Where are you from?
Born and raised in Australia – my parents immigrated from South Korea.
Please provide any details about your background and what got you into art:
Growing up I watched my father work on vector art for his sign making business. I loved watching him work and often offered to help. When I first got my computer at 12 years old, the first thing my father showed me was Microsoft Paint. I would spend hours drawing on it.
What really got me interested in pixel art were retro games, kaoanis (Japanese pixel emojis used in the 90s), Neopets (a virtual pet website) and Gaia Online. On Neopets you could decorate your pet’s page with art and also submit your art to their newsletter to win awards. I really loved drawing my pets and participating in these contests.
Gaia Online is a forum website where you have an avatar, game currency and items to decorate your avatar. I set up a shop to sell my pixel art (adoptable pets & commissions) for the game currency just so I could afford cute items for my avatar. This was during high school, when I also played Maplestory 1 which was another huge inspiration for my pixel art.
In university I studied design and animation. When I worked full time I stopped doing my own art, and picked it up again during the COVID pandemic. Currently I’m working part time as a UI/UX designer and working on my NFT art whenever I can.
One thing you cannot live without?
Food! I love food.
Who is your favorite artist(s) (Non NFT)?
Too many faves but here’s just a few:
KawaiiHannah – I first came across her shop on Gaia Online and fell in love with her pixel art.
Cheyenne Barton – Love her style, her illustrations make me feel warm and cozy.
DeeKay – Absolutely amazing animator!
Who is your favorite NFT artist?
Miguel Garest – His art’s so adorable and makes me happy. I was a fan before I got into NFTs.
TimpersHD – Mind blowing pixel art and animation.
What made you pursue NFT art?
What is the one piece of NFT art you wish you had purchased but missed out on?
Miguel Garest’s Mochi #001 from Mochi Friends! It’s a cute purple mochi on a purple background (I love purple and mochi). I noticed the drop too late but still managed to collect a different purple mochi.
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?
There’s many places I’d love to visit but to name a few – Scandinavia, Morocco and Spain. I also enjoy revisiting Korea and Japan.
What are your other passions besides art?
I love playing cute creative build games like Animal Crossing, Minecraft and Stardew Valley. I have a Minecraft Youtube channel, however NFT art has taken up most of my spare time. I don’t play games anymore – well except for Axie Infinity!
Do you make other forms of art?
I like to do other digital art – doodle/chibi style and vector. I also used to do 3D art and animation but that was a long time ago.
How did you come up with your specific style? How has your style evolved over the years?
Although I’ve gone through different styles (2D and 3D digital art) I feel like I’ve always had one consistent aesthetic – cute and colourful. For NFTs I decided to focus on pixel art as it brings back childhood nostalgia. I love art that makes me feel happy and smile and so I try to create art that would make others feel this way.
What is coming in the near future?
I have too many ideas! Another collection and collabs.
If you could collaborate with one artist who would it be?
Miguel Garest! Love his adorable style and colour palette.
Do you have any upcoming drops?
I’m currently working on a collab with Noealz which will drop in November. I’m drawing a pixel artwork and animation of his anime sakura styled photography.
Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoruPixels
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norupixels/
Website: https://www.norushi.com/