DestinyBlue. Photographed by Papercube at MCM London Comic Con on Sunday 27 May 2018.

“Yes, I have dyed my underarm hair blue,” laughs DestinyBlue, as she drops this revelation from out of nowhere, for I hadn’t even got to my questions yet.

DestinyBlue had no interest in studying art any further than GCSE after her secondary school teacher told her that cartoons were not art. Yet she continued to draw. Citing Final Fantasy as one of her first sources of inspiration, she highlights seminal JRPG Final Fantasy VII as the first time she became aware of anime and began drawing in a similar style. Of the games themselves, she calls Final Fantasy IX her favourite. “I love IX.” said DestinyBlue “But I don’t know how well it ages because I haven’t played it in a long time. I’ll have to play it again and see. But they really influenced me. The stories that they tell are fantastic.”

In 2004, she joined DeviantArt, which she described as “instrumental” in her development, mentioning how the feedback and critique she received from sharing her work on the site allowed her to improve her art and connect with like-minded people. In July 2015, DeviantArt awarded DestinyBlue a Deviousness Award, describing her as, “a long-term deviant who regularly pours her heart and soul into the community.”

From 2010 she began exhibiting at conventions and has since attended conventions around the world. But she always makes sure to come back to MCM London Comic Con, which she calls her “home convention.”

In recent years her work has dealt with darker themes. In May 2015 she produced the piece titled ‘Depression‘ detailing her struggle with mental health. The piece went viral as it was shared online and saw thousands of comments. “I think they’re inseparable, both my journey and my artwork,” said DestinyBlue. “They’re a look into my soul. For me, it’s all about telling my story and what I experience emotionally.”

The bulk of our interview took place on Friday 3 November 2017 (we both wanted to visit the Final Fantasy Pop-Up shop) and was conducted in the lounge of the Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel, with DestinyBlue enjoying a fresh mint and lemon tea. We also had a brief catch up at MCM London Comic Con in May 2018. Of MCM Comic Con, she acknowledged the wealth of talent in the Comic Village, saying, “I wish I actually had more of a chance to wander around there, which I do just before it opens. It’s my favourite place in the show. It’s where I would spend all my time if I was an attendee.”

The interview lasted longer than expected as questions would occasionally veer off onto other topics. Happy to give her time, DestinyBlue herself was relaxed, modest and welcoming as we discussed her art style, the responses to her work, unusual inspirations and biscuits.

My thanks go to DestinyBlue for taking the time out for the interview and for approving this ‘slightly edited’ transcript, and to Papercube for his photos.

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For those who don’t know, where did the name DestinyBlue come from?
Blue has been an obsession of mine for a long time, but my dad was the first one to call me Blue! I had this blue hair mascara, I put it in my hair, and then I’d come downstairs and my dad would be like, “Oh, hi Blue.” I liked that and thought I looked so cool. I’d use this mascara all the time. Then at 15, I dyed permanent blue streaks in my hair, and it looked terrible because I didn’t know how to keep it up. But it’s funny, when you put blue in your hair people start to call you Blue.

The Destiny thing, I’ve always loved the idea of destiny. Because fate is given to you, fate is something that you get served. With destiny, you become your destiny, you fulfil your destiny, you choose the path that leads you. So I always like the idea that there is a life that you can achieve if you strive towards it. Destiny also includes the first four letters of my surname as well, so I kind of connected everything and DestinyBlue was born. Without a space, because this was the time of the internet when you weren’t allowed to put a space in anything.

Smile

Grow Again

Back in 2012, you initially described yourself as, “An artist that specialises in the anime/manga style of illustration.”
Yeah I did… 2012.

You said that you “generally do cute girls, poster, pin-up style.”
Mmm hmm.

This year [2017] you described yourself as, “An artist who deals with her demons through drawing.”
Ah, yeah. Gosh, 2012. So I don’t think I was aware I was mentally unwell in 2012. I’m trying to think. The timeline is a bit hazy. I’m somebody who had a relatively… good mental health and then some things happened and it went downhill. 2012 was near the start of it. For a long time I was drawing more emotional stuff, but I didn’t share any of it with others, I was scared to at first because I thought people would judge negatively. I was brought up thinking you’re supposed to control your emotions and nobody wants to see you being upset.

