Friday, August 2, 2019

SDCC - Alli 'Skirtzzz' White Interview


Photo Content from Alli White

Alli White is an independent business owner and freelance artist whose usual work consists of character/costume design commissions and various personal projects. She's done character work for indie video games, educational apps, and web comics. With that, she's designed a number of original costumes; which were in turn made into beautiful cosplays by people from all around the world! Alli has worked for the likes of Nickelodeon, Game Grumps, and a myriad of wonderful entertainers; from streamers to voice actors!

Alli also attends many Northwest conventions to sell prints, handmade art books, and other various merchandise.

        



THE JOURNEY - CONTENT FROM DEVIANTART
It all started in 2005. I was a hopeless, loser weeb who only had a passion for art and drew 24/7. Every day after a grueling and emotionally deflating school day, I would come home and hop on my PC. One day, an oasis came along in one of my searches for art online. Deviant Art. It was a lush site featuring a myriad of artists and styles. It was endless. I immediately made an account and began plumping up my very own gallery- no limits whatsoever. And so it began. It was there for me each and every single day. I would log on constantly and keep it updated during the hell that was art school, failing my classes and struggling to impress my professors, but flourishing on the online art community. When I ended up in the hospital after having a relentless bout of suicidal thoughts, I'd find solace and a sense of normalcy logging onto Deviant Art, talking with others and sharing what little art I could still produce at the time. I spent 10 years recovering back in Idaho, and still- Deviant Art was there. I quit my day job and took on commissions full time in 2012. ALL from my account there. I could sustain myself all because this site.

Fast forward to 2019, I get an e-mail from somebody from Deviant Art. He says he wants me to be a part of something really big they had planned for San Diego Comic Con. It was surreal to hear from them at all- and I immediately responded saying I was interested to hear more. What I never expected was having the most validating, life changing, emotionally fulfilling, joy filled week of my entire existence. And that's exactly what it was.

Out of the overwhelmingly impressive cornucopia of skill they had to choose from, they wanted me there for this event. I still haven't processed it, to be honest. From the second I hopped into the carpool I knew I was getting myself into something great. My wranglers, lovingly dubbed 'The Super Matt Bros', whisked me away to San Diego with a handful of other artists from the site and it was officially on. Press interviews, filming, and the Comic Creator Connection- a barrage of craziness ensued! It's all a bit of a blur, pure adrenaline- but what a wild ride! I'm humbled, beyond comprehension.

The best part though? The friends I made. The Matt Bros posses legendary clairvoyance. There is no possible way this group could have had BETTER synergy. We all immediately bonded, and from bonding- we dove straight into a tribe. The love between us all was stronger than sheets of graphene. I've never felt closer to a group of people in my entire life, and it all happened over the course of just a few days. I know without a doubt I have a new family, and we are unstoppable. 2005 Alli would never be able to conceptualize what making an account that very particular day would eventually birth- and I can say, without a doubt, that every second I invested into that site was a quiet dirt devil, picking up speed and growing with fervor. My career is a culmination of those tireless days; the entirety of my young adult life. I wouldn't be the artist I am today without Deviant Art. And now, I wouldn't be the person I am right now, coming out of this incredible experience. These people changed me. They make me better. I left yesterday full of love and fiercely inspired.

Deviant Art was once this obscured monolith to me. Upon meeting The Super Matt Bros (MattInRealLifeand ggMattB), Justin Maller (ekud), DA staff, and the film crew- that site is now a humanized paragon of unparalleled integrity. These people have built something nobody else could. This page was bore from the souls of a team who love art and the people who create it. Nobody wants to support YOU more than Deviant Art. I've never spoken to people with so much passion and concern for what they do and who they impact. They want to hear from their users; to improve and continue to grow. They work tirelessly- and to pick the very artists brain's who have used their platform for years says a lot. I was already a pretty devout user, although losing a lot of my engagement over the years, but now I'm a born again lifer. I'll sing their praises until the day I die.

If you feel like leaving, stay. Let them know what you need. Give them some time- it's a criminally small team behind all this.

Trust me. Amazing things are on the horizon.


Alli 'Skirtzzz' White with JBN Journalist, Joseph Flores during Comic Con.

THE JBN TEAM INTERVIEW WITH ALLI "SKIRTZZZ" WHITE
JOURNALIST: JOSEPH FLORES
LOCATION: SAN DIEGO, CA
CONVENTION DATE: COMIC CON JULY 17TH - 21ST
INTERVIEW: JULY 19, 2019



Video/Audio/Edit: James Vallesteros (@jamesvallesteros)
ABOUT DEVIANTART
Bleed and Breed Art ™

We are where art starts, but that's only the beginning. We are the movement for the liberation of creative expression. We believe that art is for everyone, and we're creating the cultural context for how it is created, discovered, and shared.

Founded in August 2000, DeviantArt is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts, and a platform for emerging and established artists to exhibit, promote, and share their works with an enthusiastic, art-centric community. We have over 44 million registered members and attract over 45 million unique visitors per month. Our members — known as deviants — upload tens of thousands of original pieces of art every day, everything from painting and sculpture to digital art, pixel art, films, and anime.

Artists love us because we are an inclusive and supportive community. We help them find their identity through self-expression. We provide the tools, resources, and exposure to enable them to become better, more successful artists. We inspire people to create art by feeding their creativity. We can't help it — it runs through our veins and compels us to nurture it in others. This is DeviantArt.

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