Simone Grünewald, also known as Schmoesi is a combined digital and traditional artist from Germany. She loves to tell stories with her sketches in fantasy settings or inspired by her life.
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Simone recently published her tutorial on designing a character based on a real person in the magazine Character Design Quarterly. It is 6 double pages long! Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is an exciting new print magazine for illustrators, artists, animators and character art enthusiasts.
Get in touch with Simone
- Tumblr: https://schmoedraws.tumblr.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schmoedraws
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpKqWIupudRt-5c8DMg0GdA
Key Takeaways
“Being an artist it’s hard. It’s all about hard work, sweat, and tears … It’s all about practice. All it takes is a spark of talent combined with hard work.”
- “Every artist has thousands of bad drawings in them and the only way to get rid of them is to draw them out.” Chuck Jones
- Simone wasn’t good at anything else other than arts. She loved doing it and she didn’t care where in arts, she just loved doing it, study it and see what happens …
- The best advice that stuck with Simone was not to dwell on details too much. It pushed her to focus on important things and not get lost in details. From that point she got looser and more expressive, focusing more on the composition and not perfect detail
- It’s such a great force to have people around you who love art, it’s important to get professional and to stop drawing in checkered notebook 🙂
- Simone either goes for a story or draws a character, especially ladies and she likes to combine different styles to get a bigger visual library
Resources mentioned
- School Simone attended: Hamburg Technical Art School
- Animex – a forum in Germany for anime and manga fans. It has local chapters that meet regularly in person
- Sketchbooks from Canson – really good paper for drawing
- Daedalic – a gaming studio where Simone has worked for 10 years now on titles like Tales of Monkey Island or Pillars of the Earth
- Books
- Color & Light – James Gurney
- Khang Le Skillful Huntsman – vis dev, environment, story
- Mateus Nestre: Framed Ink – a composition bible
- Drawn to Life – both volumes – she always reads bits and pieces to get inspired and learn
- What simplifies her life is that she can order groceries online – Rewe in Germany
Special thanks to Simone for joining me today. See you next time!
All artworks by Simone Grunewald, used with permission
Episode Transcript
Announcer
Creative, artistic, happy! That’s you. There are endless possibilities for living a creative life. So let’s inspire each other. Art Side of Life interviews with Iva.
Iva Mikles
Hello, everyone and welcome to the next episode of Art Side of Life where it’s all about how you can turn your creative passion into a profession. My name is Iva, and my guest today is an amazing digital and traditional artists from Hamburg, Germany. She studied at the Hamburg technical art school like at EMI of design, and for past 10 years, she has worked as an art director and character designer in Daedalic Entertainment gaming studio lady’s working on the title Pillars of the Earth. She published her tutorial on designing a character based on a real person in the magazine character design quarterly. She’s inspiring and entertaining her Instagram community of over 300,000 followers, read her fan illustrated stories from her daily life as a parent, she’s looking forward to self publish her sketchbook in the fall 2017 hoping her fans will like it, I’m sure of it, and I can’t wait to get it. So please welcome Simone Grunewald and also known as Schmoesidraws, and let’s get to the interview. Hello, and welcome everyone to the next episode of Art Side of Life. And please welcome my guests this morning. Hi, everyone. I’m super happy that you have you’re here and you took the time to join us. And I would like to start with your background like when did you first realize that you would like to do art or something with design?
Simone Grunewald
Um, well, I think it’s the story of every artist. I mean, as a kid I always drew. And I always loved drawing and I drew so much. And I sort of thought, oh, I doubt that you can have a job in drawing. But I sort of, then I started to realize that there is that, that I would just sort of go ahead and just draw and see what comes from it. Because then I sort of met people who said, Oh, yeah, you can do graphic design, or go to an art school. And I was like, Yeah, that’s what I want to do so so because I was always drawing. And I think where it really started for me to intensify most was the internet. Because I sort of there was a German online platform called Animax. And I started posting a daily picture nearly and I was getting comments and and people were liking what I was doing. And I was like, I liked doing. Sorry. So yeah, I like the feedback. And and before it was just doing for myself manga, and I never thought I could do anything like that. But yeah, and then sort of I said, Well, I’ll go for this, and I wasn’t good at anything else. The short and finish of it. I’m not really just good at art.
