World of WarCrafts: Sera's colorful take on WoW

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page.

I love getting fan art submissions for World of WarCrafts, not just because everyone who sends in material is ridiculously talented, but because it's fun to see different people's interpretations of what Warcraft looks like. Today, we've got an artist with a flair for several different styles of artwork and several different ways of looking at WoW.

Sera's unique perspective on WoW looks almost as if the models in game were breathed with a life of their own. From the rich colors to the effortlessly detailed weapons and armor, it's clear Sera's got a knack for art -- something that comes as no surprise, given her academic background. Take a peek at the gallery for more of Sera's work, and follow us after the break for a few words from Sera herself.

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World of WarCrafts: Hi Sera, thanks for taking the time to speak with us! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Sera: I had always loved video games but I was oblivious to WoW for a long time since I was entrenched in college during its first two years of release. I started playing WoW a few weeks before Wrath came out, and it was my boyfriend who got me into it. I knew he played a game but didn't know what, so one day he sat me down and showed me what WoW was. I was instantly interested.

It took me a month to get an account of my own and it was just before Hallow's End when the achievement patch dropped when I started my main Kabochahime of Infernal Machine on Lightning's Blade (US-A). Kabo is a night elf huntress, and even though I'm leveling a bunch of alts, that race/class combo is still my favorite after all this time.

How did you get into creating art?

As long as I can remember I've been drawing in all my spare time. At an early age I knew I wanted to work in a career where I would be able to draw, so I went into animation production. I attended lots of animation programs in high school and went to The Rhode Island School of Design for my BFA in Animation. I started my career by interning on The Venture Brothers and I currently live in Los Angeles and am working on MTV's new animated sitcom (not sure I can say the title yet).

Can you take us through the process of creating a piece of artwork?

Most of the time when I sit down to draw a piece I have nothing really concrete set in my mind other than a concept. I usually just start drawing shapes and see where my hand and imagination lead me in regard to the character's pose and placement. My pieces are either traditionally or digitally drawn. I tend to doodle and sketch traditionally with paper and ball point pens as my favorite tools.

If I am doing it digitally, I am lucky enough to have a Cintiq monitor to draw on (and play WoW on!) which really facilitates the drawing process. I can't ever go back to a tablet. I use a PC platform for my computer and I have Adobe Flash, Photoshop and Alias Sketchbook Pro installed

on it. I use the former for cleanup and coloring my pieces, and Sketchbook for drawing since it's the only program I've found that accurately captures drawing on paper with a pencil. The vectors in Flash have the tendency to make my lines more harsh, but it's great for ink and paint.

What's your favorite Warcraft race to draw?

It'll probably sound cheesy, but I love drawing the night elves. There's something about their silhouette with the long down shaped ears and the strong facial features that I find appealing. Also, I love drawing the antlers that the few lucky druids have or can acquire from their T2 helms. The shapes and volume are fun to render. I have doodled other races but none of them impressed me enough to share online.

All my WoW fan art has a story behind it which is inspired by people and events from in game. I initially started drawing WoW fan art as gifts for my boyfriend, depicting our in-game characters together. It then spread to in game jokes surrounding Kabo and portraits of other friend's characters. I still have a bunch of ideas I haven't gotten to yet!

Any words of advice for aspiring artists out there?

Practice, practice, practice, and don't give up! Drawing and art requires practice no matter how much talent you have, or how much fancy equipment you have access to.

Thank you for your time and for sharing your work, Sera!

If you'd like to see more of Sera's artwork, check out her gallery on DeviantART. Are you an artist with a flair for WoW-inspired pieces, or do you have a friend who dabbles in artistic creation? Send in a submission and your art could be featured on World of WarCrafts too!

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including arts and crafts, fan art, WoW-themed recipes, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by emailing anne@wowinsider.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.