Ellie Nesbitt (FAYBEL), Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory member, provides some fascinating insights into her practice and experience as a digital artist, as she responds to the questions below:
- What type of art do you create and what motivates you to make it?
- What is your biggest pain point as an artist?
- Tell us about an important life moment that influenced the direction of your work, and how.
- How has social media changed your practice?
What type of art do you create and what motivates you to make it?
Creating art from original fairytale narratives with fabric-gilding, forward-couture alchemists; time devouring, clockwork fae and mood-siphoning, starry-haired female protagonists is my utmost passion. I infuse each digitally painted piece with sensory experiences and powerful interpersonal memories, drawn from reflections on my past and present—from daily life.
My health had been plummeting without reprieve for many years: scenario after scenario of mysterious illness had viciously pulled me away from my best of friends, my schooling, my family—all that I valued, was expected of me and, most painfully, many simple things we all dream of for our own selves, like independence and the choice to live without debilitating restriction from chronic, physical pain.
There was a time when I was lost, listlessly floating in a delirium of perceived self-inadequacy, feeling controlled by everything but my own inner voice. The limitation of time—the time we all have—the minimal time I believed I had had after years of downward motion lead me to take a leap into a long lost dream—to explore the digital medium, a once thought childhood fancy, inspired by a coveted collection of artist idols—people I never thought I would meet, but slowly have been.
As a traditional graphite illustrator, more hobbyist than otherwise, I found digital art unequivocally daunting. In the beginning, I believed with unyielding firmness that I would be a horrible digital artist: I could never imagine anything besides. Tragically failing health had pulled me away from so many dreams that I had little faith. Yet, I knew I would regret not trying to paint digitally, no matter how significantly I perceived myself to be lacking. With the gift of a Wacom Intuos Pro from my family, I put what little hope was left into a dream in the attic of my conscious mind.
Perhaps seldom few of us become what we expect to be.
I believed just enough to try, which is all anyone needs to begin anything, and soon learned to use art as a self-established therapy, one to help control the chronically debilitating, physical pain that governed my every action—that still in many ways reigns over my life. After my spine was crushed by three inches from severe, lethally undetected, osteoporosis in 2022, I still continued to paint in the supine position and do so nearly each day. Painting is my own personal rebellion against the negative thinking and painful words that made me feel like less-than, the harshest being mine, from my own mind.
Perhaps seldom few of us become what we expect to be.
What is your biggest pain point as an artist?
In spite of being able to digitally illustrate while lying down, looking at my suspended monitor alone, mobility restrictions present an overwhelming obstacle. With over ten of my vertebrae fractured and a repaired broken hip, many daily activities, including types of traditional artistic practice, are precarious for me. I am beyond thankful to my family for representing FAYBEL at local vendor shows and for helping my business with custom framing and exhibition photography. Much of FAYBEL and its future projects are in a transitory period, waiting alongside myself and my family for final confirmation on spinal reconstructive surgery(s).
Tell us about an important life moment that influenced the direction of your work, and how.
As a once avid gamer of fantastical role playing games, the discovery of virtual photography reawakened my interest in digital art and Photoshop. I would spend ceaseless hours capturing snowy wonderlands in Horizon Zero Dawn and the harsh, yet lush, Viking age in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, with built-in virtual camera tools, taking portraits of female protagonists like Aloy and then overpainting them with further notes of visual realism in Adobe Photoshop.
This avid detailing, the virtual photography online community and my enjoyment of gaming with newfound abandon, eventually provided me with the confidence to tackle original works: paint-overs transformed into the creation of character illustrations and scenes from my original fairytale narratives, the most recent being from my romantasy book project Timbretock. As a professional digital painter today, all of my artworks begin with a blank virtual canvas in Adobe Photoshop and are of my own design and digital technique.
How has social media changed your practice?
The 3:4 ratio portrait size in Instagram’s feed has led me to design and paint many pieces with this particular proportion for maximum spatial visibility. In a similar line of interest, the importance of thumbnails on social media has also predisposed me to use the Navigator window in Adobe Photoshop.
This viewer enables the artist to see their work at thumbnail size continuously throughout a piece’s creation. Even with intricate detailing, I ensure that my paintings are readable and attention-grasping as thumbnails for social media.
Recent shifts in reach on prime social channels have turned my business as an artist to more local vendor events and in-person sales. A large social following is not necessarily a precursor or prerequisite for successful business practice, though socials are a notable tool for making positive connections with prominent members of the fine art community, especially outside of your geographical zone—this might include relations with art magazines, like Beautiful Bizarre; artist-powered associations; and renowned, international galleries.
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