Artist says goodbye to digital art

To be honest, when I first began my artistic journey, I was scared of traditional media. As a kid, I'd grown up using pencils and paper, but the thought of adding colour with ink or paint terrified me. What if I made a mistake? Unlike my go-to Photoshop App, there's no Undo button!

Strangely enough, the cure to my fears was to learn how to tattoo. I spent over a decade tattooing on a part-time basis. I then realised once you've tattooed another human, or in my case hundreds, making mistakes on paper becomes a trivial concern. 

While I have no plans to give up digital art, I'm pleased to be able to add traditional media options to my artistic skill set.

Art sold, and new art for sale

I first began taking private art commissions over 20 years ago. The most common request was to draw people's family members or pets in anime style. After a while, it felt like I strayed away from working on the kinds of images that made me want to pursue art in the first place. I then began putting out artwork I had a genuine interest in. Anime, game, tattoo or comic book related. Be it original character creations or fan art.

It worked! Everything I've put out as art prints has gone on to sell at least once. And hundreds of times in some cases.

Admittedly, some of my art didn't hit the mark. To this day, there's certain artworks I've created which I love, yet they don't get the appreciation that other pieces in my store do. As an artist it can be hard to know what will resonate with your audience. But I still believe that, working on what I want seems to be the best way to ensure my enthusiasm and achieving the best results I can.

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It paid off recently when a buyer here in the UK bought the marker-coloured artwork above. Many thanks. She's Akio - a skilled female space pilot, who had dedicated her life to protecting humanity from any threats that might endanger it. Her final mission was to take on an invading alien race, which had been slowly but surely making its way towards Earth, leaving destruction in its wake. 

It seemed wise to add several other new pieces to my online store. These included:

Nyx

Once a child from the darkest depths of a sprawling, dystopian city, she was moulded into a lethal weapon by a shadowy organization that exploited orphans. Now a rogue operative, she navigates the underbelly of a corrupt, high-tech world, using her skills to dismantle the power structures that created her, leaving a legacy written in blood and shadows…

I wanted to go full-colour with this one. Neon pink light and neon green accents give it vibrance.  An anime character who's fun, confident and a little devious, stood against the death and destruction of her past.

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Skull Astronaut

In the vast expanse of space, an astronaut’s final journey met an untimely end, the body drifting endlessly among the stars…

This one is more stark and monochrome, although the skull has a warm grey tint. I went on the make a more affordable art print version which has a more ominous red tint. I'd polled around 50 people which version they liked better and the results were split down the middle between this version and the red visor alternative. Although I will only ever be selling this monochrome version as a one-off original.

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Blood Fingers

In the depths of a dystopian future, where humanity teeters on the edge of extinction, there exists the myth of the Cyborg Reaper…

Monochrome, but with a hint of red. An girl with a dark past. Why robotic hands? Why the blood? I like these suggested narrative hints of her past.

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Neon Orange Hikari

In the sprawling neon-lit underbelly of the cyberpunk metropolis, Hikari carves out her existence as a skilled mechanic and scavenger. Clad in armour that melds practicality with rugged style, she bears the weight of survival on her shoulders. Literally! Her neon orange-red eyes, burn with intensity hinting at her deep-seated resilience and fierce determination...

Warm and cool grey used on the character with a neon orange backdrop accent. While I love full-colour, vibrant art, I feel keeping the pallet super limited i.e. black white and grey + 1 accent colour looks awesome. It's also for sale, but would love to hang on to this one and will be sad to see it go. 

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Where to buy?

These new pieces all aim to blend subtle storytelling with vibrant or high contrasting tones, each piece reflecting a unique narrative or emotion. Crafted for fellow anime, game and sci-fi fans, using high-quality ink and materials to ensure vibrant, lasting colour.

If you would like to own one, they can be purchased directly via this website's store while available. All artwork is sent securely and insured with trackable shipping. The art is/will be signed in the bottom corner.

