Fetus Squid: Inking in A Crypto-Space
We take a moment to talk with “a growing oriental artist”.
Hi, Fetus Squid. Thank you for giving your time for this interview.
I don’t think that it’s not an exaggeration to say that your nametag as an artist is memorable. Would you care to tell us your real name and the reasoning behind “Fetus Squid”?
Oh, my real name is Leesalle Kei Lingaya. As for my artist name, Fetus Squid, I actually just made it just recently, 2–3 years ago since I have chosen several names before.
The “fetus” could mean growing or beginning, and I choose it over “baby” since it kinda sounds disgusting and to stand out as well.
The “Squid” is ironically referencing to japanese art mainly, The Dream of Fisherman’s Wife made by Katsushika Hokusai, since I mostly paint oriental female characters, and oftentimes barely naked and I just love painting drapery. But of course it’s an octopus not a squid in Hokusai’s painting, I just felt squid is pretty catchy since it’s a 1 syllable word.
So Fetus Squid would mean “a growing oriental artist”.
Since you create digital art cards and write a deep lore of upcoming books, what is your background? Do you always take part in literature and art space?
My background, well… I have a bachelor in Fine Arts. But I don’t always take part in literature and art space as I focused more on digital art than traditional media. But I do have several digital galleries.
By looking at your creations (Immortal Flame Series) now, it may be safe to say that the project is a lengthy one. Others might call it ambitious, but what is your ambition regarding this project? Where do you picture it goes to?
Yeah, it’s a pretty big one. It’s been in development for more than 10 years and it started way back in my high school.
As ambitious as I can get, I want it to be like Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. But my sight is pretty small at this moment, I just want to focus on creating this series that people enjoy and would follow.
It seems that the lore of the Immortal Flame Series is going to be full of depths which require more detailed information regarding its characters, worlds, beings, etc. Do you plan to release it to your fans or do you plan to create something like a wiki?
Yeah and pretty much will make a wiki, as it also helps me as well to avoid loopholes as the series progresses. I actually made a wiki of it before, like 10–9 years ago but I abandoned it and a lot of the contents has changed, or rather unchanged on the wiki. But if you google of some characters that I had made and minted, it would show up.
From what I observe you seem to be a fantasy aficionado, is that right? Where do you get your inspiration from? Who was the artist to influence you?
I would say I am, but I am more unto folklores and mythologies. Likewise, modern media like anime, video games, television and film, inspires me to create.
As for the artist, maybe Yoshitaka Amano which some people could actually figure out due to my artstyle is very influenced by him. But I can’t say one specific person as there are a lot of them, from my art teachers to the digital artists that I follow.
What’s your favorite fantasy books, movies, arts, or stories?
For fantasy books, some old chinese books like Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, and I know people would say its Historical, but if you read it, it’s fantasy. For more modern ones, some works of Stephen King and Anne Rice, also H.P. Lovecraft and J.R.R.Tolkien.
For movies, maybe most films that are based on greek mythology like Troy and Clash of the Titans. Also Lord of the Rings, Pan’s Labyrinth and film renditions of chinese fantasy books and folk tales as well.
For art, most works of the great artists like Picasso, Bernini, Hokusai and others. But in digital, I follow artgerm and wlop.
For the stories, Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and Yotsuya Kaidan.
Of all the pieces that you have made or still ongoing projects, is there one piece that is your favorite?
Every artwork I made is my favorite. But the one I can call my personal masterpiece so far, is without a doubt the Crimson Wing.
The picture shows Wilhelmina filled with rage as she saw her archnemesis, Velvet Silentstorm. I was able to fully capture the dynamics of Wilhelmina’s clothing and at the same time the moment she stopped and ready her swords. Her expression and body movement is pretty spot on as well.
I am really excited for your “Arcane” collections. It’s filled with symbols and almost runic to me. Would you care to share the creative process of creating these pieces?
Arcanes was heavily influenced by Full-Metal alchemist’s alchemy circles. But the symbol of elements was derived from different calligraphy and symbols from different cultures in the real world to imitate the origin of the symbol.
In the lore, element symbols guide the unformed power that is ever present in nature. And creating an arcane is like mathematics, like 2 fires and 1 water would create steam. While the other, 2 water and 1 fire would create a hot water.
