#thoughtprocess

Also, how did you end up choosing which artists would be in this? Did you have ideas for what the drawings you would do for them would look like beforehand?

...That was a lot of questions oops, I just really like this idea and want to know more lol.

It took me some time to forge a response because GusArt was an open project back then. Also, I knew it would be an exhaustive answer.

The story of this venture is that I've found a postcard with Orlík's reproduction lying at my place. It's the thing I do: collect museum merch like a madman. While looking at it, I thought how awesome and underrated Orlík is, and it would be cool if more people knew about him. Note that I was right after #gustholomuleweek21, and since my brain mainly operates on 'random,' the brain cells somehow brew the idea of combining The Owl House fanart with getting exposure to dead people.

Long story short, Emil Orlík sparked the GusArt into existence. The idea seems like a fun project, but it would take more than one artist to keep things spicy and investing, so I've gathered more names on my Sticky Notes list. But I'll get into details of the said list in a moment. So that's the 'Art' part of GusArt. The first half refers to Augustus Porter himself, my brave, fantastic, and hard-working model. I scooped him for this role because, during the mentioned challenge, I've taken an immense liking to his character. Also, something about Gus makes it very easy for me to sell an idea or a setting. He's pulling things with such ease, one day flexing with a rapper drip, one later chilling in a Japanese pilgrim outfit, and it lands. I have a hunch that it wouldn't be possible with characters like, for example, Mattholomule. Gus has this aura of ease and flamboyance, which makes it so natural to work with. It took me a while, but I've finally mustered up the courage and went to Gus' place and started begging hi- gently laid the idea of '7 Art' to him. Happily, Gus agreed to work with me, but under the condition of changing the name from '7 Art' to 'GusArt.'

I've closely studied only one artist during my lifespan, and it was Wyspiański, so there was a taste of familiarity with getting on it again. In addition, I adore him not only as an artist but as a person, so scrabbling his name on the Sticky Notes list was a no-brainer. The rest of the people aren't random either. They represent my favorite movements in art (not all of them, the exception is Chełmoński, who represents the school of realism), namely: Art Nouveau, Secession, Young Poland Movement, Japonisme, Symbolism, yadda yadda; basically, those that emerged after the invention of the camera and are often tinted with some Japanese, oriental influence. Short note. The creation of the camera was a breakthrough because the attempts to reproduce reality ceased. I have the impression that art has taken care of itself ever since. Back to the topic.

Apart from selecting surnames from my favorite periods, I had other motives as well. I am aware that I come from quite an isolated cultural circle, to put it lightly. Therefore, I saw it as an opportunity to present local artists, foreign names, complete strangers to some. And these native people, not surprisingly, were my first ideas when coming up with the list. I know them well or know them at all since I was born and raised in Poland. The probability that someone has dealt with Edward Okuń or a guy like Chełmoński outside from this Polish bubble is... extremely low. Nevertheless, they're fantastic personalities and creators, and I am glad to present them. If even one person took their time to look them up, then I did my job well.

Now, about the process itself. GusArt had few rules: one artist per day, same squarish format, same background, every piece conveys a different mood/feel, poses cannot be repeated or be too similar, always one humanoid character in the frame, always full-body, always with both hands visible, each presents a different composition/perspective. The neat part is that this series works well even without the 'fandom' context, so it's presentable to people unfamiliar with TOH. 

In general, I stuck with the first idea/sketch, later only deforming it. I'll post my sketchdump tomorrow, so anyone interested can review the process and notice where things shifted. Warning, my sketches are messy and chaotic. The creator randomly selected names for me each night, so the big-scale planning ended at creating a list. Not knowing the order was an important factor preventing me from over-planning. I can compare it to knowing the title of the lecture but not being on the lecture itself. Besides, everything changes dramatically when you actually sit down to work. Example:

A lot of things changed while sketching only, minutes apart. Visions are deforming so rapidly that I'm more comfortable figuring it out on the go.

I hope that my little essay addressed your questions well. Thank you for taking your time to write an ask, and making me re-run though-processes.