Iva Mikles
You’re like, Okay, I will go for this because this is what I’m best at. Yeah.
Simone Grunewald
And because I love doing it, I was just like, I didn’t care where I was going in art. I was just I just wanted to do something with art. And then for me the logical way was to study it, and then see what happens so
Iva Mikles
and so we took kind of the biggest decisions you had to do in order to follow your passion.
Simone Grunewald
Yes, that was that was exactly because I was I was I went to a four were in what’s the word in English an internship I was doing at a at an art school. And at this art school, I stayed after the internship and I was had really a lot of fun. There was just like, old ladies painting after that work. So it was that was that was that kind of art school school. And I was there as well painting vases and everything. And there was a couple of kids who came there and said, I want to prepare for for for for art studies. And I said, Oh, okay, where do you Where are you going? And they said the art school from Hamburg and then said I want to do and I had already started. And I met a guy who said come to my school. And I said what’s your school? Car I was just a Hamburg cash and technical Hart school, not no big school, what any, or anything. And I said, Okay. And I, and I think that was like the biggest decision because he sort of said, come to my school. And as I took my portfolio with me at that same day, I just went with him. And they said, Oh, your portfolio is great come to our school. And I was like, there was two months to the other art school. And I think I was really scared of that art school because it was, like, exams and everything wish there wasn’t that I heard from a girl who’s, whose art it was, for. She was fantastic. And they just said, No, that’s not art. And when I was at this article that was in manga, we don’t need this stuff. And I wasn’t really feeling that that was the way I was happy to add to go, but it was it was too artsy fartsy in a way, and then I sort of just it was snap decision when I said, Oh, go to the other school. And it was a graphic design school for like, also, and I think I learned so much more there than I would have at that art school. I mean, it’s great, but it’s not very practical. Yeah. And I think, I think that’s where I’m really happy that I just took that bet. Because at my school, there was two comic, two tutors, who had published comics and I had in each period I had comic. Yeah, as a way, what’s the word? The word for years, I just could could draw comics at my school. And they were both great. I was like, this, this this, at this point, it opened up for me how much there is to learn, like perspective. That’s where it all started. Bruce, before I was doing for myself, and that’s where it’s, that’s where I started getting the basics. And I was also painting, I was really happy. And since the director of the school liked artists, even though it was a graphic design school, I could just sort of jump through the courses, which were most art related as I as I wished. And I was so happy because I could just do what I wanted. And then yeah, it was great. That’s perfect.
Iva Mikles
So you can actually choose which courses to combine. And
Simone Grunewald
yeah, well, I think I had a kind of status. I just asked him whether it was possible. They could do more live drawings, and they said, Okay, go to the first semester, you can just join them in though I wouldn’t have had it any more. But I sort of just took all the art courses I could at that school, because he said, Okay, that’s what she’s good at. Go for it. So
Iva Mikles
yeah, that’s perfect that you can actually yes, and you knew already what you wanted to do.
Simone Grunewald
Exactly. So that was I really enjoyed that.
Iva Mikles
Maybe what was the best advice you ever received?
Simone Grunewald
Um, I think it was one of one of these comic teachers, actually, I was thinking about this, because it’s a hard question to get a lot of advice. But But this what stuck with me was, I was drawing a comic panel, and I was drawing a shoe very detailed. And he and he said, Okay, you’ve drawn this shoe perfect. That’s not what it’s about. It’s, you don’t have to draw an object perfect. Because with a lot of work, you can do any object perfect. And if you’ve said when I’ve drawn an object once, it’s okay, I’m I know I don’t have to draw it again, as perfect as that. And, and sort of that pushed me to, to the important things to stick to sort of not to get lost in details too much. Details are great, but detail just take a little bit of work for me and it’s yes, and from that point, I started to get more loose and I think that really helped a lot so often through sort of yeah, just focus on composition and everything and not on the perfect shoe
Iva Mikles
that you should have with the logo you know the shoe the shoe.
Simone Grunewald
And it wasn’t sure of her mind you because I was doing a fan comic of Harry Potter time.
Iva Mikles
Remember that it’s like that’s something what happened there? And was there like maybe the bed advisor or something you changed your opinion about?