But when you first started drawing things were different?
I was badly bullied in school, I started drawing at 13 as I just wanted to be able to sit there and keep my head down sometimes. So I started doodling and it was more about escapism. Now I look at it, it’s a lot of fantasy art, a lot of Final Fantasy type stuff, being in a world where I would imagine myself as one of these fantastic girls, having adventures, rather than being spat at by the bullies.

There was a bit of wish fulfilment when it came to the characters you were drawing?
Yeah, definitely – and self-exploration in that way, as well as skilling-up. I was really getting better every year, with every drawing and really focusing on improving. I think you get that real jump when you’re first starting out and you’re seriously starting to learn the foundations of art.

Now art has changed what it means for me. Now it’s much more of an outlet… it’s a different outlet now. I slowly began feeling more comfortable putting my feelings into my artwork, conveying that through drawing. The more I did that, the more I was amazed that people liked that, saying, “I feel that same way.”

The amount of comments I get that say, “I’ve never told anyone this, but I feel that way every day.” It’s on some of my darker posts. It makes me sad, but I can relate to that too, because I was that way before.

I didn’t realise there were people like that, because everyone has a public face.
“How are you?”
“Fine!”
You don’t respond with, “Having a bit of a bad day. Trying not to cry.”
We think no one wants to hear that. But finding out people really wanted to talk about the dark times too, and people were having the same experiences as me, it motivated me to keep sharing that way. So I’m really glad that people supported me in my decision to do that. My support has very much underpinned my ability to talk about those things. I feel that a lot more people are talking about the important issues now. So, I’m very pleased.

You do see it a lot more in the news.
And schools!

I didn’t hear about that when I was in school.
I didn’t hear a word about depression in school. Or in the newspapers.

Something people may have been suffering from but didn’t know if there was a word or term for it.
Yeah. The trouble with mental illness is it completely lies to you. So you feel like everything is dark, the world is crappy, people won’t understand you, and that’s part of the illness. Feeling disconnected is a symptom of the illness. So when you’re in there, it’s so much harder to seek help. It’s so much harder to feel like there is any connection. But, if you haven’t heard that it’s an illness, rather than you are just (pauses) rubbish… or worse, told it’s your own fault.

You’ve been told something else and it feeds into you.
(Nods) Yeah, just, “Shut up and try harder at whatever [you’re doing]. Just get more money, you’ll be happier. Just lose more weight, you’ll be happier.” The kind of things society tells us we should have are often not the things that actually make us content. It’s twisted and difficult to live for your own expectation rather than others. But it’s worth striving for.

Because there was the change in how you described your art, what would you say was the turning point? Or was it just a slow gradual change?
I think it was definitely a gradual thing. Because self-exploration is a gradual thing. There is no (clicks fingers) light bulb that gets turned on that goes, “Oh, I need help.” It’s the more time that you spend with your own thoughts, the more comfortable you get with who you are as a person and what you’re experiencing. And I used drawing as a way to process that. So it wasn’t, “BAM, I’m not inspired by anime style anymore.” I wanted to explore and make things look more realistic, as the themes were more realistic. It’s symbiotic. Finding your own style takes time, just like finding your own voice.

I’m Fine

Paint Your Wings

The piece titled ‘Smile’, you said, “Because I can’t talk about it, it gives me the urge to draw it.”
Mmm hmm.

You did eventually talk about it. Everyone adds a bit of their own life into their art, but what would you say made you want to incorporate your own personal issues into your art?
Initially, when I was younger, there was a couple of specific but long-term things that happened over a number of years that I would say were the architects of my mental unwellness. The situations that I went through were slow burning and I didn’t realise the effect they had on me, mentally. So I didn’t even realise what I was processing. I didn’t recognise my mental illness. I recognised being sad, feeling crappy and not being able to talk about some things. The diary-esque nature of my work made me start to put it in there.