I always think, owning original artwork isn't just about decorating your space; it's about connecting with the artist's vision and bringing a piece of their creativity into your own life. Having met hundreds of other artists from various walks of life, I appreciate not everyone will resonate with my style or aesthetic taste. Although I also know there will be a small selection of people who view my art and will say, "that's awesome!" - this artwork is created for them.

Your support means the world to me and helps fuel my creative journey.

Here's a cropped and grouped collection of some of my digital art. Some bits dating back to as early as 2001 and others I'd done over recent years. Kind of interesting to see the different styles I've played with over the decades and crazy to think how long I've been doing the whole art thing for. It seems pretty common for artists to look at their older artwork with shame and embarrassment, but while I might notice a few flaws and things I'd do little different now, to be honest, I still kinda like a lot of it. 

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When to update an online gallery?

Sometimes I'll create a sketch or two, other times more finished artworks, but most of the time I don't add these to my main gallery.

I'm trying to reserve the gallery for my top 30 or so works. It's never easy to know exactly which art to include in my portfolio. How can one judge when a work's quality or relevance trumps another? I've attempted to curate my portfolio as best I can based on personal feelings, but it might be an idea to get an outsider opinion on these things also?

For now I use this Blog to update with other bits and pieces I'm working on. Even on the blog, it can be tricky to know if something is worth posting. I draw little doodles and crappy sketches often, but don't necessarily want to post every little thing I do. Plus I don't want to feel I'm contributing the internet's archive of never-ending, pointless content!

For some reason I think about this a lot! There's so much stuff on the web, so what is actually worth posting online?

To build an audience I'm supposed to post regularly, non-stop

For many companies, organisations and individual artists the idea is to post often to help build an audience. As with brand recognition, you post regularly; supplying a stream of content in order to become a fixture in the the lives of your online followers. It takes time for people get to know what you're about. But, eventually, you build some kind of online relationship, gain a following, receive kudos and potentially generate income.

For independent creators it can be difficult to post regularly by creating enough finished content worth sharing. Attempting to facilitate this necessity can become stressful.

So on the one hand I feel like I should throw up some rough sketches or incomplete drawings, since posting something is considered better than nothing. On the other hand, I don't want to litter the web or my sites with valueless (in my opinion) posts just for the sake of posting. Plus, to be honest, I don't like the pressure of feeling like I have to keep posting updates online.

I wish blogs didn't go out of fashion!

I'd be happy to post more on my site's blog (here) since I have a chance to go into as little or as much detail about what I'm doing or thinking as possible. However 99% of my audiences are mostly on social media - primarily Instagram. Despite having tens of thousands of followers, Instagram's format isn't really suitable for more than a square image post and a line or two of description. I don't like it.

One thing I do know is, unless this blog was to get more attention, it's hard to justify spending too much time posting here as often as I'd otherwise like. Therefore, for now, I don't.

Crying Robot Tears

While I don't intend on Blogging every other day, and while I have decided I don't want to post absolutely every sketch or mark I leave on a sheet of paper, I did want to share this a piece I'd been wanting to rework for a few years:

The Photoshop screen shot above shows the original concept on the left, and the update on the right. I had this idea to create a narrative scene showing the sad robot guy cradling his dead owner/lover/?, while facing a gun to his head. What lead to this event I wonder? What will happen next?

One for the Blog

It's a little sketchy and unrefined but I think I'll leave it as it is for now. Not all ideas or art needs to be polished to perfection. For those works, they can live here in this blog.

This one was a commission of hip-hop mascot 'Dirteee'. Although pretty basic, I had an original reference design to work from, and the brief was basically to draw it in my own style. I like to mix my style up a lot- drawing semi-realistic comic characters one week, tattoo art the next, then going back to my manga roots after that. And even within the manga sub-genre, I vary styles from time to time :)

As always, starting with a sketch and then moving on to colours once the client approves the design:

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[caption id="attachment_3351" align="aligncenter" width="704"] Final Result[/caption]

If you'd be interested in commissioning me to create artwork of your character, a portrait, mascot etc, leave a message or contact me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

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Here's some progress shots of my recent frog girl illustration. I originally shared these on my Instagram account. At first this was just going to be a grey + one neon colour marker-only piece, but decided to give it the full digital colour treatment also :) Any preference on which version you prefer?