Simone Grunewald
Um Yes, um, but that was far earlier because in art in school, when you just just like seventh grade or something, we had this art teacher and he was saying you are drawing so precise. And it and that was that was like I was you what you wanted me to like paint more precisely. Thank you. You won’t get a job with this, you will have to use a real artist. And he wanted to meet him like splatter thing. I don’t know what he wanted me to do, but he was like, You will never get a job in doing it like the way you do. And now, and I was like, I will show you. And I think that was what I remember, like as the worst. I mean, it’s weird, because it’s a similar topic, which the other teacher told me, but it was him telling me I will never make it an art because he wanted to be me be free. And I was like, I’ll show you I’ll make it an art. And I didn’t change anything at that point. I mean, I just carried on. Yeah,
Iva Mikles
so how did you maybe kind of find your your group of the kind of same thinking people like, or was it different? Maybe in Germany, then the other places? I mean, I don’t know. Because I also grew up in Europe, but kind of the social networks are not as big at the time, maybe? And, like, how was it like video networking? Or how did you kind of develop the art there?
Simone Grunewald
I remember that it was great. Learning. There’s people like me out there, that who like art, I remember that. So clearly how at home I felt I, again, Animax. That’s this for the forum in Germany. And it was anime and manga fans. And this one boy, which brought me to the school said before he brought me there. He said, Don’t you like us? And I said, Who are you? And he said, Yes, we are. We meet in Hamburg. We are the Animax group who meets in Hamburg. And I said, Okay, I’ll come. And he later brought me to the school. But it was also him. He was this whole group interested in art and but at art school than when I was in studies, then there was different people as well, who were interested in art. And from there on, I just always drew all the artists around me and tried to be yes, talk about art, just enjoy it and everything. So yeah.
Iva Mikles
And maybe, yeah, sorry.
Simone Grunewald
And yes, and in particular, while I was studying, I also, there was a notice on the, on the notice board guide was opening a comic studio in Hamburg. And I said, Oh, I’ll do that too. And then I went there, and I was like, at night or weekends, I was hanging around there and drawing with other people who was also only drawing so I had those people as well. So from then on, also, this I think that’s such a great force to have people around you who love art, because I think that’s where it all started to to get finer and not only just for yourself into your little sketchbook, which was basically the most they had check a pay per I mean, when you stopped throwing a check at paper, I mean, it’s also really important. Not drawing into your school notebook. So yeah, get a schedule.
Iva Mikles
Actually, like free of lines.
Simone Grunewald
Yes. But at the beginning you don’t care you just draw anywhere.
Iva Mikles
Do you have a favorite tools you maybe use now like favorite pencils or
Simone Grunewald
Yeah, as your I’m always you as an artist, I think you’re always looking for the perfect tools and concepts that never ends but there’s a couple of tools I really like. I like sketchbooks from cancel, I think that they’ve got really good paper. And that’s my favorite paper at the moment but it always changes but I always try out the ones and then I revert to that sketchbook because I just always liked the paper from them. And yeah, and the pencil the end there I learned I also went to animation school and there I got these polychrome not not polychromos by the polychromos are cool too but color raise pencils is that is colorful pencils, which you basically use to go over on top of them with the pencil so you can key them out in a different color. But I really like how they go work on the paper and I usually just have cup of colorful paper pencil drawings and those are pencils which you can erase. So they are Yeah, I love them.
Iva Mikles
Yeah, I thought you are using
Simone Grunewald
Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. And all the colors of the rainbow but I always go back to scarlet red and blue. Yeah, like Tuscan red.
Iva Mikles
What is it like the indigo blue or something like that? Right? You have the dark and light blue? Yes, but
Simone Grunewald
I don’t know that. I think it’s just blue. Now the name you get So dark. That’s a really dark blue as well. But I just in the middle of blue, I think there’s there’s three blues, I’m not sure, but I’m in the middle blue.
Iva Mikles
Cool, cool. So when you’re creating your art is there like, you know, like a vision or branding you’re trying to put in your creations? Or is it more the story?