I think ‘I’m Fine’, where she’s holding the post-it note, and she’s crying but she’s got the smiley face on the post-it note, that one and ‘Paint Your Wings’ were the first two that essentially went viral. They went all over the internet, were shared a lot and people understood and got them. I didn’t think they were necessarily much better or much different from my other work. But there’s something about both of those two that really struck on what other people were feeling as well.

Where suddenly it was less about the art and more about the message?
Yeah, that’s probably true. Looking back on them now they’re both technically very flawed drawings (laughs). But I don’t know how many thousands of people have liked them, bought them and put them on their wall. I was like “Wow!” That’s crazy to experience such understanding and that connection through so many people. The reception was sudden, but the creation less so.

You do not do commissions or requests. You’ve said, “If someone else is controlling my pen with their wallet I just don’t enjoy drawing.”
(Nods)

Does that come from experience?
Not really, no. Just the idea of drawing someone else’s story… it doesn’t interest me. I’m not in this game for money. I didn’t draw thinking, “I’ll be an artist who wants to draw things for money.” I just wanted to draw things. Then the separate business side of me was like, “Oh, you can sell these.” Luckily for me, the two sides merged really well and I made a successful business out of it. But the idea of being stripped of what makes my art my art just doesn’t interest me at all.

Of course, if anyone wants to give me a million pounds for a doodle I might be persuaded. (Laughs)

Well has it happened, where people have said, “We’ll give you this much?”
Oh yeah. But it’s all reasonable offers; no millions yet (laughs). The only thing I would do is if a big studio… I don’t know, Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon came to me and said, “We want to do something that is DestinyBlue, or has your thing within it.” Obviously I’d jump on board with something like that. Almost always, it’s, “Hi, we’re a studio, or company, and we want you to make artwork that looks like this.” Or, “Something that looks like yours, but it’s for our product.”

Most of it would detach my name. So if it was, “DestinyBlue X-Y-Z,” then sure, it would give me more of my own thing. But most of the time, it’s not. Maybe I’d sell out when people stop buying prints (laughs) or when times get tough. I wouldn’t rule it out, but it’s not something I want to do.

A lot of your art has a glowing element.
(Winks and does OK hand gesture) You noticed?
(We both laugh)

What made you want to incorporate that into your work?
I love the look of it, I love the feel of it. I think light as an entity is just the most incredible, beautiful thing. Playing with the light is just so enjoyable. So the way that light affects things and the way that it’s mirrored in both feelings and emotions. When you’re with somebody, the way your glow, or your light of feelings can affect someone else. Or in turn, your darkness of feelings can impact on someone. I think the light is a good analogy and a good vehicle of message. And, it just looks beautiful (laughs).

I feel like I have an inner glow, an inner vibrance, and I want that to spread. I feel like a lot of my drawings have that same vibrance that I want to show and want to spread. So the glowing comes up a lot in those.

Trust

She’s brOKen

You set up a page collating art from people that have been inspired by your work. How does it make you feel knowing that you’re an inspiration to so many?
It makes me feel very happy. Because I’ve got my idols and inspirations and… I want them to be happy that they’ve influenced me. In turn, the fact that I’m not just an artist that you look at and go, “Oh, that’s nice – next. That’s nice – next.” My work has had an influence, that what I do has been carried on by a lot of people and has been taken and changed into something new and something different. For my ideas and my messages to be passed on, I think that’s such an incredible thing. It’s really exciting that my little mind has made up this little thing, then there’s more… (spreads arms out).

Like a ripple effect.
Yeah, exactly. I feel like I was one of… well, certainly on the internet, [back then] there weren’t people doing what I was doing – the emotional, the glowing, the feeling kind of art. Now I look around and I’m like, “Oh wow, there’s actually a lot of people who are doing similar stuff.” Obviously not all of it is influenced by me, but there are a lot of people who have told me that I’ve been a huge influence for them. Now they’ve got big followings and are hugely successful and they’re influencing other people. That’s amazing.

