#015 — Eugenia Firs

Hello Eugenia! It’s wonderful to have you here on our Artist Spotlight. Could you please introduce yourself?

Hey! My name is Eugenia Firs, and I’m a mere digital artist who loves charismatic and edgy characters, futuristic, military and dark fantasy aesthetics. I’m super passionate about all kinds of media and art as long as it has a strong visual and story narrative. I also love going to the gym and touching grass occasionally. :) 

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Now first of all, you make a variety of work from Concept Design to Character Art. What do you love doing most?

I’ve actually been doing Concept Design for the biggest part of my career, solely focusing on “How can I design better?” And only recently I’ve realised that it was a good time for me to step forward and dive deeper into 3D art. Somehow, making just concept art never felt satisfying to me, and most of the time I actually didn’t like to produce a bunch of variations of design, which is a core task of a concept artist.

Diving into 3D art at the moment makes me feel super happy, since it allows me to focus on producing the finished look, and my design knowledge helps me tremendously with making something cool. 

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Where did your love for art and design come from? How did you start on this journey?

I’ve always been a movie and videogame kid, and I’ve started pretty early - my dad allowed me to play Warcraft III on his huge old school PC, and this is how everything has started. To this day this is one of my most favourite games too.

Almost a decade later, he took me on a trip to London to visit Warner Bros. studio with a bunch of Harry Potter movie props and scenes (I’m a big HP fan by the way), and there was a room filled with concept art and village mockups. This was the place where I found out concept art exists. And my journey started from there! 

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Those are some classics right there! I think it was so valuable that the Harry Potter team shared so much of their filmmaking magic. 

What’s something you absorbed visually as a child that still shapes your design-language today?

As strange as it is, as a kid I loved dark fantasy games and never really touched anything sci fi related. This obsession came to me later on when I was finishing high school. Back in simpler good ol times I was loving World of Warcraft, Dishonored, and Nancy Drew games (I had a whole DVD collection.

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As a follow-up to that, has your taste changed over the years, and how has that affected your output?

I wouldn’t use the word “changed” and would rather use the word “evolved.” Yep, it evolved a great deal. As a teen I found myself falling in love with the movies like Tomb Raider, Riddick, Dredd, military movies from that age, Matrix, Blade, Queen of the Damned - I think you start feeling the vibe. And I’m still mentally there. I think these movies shaped me, and naturally Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider became my Northern Star of a woman. She is just so badass. I always wanted to be like her.

Oh she absolutely is! 

How critical are you with your ideas? When do you know when something is right?

I’m the worst perfectionist you will ever see. And this eats at me on every project which I take - I have to almost physically drag myself away from working on the same shapes for hours. I’m critical to the point of stagnation. It’s bad.

I came up with a way of fixing it though – maybe someone will find it useful. I give myself two chances to get it right. That’s it. If I don’t make it then I just leave it as is. 

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Honestly, that sounds like a really good approach. 

How do you ensure that you are pushing yourself creatively from one project to the next?

This is a great question. Around a year ago I realised I wasn’t making anything new. I was comfortably floating in my little pot of soup. This brought up some feelings in me, since I always was a person full of self criticism. Obviously, I thought - this isn’t good enough.

I’ll be honest I have a lot of mental breakouts regarding my work. It never feels like it scratches the itch. It’s never enough. I always feel like I want to do more - but I don’t know how to.

The answer is simple. I needed to work hard again on my skills, I became lazy and stagnant with time. It’s like death, at least to me. So staying in the same spot feels like dying.

So I’m learning a bunch of new things now. I’ve bought a real heavy piece of machinery for a PC. Cool stuff with deadly angry men is coming. 

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Do you intentionally absorb other artists' work, or do you try to stay in your own lane?

I used to be heavily influenced by other artists' work. Vitality Bulgarov, Ash Thorp, Maciej Kuciara - these people shaped me. But I don’t feel it anymore. Now the only thing which truly moves me is my internal compass and my imagination. Of course, the base of it was shaped by a decade of looking at other people's masterpieces. 

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You often tackle themes of bio-mechinal design, which makes me wonder: how involved are you with the technology side of things? Is having the latest equipment important to your workflow?

I’m still using a 12 year old tablet I got when I got started with art. It’s not that important. However I had to get a new cool PC to be able to make awesomeness. 

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I’m very excited to see all the new awesomeness! 

Many artists struggle with figuring out their place in the creative industry. Whether they want to apply for a job, work freelance or be an entrepreneur. How did you approach breaking into the industry?

This is a fun one, I’m glad I look like I have things figured out. But to be honest - I don’t. To this day I often think “huh, maybe I should get a job.”

Freelance is good but it’s not for everyone. And I’ll be frank here - the best spot the artist can be in - is get money for their personal work. Hard to achieve, you also have to be really good at marketing - but this is the ultimate way. Full time job, freelance - it gets the bills paid, but at the end of a day you are still solving someone else's problems. And that’s also totally cool. Just some things to think about. 

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That’s something I totally agree with. There are many ways that lead to getting money from your personal work. It’s important to be honest with yourself about what method best fits you as an artist. 

How has your experience actually been with the industry so far?

The industry rewards the ones who work hard, smart and have badass visuals. And it punishes mediocrity real hard. Especially now. I’d say, if you want to stay afloat you have to swim constantly. Always on the move. Always thinking "what's next?”, “how can I add more value?”

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What are some of the most important lessons you have learned in recent years?

Don’t settle. Listen to yourself, you already know what’s good for you, where you need to go. Stop thinking and start doing. Honestly, hear me out - really don’t overthink. 

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A difficult truth that must be heard. Really haha. Don’t overthink. 

How do you imagine your work will evolve over the next five years?

I hope the quality bar will finally reach the level I want. I had a huge journey starting with environment concept art, then moving into designing characters, then into 3D… But the fact I was seeing myself as a concept artist never really allowed me to go fully in. I changed my mindset.

There's going to be a lot of coolness. And I’m going to give away a lot of knowledge, too. 

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That sounds incredible! 

We have briefly touched on this before, but I’d love to dig a little deeper. 

What does “perfection” mean to you, and do you pursue it or resist it in your work?

This question rubs some salt on the old wounds. I think we as humans are unable to see perfection. It’s never enough. Maybe perfection is the actual fact that something is incomplete, imperfect. But only our ideals make us do something truly remarkable.

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As artists I feel like we have ambitions and dreams that live beyond our current capabilities. A certain aspirational drive so to say. 

Do you ever feel haunted by an idea you haven’t yet executed?

24/7. Constantly. All the time. 

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In a way that’s comforting to hear. 

What kind of advice would you give to someone thinking of a career in Art and Design? There is always a new generation taking their first steps into this adventure.

I don’t think I’m someone who is capable of giving relevant advice on this subject. Life experience is humbling. There is a lot of noise you encounter through life. Probably, my advice would be to completely ignore the noise and go for what you want. Be reckless. :)

That’s amazing advice. That’s already it Eugenia! 

Thanks so much for being a part of this! 

‍As always, we like to end the Artist Spotlight with a personal recommendation from the artist. Any good films, books, habits, or anything else you’d like to recommend to the reader?
Honestly my mind goes blank when I need to recommend something. But I’m really looking forward to the new Tomb Raider movie. Thank you so much for having me, I enjoyed your questions a lot! Take care.

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