Xonitum is a NAIT Alumni and digital artist that is pursuing a freelance career. He mostly focuses on commissions and streaming live on Twitch.
He went to NAIT for the Architecture Technologies course but has found great success in art.
He saw people offering commissions on DeviantArt which is a platform he used to use and thought it was something he could also pursue.
He says that the best part of doing commissions is getting to interact with the commissioner themselves.
“The ideas they have, it kind of opens my mind to new ideas as well, which is kind of nice, I like that, I like learning new things, experimentation, new techniques, new art styles,” said Xonitum.
Currently he has moved away from Deviant Art, preferring Twitter.
“DeviantArt feels a lot more like a gallery of your own when I switched to Twitter. It’s more of a hub where you can actually talk to people instead of just doing art and doing commissions.”
Photo via ArtStation
With Twitter he says he can talk more casually. It is the best platform he has found so far but he is still looking for alternatives. Because of this freedom of interaction, it allowed him to develop his art style even further.
“Back in DeviantArt I never really talked to other artists, so I had been stuck in a certain art style at that time. When I switched to Twitter, the people that I talked to, and the people that I look up to, kind of mixed with my own art style,” Xonitum said.
When he was using DeviantArt, he used a program called Paint Tools SAI to create his art. Currently he is using a program called Clips Studio Paint. He is trying not to anchor himself too much on one program because he is now experimenting with 3D work in Blender, a free digital creation suite.
“I’m never opposed to mixing programs because it’s kind of like traditional art where you’re mixing mediums.”
“My Best Friend” by Xonitum | Photo via ArtStation
Xonitum says that if anyone wants to pursue art it is not impossible.
“There are a lot of people who keep asking me how to draw, because they can’t draw. I don’t believe that, I don’t believe that nobody can draw. Everyone can, it just takes a lot of time…Art in general is kind of like a muscle. If it’s untrained, it’s not going to do much but if you train it hard enough you can do a lot of things.”
He is currently looking at starting a Patreon to supplement his income.
“Don’t give up. I’ve had a lot of moments where I second guess myself a lot and I’m glad I never folded.”
“If you think that this is something that you’re capable of doing, just try doing it. I mean, I didn’t think that I’d get this far, and all I did was take my shot.”
To view Xonitum’s work the best place is his Twitter and Twitch.
He also has a Pixiv and ArtStation.
