INTERVIEW WITH AN ARTIST: Chris O'Neill
A famous YouTube and Newgrounds animator, working on individual and collaborate projects. This interview with Chris, AKA OneyNG, was both enlightening and informative, and helped me finish my project for school.
Me: Okay cool!! So my first question would be how did you get started in the art field?
Chris: I don't think I've ever officially been in 'the field' but I've been drawing since I was 4!
Me: What has the journey been like, going from just drawing to actually making and putting things out there?
Chris: Its hard to answer because I've been at this so long. I was making stuff and uploading it since I was 15 and now I'm almost 30. It's so easy to put something out there now, all you really have to do is overcome the worry of whether people will like it or not.
Me: What is your day to day schedule roughly like?
Chris: It changes a lot but lately it's been like this. Wake up, eat, work all day, eat, go to bed. It's not healthy but I don't plan on doing it for long. Just until I finish this current project.
Me: What's your opinion on like, self directed and independent work uploaded online and things vs more commercially made and sort of big company art?
Chris: It boils down to whether you want to 'play the game' or not. It really depends on what kind of a person you are. I personally wouldn't like working in a studio because I have ideas of my own I want to pursue, and it would take years to get to a creative position. If it wasn't for Youtube allowing me to fund my own projects I would have probably gone down that road. But it works for other people.
Me: How do you feel about YouTube's issues with demonetization, censorship, and how that can affect independent artists?
Chris: It's terrible, but it is what it is. You should never have all your eggs in one basket. Selling merch has really helped with it.
Me: Have you ever had to deal with critics/controversy and if so, how?
Chris: Everyone online deals with negativity in some way or another. It doesn't really affect me unless I was already dwelling on something they say. Then you just learn from it and try again.
Thank you again for this wonderful interview Chris, it was a very engaging and inspiring to all artists out there! Make sure to check out his work and support by buying his stuff! https://sharkrobot.com/collections/oney