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Zhon
Never give up. Never surrender.

Joseph @Zhon

Age 32, Male

Artist, developer

SUNY Oswego

New York

Joined on 8/19/11

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Zhon's News

Posted by Zhon - November 20th, 2023


Yes, that's right, Christmas is coming! That time of year that I come out of art hiatus for exactly one (1) day to draw someone's Secret Santa.


I got some truly wonderful art in 2021 and 2022 and had the pleasure of drawing OCs far outside of my comfort zone. 2021 was a magnificent mess and though tensions were high, there was a certain merry atmosphere among the community that I think about often.


It's honestly one of the few events I look forward to. I encourage you to join! Stop reading this right now and go do your profile!


Happy holidays ^_^


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Posted by Zhon - January 9th, 2023


I'm honored that so many people are following me, truly, but I feel like I'm letting ya'll down by never posting anything.


I'm glad you took an interest or appreciation in my art. Thank you <3


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Posted by Zhon - February 24th, 2022


WIP for a collab for Flash Forward.


Done in Blender and Photoshop


Details here: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1493983/1


iu_559966_3862977.jpgiu_559967_3862977.jpg


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Posted by Zhon - January 1st, 2022


Upload something to Newgrounds at least once per month. That's it! Get ready for AGGRESSIVE MEDIOCRITY!


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Posted by Zhon - January 1st, 2021


Just one resolution this time.


In 2021 I want to get frontpaged. That's it.


Of course that means I have to actually upload something.


See you when I'm famous.


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Posted by Zhon - July 31st, 2020


I've been watching a lot of stuff from Corridor Digital lately.


One of their recent podcasts with a well-known Youtuber brought up a topic that's been knocking at my brain for the past few years: why do you create?


There's always a goal when you create things. In a commercial setting, that goal is to achieve certain effects requested by a client. Fine. But outside of that, what's the goal? What is the purpose of doing what you are doing?


Recently I've been grappling with the line between "creating for yourself" and "creating for an audience." A few perspectives I've encountered stuck with me:


You create for the joy of creating.

The things you make bring YOU joy. You enjoy the process, and maybe embark on some kind of self-discovery while doing it. The act of creating is in itself the goal, the work, and the reward.


You create things that others enjoy.

The things you make bring joy to the lives of others. You make fan art, illustrate peoples' OCs, find a group of people and please their interests.


You create to be useful.

The things you make somehow better the lives of others. If you are making art, it informs or pushes some boundary. You make comics that grasp attention and explain important concepts, or illustrations that highlight modern issues.


You create to be productive.

The things you make either make you money or build a skill that will eventually make you money.


The consensus on Corridor Cast was more or less a mix of all of these, with emphasis on the idea that the feedback from the crowd is what really pushes artists to keep going.


For a long time I felt like "wanting positive feedback from others" was a sign that you're making art for the wrong reason. This came partially from my own experience in college, and partially from the words of people surrounding me. This caused me a lot of internal stress because that's exactly what I wanted - to make art that would make other people happy or excited.


I also realized that I have this whole set of unrealistic beliefs and expectations surrounding art, such as the idea that everything you make needs to be part of a greater strategy to improve your overall ability. I very, very strongly embodied that fourth mentality - everything must be productive or it's a waste of time. It's no wonder I lost the joy in creating, looking back. I've also since done away with the "references are cheating" mentality.


The thing that made me really sit down and think about this topic this week was my crippling indecision about which project to work on. I found myself daydreaming about working on a new game, a WIP game, and a WIP isometric illustration, but I kept telling myself that if I was going to make art, I should be doing some kind of figure study or environment study to improve in those areas. I didn't want to do those things, so instead I ended up doing nothing.


"Argh, why isn't art fun anymore!?"


Maybe because you're constantly pushing the fun things aside.


I didn't expect to glean any wisdom from Logan Paul, but here we are. 2020 is full of surprises.


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Posted by Zhon - February 20th, 2020


Finally got a playable WIP of the game I'm working on. It's super basic but I'm excited nonetheless.


iu_95432_3862977.jpg


https://www.newgrounds.com/projects/games/1427015/preview


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Posted by Zhon - January 1st, 2020


I have 4 resolutions for 2020, but only one of them is really relevant to the Newgrounds crowd, and that is: upload one piece of art EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. somewhere on the internet, no exceptions.


I am amazed by people like Beeple who are so prolific that their art precedes them. I've primarily been a writer for the past 6 years, so making art is a bit of a struggle for me right now. By the end of 2020, I want it to be as natural as scrambling eggs. Which I rock at, thanks to Gordon Ramsay.


Follow me on Twitter @ListlessH - most of what I make will be sketches, which I will post there.


ONWARD!


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Posted by Zhon - March 27th, 2019


Something I've noticed in the past 7 years of freelancing is that we tend to lose sight of our value.


Not values but value. Our worth, perceived worth to others, and our self-worth. This has some horrendous consequences as a freelancer.


Freelancing is already a career path wrought with challenges, uncertainties, and enhanced responsibility. You can't just "make it through the work day" when you're a freelancer. You need to have your shit together, day in, day out. And when you don't know your own worth, you make it that much easier for predatory clients to prey on you - to underpay you, to cheat you out of pay entirely, to abuse you, to disrespect your skills.


These are people you don't want to work with anyway, and it can be really hard to turn anyone down when you're destitute. I've been there - rock bottom, double digits in my bank account, credit maxed out, two kids to feed, and considering a job from the worst client on the planet. I basically had nothing, but I did have some self respect left in the tank, and that pulled me through.


Sometimes there are external factors working against you. To be frank, I am fortunate to be a white male living in the US. But the common thread I see among all under-performing or stagnating freelancers (including myself when I was younger) is that they simply do not value themselves enough. They never take time to step back and look at their worth, or to stick their neck out and seek out clients who are happy to meet them at a higher level.


I originally chose to freelance full-time because I hated the limited experience I had working for others in traditional jobs. I hated being treated like expendable trash, by the managers, by the bosses, by the patrons. The moment that I remembered this desire for respect - the moment that I remembered how to value myself - is the moment that I began to grow again.


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Posted by Zhon - December 4th, 2018


Hi guys.  So here's the deal.

I love Newgrounds, I love all the stuff published here, and I love puns.

PM me a pun and a link to a submission, and I'll give some thoughtful, honest critique.

One submission per pun please.

 

Thanks,

thanks


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