(Originally published Spring 2021)
Tell us a bit about yourself!
Bell: Hello! It is a pleasure to participate in this interview!
My artist name is Bell Pepper and you can also find me adventuring through Eorzea as Bell Pepper, the Warrior of Light! I’m a former comic book artist and right now I’m just chilling and drawing fanarts of FFXIV and other games I enjoy!
How did you first discover Final Fantasy XIV?
Bell: My husband and I were looking for a game to play together and we’ve always been huge fans of the Final Fantasy series. Once we heard about FFXIV being rereleased as A Realm Reborn and it was available on PS3 and PC, we were hooked. We’ve been playing on and off together since abouI found out about FFXIV when it first came out. My husband and I have always been playing MMORPGs together and we wanted to try it. We actually took a break from the game due to its issues in the start and came back later when they released Heavensward. We haven’t stopped playing since then!
You’ve worked with Copic markers, watercolor, inks, the list goes on–you even took advantage of a camera flash to create the glow of a candle in one of your drawings! What is your favorite traditional medium to work in, and what encourages you to keep trying other styles?
Bell: Markers are still my favorite medium. I used to use them a lot for my comic books so I’m a lot more comfortable with them. But I also love watercolors; they are very similar and often I mix them when using the hot press watercolor paper. I love trying different media and mixing them! Finding the right media for each drawing is very important; it’s part of expressing myself through art.
Traditional art can intimidate artists due to its unforgiving permanence. It’s a lot more difficult to fix mistakes with real ink instead of digital! Do you have any tips for artists who want to experiment with traditional media, but aren’t sure where or how to start?
Bell: Oh yes, it’s definitely challenging, and I often feel some level of anxiety when I’m coloring or inking my pencil. Sometimes I do have to restart a drawing or just scrap it because of a little mistake! I always try my best to scan a copy of the ink or the pencil in case something happens.
For someone just starting with traditional, I’d say start with small doodles and a sketchbook! Try all different kinds of mediums since this would be practice work; don’t worry about making mistakes and don’t worry about finishing it either! That takes a lot of the pressure away and it can be super fun!
Do you typically prefer traditional media over digital? If so, why? What programs do you use when adding the finishing touches to your traditional art, or when you do decide to draw digitally?
Bell: I’m not very experienced with digital art; I also don’t have a good tablet or computer for that. But sometimes I try simple inking and digital sketches. I mostly use Photoshop for my pictures to clean the picture up and to adjust color balance/brightness and contrast. It’s very difficult to get good shots, especially with the gold ink that shines so much!
You are perhaps most well known in the FFXIV community for your gold-ink Warrior of Light and NPC portraits. You usually include a flower in the composition of your portraits as well. How do you decide what flower to pair with a character in a portrait?
Bell: I have been drawing portraits with flowers since 2017 during my first FFXIV Inktober. It’s a lot of fun to pair characters with flowers and I love learning about flower meanings! Some may not agree with my choices, but I also try to pair based on the looks or color aesthetic!
One detail that stands out in your art is the luminous quality of the characters’ eyes. Even in your more monochromatic art, the eyes shine bright. Do you try to bring out a character’s personality in their eyes?
Bell: They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul! lol I confess that I usually spend a lot of time working on the eyes and coloring them even when the art is monochromatic so people are immediately attracted to it! You can tell a lot about the character by looking at the eyes. The combination of eyes and eyebrows is very powerful!
Your art gallery is mostly full of FFXIV fan art and commissions, but what other inspirations have you drawn from for your art?
Bell: I’ve been an artist for a long time, although I did take a 10-year break. I’ve gone to graphic design college and I learned a lot of techniques there. I’m a big fan of fantasy themed art as well as classic artists. I love fantasy manga/anime/games and a lot of my inspiration comes from that.
You posted on your Twitter a sample of your RPG style artwork; can you tell us a bit more about some of the RPG artwork you’ve done?
Bell: I’ve done a lot of RPG illustrations in the past for magazines and RPG guidebooks, from humans to really terrifying monsters. I love creating designs and characters; it’s a passion of mine.
Are there any art projects you would like to tackle in the future besides your portrait work?
Bell: I have a million things I’d love to draw, but time is so limited. I’m focusing on FFXIV for now because it’s something I’m very familiar with and the community has been amazingly kind and supportive. I would love to start drawing some original art again, but for now I’m just enjoying the moment and having fun meeting amazing people and fellow artists!
Thank you so much for your time and insight into your work! You can find Bell Pepper on Twitter, support them through their online shop or Patreon, or check out their work on their website!
Inquiries of Art 
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