Simone Grunewald
Um, I think it’s, I tried to go for story, because I think that I’m not, I guess I have a style of sorts, which is mine. But I like to play around with Mediums with different styles as well. And since I think that it’s in the business, it’s important to be diverse. And of course, it’s important to be good at I mean, I’m like, I’m wanting to figure drawing than probably other people, and especially a little ladies. But yeah, I like to I usually do I go for story or just sort of do pretty girl to play around with the medium tried to check try out watercolor or something which I saw somewhere else. And I like to take things from other and incorporated in mind, and I was like sort of compartmentalizing it and say, I can use this for this. And yeah, sort of just sort of getting a bigger visual library as well. So that’s Yeah, I think that’s that. And storytelling since I’ve begun to go more also, I was sold myself tried to tell a story with every picture you do. It doesn’t matter how small but just try to tell a small story. I mean, it can be the clothes, it can be just like if the clothes that wet, you know, okay, she’s been bedraggled in the rain and something like that. So there’s the small stories, which, which I tried to it’s not that it’s not that just like, it’s a pose or whatever, sort of tried to tell the story. I think that’s, but I would like to transport most.
Iva Mikles
So and how do you create your stories? Like, because you have so many great stories? Do you go around and make you like, no, it’s like, Oh, I love this moment that you want to draw this or you just think back to the bay or something.
Simone Grunewald
It’s weird. It’s always different. It’s sometimes it’s it comes to me like, Okay, you have to keep this moment. Remember, remember to draw this, sometimes you have that. And sometimes I just sort of sit back, breathe, go back through the go through the day and try to remember what was cool, what was nice or what wasn’t nice. I mean, there’s so much basically, every day, you’ve something small, you can remember, which is sort of special. And it doesn’t work always sometimes you just just nothing comes. But usually, that’s that’s what I do. And it always depends on how fresh you are in your head. And if your answers are off completely, like I just want to sit on the sofa. But because I mean, as a mom at the moment, I do have those days. More than I like
Iva Mikles
it, but when you have like such a small baby, right, maybe not a baby anymore. But you know, it’s do you have inspiration from daily life, which you transfer also to fantasy life? Maybe?
Simone Grunewald
Yes, yes. And I think it’s it started, I draw my son a lot as well in November. It’s he inspires me, he, he’s sort of my center at the moment. And already when he was in my, my stomach and unborn, he sort of looked on one of his pictures like a little dinosaur. It was on the sonogram, which he said, I think we’re going to get a dinosaur for your child. And from then on, I sort of liked to put these little spikes on his head and from there you sort of go playing it’s just sort of playing it just happens often just having this I have him as the dinosaur and as a little fox and from there on I just sort of imagined situations which could be in sort of, yeah, and I like drawing woods as well. I’m always sort of trying to play in corporate backgrounds and and I like Woody background, so I sort of just put him with his fox friend just having some adventure and I like doing that. And yeah, or what also is what also since we really don’t get much holidays and I’m not very good at holidays and we’ve just sort of went to Italy on our honeymoon. And sort of two days in two weeks we’re going to prove Airbnb isn’t just like having to just sort of look for houses or houses like this isn’t fun and I and I don’t like the mosquitoes and I want to go home and we went to a Our parents, my my parents in law, and they had a house for us. And it was like, okay, but thank you.
Iva Mikles
So you can spend time drawing and just enjoying.
Simone Grunewald
So that was that was the point I was trying to make. Join different assessments. I go sometimes on Google Earth and just click through pretty place and I draw them and then I sort of say, Okay, why not put us in the scenery? sort of say, hey, we had a free holiday. Thank you, Google.
Iva Mikles
says like, imagine yourself in different places and different scenarios. Yeah, I think it’s kind of it’s kind of sad.
Iva Mikles
Because I can’t imagine you this movie or the you know, like, if you would create this kind of, you know, storytelling, and it can be
Simone Grunewald
yes, it could be it would be so cool to jump into this. Yes. Just like,
Iva Mikles
from one side to another. Yeah.
Simone Grunewald
Now, I like to want to draw that T that’s our heart also happens to sort of talk about situations that want to draw that I’ll try to imagine how you can maybe I’ll do that my bedroom. I don’t know sometimes just say
Iva Mikles
like, we’d so many things you have to do now also with the family life and the art. So how do you design your day? Or how do you schedule you know, your work time, family time.
