elizabethbeals

Elizabeth Beals

✨Freelance Illustrator✨

632 posts

Interview With Elizabeth Beals

Interview with Elizabeth Beals

Here we are at the end, our final interview! Fittingly, we’re capping it off with Elizabeth Beals, the other long standing member who has stuck around since Square Carousel’s very beginning. While Elizabeth’s signature style has remained instantly recognizable from Challenge 1 through Challenge 143 and counting, her skills have undoubtedly blossomed over the past decade. Today, we’re catching up with our resident long haul Square Carousel member, admin, and comics professional, Elizabeth Beals!

Emma Frost

Q: Even though your art style is beautifully consistent, your work still stays fresh with each new challenge. What are the biggest aesthetic changes you notice in your work when you compare your most recent pieces to your graduation portfolio?

A: I haven’t looked at my graduation portfolio in a hot minute, it’s pretty wild seeing how far I have come. I’ve gotten better at compositions/ I’ve leaned into cooler, more saturated palettes/ have a better use of textures/ and I also don’t force myself to create a full bleed illustration if it’s not completely necessary to get the story across.

Elizabeth’s workspace

Q: Has your art making process changed at all during your post college years?

A: Oh yeah, definitely!

In college I would thumbnail/ flesh out the comp at scale with normal mechanical pencil/ ink with a 005 micron/ erase the under drawing/ scan in the piece/ clean up in Photoshop/ then color until completion.

Whereas I now thumbnail/ scan in the one I like/ format and print it out at a larger scale (in light blue)/ go back over the print with a blue pencil to refine details/ ‘ink’ it with a extra fine mechanical pencil/ scan it back in/ clean up in photoshop/ and then color until completion.

And if we want to do an even deeper dive we can look at the ‘Color until Completion’ portion.

In college I would create a top layer, which was always the scan/line art set to multiply, and then I would place the coloring layers beneath it. I was just getting into textures and color holds so they were pretty crude but it was nice that I was still fussing with them.

I currently use the same process as a base but I’ve also started painting on top of the line art (like, A LOT), using overlays, adjustments, effects, and more.

Glitter Hearts

Q: What’s been your favorite professional project to work on?

A: Mmmmm, I think this one’s a tie for me, the first one would be my cover run on Star Trek: TNG - Terra Incognita. It was my first cover run and the writers/ editors I got to work with were a complete and total dream. They whipped up some pretty fun concepts and I really got to stretch my art muscles for it. Plus the Ice cream I designed for issue one got worked into the story, so having a cannon ice cream design is pretty dang neat. The second would be my first OGN, Virtually Yours, with writer Jeremy Holt! It’s been a project that we’ve had waiting in the wings since 2015 and got to revamp for ComiXology Originals in 2020. It was the largest project I’ve ever worked on and it was such a tough/ joyous/ and complete learning experience for me. I was glad to have an amazing team of people to work with and you should deff check it out if you haven’t already ;D  [Link to Virtually Yours on Comixology]

Virtually Yours cover

Q: Any non-art hobbies?

A: Baking / Cooking/ Trying out new recipes! *Chef’s Kiss* Just chilling outside in general/ soaking up some sun ( as a former So. Cal girl I miss the high/ dry heat.) Binge watching trash T.V.

Q: Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate?

A: I love all three dearly but coffee wins, hands down.

Q: What’s a career goal you have for the next decade?

A: Pretty broad but I would love to get to a place where I become less dependent on private/ personal commissions and focus more on Comic Covers and Pin-up work.

She Hulk

Q: Do you have a favorite superhero? A: Short answer, no.  However, I can provide a short list of some of my faves: Jubilee, Storm, Rogue, Spider-Man, Anya Corazon (Spider-Girl), Spider-Gwen, Mystique, and I’m gunna end it there before I just keep rambling.

Q: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about you or your work?

A: One fun thing about me/ my work is that my love of drawing hair came from wanting to create Cammy White (Street Fighter) fan art. With braids as long as her’s you gotta take your time and learn to draw them right! XD

Q: While working, do you prefer to watch tv, movies, listen to music, or sit in silence? Any recommendations for background media?

A: Definitely a TV series or movie, preferably something I’ve already seen (less potential to distract me). I always end up falling back on older shows like Murder She Wrote or Midsomer Murders, basically anything with a long syndication. When I was working on Virtually Yours though I would have HBO’s Gentleman Jack on. It’s a newer series with only one season but it served as a good timer/ work schedule for me.

Star Trek TNG: Terra Incognita (issue 6)

Q: If you could choose one character from the Star Trek universe to befriend, who would it be and why? A: To avoid getting too crazy, I think I’m gunna limit myself to TNG (plus I have the most knowledge of that series) and go with Guinan. She’s wise beyond her years (if you could believe that), funny, empathetic, resourceful, and makes a mean drink! And not to break the 4th wall or anything, but it’s freakin’ Whoopi Goldberg!!! ;D

Elizabeth herself

Q: Excellent choice! Anything else you would like the readers to know?

A: Just that y’all are fantastic and we appreciate all the love and support you’ve shown us over that last 10 years! Thanks for letting us go out on a high note!

P.S. Stay safe. Stay healthy. And get vaccinated <3

You heard her folks! Thanks so much to Elizabeth for sharing her answers, and to you, dear readers, for getting to know us all at the Square Carousel Collective these past years. Check out Elizabeth’s website, and follow her on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram for fresh art as soon as it drops!

Interview With Elizabeth Beals

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