Did you ever think that you would end up inspiring others?
(Laughs)

I’m guessing, no?
Not in the way that I have. I wouldn’t have expected it to be how I have been, but I always knew that I wanted to be somebody who helped other people to be the better version of themselves. Through a lot of my life that has been something I’ve tried to do. So it was less about me, but more about supporting other people.

I just think people underestimate the support that others can actually give you and the genuine loving kind support that you can give to somebody. Just to be able to talk about something, or open up about something. Even if it’s just helping them with a daily task. Like, “How does the washing machine work?”
Rather than going, “Duh, how do you not know that?” That doesn’t help.
Just being like, “Oh, it’s really interesting that you don’t know how to use that. That’s cool. Let me show you.”

I’ve always wanted to be a positive influence on people and the drawing has been a much bigger success than I ever expected. But I think there are even more exciting things to come.

I noticed that there are people who have cosplayed your artwork.
(Excited) Yeah, there are!

I believe the first instance was someone cosplaying ‘Weighted Companion Cube Girl‘
Oh yeah, goodness!

There are also people that have decided to get tattoos of your artwork.
Oh yeah, I saw an amazing one [at MCM London, October 2017].

What did you see?
So I’ve done an image called ‘Trust’. She’s holding a key and she’s got an ornate keyhole on her back. And someone [had a tattoo] of the keyhole on her back. It’s really cool. Katie her name is. My lovely Katie.

How does that feel, seeing your artwork come to life like that? It’s no longer on the page, or on a screen. You’re seeing it there visually in front of you. Someone has cosplayed it or tattooed it on themselves.
First I hope they don’t regret it (laughs). Because there are quite a few tattoos of my work… I don’t think there’s a higher honour. It’s on your body forever. (Places hands on heart) That it’s so deep in somebody’s conscience, that they feel so related to that, that they want to have it on their body for the rest of their life, as an artist (raises hands), that’s the pinnacle (laughs).

Your art will live on in another form.
Yeah. It’s not just a part of me, it’s a part of who they are and that’s a really exciting thing. And the cosplayers just make me so happy. Somebody’s gone through the trouble to make an outfit and have it on for the whole day, the whole show. It brightens my day when I see that, times a million. And people always look like they’re having fun with it, so that’s really nice.

From reading about your pieces, it’s interesting to see how inspiration hits you at the most unlikely moments.
(Laughs)

You might be able to pinpoint the artwork here, for I’ve noticed that inspiration has hit you from a game.
(Nods)

At an airport.
Yeah.

A train station.
Trains, yeah.

Even a negative comment.
Oh, yeah!

So what have been some of the most unusual sources of inspiration for you?
Cor, good question. Well, I’m a bit of a people watcher. I love people. I think everyone has their own story and I really want to understand what that story is. I love to ask questions of people that aren’t just, “How are you?” Or, if I do ask, “How are you?” I want to know how that person is.

And you don’t just want the standard, “I’m okay,” answer.
Exactly, yeah. I’m one of those people that don’t want to just hear you’re fine. So my inspiration often does come from both others and how I’m feeling about certain things. Like, when somebody says something negative to you online, you would expect to be upset or sad. Or take it like, “Oh, that sucks.”

A lot of people, when they do get a negative comment, they retaliate. But I feel like you kill them with kindness.
(Laughs) I guess I don’t do it to quell them, because they have a voice. Somebody saying they don’t like a piece of artwork is a completely legitimate thing to say. But even the really hateful ones, it’s more understanding them with kindness. Like, have I ever felt like writing on another artist’s drawing (imitates typing), “Oh, I think this shouldn’t be so popular, it’s not that good.” Yeah, sure. You know, I’m another artist – sometimes I feel envious seeing other people’s drawings, or seeing other people’s number of followers. I think that can be inevitable in whatever field you’re in. I’m sure there are interviews where you’re like, “Oh, if I had the opportunity to interview that person. Why did he ask that question?”

