We recently connected with Artemis Fraine and have shared our conversation below.
Artemis, so happy to have you with us today. You are such a creative person, but have you ever head any sort of creativity block along the way? If so, can you talk to us about how you overcame or beat it?
Every creative hits a brick wall at some point in their journey. It’s inevitable. And just like all those who came before me, I’ve dealt with my fair share of writer’s and artist’s block over the years. It can be extremely difficult to break out of when you’re feeling like you’ll never create anything worthwhile again.
Each time I’ve had this feeling creep up on me, I’ve had to learn to force myself to first take a step back from it. I create because it’s what I love and what I feel that I was born to do. Writing and drawing are what bring me the most joy. So the minute it stops being fun, I know it’s time to take a break. Then, as I ease myself back into the process, I make sure not to overwork myself. I just let myself write or draw in short bursts without forcing myself to commit to a specific end-goal. I’m just going to create for 30 minutes and whatever happens in that time is what was meant to be on the paper.
I think the most important part of overcoming a creativity block is to do your best to turn off the internal critic that resides in all of us and reconnect instead with your inner child. Doodle the silliest and most incomprehensible scribbles, just to get something on the page! Write a paragraph of a cringeworthy fanfic! Don’t worry about how other people will perceive the goofy little things you make when you’re working through a block. Those little exercises are just for you and your improvement.
I’m always reminding myself that in art and writing, there is no such thing as “time wasted” if I make something I may not like in the end. Instead, I have to remember that that time was spent learning and growing as a creative.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a passionate screenwriter and illustrator with a love for stargazing, femme and nonbinary stories of power, and multidimensional realities. Having lived in 7 different locations between the US and Belgium, I’ve never felt tied down to any one place. My work reflects this free-spirited essence against the backdrop of imaginative worlds different from our own, helmed by characters who subvert traditional expectations. When I’m not unraveling the mysteries of the universe, I draw intricate fantasy environments and creatures of my own design.
Having recently moved once again, I am working to build up my network in a new country while I dive headfirst into the beginnings of a career in the animation world.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’d say that my top three have been remaining tenacious, embracing simplicity, and always grounding my creations in real life, no matter how fantastical.
I’m not someone who gives up easily and I think that this has served me well thus far. The kiss of death in the arts is not practicing your craft at every opportunity, no matter how small. It’s very important to me that I’m writing or drawing at least a little while every single day, even if I’m not completing a masterpiece. It’s what’s helped me grow as much as I have already!
Confession time: One of my biggest weaknesses is that I’m the king of overcomplicating things. When I was in film school, I wrote a TV pilot with a story and characters I cared about very deeply. In general, scripts like that should be between 50-60ish pages long, but my first draft? It was over 100 pages, setting a record for the longest one my teacher had ever read. We had a lot of good laughs about that. During the rewrite process, I really honed my ability to decide where I don’t need extraneous dialogue or bits of exposition that serve little real purpose. How could I convey the deep and emotional backstories I’d written for these characters by only revealing a tiny detail here and there? How could I make the audience care about them as much as I did, while still cutting out 40 pages? Simplicity became key. It’s the cornerstone of everything I create now, from words on the page to a digital painting. By creating moments of simplicity in my work, I feel that I’m able to elevate the intricate parts even more. It’s also helped me stress a lot less, too!
Lastly, I’m a huge fan of fantasy and science fiction–my work inhabits these two genres the most, sometimes even mixing them! I really love getting into the little details of a new world or creature I’m creating. But no matter what, I’m always pulling from what I know of the real world to influence the final product. If I’m writing a story, I infuse my characters with personalities and quirks from people I’ve met. When drawing, I always have some reference photos pulled up to make sure I don’t forget what a wing looks like or how the light shines on fish scales. Writing and drawing from life have given my work the breath of life that I think it was lacking in the past, when I felt pressured to make everything happen in a vacuum. It’s really opened the door and taken me to the next level!
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Yes, absolutely! As a writer and artist, I’m always interested in collaborating with people who are working on independent creative projects, like games, comics, or webseries. I love meeting new people and working on a team. I can be most easily reached via email at [email protected] or one of my social media handles.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://artemisfraine.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/infenza.dreams
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artemis-fraine/
- Other: Art Tumblr: https://infenza-dreams.tumblr.com
Image Credits
Artemis Fraine