Simone Grunewald
Um, I, at the moment, I’ve got the luxury that he sleeps during the day for like, three times, maybe an hour or so. So I tried to do the first hour where I do housework. And the second time when he sleeps, and hopefully he sleeps like two hours or so. Then I have this for myself. And I tried to use that for drawing. But yeah, it’s, it’s this I really, I It depends on how how good I’m mentally at the moment. And if I’m not, if I’m not good, and I just love practice, then I practice drawing hands or whatever, because it’s always it depends on how good you are just feeling informed, whether if I can do something or not. And if it’s not that usually practice because I really, really, really, really, really think it’s important to draw every day.
Iva Mikles
Okay, so you draw every day. So that’s a really good, you know, tip because some people don’t do it every day. And then just for practice, even if you are maybe artistic block, just practice.
Simone Grunewald
Yes. And that’s, that’s also something i i Sometimes I get artists block block, like everybody does. And since I know myself and my artists blocks, I just push through it by by practicing, I draw hands I draw, I say there’s these challenges like on the internet, where you say, draw 100 hand, draw 100 Something, draw 100 feet, I defeated hands. Some people draw 100 motorcycles, I mean, and that’s, you sort of pick something you’re not good at, and try to improve. And that helps me really to go through it. Because at some point, it always gets better. It always comes back. And I know I can rely on that. So that’s why and then I’ve been practicing in the meantime. So basically when it comes back and better than before.
Iva Mikles
Yeah, but also when you already have the story in mind, then you know how to visualize it because you practice on other PCs? Yes, yeah, that makes sense. And so now when you work on the on the different drawings, and can you share, what is your main income? Or and how do you combine your income streams?
Simone Grunewald
Well, I’ve been working at the same game company for I don’t know how long, eight years, 10 years, nearly, I think nearly 10 years. I’m not good with numbers. And I don’t remember when it started. But I’ve been working at the same game game company since a very long time. And it’s difficult to delegate entertainment they do. Like Monkey Island. So adventures, right? And I’ve been designing stuff for them. So yeah, I can’t I do different projects as well sometimes on the side, but I don’t have this this pressure to have to have different things. I got an eight hour job every day and I I sort of just have fun working there. And I do art direction and a lot of projects and or character design. And yeah, I’ve done so many games from with them. And I really like it because I haven’t felt the need to change because since it’s like sort of every year a new project. So mostly sort of It’s always a new, we do something new we try, we have been having a lot of things which I could learn from there. So I never felt the need to change because it was good company. And yeah, it was happy to. And I am. And of course, I’m not there at the moment. But like, in October, I’m probably going back. And, but I do project on the side, like I’ve got a comic I’ve been working on for already about a year or two and a half. But it’s really like, I do my daily drawings, I do work for work, and I do a lot of different things. And then when I find time, I also draw draw the comic and because it’s fun, as well, and I want to do to see if I can do a comic. Yeah,
Iva Mikles
yeah. Because how do you manage to do all of these? As you mentioned, it’s like, Do you sleep?
Simone Grunewald
Yeah, I do. I mean, it’s always a different, different projects that have some days I do this. Some days I work on this, it always depends on how I feel. And the comic is sometimes a bit nerve wracking because I said, I will do it. And I have to do it. And it’s, it’s like, a chore at some point. And but I’m going to finish it, I’m going to put you in it’s only 15 pages. But the style I chose is really a lot of work. And just work but I just have to do the the colors. And then when I’m done, I’ll be happy. There’s so many projects you always want to do, because I mean, there’s like, I wouldn’t mind doing a patron. I wouldn’t mind having a little sketch sketchbooks for sale or something like I’m working on that, by the way. See, I’m working on that, too. Yeah. No, but yeah, but my main income is from one company. And I must admit that I’m a little bit ahead of, because if it ever stops, then I have to do it. Do I have to freelance and everything? And then I will have to figure it out from the start how you do this, then I don’t know. We’ll have to look for jobs and everything. So yeah, I hope won’t be too hard. But you never know. Yeah, that’s
Iva Mikles
true. But then it’s good that you have the balance, and you have the variety at work. And then you can still like choose projects to do.
Simone Grunewald
Yes. And that’s why it wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way. But of course, maybe sort of it keeps you fresh in the head. I mean, at some point in the same company, you probably as well get the same thing. Every so change that much. So I wouldn’t mind to know how it is somewhat at work for something else. So that’s why Oh,
Iva Mikles
that’s good. Yeah. So you mentioned the sketchbook and maybe what are the exciting projects which are coming up which you can share and maybe when people can see your fans, you know, like?