There are moments, and you’ve probably had this as well, where you feel a bit jealous but at the same time, you’re happy for that person as well.
Yeah. Because I’m for embracing feelings, that feeling of jealousy doesn’t make someone a mean, evil, wicked person. We all feel it! Frustration too, I’ve had times where I’ve got an idea, but then another artist posts something similar before I’ve finished mine, and I’m like (raises fist), “Damn (laughs), it would look like I’m copying them.”

Has that actually happened?
Yeah. Occasionally. I mean, a lot of the stuff, it’s not rocket science.
“I’m okay.”
“I’m not okay.”
“I’m feeling like this.”

Creativity is putting jigsaw puzzles together in the wrong places. Most people like to put together matching pieces. We’re taught that that’s the way. I like to put them in the wrong places. It’s more interesting. But I’m not the only one. We’re mostly playing with the same pieces, so other people could happen upon a combination first.

Take for instance my piece ‘She’s brOKen’ – I had that idea, I came up with that idea. I noticed OK was in the word broken spontaneously, but because this is so simple, thousands of people before me saw that too. But then deciding to put the OK on the girl’s shirt and the ‘broken’ written on the wall behind, that’s where the originality comes in. I was the first to do that, but it’s quite possible someone else would have got these eventually. Now I see lots of copies of that! But that’s also cool.

War Paint

Imprint

Well, you did say you like watching people, so was there a particularly unusual situation that you didn’t think would become an inspiration to draw? One you did not expect to turn into a piece of art?
I think the ‘War Paint’ one is probably the most completely random. I was on a train going into town and there was this girl putting on make-up. I was just fascinated by how (pretends to apply lipstick) perfectly she was putting everything on. The train was really wobbly and she was still doing really well. I swear, when it went really shaky, she stopped just before. It was like she knew. Then she carried on. So I reckon she takes that train all the time.

She just had that kind of attitude, that whatever happened, it would go right. I thought, even if the train jumped and the lipstick was to go on her cheek, she would just use that as war paint, like putting her marks on and leaving it on her face. As soon as I saw her, I was like, “Oh my God, I need to draw you!” (Laughs) Now I wonder if she’s ever seen the drawing.

Of the art you’ve done, which piece, or pieces, would you say has had the biggest response?
So many pieces have had such huge responses in such different ways.

There’s not going to be just one is there.
(Laughs) Yeah, I wish there was just one.
(Realisation) Wait, no! I don’t wish there was just one (laughs).

“I want them all to be popular!”
Yeah! I really love how people respond to the ‘Imprint’ one. It’s a lady and she’s got an imprint of somebody’s hand on the back of her shoulder and it’s warm and it’s glowing. It’s about how people leave marks on us. Even if they’re not still around, we can still feel their presence. The way that people interpret that… I feel like connection is such an important thing in everyone’s life, probably one of the most important things, the connections we have with other humans. I love to hear people’s stories about who’s leaving that mark on them and why. Some are really positive and enduring relationships, others are people who have passed on, others are people who remind us not to get involved with anybody like that again.

You’ve learnt your lesson?
Yeah, yeah! I’ve had people in my life who have taught me a lot and it’s been a really difficult lesson, but they’ve taught me to not go near anybody like that again (laughs). They’ve left a huge imprint on me and as much as I’d like to forget that time, it’s important. Because we don’t grow if we don’t learn from those experiences. So that’s been a really lovely one.

I think the one that’s really been the most important to me was the piece called ‘Depression’. The one with the wall – “I’M OK” on one side and “I’M NOT OKAY” on the other side. That was the first piece that I actually talked about, specifically, my mental health issue… and came out as it were as mentally unwell. I mean, you could definitely see from my drawings before that, that I was dealing with difficulties, but I wanted to talk about it both clinically and experientially. And… oh my goodness, I have like 3,000 comments on that and I was just reading them all.

The outpouring was incredible.
Yeah, and to know that other people felt that way and I wasn’t alone. That one went viral and is now a meme (laughs).