If you'd like to own it, I've added exclusive signed prints of the digital version to the site's Shop.

For future reference, here's my ad for local art tuition in Kent:

One to One Tuition using Adobe Photoshop to create and colour character artwork by experienced anime and manga style artist and author Ben Krefta.

Ideal for art university students, anyone interested in digital art, video game art, manga, comics and traditional media illustrators. Students are expected to have a minimum basic understanding of computers and Photoshop. Students will also need to have their own computer or laptop with software and a graphic tablet. To practice techniques in their own time.

Location: At his private art studio in the centre of Chatham, Kent (or can travel to student at an additional pence per mile rate).

Cost: Lessons are £60 per 3 hour session. There are 3 sessions to complete the 9 hours worth of demonstrations. Students are expected to take notes during these demos.

For further information, please contact Ben Krefta. You can Google him, to see further examples of his artwork, or visit benkrefta.com

Here's a little walk-through of me discussing the artwork currently on my website, as of 2015/2016. I'll no doubt update the gallery with newer pieces over the years and take down older artworks. It'll be interesting to see which pieces stay and which get removed over time.

Some Creepy Monster Designs:

Some Random Sketch Requests:

Some more Random Sketch Requests:

Commission for Tegan

This was made as a gift for a Dad's daughter, Tegan. She's a fan of Japan, Dragon Ball Z and Card Captor Sakura, so it was cool to get a few references in there with her portrait.

I think this must be one of the few times I draw a seated pose, and I like the colours with this one. Looking back, my only regret is that the shoes should be closed-toe, but like with every picture, you do what you think is right at the time.

Commission for Jessica

This commission was drawn for a friend of Jessica. She needed to look like she meant business and went with a foreshortened perspective with this. I don't know what the dinosaur bone is about? I'm sure it has some significance.

I'm not a caricaturist by trade so adapting the art I do to look like someone specific but with a manga vibe is always a challenge. Is it possible to convert real people's features into a simplified and stylized manga form (such as Pokemon, Dragonball) while managing to retain a likeness?

Birthday cake

This anime style portrait illustration was created for a a young family's twin daughter's Birthday. Made with the intention of being printed on a birthday cake. I wonder how it looked in the end? Or how it tasted?

Character example for an upcoming book project I'm working on.

What is Gothic Lolita?

Gothic Lolita is a unique fashion subculture that emerged in Japan, characterized by a blend of Victorian and Rococo-inspired clothing with a dark, gothic aesthetic. This style is part of the larger Lolita fashion movement, which emphasizes modesty, femininity, and elegance. Gothic Lolita, however, incorporates darker elements such as black or deep-coloured dresses, elaborate lace, and accessories, often accompanied by Gothic makeup and hairstyles.

The fashion originated in the late 20th century in Japan and was heavily influenced by the visual kei music scene, where musicians embraced flamboyant and theatrical fashion. Designers like Mana, a guitarist known for his involvement in the band Malice Mizer, played a significant role in popularizing Gothic Lolita through his fashion brand Moi-même-Moitié.

Gothic Lolita is adored for its intricate and doll-like aesthetics, creating a fantasy world that allows individuals to express their creativity and rebellion against mainstream fashion norms. The emphasis on modesty and elegance, combined with the dark and mysterious undertones, gives wearers a sense of empowerment and escapism. The fashion has transcended its Japanese origins and gained international popularity, with enthusiasts appreciating its artistic and avant-garde nature, as well as the sense of community it fosters through events, social media, and dedicated fashion subcultures around the world.