So it just makes sense to feature the guys and gals that make the magic happen.
And now, meet one of our favorite artists/collaboration partners: MikeyPieArt!
Michael starting working with Iced Tea in the 2nd half of 2023. It started when we found some of his Insane NieR Automata artworks on Instagram. We messaged him to buy it but it was a commission piece (bummer) but, we did end up working together!
The first artwork Mikey did for us was the Legendary Makima + Power Nurse Duo.
The Power + Makima Nurse Duo
It was so good I Instantly commissioned A Gojo Piece, a Mei Mei piece, a Marin Piece and many, MANY more!
Anyway, lets gets to know Mikey, I'm going to ask him a few questions. Lets GO!
Question 1 - When did you first start drawing anime, what got you into it, did you begin drawing something else or was it anime from the beginning
Answer - I'm from the Netherlands and am currently 23 years old!
Hmmm.. I don't think I can answer this one super concretely, but I think I started drawing anime at the very end of 2022. Characters in Anime had always been a very big inspiration for me.
I absolutely love the aesthetic. When I first started drawing, my main inspiration tilted more towards a semi-realistic style. At the start I always dreamed of being a splash artist for League of Legends for example. But I pretty much threw that goal completely out of the window.
Question 2 - What has influenced your style of art? Is there an artist or a studio that you look up for inspiration?
Answer - I honestly take inspiration from a loooot of places, but mainly just anime I watch.
Recently I've been very much into One Piece. I absolutely love the way faces and expressions are drawn there and I take a lot of inspiration from it ! It made me realize that faces really are the most important part of the artwork (at least for me).
For style and proportions I'm still trying to find my own style slowly with every piece.
Question 3 - Why do you draw?
Answer - I draw because it is my passion!
Question 4 - How has your style and art changed over time?
Answer - You can scroll through my insta to see this more clearly. But I basically went from semi-realistic -> anime.
My most recent change in artstyle was last October. I was really getting super burned out with the style I had before that because every piece just took way too long and just didn't look nearly good enough in my opinion + the semi-realistic style prevented me from going for a lot more expressive expressions.
It didn't feel very rewarding. But now with my new style I'm having so much more fun and creating art I'm super satisfied with at a much faster speed.
I feel like I've finally found a style I'm super comfortable with ! I do still definitely intend to improve with every piece though.
Some of Mikey's first Artworks
Question 5 - What would you like to see done with your art? Do you want to see it used by an anime studio in the future? A game studio? Maybe by more brands like Iced Tea Aesthetics?
Answer - I'm very open to a lot still. I'm still relatively new to the industry, so I'll just see what comes my way.
I will be studying Character Illustration in Japan next year, so I'm hoping to get new opportunities there.
For now I'm super happy with getting my designs printed on clothing!
Question 6 - What's it like working with Iced Tea Aesthetics?
It's an absolute blessing ! The owner is super chill and has very good taste.
We often discuss about future drops together and I get a lot of say in it and even have the opportunity to put my own ideas out there!
I'm happy to say it feels like I'm working WITH him and not FOR him.
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A big thanks for Michael for answering these questions and an even bigger thank you for trusting and working with Iced Tea! We have a new collection featuring all of Mikey's designs on the Iced Tea Store too.
View MikeyPieArt's Artist Collection On Iced Tea Aesthetics.
