Fandom Spotlight: SketchyArkhive

Meet Noah, also know as ‘SketchyArkhive’! They are creating gorgeous art in a lot of fandoms such as Yakuza, Borderlands 3, Hannibal, and – our latest darling at Basic Stuff Magazine – The Old Guard. Quite a bit of our team fell head over heels for their art (we even made it our phone backgrounds) and we are so delighted to tell you all a bit more about this artist!

Describe yourself in three words.

Detail obsessed. Playful. Passionate.

How long have you been creating art?

I’ve been pretty much always drawing but I only started to put more effort into developing my style about 5 to 6 years ago or so. Like with most artists, it’s been quite the journey to discover what I like to create and what not and what I like to look at and admire but don’t want to replicate. For example, I admire beautifully painted pieces but I personally don’t like to paint at all. I’m all about the line art and it took a bit to accept that painting brings me no joy, especially since it often felt like there was no space for styles like mine.

What is your favorite medium? 

I used to do a lot of traditional stuff (especially with fine-liner, copics and on canvas and clothes), but I mostly do digital art now. I have a massive Intuos but I have to admit, since I got my iPad Pro it is mostly catching dust; Procreate and the ability to draw when and wherever won me over.

 

 

What fandoms have you been in and made art for? 

I properly started my fandom experience off in the Inception fandom and then later, I was in the Hannibal fandom for a very long time. When I moved house from one country to another I had to go on a long hiatus due to health related reasons. The next time I dove deep into a fandom again was when Overwatch started to become a thing. Since then I kinda dipped my toe into all sorts of fandoms (Yakuza, Borderlands 3, Death Stranding) but The Old Guard is the first time since Inception and Hannibal where I feel truly inspired to create more content for. The community around it is so new yet so lovely and passionate — it’s really wonderful!

What was the first fanart you ever drew? 

My very first one? Sailor Moon back in elementary school. I drew so many fanarts about the series back then, my mum still has several boxes full of very bad art where most Sailors have at least eleven fingers and look like stick figures paired with the shoulders of football players lol

Tell us about your process. 

My art process usually starts either with a song or a conversation I had with someone; you know, that little spark for ideas and inspirations. Next up will be rough sketching of pose ideas, often paired with notes of ideas I get along the way and might want to integrate. If it’s a piece with specific clothing ideas or a period piece (like the crusader times etc.) or animals are involved, I hit Google next to collect enough references. One can never have [too many] references; the more you see of one thing, the better you understand it and can take it apart and remodel it in your own art. That’s when I hit the next phase and do a much more detailed sketched over the blue pose sketch.

 

 

Once that’s done we come to my favorite part – clean line arts and shading. Then it is testing of color concepts. Sometimes, I have a color concept in mind the moment I start sketching a piece, but more often than not color is the last thing I think about which can make it sometimes quite difficult to suddenly find the right color combination to highlight a new piece. When I’m stuck or uncertain, I usually ask my friends for advice and together we find a color theme that works. That can sometimes take a while, depending on how stuck I feel or that something feels off about my piece. Bless their patience!

How much planning is involved with each piece, and how long does it usually take you to do a typical drawing?

That really depends on what I’m about to draw. If I plan to do something viking related, for example, it’ll automatically take longer and need more planning because I will look over viking pictures for quite some time and try to find the right clothes and weapons etc. In contrast, when I do a simple modern character piece in a shirt and jeans or a suit, it is usually a much quicker process. My pieces take from a few hours to a few days, it really depends on what I’m about to draw. One of my [original character] pieces, that probably doesn’t look like too much work, took me about three days because I developed a massive Maori tattoo for him along the way. The more details something has, the more planning and time it needs.

What do you find the most challenging to draw?

Armor and mechanical parts. I used to draw this sort of stuff a lot in my early twenties but then I somehow left it behind in favor of modern clothes and uniforms and now I feel like I forgot everything about it. I remember back in the day I had a lot of fun coming up with cybernetic parts in cool battle armor.

My other arch-nemesis is color. I either nail it right away or struggle with it for hours. I know me being neurodivergent is the reason for this constant hit-or-miss with colors but it doesn’t make it less annoying and frustrating. Again, shout out to my friends for helping me when I’m stuck.

 

 

Are there any artists that inspire you?

I love a lot of comic artists (Becky Cloonan, Adam Warren, Francis Manapul, etc.) but also manga artists like Eichiro Oda are a life-long inspiration of mine; [Oda’s] attention to detail and sheer endurance is astonishing. I admire Juni Ito’s style too but I am too squeamish about his explicit body horror and can’t read as much of him as I’d like to. Many Russian comic artists have such a beautiful and instantly recognizable comic style, like Phobs and KaySD and I admire them so much and have followed them for years already. AfternoonTM, BrainCurry and CreatureXIII are also top on my list of fantastic artists that keep inspiring me and push me to be better.

Who is your favorite character to draw and why?

Confident women and emotional men of any kind; if they have a beard it’s a big plus too lol I probably drew Will Graham (from Hannibal) the most so far, but I have good faith that Nicky and Joe (from The Old Guard) will catch up quickly with him.

 

 

What do you love about The Old Guard, and what inspired you to start drawing fanart for it?

I just really love the characterization of the whole team. It’s been so long since I’ve seen such well executed and choreographed fights, since I’ve seen such unabashed emotions and vulnerability and seen so much open, comfortable and tactile love (both the familial and the romantic kind). The whole immortality thing is of course also a huge point of inspiration and how long they’ve been around already. It is a lot of fun to think about the various times they lived through and will still see in the future.

Generally, the more I think about it the more I realize The Old Guard aligns a lot with Inception in the way that it gives you so many settings to explore with the same characters and it all still somehow makes sense because it is technically possible. It’s just a lot of fun and very inspiring.

What’s your favorite scene from The Old Guard?

The airplane fight scene between Andy and Nile, the whole abduction of Nicky and Joe (from the confession, to the head bump to the sweet chit chat while they’re strapped to the beds) and the final scene between Andy and Booker (which was utterly heart breaking).

 

 

What has been the best part of your fandom experience so far?

How enthusiastic and passionate people are. The internet is full of misery and anger and non-communication. But fandom, at its core, is a really great thing that fuels the muses of so many of us because of this positive feedback loop it can create. We need more of that. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of finding something that you’ve been hoping to find in a new fandom or creating something other people are so very hype about and it makes their day just better. People can be so very kind and supportive and it truly is a best motivator for us content creators.

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 Love this art as much as we do? Here’s where to find Noah online!

Pillowfort: Noahrtist

Twitter: SketchyArkhive

Etsy Shop: SketchyArkhive

Tumblr: SketchyArkhive