So i herd u liek interviews?? - Wooded-wolf

Dec 17, 200913 min read

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Intro

Welcome to the latest edition of So i herd u liek interviews??. This is the 22nd volume in a series of interviews aimed at finding out about emoticonists from the deviantART community.

This series links with the weekly volumes of 'so i herd u liek emotes??' which have now been running since October 2008

The emoticonist

This volume’s featured emoticonist is Wooded-Wolf. Originally known for is range of brilliant emote base packs, he has since expanded out to create a range of awesome emotes showing a range of great effects. I took some time to catch up with him for an interview

The interview

How and when did you get into making emoticons?

Just over two years ago - I wanted to get back into pixel art and animation but I didn't want to start off doing anything too complicated. I'd seen a lot of emoticon animations and they didn't look too hard so I picked something that wasn't in the legend and decided to give it a go.

When you first started making emotes, did you use any tutorials?

I looked at a few to see if there were any kind of rules to making emotes but once I worked out they were just 15x15 circles I decided I may as well work it out for myself. I did use this one to get an idea of where to start: jtcgh.deviantart.com/art/Emoti…

Are there any particular tutorials you have found/created since that you would like to suggest?

I've seen quite a few useful tutorials out there since I've started but I'd recommend some of the effects tutorials by bad-blood, such as bad-blood.deviantart.com/art/E… , and this tutorial by CookiemagiK: cookiemagik.deviantart.com/art… .

Where do you get your inspiration / ideas from?

Everywhere. Most of my ideas come from completely random or obscure situations - things I see, bits of funny conversations. Just looking at the sky or noticing something for the first time can create a whole series of ideas. Some of them just appear from nowhere so I try to note them down before I forget about them

Do you try to stick to one particular style and technique, or do you prefer to experiment?

I love to experiment but usually I just stick to the style I've always had. There's probably been a bit of evolution since I've started but other than some improvements with motion and special effects the only thing I've really changed with my emotes is the way I colour them

Are there any particular qualities that you feel can make an emote stand out from any other?

Physics.

I think it's really important to have a unique and interesting concept behind an emoticon but any emoticon, static or animated, can look really incredible if there are physics involved. I often struggle with movement and timing but when it's done properly so you believe that an emoticon is about to splat into a wall or float gracefully to the ground it looks awesome.

Humour is also good

Which programs have you used to create your emoticons? Are there any you can suggest?

I've always used MSPaint. It's perfect for pixel art and static emoticons but even for animated emotes it's a perfectly viable option if you have something to animate the frames with. At the minute I'm using Beneton Movie GIF to animate my frames but aside from loading my frames into it everything is done using Paint. It does mean I make huge documents full of frames but it's the method I know

Roughly how long does it take you to go from concept to finished emoticon?

Ages. Making the emoticon can take anywhere between 10 minutes and half a day - simple emotes usually take less than an hour, if there's pixel art involved or a complex animation it can take hours, and if there's some kind of story going on it can take a lot longer. Most concepts last days or weeks before I get started though. I've still got ideas in my head from as long as 2 years ago :b

What methods have you used for shading? Do you have a preference?

When I first started making emotes I did a gradient because that's what a tutorial told me to do

Then after looking at another tutorial I decided that hand shaded looked better and that's what I've done up until today

I settled on a shading pattern pretty quickly which is the one I use for all of my packs. I still experiment with different patterns but I generally hand shade in the same style for most of my regular emotes. I just think it looks better :shrug

Are there any particular effects you've found difficult, or have been unable to create?

Everything takes a bit of time to get used to but really fluid effects defeat me. I'd love to be able to portray the elements in animations but effects involving fire and water can be pretty difficult to create. Fire especially because you have to think about how it effects light sources which I hardly ever think about.

Which are 3 of your favourite emotes from your personal gallery?

My favourite emote - like a doodle it's not quite perfect but I think I portrayed the theme pretty well and it kind of reflects my style.

It kind of explores some of the questions I'd ask if emotes were really and it still makes me smile.

It's not great but I love how fast the little guy is even if he did get too tired to fly. And I'm kind of proud of the little time distortion thing I did just before he stops spinning

Is there a particular emote in your gallery you would you like to see get more attention. If so, why?

Not really but if I had to choose I'd pick

I rarely use Wolfwood well in animations and I'm pretty happy with the effects

Are there any particular emoticonists you would like to see get more exposure?

There are so many but I think ROBlNHOOD deserves more attention - his emotes are really well done especially their movement.

How did you come up with your emoticon character?

When I started making emote packs I thought I should make them more personalised by representing myself on them. I thought it was appropriate to do it in emote form so the original Wolfwood was born

It wasn't until a year later that I decided to develop him properly and name him. Like all of my representative characters he's inspired by my name and is a nature-manipulating werewolf

Very original, no?

Do you feel like the emoticon gallery has progressed during your time as an emoticonist?

Yes - I've only been around 2 years but I've seen so many new trends, more complex animations, more pixel art involved. It's been really interesting seeing how the original styles of emote have evolved.

Where would you like to see emotes go in the future?

Anywhere and everywhere - if they're capable of doing something they should do it. There are so many possibilities but I'd love it if they could be combined with other mediums somehow - as long as they still kept their original charm anyway.

Are there any trends or styles you'd like to see less of in the gallery?

As much as I love participating in them I'm going to have to say projects and collabs. When they're done well they can be amazing but there are so many that don't achieve that effect. There are also a lot of revamps of the same emotes

There's not really anything I'd complain about.

Is there any advice you would like to give to new emoticonists?

Trying to recreate what other artists have done can be good for practice but if you want to improve quickly try to do something that no one has done before. Even if it looks crap it's always good to find gaps in the gallery and create something new. I also suggest trying to hand shade and create a shading pattern as soon as you feel comfortable - finding a style is good

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Don't be intimidated by Ninjas - they may look fast but they're not so great : paranoid:
Also, the words 'bint' and 'blithering' are hilarious to say out loud

If and were trapped in a submarine at the bottom of the sea, what would they do?

would be calm as usual as he would have no trouble breathing under water with his years of experience of holding his breath. :fella; on the other hand would panic at the idea of drowning so using

he'd break though the glass and then use him as floatation device to get to the surface. Then

would go back because he would realise that although they were trapped in the submarine it was still capable of travelling. Only by then it would have filled with water and

would drown because he had forgotten to take

back down with him.

Features

Emoticon Starter Pack V 3.0 by Wooded-Wolf

Emoticon starter pack V3 is still one of the most impressive starter packs i’ve come across on dA. The wide selection of colours and great range of expressions makes it an invaluable resource for any emoticonist needing a base pack.