworks. Some of the pop-art inspired artworks I did stemmed from a restaurant project I did, for example.

Being from the Philippines, you gave us quite a scare when your activity significantly dropped when the Haiyan typhoon passed by. Anything you can tell us about what has happened since?

Yikes.

I began to hesitate if it was an appropriate question, but Magistrum continued with an answer.

Basically, it was a time where I devoted myself in real life. Construction at home, designing at work, and prayers (Filipinos are kind of religious in general). I just went on about 3 months (I think) without Internet at home, so I got cut off from Smogon for a bit. End of the line, my house got renovated, I got to buy things to replace wrecked ones (although some blueprints I stocked at home were ruined beyond help) and so I got back at the end of February. I sort of regret not having the time or opportunity to tell that I can't illustrate the pending smog articles at that time.

Given the circumstances, we found it hard to blame you.

We each exchanged a nod.

At the very least, we all drew a sigh of relief the moment you logged back in on IRC. But let's move on to a more cheerful subject. We're already aware of your interest in Pokemon, but how did that begin?

It all started from the Pokemon anime. The first time it showed on TV (I was in 5th grade at the time), everyone at school was hooked to it. So, being the fanboyish brat that I am, I searched far and wide across the land for a poster of all the 150 Pokemon (not 151, mind you). There was no such thing at the moment, but there was a magazine with info on all the Pokemon in the handheld game, and I got my hands on it. I brought it to school, and since then I was known as a Pokemon master.

Then his expression darkened.

Regrettably, it stuck until the end of my 4th year in high school, so when my high school friends get to reunions and such, they call me "pokemon master" or "pokelord" or the like. I was a generally good guy though, so they don't call me a nerd at least lol.

Was it your search for fellow Pokemon enthusiasts that brought you to Smogon, or is there an entirely different reason?

That was part of it, I guess. Going from Generations 1-5, I had no problem playing the games through Game Boy advance or a DS emulator, but when Generation 6 came out, there was no emulator at the time which meant I had to save up for a handheld. When Gen 6 came out "as an announcement", I tried to relieve myself from the wait by searching for other info on Pokemon sites. That was how I stumbled upon Smogon.

The first impression I got from Smogon was that they were chock full of data I didn't understand lol. I dismissed it as competitive shit I don't care about, since I'm just an ingame player. I was about to forget Smogon forever when I saw "Create-a-Pokemon Project", and I got curious. It was different from other fakemon projects that did fanboyish types like light, space, sound, cyber, and so on. CAP was the thing that made me register an account and lurk for about 2 months since it was the advent of CAP16, Malaconda. And that's how I got stuck in Smogon, lol.

You contributed with a design for their Dark/Grass project, which received a fair share of recognition. Their next project, Steel / Flying, ended up more favorable where your design was the winning entry. Anything you'd like to share about your navy bird, and the name you christened it with?

"Caw!" Magistrum exclaimed, his eyes brimming with pride.

It was fun drawing that frigate bird. Belly Drum was a concept that really set some things design-wise (or in other cases limited them), so I searched for animals that evoked the idea of drumming bellies and shit. Frigate bird was one of them. It was kind of a coincidence that Steel / Flying became the typing to pursue during CAP17, so I just gave the frigate bird a theme that was quite evident and gave it character and attitude. It stuck with the other contributors and lurkers of CAP, so I went with it until the end, despite hiccups like Volt Absorb and 130 Def. At least Skarmory is a fricking steel-bodied bird, and the design I went with had only a fricking anchor and coat ornaments as typing cues. But I'm glad it won :)

Regarding its name, Cawmodore, Birkal was cawing like hell in #cap IRC when the CAP art polls were about to wrap up, so the term "caw" stuck in my mind. I was showering when I thought of navy ranks, and CAWmodore kinda stuck. I thought it was kinda cheesy but worth a shot, so I submitted it anyway. Didn't think it would win too lol.

Most of us know you through your digital art pieces, but word on the street says you also like traditional art as well. Something you'd like to confirm?

Oh, I did traditional art first before digital. Those college years really helped me in doing lineart and the importance of line weights. My media back then was pencil, ink, and color pens. I hated the white spots and grain of colored pencils and the somewhat messy watercolor (or maybe I just sucked using those). It was about a few months before I got to Smogon that I tried doing digital, so I had to adjust a bit, like not looking at the pen while drawing lol.

When you look at how your life has turned out, is there any particular advice you'd like to give new artists?

Apart from practice, practice, and practice 'til you notice you're good enough or if you must practice more, I guess I'll quote a precept that applies to both artists and architects alike: "Form and function as one." by Frank Lloyd Wright. It sort of means that what you conceptualize or intend to express in your work must be equal to the form or art quality you do it with. Concept and execution are equally important, and if you slack on either of them, you'll end up with half-baked works.

Magistrum was then silent for a moment.

I guess that's kinda preachy lol.

That's just how I like it. And now for the grand final question:

Pause for effect.

What is your favorite Pokemon?

CROBAT.

His response was so intense that I was beginning to doubt if he felt the need to elaborate.

I have favorites from every generation. Gyarados Gen 1, Crobat Gen 2, Flygon Gen 3, Gallade Gen 4, Lilligant Gen 5, and Pangoro Gen 6, but Crobat stands on top of all of them. Or flies, whatever, you get the point. I guess it's because it was an evo from fugly-looking bats made into 4 wings of badass. Ever since Gen 2, Crobat has always been on my team as a flier. I also have a trading card of it, so yeah. Big Crobat fan.

Thanks for taking part in this arterview Magistrum. I hope your presence on Smogon will continue to inspire others to improve.

As I looked up to shake his hand, Magistrum were no longer there. Apart from something high in the sky flapping its wings, I was all alone. But only for a brief moment, then the mosquitoes returned.

Critique

Much like a Swiss army knife, Magistrum has plenty of techniques up his sleeves, be it traditional pencil drawings or digital artwork finely tuned with colors and special effects. Coupled with an amusing sense of humor and tendency to include more than enough details to illustrate the point, images from Magistrum therefore tend to land well above average as they speak volumes through their content alone. And not being one to be left in the dark about proper shading, Magistrum's creations are for the most part great examples when it comes down to stunning lighting effects to make the images further captivating.

With that said, everyone has something improve upon. While Magistrum puts effort into coloring his lineart to make it flow better with the flat colors, he also needs to remember how it plays along with the background as well, and be careful so that the lineart doesn't becomes less distinctive. And while his ways of applying light and shade are admirable, just making them closer to white and black can at times feel insufficient, and he'd do well to start shading with more colors so that the images don't end up feeling stale as a result. But despite these remarks, Magistrum is a solid source of inspiration on Smogon, and his contributions to various articles, projects and events will remain an appreciated sight as long as he's around to help.

If you'd like to see more of Magistrum's work, then head straight over to his Smeargle's Studio thread or deviantArt profile, and prepare to be amazed.

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