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PUBG MOBILE x ART street PDP Classic Design Contest: Exclusive Interview with Bearbrickjia

2024-08-16

Hello, inspiring artists and creatives! Today, we are thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with Bearbrickjia, a talented and renowned artist whose captivating work has won fans worldwide. As a key participant in the PUBG MOBILE x ARTstreet PDP Classic Design Contest, Bearbrickjia shares her artistic journey, the inspiration behind her unique style, and the creative challenges she overcame in bringing her character design to life. Join us as we delve into her creative process and discover what makes this contest so meaningful to her as an artist.

Listen to her chat about her creative journey in our full interview.

Introduction:

ーCould you give us a brief introduction to who you are?

Hi, I’m Karmen Loh, also known as Bearbrickjia. I’m a freelance illustrator based in Malaysia. I work mainly on book covers, posters, music covers, advertisements and more.

I’ve worked on book covers for publishers such as HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, H&S Books, and more. I also created key illustrations for Costa China, and recently the Pokemon Card Championship in Asia.

ーCould you tell us how you became an artist?

I have loved drawing since I was a kid; my notebooks and homework were always full of my drawings and scribbles. I was always the “art kid” in school, and my teachers loved asking me to help with any activities that included art and decorations. After graduating from high school, I decided to properly pursue an art career and joined a local art college.

I’m glad that my parents were very supportive. Although I graduated with a major in 3D animation, I actually enjoy drawing more. I constantly post my artwork on social media and am slowly building my portfolio. Luckily, I got a job as a character concept artist at a game company. After working there for a few years, I decided to quit and work as a full-time freelance illustrator.

Example of my character design portfolio:
https://karmenloh.artstation.com/projects/v1g8mA

ーDid you have any major artistic inspirations growing up?

Since I was young, watching cartoons like The Powerpuff Girls inspired me to start drawing. My family found out that I love to draw, and they were very encouraging. They would buy me art supplies like colored pencils, paints,brushes, drawing paper, art tutorial books, all kinds of craft materials, and even send me to art classes.

During elementary school, I loved reading local comics such as Gemeilia and Japanese manga like Doraemon, which inspired me to make my own comics and share them with others. My dream job when I was young was to become a comic artist. During college, I was inspired by many amazing illustrators, and my interest shifted from comics to illustration.

ーWhich other creations of yours are you particularly proud of and what do you love about them?

My personal favorite would be Voyager, an artwork I created for my online course. That artwork was inspired by my urge to travel around the world, and there’s a tiny airplane among the clouds, which symbolizes traveling.

This artwork includes a few things that I love, such as the ocean, clouds, moon, and stars, because it’s my dream to travel under the sea, among the clouds, and out in space. I really enjoy placing elements that I like on my characters to make my artworks look magical.

Designing the outfit:

ーWhat was the most exciting part about being asked to work with PUBG MOBILE for the PDP Classic Theme Design Contest?

I was really excited and honored when PUBG MOBILE and Medibang reached out to me for this collaboration. It’s great to see a big game title like PUBG MOBILE nurturing and supporting artist creativity, and it’s inspiring to look at all the amazing entries from past contests, which makes me even more excited to start creating my own design. I’m glad that the themes for this contest are so diverse and fun.

ーCan you walk us through the concept behind the artwork you created for the PUBG MOBILE PDP Classic Theme Design Contest?

I chose the Ocean theme for my character design because I really love the ocean, and I think there are a few fun ocean elements I can apply to my design. For the overall mood of my design, I want it to be magical and enchanting.

The dress is made from layers of ocean waves, and her hair is inspired by jellyfish. There are pearls under her eyes and a white shell on her chest to decorate the character. I’ve decided not to give her any shoes or footwear to make her look more fairy-like.

ーWhat was the most challenging part about working on this project?

The most challenging part was designing the layers of the ocean wave dress. In my initial sketch, the whole design looked too static, and I wanted it to look more dynamic. So I scrapped it and redrew a new one, and I’m glad it turned out better.

To make the dress look water-like, I decided to make the bottom part semi-translucent to show a bit of her legs. Another challenging part was the hair. I knew I wanted a hairstyle inspired by a jellyfish, but I wasn’t sure if I should keep the frills or just the top part. I tried out some frill designs, but they were too distracting. So in the end, I decided to remove them to keep the design clean and simple.

ーWhat part of the design did you have the most fun making?

After the sketch was done, I think the fun part was rendering the ocean wave dress. It was very calming and therapeutic. I listened to some soft piano and instrumental music while rendering it. I also enjoyed applying the glow to the dress and hair, which enhanced the design and made it look more magical.

Future creations:

ーWhat would be your dream project to work on and why?

I think my dream project would be to design a character for a game, movie, or animated series. I want to see my character come to life and exist in another world. That would be something really fun to work on.

ーHow do you see the Ptopia Design Project supporting your future creations?

The PDP project is a great opportunity for me and other artists with similar dreams to achieve our goals. It allows us to showcase our ideas and have a chance to be featured in the game. It would be amazing to see our creations come to life in the game.

ーWhat features would you love to see introduced to the Ptopia Design Project?

It would be great to see people sharing their initial sketches and ideas for their designs. I think it would be very inspiring to see how these initial concepts transform into the final design.

ーWhat advice would you give to aspiring artists who want to work on projects like your collaboration with PUBG MOBILE?

Keep creating the things you love, and don’t be afraid to share them with everyone. Always be open-minded and treat new challenges as opportunities to improve. I never thought that one day I would collaborate with PUBG MOBILE. I feel honored, and this motivates me to keep working hard. I’m sure that with persistence, there will always be a chance to work on your dream project like this one day.

As we conclude our interview, it’s evident that Bearbrickjia is far more than just a participant; she is a true artist with immense passion and creativity. Her journey has given us a glimpse into what it takes to excel in the world of illustration, and her participation in the PUBG MOBILE x ARTstreet PDP Classic Design Contest showcases her dedication and skills.

Inspired by her story? Now it’s your turn to step into the spotlight! Whether you’re an experienced artist or just starting out, we invite you to join our contest and share your unique character design with the world. Stand a chance to win cash prizes from a prize pool of $60,000 and have your character added to the PUBG MOBILE game.

Sign up through the link below today! Contest ends September 8th, 2024.
https://medibang.com/contest/pubgm-pdpdesign/

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