Simone Grunewald
Well, I think that then I add slack and spoiler, I think the sketchbook is for me the most exciting because of course at work, there’s the game, the new games coming out, I think, in October, which I worked on, I did the character designs, it’s Pillars of the Earth. That’s from the novel from Ken Follett, we’re working on the game for that, and I’m really happy, excited that that’s coming out. But I think my personal projects are the ones I’m more excited about. And yeah, so I would say that’s the sketchbook widget when I’m finally done. I mean, I sort of lay out a lot of it. I have to do the cover and a couple of pages and then I will give it into print and I’ll see how that goes. And I haven’t got an Etsy store yet so I’ll have to do that and maybe I’ll do some prints as well and everybody all the artists have these and I don’t yet so I’m
Iva Mikles
planning to do Kickstarter for it
Simone Grunewald
depending on the success maybe no because I was like thinking small I was going to say like maybe do like 300 and see how that goes or maybe I’ll ask on Instagram who would want one and then just sort of produce them because I think I start small and then maybe from the income of those who face I sell them print in the second versions maybe something like that, that was my plan. It kickstart is always a lot of planning a lot of work and I don’t think I could have have the capacity for that at the moment because but that the kid it’s it’s too much.
Iva Mikles
I mean you already with all of that but you do so and so when you’re deciding for the new projects, what is your kind of thinking when you have when you need to say no on yes to something
Simone Grunewald
Oh, that’s so hard. And I just go with a gut feeling. Like, like the with the comic I mentioned, it was something it was offered to me. And I said, I was okay. It doesn’t pay. Well, it doesn’t have what I liked the topic. And I wanted to test myself on that, that thing. So when I do projects, it’s usually I go through it, what is the what? What will it help me mean? Of course, if it’s a lot of money, I say, right, let’s go ahead and do that. If it’s if it’s not horrible, but I think I usually go with my passion. I usually if it’s something interesting then and then usually, and my husband always says, Why do you do it? You? You’ve got so much to do already? And why do you take another project in earnest? I don’t know. But it sounded cool. I’m very good at time management thing, actually. But I am also very Yeah, if I say I do something, I will do it no matter what. So that’s why then it’s just me who’s crying at the end of too much work. But I, I get the work done in general.
Iva Mikles
And also we disciplining maybe or did you ever have this kind of like a worst career moment or some like difficult time? And something? Maybe you will learn from that?
Simone Grunewald
Yes, I would. That’s, that’s at, at my company. We had a project, which was terminated. And I was like, a kick in the stomach. Because we’ve been working we were working out. It wasn’t, was actually the project wasn’t canceled completely. It was just put on hold. And it’s still on hold at the moment. It was cool project was a really cool project. But the problem was, there were too many question marks. And in a project as a guy in a game, usually we had one question mark. Like, let me explain. Because you always before you start a project, you always say, okay, what can we calculate? And there’s always some question marks which aren’t? Which you don’t know yet, which you’re figuring out that on the way because you, yes, the project with all given would be cool. But no, it’s always something where you’re not. It’s mostly technical. And, and we had so many question marks, but who said, Oh, we’ll figure it out on the way we’ll figure it out in the way. And it turned out, figuring it out on the way just took a long time. And it took far longer than it could then the money was there, there were then there was money to produce this project. And guess and I learned that there is just a limited amount of question marks you should have before starting a project. I mean, one or two, okay, but it shouldn’t be more than half safe, that you know what you’re doing it because that’s when you start a game. I mean, I think that’s a mistake. What a lot of newcomers do they say, Oh, just we’ll just start and they got get caught up in all these problems that you just never get, get the Done Books, and especially in games, that’s, that’s one of the main problems. So it helps to have experienced people who know what they’re doing. And you kind of have one or two newbies in between or sort of, but you always have to sort of work. Sort of having a net to catch the question marks. I mean, it sounds theoretical, but it really, I think it’s just this that I know, for myself, I have to have a lot of clear things before I start a project of that magnitude as well. Because games are big projects complex. Yes. Yes, very complex. But it’s really
Iva Mikles
good to know as well just like whoever is planning their kind of small project or bigger project at the time and then like, think about okay, there shouldn’t be everything to figure out on the way but some planning
Simone Grunewald
Yes. Yes, we did plan of course, but it was always like, Okay, this isn’t something we can do at the moment. We will do it then. And it was put you always push it a little bit further. Okay, we can figure it out till then. And at some point who said okay, we still haven’t got anything to get out from these points and Yeah,
Iva Mikles
and like, thinking about maybe learning from like projects and also like books, do you have something which you would recommend people to check out or documentaries or movies?