I’ve noticed.
You’ve seen the memes! (Laughs) So that’s pretty weird, but kinda cool. People just change the second panel around to whatever they want. I didn’t expect [my work] to become a meme. But I love the playful aspect of it.

Would those pieces be the same ones that are big sellers at conventions? Or is it different with every convention?
So, people love to connect with the darker emotional ones or love to be felt understood. So [those pieces] get a huge response online. But when it comes to art on their wall, do people want to be reminded of feeling unhappy? No. So ones like ‘Depression’ don’t sell so well. It’s more of the positive ones. Like, ‘Out of the Woods’ is really nice. That’s the little guy standing, just coming out of the woods, coming out of a dark time and there are little monsters in the shadows. That one’s a very personal one to me and other people really like the positive message of that.

‘Imprint’ and ‘Trust’ are both bestsellers. ‘Imprint’ is universal – everybody has someone who has left a mark on them. So it’s generally my more positive pieces that sell at shows, but my dark pieces that get more traction online.

Do you have work from other artists on your wall?
That’s a good question. Yes I do. (Pauses) Alphonse Mucha – just the aesthetics, oh my God! So gorgeous. The other one who I really love is Munashichi, who just does the most intricate fantasy buildings, places I’d love to get lost in, places I’d love to explore. Often it’s places where the greenery is coming back into it, and its growth, the outdoors and the indoors kind of merging. I really love those. I don’t really have much darker things on my wall.

Out of the Woods

Depression

When I met you at MCM London in May 2017, you mentioned how people would tell you that they have bought tickets and travelled long distances just to see you.
(Whispers) Yeah… that’s weird.
But awesome!

You’ve also said on social media, “It will never not be weird that people want selfies with me!”
(Laughs) Yeah, I was in the Final Fantasy pop-up shop and some people shouted, “BLUE!” I didn’t think, but obviously there’s a big crossover from people who also go to MCM London. So some people recognised me and wanted selfies, which was cool, but weird, as it was more in my (quotation marks) ‘normal life’, if I have one of those.

How many times did it happen there?
Oh, about four (laughs). Which wasn’t too bad. Walking around shows I’m trying to go stealth-like, if I need the loo it can take a while! I’m glad I can walk around the streets without recognition though.

Does it overwhelm you when you see how many people are interested in what you’re doing?
So it was New York Comic Con [in 2016]. There was someone who travelled from the West Coast of America to the East Coast, apparently just to meet me. Like… how true (laughs).

A bit of me goes… “Am I really worth it?” Because to me, I’m not particularly special. I’m with me all the time. (Laughs continuously) I travel where I travel and so my own existence doesn’t come as much of an interest. So yeah, what’s special about me? I have nice hair!

People haven’t come for your hair, have they?
No one’s come for my hair (laughs). But I once did give a print to this girl and it got a hair of mine on it. The girl was like (pretends to pick up a strand of hair), “I’m keeping this!” (Laughs) I thought that was fantastic. I’m pretty sure it was a joke, but who knows? There might be a bit of my hair pinned up next to my art. Or she’s cloned me.

Sometimes I worry people have high expectations of what I’ll be like, and I’m not sure if I meet those. In some respects, I’m like, “How can just meeting me and chatting with me be worth travelling so far?” That can feel like I have to live up to something.

Like, “You’ve spent this time and money to come here. How can I make your day?”
Yeah.

I imagine the feeling is, “I’m probably going to let you down?”
Yeah, that’s it. I do love making peoples day! And I haven’t had any complaints yet, so I’m doing something right! No one’s ever said, “Ugh, bit of a let-down.”

But the guy who travelled from the West Coast, he posted on social media, “Oh, it was incredible to meet one of my heroes, just to chat with her.” It’s another of those imprint connections I was talking about earlier; I’ve left prints on lots of people, and in turn, they’ve left an impact on me.

In terms of the work you’ve done, when so many people have related to it, they want to meet the artist behind that.
Yeah.

