Meet Champz NIL of Singapore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Champz NIL.

Hi Champz, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It all stemmed from a childhood passion. Ever since we were young, we had found joy in illustrating from our creation. They started with scribbles, until they slowly took shape into visible forms. As we grew up, drawing and illustrations have never faded as our strongest passion and hobby, as it was a way we could express our ideas and create original pieces of art that did not exist. Fan art wise, we could explore different character interactions especially in a duo, since it reflected our brotherly bond. Drawing for recreation had been our favourite way to de-stress and let our imagination run free.

At 8 years old, We were surrounded by relatives who we heard were running creative businesses, and were inspired by them. The only issue was that we did not know how to get income from our designs in the first place. Nonetheless, we continued to hone our artistic skills, where we found a joy in the Pokemon franchise.

We soon found an artist who made Pokemon music we enjoyed, named Flint’s Creations. As we jammed to his music daily, we worked on illustrations at the same time, and an idea struck us: What if we started to reach out to these music content creators, and create thumbnails for them? We had always wanted to make a hobby we held close to our heart profitable, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Thus, we started by drawing fan art for Flint’s Creations, and the rest was history.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The journey was not always a smooth sailing for us, as back then when we started our business, we had to juggle our academics simultaneously. This often left us exhausted by the time midnight hits, but we still push on with our art production schedule, and manage our commissions as well. As creators, we do also receive criticisms for our works, but we take them with an open mind, to learn and improve in order to emerge as better illustrators. To manage our hectic schedules, we make sure that no matter what time we finish our studies for the day, we will produce at least a sketch. The way we pushed ourselves a little day by day allows us to efficiently run our business alongside having ample time for studies as well.

Another key struggle that we commonly faced was the race against AI. AI art is becoming up and rising in our current society, hence we are constantly faced with the challenge of needing to upskill and be one step ahead of AI. I feel that another challenge we faced was also struggling to thrive and receive a breakthrough in the business initially, but we managed to get through that with hard work and resilience, as well as the power of connections..

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We operate as a duo in our illustration business. We are currently running a business for both illustration and graphic designs, which are rooted in storytelling. Our pieces do not just focus on bright and vibrant visuals, but the story that goes behind the composition of the piece. Our most prominent works are illustration based thumbnails we do for nerdcore rapper and song artists, where we create specialised thumbnails for them based on their requirements, to bring their creative visions to life. If we had to name one point that makes us feel humbly grateful, it would be the leap of faith we took during a younger age. Simply stepping out into the unknown and reaching out to music artists we were a fan of allowed seeds of communications to bloom into long term relationships now. We cherish every client we have worked with along the way, and we would like to offer our younger selves a pat on the back for being able to juggle with academic priorities and making the bold move to reach out to professional clients. We feel that it is our open mindedness that sets us apart from others, as though we have a style of art we are used to, whenever a client has a different style in mind, we will willingly pick up and master the style required, refining the piece until the client is satisfied. It is that burning will to try out new things and step out of our comfort zone that spurs us to take these challenges head on.

What matters most to you?
To us, gratitude matters the most. The roots of our whole illustration journey has been built on bricks of gratitude. We make sure to send occasional messages to our clients, expressing our gratitude for allowing our business to grow to where it is today. We believe that opportunities do not always come easily, and we never know what the next day awaits fro us. Thus, it is a meaningful intention for us to embrace all that we have in the present, and share this joy with those that we work with. Even in our own illustration journey, we are appreciative of the the opportunities that have been given to us to collaborate with others, and for the two of us to still be working in harmony with aligned goals. We cherish everyone who have supported us on this journey, from our parents, to our clients an friends, and the supportive art community that has been following our journey of growth.

Pricing:

• Icons: $10 USD
• Half Body: $20 USD
• Full Body: $30 USD
• Character Sheet: $50 USD
• Full Artworks: Following prices above, but additional $10 USD for additional background

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/champzofficial1/?igsh=Y2F5aDMwcmV5anRv
• Twitter: https://x.com/pokechampz?t=vkSPbHk4Jqif0ydh_F8T4Q&s=09
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@champz9548?si=Cm3DkIc2w9iHnNbY
• Soundcloud: NIL
• Other: DevianArt: https://www.deviantart.com/champzofficial

Image Credits
All images belong to Champz.