Simone Grunewald
And a couple of books which when when people I’m often asked by others, what are your books would you I recommend to artists, and I got some Bibles to me which I really love this, like, the color color and light by having his name, color and light by the one with the dinosaurs.
Iva Mikles
Yeah, I know. We can put the link to the show notes.
Simone Grunewald
Okay, okay, color and light, then the skillful full Huntsman. That’s, that’s also it’s a good book on concept art. But I’m not greatest concept artist but I think for me that is like the best sort of take on sort of take a project and go at all the details and how you would go get Yes, how you would tackle a project. So I like that one, very much. And all I’ve gotten friending free framed ink is also another very good book, which is very good on composition, and light and shadow and yes, and storytelling as well through light and shadow through how you frame something. And those are sort of for me the best books and Drawn to Life. Both volumes, I’m always have them next to my my table, and sort of just we did you don’t have to read them on through you just sort of go through it. And I want to read this chapter, let me have and you sort of feel that you upgrade your knowledge each time you sort of find some things more as it’s just it’s pure gold.
Iva Mikles
I think it’s really good. Yeah. And if you think about like, maybe something you bought, which simplifies your life, it doesn’t have to be you know, art related, but maybe also younger moms with kids, they want to draw something which helps you.
Simone Grunewald
But to be honest, what what helps me most at the moment is that I can order food at the grocery store, which they bring us water and everything. It’s like for me, oh my god, you can get anything through the internet and buy food and everything. So I don’t have to carry the bags home every day. So yeah, that’s
Iva Mikles
so help. So is it like? Is it like a local food store? Or is it something which is more available to hold Europe? Or I don’t know?
Simone Grunewald
Well, it’s Germany, it’s just river has an online service where you can sort of buy everything. And it’s not even that it’s not even expensive to have it ordered home. So it’s like why go to the shop at all. And it’s good to exercise as well. But carrying that heavy water bottles. Yeah, I’m so sorry that I don’t have. But that’s sort of what? Yes, just being able to order so many things. I
Iva Mikles
think it’s really helpful. No, but this is, I think, really cool. Because like in US everyone is used to this, like all the time, you know, and I think in Europe, maybe we are not so used to it just so I’m telling you,
Simone Grunewald
like it’s a revelation.
Iva Mikles
It’s like a magical place. To do that as well. But yeah, I still haven’t got to it here because it’s so expensive.
Simone Grunewald
Yeah, it’s not that expensive here. And I also have a box where you get fruit, which is Bo, which is because I’ve got for the kid, I don’t want to get them with pesticides and whatever. So I’m also happy to have that box. So that’s perfect, perfect.
Iva Mikles
And the last questions I want to ask you is about the future. And if you would imagine yourself in five to 10 years, you know, you have a small kid running around already by itself. So what is your dream scenario? You know, like, if you cannot fail, and you are not afraid of anything, so like what are you doing?
Simone Grunewald
I talked about this with my husband a couple of days ago funny enough. You say like we want it’s not I mean, it’s a bit creepy, like a commune where you just sort of have the coolest people around the old living like nearly like a village of your own people. But where there’s cool everybody and you’re working together on stuff or basically just having this this place where everybody can come and do art and and in the maybe not a kind so as a tech place I wouldn’t mind having just a cool studio of people I trust which I I’ve been working together with and make do an amazing project because I mean even in my company where I’m now I do cool projects. But of course there’s always money and everything into taken consideration but it’s probably more of the things if there was enough money, you just sort of work on cool stuff with because I mean, we just need the start money because then the cool stuff would get the genuine money, ya know, everything would be cool. So but yeah, I’m probably games, probably games but games which aren’t adventures, I probably would want to work on an RPG for ones I really like rpds and do the animation for that and sort of, yeah, and build this with a cool team. And maybe if it’s not a game just have sort of a studio where, where we all sort of work on our own projects and that sort of, I think always as a freelancer it it’s, you’re alone with your, with your art. And then he sort of have a place where all these artists can do. It’s you one has a job, which he doesn’t can’t work on, say here. I mean, we do that anyway, I’ve got a lot of people, which, which artists around and I often get things which I can’t take. So I give it to the other artists. I mean, with a full time job, I won’t I just can’t take a lot of jobs. And so it will work out if I don’t remember if I’m not bad to delegate anymore. I guess I will get people who can drifting off
Iva Mikles
here. Sorry. No, because you can also have like, you know, remote positions or like in the future, you can create this studio and you can have this space, maybe so in Hamburg, and there are a lot of creatives and yeah,
Simone Grunewald
yeah. Yes. That’s, that’s a really nice dream. I would love that. Because that’s, that would be, I’d be happy around them, then the kids can run around have this creative energy. Take it all in, maybe he will want to do it as well. Maybe he’ll just hate it. I don’t know.
