Meet Mara! Also known as ‘NingyoGaaru‘; she is a Mexican artist with a love for drawing her favorites as merfolk. Learn more about them below!
Describe yourself in three words.
Merfolk-crazy romantic.
How long have you been creating art? What is your favorite medium?
I’ve been drawing on and off since I was about 14 and got my first tablet, but at the time, I didn’t do anything remarkable. Then by 17, I started watching Shingeki no Kyojin and it inspired me to draw more, and I did, but I still didn’t feel very confident and the lack of attention sort of killed my motivation, and I quit for some years after that. In 2017, I picked up art again, I bought a new tablet and started drawing with more purpose and intention to actually learn and improve, not just for attention. And here we are now! And my favorite medium is digital; I very rarely do traditional art, and it’s usually just lazy sketches or the occasional charcoal portrait for b-day gifts.
What fandoms have you been in and made art for? What was the first fanart you ever drew?
I actively participated and constantly drew fanart for Shingeki no Kyojin, Shadowhunters, and currently am obsessed with The Witcher! But I’ve also done a few pieces here and there over the years for Black Butler. And as for the very first fanart I drew, it was probably some pencil drawing of InuYasha!
Tell us about your process. How much planning is involved with each piece, and how long does it usually take you to do a typical drawing?
I rarely ever plan a piece, to be completely honest. I usually only plan a theme or general idea/feeling I want to portray. But mostly my drawings are spontaneous, vague ideas that come to life as I sketch it. More often than not, the result is different from the original idea. But I like letting my creativity take its own route, see what I can come up with if my original idea doesn’t work quite the way I wanted it to. Usually, it takes me, for a fully colored piece with a moderate background, anything from seven hours to a couple of days. I am very slow, I get distracted easily! And I tend to put detail where probably I shouldn’t because no one is gonna notice!
What do you find the most challenging to draw?
Dynamic poses, and animals. Anything else, I can probably find a way to draw it.
Are there any artists that inspire you?
Yes! I love Loish (Who doesn’t?!), Pazran, Alessandro Barbucci, Nell Fallcard, Bluthunderbomb, and Prawnm33! I’m sure I have more artists I love, but those are the ones I can remember right now! There are so so many amazing artists out there!
Who is your favorite character to draw and why?
My top favorites (you cannot make me choose one, that’s cruel!) to draw right now are Levi Ackerman, and Jaskier. Levi because I love drawing his hair and undercut, and he’s my favorite subject to merfolk-ify. And Jaskier…because I LOVE Jaskier. He’s just so beautiful, silly, and his eyes are so gorgeous! And I want to draw him in a thousand different scenarios, but don’t have enough hands or hours in a day! Besides, those doublets of his are fun to paint.
What do you love about The Witcher, and what inspired you to start drawing fanart for it?
I love how fun it is to explore the lore/canon, and how you can create a bunch of other scenarios, moments, stories, with what you already have from the canon. And the characters are incredibly entertaining to toy with; there’s so many ways you can use their personalities and skills to fit a specific trope. For example, I am a huge fan of the Creature!Jaskier trope. I LOVE imagining what sort of fantastic creatures Jaskier could be, and how he’d interact with The Witcher world and the other characters. How his behavior could change, if he’d still sing, what he’d look like as a harpy, or as a werewolf. Not to mention that the curses, potions, and magic in general open doors for an enormous amount of possibilities. Truth potions? Gotcha. Shape-shifting curses? We got it. Almost anything is possible, and I love that sort of creative freedom! (Also, I love Geralt/Jaskier. There, said it.)
What’s your favorite scene from The Witcher?
The scene with Geralt and Jaskier sitting on a rock in the mountains. Because of obvious reasons, but also because of the maturity Jaskier showed in that scene. I think a lot of people don’t give him enough credit for how much he grew up from Episode 2 to that scene. Yes, he’s still loud and silly, but he’s a grown man and he sees his friend is going through a bad moment, so he goes up and offers a solution in a very unusually soft, warm voice. And he knows he’s annoying, he’s aware of that, but he still wants to try to be a good friend. And it hurts a lot because people only see the loud, annoying, babbling mess of Jaskier The Bard; they don’t see the man with flaws and insecurities, passions, worries, and feelings. And then things like Geralt cursing his very existence happen, for that very reason – because he’s not taken seriously. And I’m 100% sure he hides a lot of emotional baggage under that cheery, flirty, happy-go-lucky attitude of his. I just made myself sad.
What has been your favorite work of fanart you have created? What do you love about it?
Currently, the piece with Jaskier sat down on a rock, crying silently, clutching his lute. First of all, because I am very proud of that background, I used to struggle hellishly with backgrounds, but since I made that one piece, I found a way to make interesting backgrounds that works for me and doesn’t make me rage-quit halfway through. But also because I liked the emotion in Jaskier’s face and the dark-ish, but not too dark, mood I managed to create. I don’t think he’s a sobbing baby (Ok, maybe a bit). But after that particular scene, with Geralt being so unfair with him, I think he’s entitled to a little bit of anger and resentment towards Geralt. Crying is a given, I’d cry, too…a lot. But part of me wants him to be a little angry and cursing Geralt under his breath, not just sobbing for him. Angry crying, that’s what I see him doing. He invested a good 20 or so years of his very human life on Geralt and was very harshly thrown away by someone he held dear and considered a good friend. That ought to hurt in a lot of ways.
What has been the best part of your fandom experience so far?
The support, definitely, and being able to share things I’m very passionate about with people who understand why it’s so important to me. I can rant on and on about my mer!Levi AU on Tumblr and people actually like it. Or about why I think Geralt is a huge softie and he’d look great with braids, and people will agree…and I probably will draw it. There are always some issues or bad experiences, as with everything in life. But, honestly, fandoms are my home and I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.
Find NingyoGaaru on social media:
Website: patreon.com/
Twitter:twitter.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/