Arcane has one rule in the series, that it needs to be a perfect circle, and a circle within, encasing several elements, are called layers which multiply the intensity. Anything it contains is an art that represents the spell as much as possible. For example, Arcane of Light: Starlight, represents stars or constellations.
Have you always been an artist in Crypto-space since the beginning?What’s the difference between a conventional digital artist and a Crypto-space artist? What are the benefits and the disadvantages?
No.
The difference of conventional from crypto-space would rather translate to: conventional artists can deal in one or more niche, and crypto-space is just one niche.
The benefits, based on my end, is that I can publish artworks without the worry of someone stealing it. Digital art stealing is my number 1 problem, some would erase my small signature I put on my artworks, which was the reason I decided to put a watermark instead. Also, I’m used to making artworks in one or two niches, mainly the Touhou Project. And most of all, the security of making original art, since the creator can be traced from the artwork via history.
The disadvantage, as I said, is crypto-space in one niche, and it’s a closed community which is only for those that are already into cryptocurrency. So if an artist wants to gather fame or popularity outside crypto-space, it would be a hard task. As someone outside cannot fully support the artist unless they also join crypto-space, which is not easy as it is a foreign concept to most people.
But I am speaking too soon, as some people say, crypto is the future.
How’s the development of your writing? Do we get to know the release date? or perhaps a tease to the next character from “The Books of Dragons”?
The development is slow. There are three books that I had the draft finished, the Book of Dragons, the Constellation, and the Immortal Flame which all of them were handwritten years ago.
With the Arcanes just recently made into a hard magic system to fit into a game, which I was planning before, there will be a ton of rewrites. I’ll publish the Book of Dragons with a visual in February or March, maybe 1–5 chapters per month depending on how it fits on my schedule.
Right now, I want to finish first the Vanguard of Wisdom collection not later this month, with 3 more Vanguards. 1 of which is the first Vanguard that appeared in the First Pantheon War. And a special character to follow the collection.
After that, I’m gonna spread out to more collections, mainly the Six Elemental Gods and other deities, heroes of the Fourth Era, and the monsters, and sceneries to further expand the visual.
What do you think makes an art something valuable (collectible)? What do you think that people seek on these images and illustrations?
That is tough to answer, Art is subjective to the viewer’s eye.
But as a collectible, Age, Rarity, and Demand plays the definitive role.
What are the challenges of creating a lore, a story, and the art at the same time? Do you do it alone or in a team? Do you find it too hard to do?
I do it alone, and it’s very hard. I’m not a good writer myself so I ask someone to proofread my stories, but often times grammarly helps. And creating an illustration takes time, usually 3–5 days.
Do you draw or create art every day?
Drawing, No. Creating Art, yes. Creating Art is a very defined process to me, and it always starts by gathering inspiration, may it be by playing video games, watching movies, reading books or going outside, but currently I skip the latter.
In your free time, what do you like to do outside planning for the next digital art card? What’s the daily life of a Fetus Squid?
Yeah, I play video games, watch movies, or youtube etc. I also tend fishes and do usual household chores and sometimes relax myself, aka. going drunk. I also always bring a paper and pencil whenever I go outside and do some random sketches while I don’t have anything to do.
During the emergence of NFT marketplaces, do you think that it will be the next big thing for artists or is it going to be something that will eventually pass?
Without a doubt, this will become big. Same as me, a lot of artists suffer in digital art stealing, and NFT markets solved it. It is also a safe place to publish original art that often current digital galleries cannot provide.
How do you get into Paras?
I got a message from Riqi to join, at first I was doubting but then I recalled the cryptokitties that blew the internet. So I researched it more, and then I decided to join.
Do you have anything to add for your fans who enjoy your collections or suggestions for an NFT marketplace like Paras?
For the fans of Immortal Flame, Thank you for supporting me. I hope you enjoy, and there’s more to come from the series, so stay tuned.
I think that’s all from me. Do you have any final message?
I think no more. So thank you for this wonderful interview
Well, it has been such a blast with you. Thank you so much for your time. We hope the best for you and your projects. Have a good day. Cheers!
Thank you very much!
If you want to know more about Fetus Squid, you can find her here:
Twitter: @FetusSquid
Paras: Fetus squid
