Artist Feature: Sam
“Follow your heart and go. Create and create until your fingers can’t create anymore.”
Sam (aka @idiot_dionysus) lives with their sister and two dogs, Ferris and Bentley. When they aren’t working on their comic, they’re either playing Hades or Stardew Valley.
How long have you done art?
Ever since I was a toddler, I had this weird hunger to draw. I would scribble on paper and throw it across the room then scribble on another paper in a cycle until I felt satisfied. The first tablets I worked with weren’t that good so I’ve always felt pretty discouraged to make digital art. I worked mostly with watercolor at first on my page, but moved onto using mixes of acrylics and pens until buying my own tablet that I currently use.
How would you describe your style?
I like to follow the heart of the god I follow, Dionysus. He’s very chaotic and so I tend not to care about how clean my drawings turn out. Similar to how I would throw papers around the room as a kid when I was done with them, I try to get done with a drawing as fast as possible and move onto the next one. Though my art style is inspired by the very messy types of styles online, I’ve recently taken to following more of Yoshitaka Amano’s work, most notably in how he draws his eyes. There’s a certain wave and mystery to them that I can’t help but admire.
Tell us your Lore Olympus story.
I found Lore Olympus online. I had been sexually assaulted prior to finding the series, maybe a month or two before I read the comic. I didn’t even know what had happened was a bad thing. When I started to read the comic, I could relate to Persephone’s confusion about things. I went online to discord servers and I found comfort in the community that had been built. Having always found a type of comfort in role play communities, I chose to create my own character (prior to the Semele episodes) that I could easily integrate into a few of these circles, Dionysus. I started out drawing the situations from these stories, but eventually I got such a passion for drawing that I moved on to creating my Instagram page dedicated to it.
If you could body snatch one LO character for a day, who would you be?
Minthe. Not nymph Minthe but plant Minthe. I wanna feel what it’s like to photosynthesize. I haven’t read the recent chapter but I think Daphne is also a plant now? I guess I could also answer with Daphne but I’ve also seen pictures circulate around of her being a shade, and if she is one then I mean, then I can’t really photosynthesize. But if that isn’t the case and she is the embodiment of a tree now, I’d also be cool with being Daphne then.
How has fan art changed your style or helped you grow?
I think my art certainly has grown a lot ever since I started my page over a year ago. I’ve come to understand different poses better and get better at the craft as a whole. Though I’ll admit I still don’t understand much about color theory other than purple and yellow look pretty cool next to each other.
Which fanart are you most proud of and why?
I’m most proud of my painting of Hera and Ares. It was for a secret Santa sort of event and at first I wasn’t really sure what to draw for them. But I just got overtaken with this weird feeling, it’s hard to explain, very robotic to just make a very good painting.
Any advice for someone looking to build their art skills?
Don’t think about anything. Just follow your heart and go. Create and create until your fingers can’t create anymore.
Sneak peek for part 19!#loreolympus #loreolympusfanart pic.twitter.com/N9ZwKqJwgc
— idiot_dionysus (@DionysusIdiot) July 9, 2021
Happy bean Persephone! 🌱#loreolympus #loreolympusfanart pic.twitter.com/ZKb5XiCMvs
— idiot_dionysus (@DionysusIdiot) July 11, 2021
Do you have goals or aspirations for your art?
Yes! I’ve moved to creating my own webtoon after years of wanting to create my own comic. I guess I don’t really have a goal with my comic however. As much as I would like to make a living off of my series, for right now, I just want to tell my story and get better at the craft of comic making. I know I have a long ways to go but with each new episode I feel like I’m getting better.
If I can talk a little bit about my webtoon here, I must admit that Golden Throne is inspired from Lore Olympus. Unlike most modern retelling of Greek myth however, I’m not only changing the family trees and technology. Usually if you do know the myths, you will know what will happen in a retelling. However, a lot of core elements about the gods have been changed. Kronos is a decent father, Hera Hatched out of an egg, and Persephone and Minthe live as lovers. It’s a story where you don’t know what will happen.
Just for fun: Who did you get on this quiz?
I got Big John. Unfortunately I don’t really know too much about the pups to have much of a say on it. Despite owning two very small dogs, I would agree that I have the heart of a bigger sized dog.
Sam is a student in Madison, Wisconsin in the liberal arts program. They work between school and comic making, and live with their sister and two dogs, Ferris and Bentley. When they aren’t working on their comic, they’re either playing Hades or Stardew Valley on their switch. You can follow Sam on:
Instagram Twitter Webtoon
OTHER FEATURES:
Courtney is a style and fashion addict, sharing some really interesting insights on Lore Olympus characters.