Dimitrios Interview

                                 

1) Hey Dimitrios, nice to meet you! Thanks for taking the time to do this interview can we start with you giving us a brief introduction into who you are and what you do? What kind of projects do you work on?

Hi, I’m Dimitris through everybody is calling me Dimi. I’m a Greek based illustrator. I mostly do concept design, private and commercial illustrations and a little bit of comics 

                                 

2) From the look of your work, it looks like you do a combination of selling fan art prints as well as doing your own projects, correct?  How do you think doing fan art has helped you out in your career? 

That’s true, since I’ve started I was doing mostly fanart and not just for getting an audience, I trully love to do it. It’s very interesting to give your twist to an established character while building up your skills and educating your mind. Since then, I moved mainly to my own creations, but I can’t argue that fanart got me in touch with a wider audience 

                                      

3) Staying on topic with fan art, have you ever had anyone come down on you for making fan art? I know some companies will actively go after people for trying to sell work that is based off an ip.

No that never happened. And those that I have on my website are leftovers from a long time ago

4) One of my favorite pieces you did was your collaboration with @franplobato for the adventuretime piece. Its not often that I see illustrators collaborate on pieces but it is really cool to see it. Do you think you learn new things to incorporate into your own art by collaborating? Do you think the collaborations rub off on you and make you a better artist?

 Any interaction with another artist rubs off on you if you have an open mind. You always learn. And I try to discuss things with the other artist to get a feel for what and how we’re gonna do a piece. That particular one is one of my favorites and Fran is a great artist open to suggestions and discussion. It felt very natural working with him 

                                               

5) For those that are trying to get traction with building an audience online, what do you recommend? Is it as simple as get really good and post often?

I had that question about a million times. But it’s natural to ask. I’ll share my secret. When I started I was trying to post regularly, produce as much good content as I could. It seems my style and themes I chose was popular. People seem to appreciate my work for which I’m grateful. I never “bought” followers or likes, I never used any kind of bots or services and I never asked anyone to follow me. That being said, being humble, polite and kind takes you a long way. So my secret is: there’s no secret 

6) Do you do conventions and artshows, how important was this for your own success if at all? How does that compare with online, in terms of getting work and selling art?

Yes I do sometimes. But for now, only locally. It’s great for meeting Other artists and the fans. But since greek comic market is extremely small I wouldn’t say they had a huge impact in the amount of work I get. I’m guessing that’s not the same for big international conventions 

                                             

7) Your work is heavily stylized, who are the artists who inspired you? Do you still study other artists today? 

Yes I study the work of many artists and I had and still have many inspirations. Too many actually. Mignola, Miller, Sienkiewicz, Moebius, Otomo, Kojima, Toppi to name a few 

8) Is there any particular exercise or practice you have learned that has helped you out the most in terms of building skill?

Yes. Drawing nonstop things you’re not comfortable drawing. Studying the basics is always helpful for me too. Loomis books for example is something you always have to return to. I’m afraid there’s no shortcut 

                                            

9) For those who are trying to go down the same path as you, what advice do you have to give? What does it take to get the freelance jobs that make being a illustrator a viable career?

Love what you do and do it with a passion. Don’t be afraid to fail. That’s how we all start. And practice, study, practice, study lots and lots. I’m not an expert in the business part, it seems I get jobs without really aiming for it. But have a goal and strategize to get there. That helps 

10) Any shoutouts or last words? What can people expect from you next?

A huge shoutout to the fans. They made, in part,  what I am. And to all the people who showed me their kindness through the years. My next big project is to do my “murder of crows” book, but I can’t give a definite date for that just yet 

You can follow Dimitrios on Instagram or his website.

Interview by Wesley Edwards