This Weeks Featured Artist - Mpn5379
This weeks featured artist is one of the newer members of our community, but someone who we have really been impressed with. We love all the work he has done on his Friday Night DoInking clips. He has a great style and a really great way of interacting and inspiring the DoInk community. This weeks featured artist is Mpn5379, http://www.doink.com/users/profile/mpn5379. 
Tell us about yourself, what is a typical day like?
Well on a typical day, I usually wake up in the morning around 8 or so, eat some breakfast, and immediately turn on my computer to check on my e-mail, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, deviantART, and DoInk to see if anything new has happened. At around 12, I would take a break and eat some lunch and get back on the computer until I eat dinner, then get back until I sleep around 10-11. On a day when I’m barely on the computer is when I’m at school or somewhere outside my house… and yes, I know I need to get out more :(
How old were you when you started drawing? Ever animated anything before?
When I was about 8 or 9, I used to draw ALOT of Captain Underpants drawings. Yes you heard me: CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS. I was addicted to the books back then that I was inspired to try to recreate the art from the books. Sadly, they turned out pretty horrible XD. Then when I was 10 or 11, I started to get interested in drawing Nintendo characters. I used to draw LOTS of Mario drawings and tried to make up my own stories with the characters. I even made some short comics too, but I never knew what happened to them D:. My classmates in my 5th and 6th grade classes also used to praise me for making so many “awesome” drawings of Mario lol XD. This helped me inspire to improve on my drawing skills and gave me the courage to draw new things that was pretty challenging to draw back then.
As for animating… I’ve animated some stuff here and there, but I was never really good at it. I’ve tried to make stick figure animations from a program called Pivot, but they’ve all turned out like crap, haha XD. I even tried to make my own little “series” on YouTube back in late 2006 - early 2007 about the adventures of Mario and Link by using sprites and trying to animate each frame by using Microsoft Paint and Windows Movie Maker. Unfortunately, I got a virus that completely wiped out my whole computer T_T. But oh well, it was supposed to be my very first video on YouTube, but it turned it out… yeah, you know I’m about to say :P. So yeah, I really need to work on my animating skills, but I’m sure I’ll be a pro at it one day :).
Do you have a favorite artist or animator?
My favorite artist is Yoshitaka Amano. You know… the man that draws the character design, image illustrations, and title logo for the Final Fantasy series :D. His art is so full of mystery and complexity that it makes you want to draw something pretty strange in an interesting way.
As for my favorite animator, it would be Pendleton Ward, the creator of the Cartoon Network show “Adventure Time”, and Jhonen Vasquez, the creator of the Nickelodeon show “Invader Zim”. Pen has a cute and unusual art style that makes each character unique in their own way, while Jhonen has this dark post-apocalyptic art style with a mix of dark humor, which makes him quite a unique and creative animator. I still can’t believe that Nickelodeon cancelled Invader Zim >:(.
What inspires you?
I get usually inspired by video games, art from deviantART and DoInk, and some funny memes that came from 4Chan. And now you know where I got my messed up funny type of art :X.
Do you have a favorite cartoon and/or anime character?
My favorite cartoon would have to be… ADVENTURE TIIIIIME! *fist pump* :D lol. I’m not really into anime that much (gasp!), but I really love the art work and how they all look.
What is your favorite musician or band, what are you listening to?
I’m one of those few people in this world who prefers to listen to video game music instead of all that terrible mainstream teeny pop wannabe rap music that’s been playing on the radio these days :O. My favorite composer is Nobuo Uematsu, the man that composed the music for the Final Fantasy series.
What are your Favorite websites, outside of DoInk?
Besides DoInk, my favorite websites are YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, deviantART, and Grooveshark. I’ve recently joined tumblr not too long ago, and it’s actually quite fun to blog about your day :D.
What are your hobbies?
My hobbies are playing video games, drawing, doodling, sketching, making videos for YouTube, internet surfing, hanging out with my friends, and procrastinating through life! I’m quite good at procrastinating, and that’s a really bad thing D:
What are your favorite Computer Game?
My favorite computer game would have to be ROBLOX. If you guys don’t know what it is, it’s a free online virtual game where you can build anything you want and play other games that other people have built. The game may be pretty kiddish, but it’s really addicting. But I REALLY hate most of the people there, since the community is mostly made of whiny kids and online daters. Yes, you heard me. ONLINE. DATERS. IN A KIDS GAME! :O.
Well before I first played ROBLOX back in October 2007, I used to play MapleStory (I’m sure some of you already know that game). I first played that game back when it was first released in May 2005, and I was HOOKED on the game. I later got bored of the game and finally quit around late 2008 - early 2009. It was hard to quit, but I had to make the choice. I may go back into playing MapleStory one day, but I doubt that I will be addicted to the game again :(.
How did you find DoInk and what is your experience so far?
This is a pretty hard question because I haven’t got the slightest idea how I discovered this website. It just happened, I guessed XD…… Alright, alright, I’ll try to remember how I found this site :X. Hmmm… well I was just looking around YouTube looking for random videos because I was really bored. Then I stumbled across a video that was uploaded there from DoInk. I forgot what the video was, but I later checked out the website and saw all the cool things that you could do. Then I guess I signed up for an account and here I am! Man, a lot of things sure do change for me over a period of 4 weeks. :O.
Right now, I’m still loving DoInk the same way I did ever since I first joined. The community and the people in the website are so nice and helpful when it comes to a problem ^-^.
If you could add any features to DoInk, what would they be?
Any features? Hmmm… I don’t really have any suggestions because I like the way it is right now :).
Any advice for other DoInk users?
NEVER give up on anything. If you’re stuck on something or experiencing a problem, try to find a way around it and you’ll be just fine. If you think you your not good at drawing or animating something, keep practicing on it. Just like what most wise people say: Practice is the key to success. And if you feel like you’re comfortable with the way you draw right now, try challenging yourself to greater heights, and you may come out successful. :)
Your favorite clip that you have done?
The World is my Artbook by mpn5379, made at DoInk.com