Iva Mikles
So you can learn to draw as well. And, you know, yeah, super cool. And I mean, I would come to visit you for sure if that’s happening and sounds
Simone Grunewald
great. If people come to us, we’ll do we’ll be the next ball Disney or next. Blizzard? Good. I like it.
Iva Mikles
So and the last question I would like to ask you is like, what would you like to be remembered for in like, 100 years?
Simone Grunewald
I think for a warmth in my drawings. I think I would like people to say, Yeah, I think she was she had always life in the drawings. And some things were warm. Something was transport was, I always, I’m not, I don’t go in an angsty direction or anything is I always I think I made maybe I’m too one sided. In this, it’s usually something good, which I draw. And I would like to people around that it’s always a warm feeling you get when you when when you look at my things, and I would like that.
Iva Mikles
So thank you so much for being here. It’s also been so much fun. And if you have like final advice for young artists before we say goodbye.
Simone Grunewald
Draw a lot. Draw. I mean, I think often people are how you do this. And I think I can’t stress how much how important that is to, to draw every day and to draw up because because you also wanted a quote from me because and I picked one, which was you have 1000 bad drawings in you moment was every artist had 1000s of bad drawings in them, the only way to get rid of them is to draw them out. And that’s one of my favorite, and I have this quote in my head from time to time, it just sort of pops up and as these are my my drawings, they’re just as you have to get rid of them. And, and yes, and you get the feeling that it gets, the more you draw, the easier it becomes and you get a flow and when you once you’ve got this flow while drawing, and then that’s where the happiness starts. And it’s like, Ah, yes, that’s what I live for. When you sort of punish me you lose the flow, but you get it back.
Iva Mikles
But I look for the flow. It’s perfect. I love it. Yeah, so perfect. Yes. Good. Okay, so we can put it like in big letters on the wall or something. Yeah.
Simone Grunewald
Work. It’s hard work. Art. Being an artist is hard. It’s a lot of hard work and you won’t get there without sweat and tears.
Iva Mikles
That’s true. I totally agree.
Simone Grunewald
Oh, butterflies. Oh, I hate it. When people say oh, you draw so good. I wish I could draw that because it’s all the time. Is the spark if the spark of talent and then it’s hard work. Yep. And and it’ll get there and you just have to you
Iva Mikles
just have to do it basically. Oh, thank you so much for being here and thanks everyone for joining me today.
Simone Grunewald
Thank you too
Iva Mikles
this perfect man. See you in the next episode bye hope you guys enjoyed this interview. You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode at artsideoflife.com. Just type a guest name in the search bar. There is also a little freebie waiting for you so go check it out. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on iTunes hopefully five stars so I can read and inspire more people like you. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Art Side of Life podcast because I post new interview every single workday. If you want to watch the interviews head over to artsideoflife.com/youtube. Thank you so much for listening. Don’t forget to inspire each other. And I will talk to you guys in the next episode. Bye.
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Hi, I am Iva (rhymes with “viva”). I am a full-time self-taught artist behind Art Side of Life® and a Top Teacher on Skillshare. I have 15 years of experience in the creative field as a concept designer, illustrator, art director, and now freelance artist, content creator, and art instructor. My goal is to help you get your creative groove on with Procreate and make awesome art through practical classes, tutorials, Procreate brushes, and guides on art tools, supplies and resources. About me »