“This person inspired me. I want to meet the artist that made me feel more open about my feelings.” And you’ve probably had people that just wanted to say, “Thank you.”
Yeah, oh my goodness. That’s the most common e-mail or thing I get told. Just, “Thank you.”
And I’m like (raises thumbs up on both hands and smiles), “You’re welcome.”

Another thing, I think a lot of people in our lives, they don’t mean to, but they will block us from feeling certain ways, or say we shouldn’t feel a certain way. We’re very, “Don’t do that. Don’t think that.” You need to move past that really quickly.

Part of my bag is, “These are feelings and it’s okay to have those feelings.” I feel like people want to be understood. In many respects, I want to understand people. So I take that openness and that time to listen and understand. To be listened to and understood is one of the best things in the world. To be genuinely felt that you’re felt… I would say that’s the best feeling, really.

I genuinely do want to feel other people and to understand other people. I think that’s why it’s so lovely doing what I do. So, yeah, it’s incredible.

How does it make you feel when you see how many people are following you on social media and DeviantArt?
It’s easy to just look at numbers, so I try to keep in mind the people behind the statistics. I love reading people’s comments most and to think each Like is a real person is mind-blowing! What I love most is how it translates to the real world; amazing to think I could be in any city in the world and have people who would give me somewhere to stay, or want to hang out with me, and how people have decided that they like me before they’ve met me.

DestinyBlue. Photographed by Papercube at MCM London Comic Con on Sunday 27 May 2018.

If you had the opportunity to meet the DestinyBlue who had just started drawing…
Awwww.

…what is the one piece of advice you would tell her?
Give her a big hug (gives an air hug). Say, “Everything’s going to be okay.”

It’s been really difficult to live my life at times, and I wish I could support my younger self through the things she had to go through alone. But as for artistically, my 13-year old self, which was when I first started drawing… (pauses) I feel like I would care more about her emotionally than about her drawing skills, because I know her drawing skills would get there.

I feel like the happier you are, the more productive you are. So looking after yourself emotionally is really important for becoming a good artist. Because if you’re not happy, what’s the point? “Oh, I’m doing really nice artwork, but I’m just not at peace with myself.”

But artistically the best advice is to just draw a lot. With every drawing, you get better. You can use fancy techniques, but if you just draw a lot you’re going to get good. Get pen to paper. Or to the digipad. Don’t skimp on the fundamentals though. Loomis is your friend.

What can people look forward to in the future?
Aaaahhhh, so… (drum rolls hands on table) an art book! It’ll be my collected artwork, behind the scenes stuff and tutorials. I’m working hard to bring it to life at the moment. There’s so much to do!

Finally, I understand you have an amazing tea collection.
(Laughs)
(Boastful) I do!

So I would like to ask, what is your favourite biscuit to have with a cup of tea?
Ooh… OOH… ah… what is my favourite biscuit?

You were expecting me to ask what your favourite tea is.
I was! Also, I have been going vegan. So a lot of the biscuits that I would normally reel off have dairy in and I’m trying to be a more compassionate human being. So I haven’t really found any epic ones and I’m trying not to have too much sugar at the moment as well (laughs). So I try not to have a biscuit.

So the answer would be no biscuit?
I don’t… I mean… (pauses)

This is the most difficult question for you, isn’t it?
Yeah (laughs). When you talk to me about my emotional stuff, every other question I can answer like that (clicks fingers). But when it’s biscuits…

Do I have a biscuit flavoured tea? I don’t think I do. Oh, those biscotti gingerbread ones! I love those. And no dairy either! That’s probably my favourite biscuit. Do you know the ones I mean? (Uses thumbs and forefingers to shape a biscotti)

I think so.
I don’t even know what they’re called. I wonder what they’re properly called. Yeah, gingerbread ones. (Nods)

Is that what you’re going for? The biscotti?
I will have to consider the matter deeply. So will take any biscuit applications at shows (laughs). Bring them along and I’ll judge. Apply to be DestinyBlue’s favourite biscuit by sending me a packet at the next MCM (winks).

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You can follow DestinyBlue on her DeviantArt page, Instagram page and Facebook page.

Interview by Shalimar Sahota.