Welcome avid readers to the Forge Hub community Spotlight. Here we highlight some of the shiny stars, as well as underlooked talents, using anything from inquisitive interviews, to map highlights and anything else that we feel has gone without enough notice. This week on the Community Spotlight we have HellsRequiemAMX and Icecikle, two talented members of the Graphics and Arts community who run a great C&C thread. See what they have to say about their Forge Hub arts experience.
Who are you and what do you do here at Forge Hub?
H: Well, I am whatever my username says... I am 15 years old, been working with graphics for about 4 1/2 years. I arrived at forge hub just about last summer in search of some maps for Halo, then I found the graphics section here and I stayed around for a while, I left for a good 5 months and came back just around this February/March. All I do here at FH is hang around the graphics section, Ice and I have a CnC thread, we get plenty of people posting, hopefully our CnC is helping out, anyways, that's basically what i do here.
I: I guess you could call me one of the few frequent females here on the site. I'm also one of the few people I've meet here that lives in MS and listens to country. I guess I'm your almost average 15 year old girl, I go hang with friends, I have my tragedies, and I sometimes over react to things(people in the GnA can tell you about that one). Other than that, I just hangout talk to people and make my art here. Nothing much else.
Being Graphics and Arts aficionados, why did you decide to join Forge Hub?
H: I came to Forge Hub in search of new maps and a new community to hang around with, and now I am here chilling at the graphics and arts section.
I: Well I joined way back in July 08, but I left soon after and just made my return this Jan-Feb. I came for the maps, and stayed for the GnA.
What are your favorite things about the community here?
H: I don't really go outside of the graphics section so I couldn't say much about the full community but in the graphics area the members are quite nice most the time, then there's the occasional conflict, a lot of people get over it, I am not mentioning any names lol. The best part of the community is definitely that most people are friendly, and the members in the GnA section are quite open to learning new effects and such.
I: Mostly the people I meet. Like Hells, who I can honestly say is the complete opposite of me in almost everything, and Youtuber and many others. The people and the fun moments are the reason I'm still here, cause if this was just a forge site, like strictly that, I would have left a long time ago.
How do you feel about the Graphics and Arts section at Forge Hub?
H: Like I said, the graphics section has it's small conflicts ever once in a while but most the time it's an amazing place to just hang around, lots of friendly designers there, especially members looking to learn new concepts and effects. I think that the GnA section is quite stable, smooth running most the time, occasional problems, plenty of questions are asked which is good, I love answering them, unless it's about full signature tutorials then I won't answer. I like how most people are trying new things often in the section.
I: Well, its the reason I'm still here. Its useful most of the time, and entertaining all of the time. Its one of the more laid back sections of the forums which I love, because if it wasn't I would have so many infractions it wouldn't even be funny. Although there's a small section of people that frequent the section there's no limit to the noobs that come in at random times that always seem to think that what they made is the best thing in the world, which offers some of the best entertainment.
What members do you look up to here at forge hub?
H: I've been inspired by a few members in the past, 2 of those members are Zerosun and LockDown, both had quite amazing work from when I was more active around the forums. In general most of my inspiration came from a website called Divine Design GFX, quite talented artists there.
I: I would really love to answer this seriously, but I don't really look up to anyone as far as I'm concerned. Its just not my Nature, however in the past it would have been a few of the better members, like Hells(He was better than me at the time), Lock, and Diz, and now that I think of him, Zero.
What other members of the G&A section do you respect for their work?
H: I respect every member for their work, it might not look like people put in the same amount of effort in each piece but in reality everyone puts equal effort, it just takes time to get that perfect style and consistency going, honestly everyone's work should be respected.
I: I respect everyone's work, although some people are better than others, all the people took the time to make it (some more than others) and even if its not the prettiest thing in the world, the least I can give is a little advice.
Where did your artistic backgrounds come from?
H: My artistic background is from drawing, I always used to draw, I have applied to an art school, no luck there, my marks didn't make the cut. I've developed to knack to make a lot of more paintings than I used to, most of them are oil and canvas, sometimes I use acrylic but I find oil a lot easier to use.
I: Well, I always liked to draw and stuff. I took three years of art class in jr. high and took a type of art this year. I guess I really just always liked it.
What emotional response do you get from creating sigs?
H: Most of my signatures are based off of the music I listen to and the mood I am in when I am creating something, most the time the better signatures I make come up when I am in a relaxed mood, so SOTW entries are more competitive for me and thus making me not as relaxed as I would be if I were just creating a signature for no point.
I: Accomplishment, it just makes me feel like I did something worthwhile with my time. Well, at least better than sitting around doing nothing.
What are your favorite techniques to employ?
H: I don't really have favorite techniques but I prefer to use default tools on my signatures, I might go back to using C4D's but I don't know if I want to just yet, most people can expect a few C4D sigs in the future.
I: Hard question....well, I would guess the gradient map technique for color and smudge? Its really not the single technique that makes a sig, its the group of effects you use.
How do you feel about the graphics and arts contests Forge Hub holds, what else would you like to see?
H: I would like to see more organized battles, I see some members having battles every once in a while, but I want more people to start picking more battles, that would be quite interesting. For the SOTW, maybe a better prize, something like a small cash prize or an arcade game or something like that, if it's possible. Maybe have SOTW with more twists like selected members only, and every few weeks throw in a nice chunky prize, I wouldn't mind seeing some people going crazy over a small cash prize like I said before.
I: Well, I would certainly like to see more. Maybe something to encourage your best, but really we have a bi-weekly contest and a yearly contest and that is it. Well, that's official there's a few more that have been hosted. But a collab battle would be nice, and better prizes than bragging rights would be nice to. A custom title, or something would do fine.
Any final thoughts you would like to get out there?
H: Not much else to say, just thanks for the opportunity of community spotlight.
I: Um....Just that I would prefer not to get 50 fr's and vms about me being a girl. k?
Make sure to keep an eye out for the next Community spotlight. If you feel you know someone who deserves a spotlight, send a private message with three reasons as to why (evidence provided) to either chrstphrbrnnn or Transactionzero. Also, check out some more of the great works from Ice and Hells below.