If you the frequent art community DeviantArt, you are most likely familiar with the work of Hellobaby.
With her intricate swirls and subtle use of color, Hellobaby’s art style is probably one of the most recognizable on the entirety of the internet. She creates elaborate illustrations of her favorite characters as well as original ones, primarily with color pencils. She also uses mechanical pencils (lead 0.5mm 2B), regular erasers, ball point pens (0.1mm), and black/gray markers for creating specific effects.
Hellobaby started drawing at a very young age. “I drew when I was 3 or 4 years old but style which u see I draw now was around 2008. I try to spend at least 4 hours per day but actually there are always more than that.”
According to the artist, she rarely uses reference images unless needed. “I image them myself cause I like [to] challenge myself. Patterns were a result after practicing 4 years and [I’m] proud to say I didn’t copy it. And background? Myself. I think I m not good at background and still need to learn more more and more…I mean a lot.”
Fans have noticed the similarity of her style with Final Fantasy illustrator Yoshitaka Amano but she attributed the resemblance to their use of detailed curves.
Art by Yoshitaka Amano
When asked about her DeviantArt name origin, she said the name was from a childhood experience. “I won’t tell you what experience [that is] ’cause you will laugh at my face because of that silly reason.”
Last October, Hellobaby was awarded DeviantArt’s Deviousness Award, a distinction for the most active and community-spirited users. The award recognizes her artistic talent as well as encouragement of “the growth and development of her fellow artists by hosting challenges, creating art features, and providing her own line art for other deviants to practice colouring.”
Check out Hellobaby’s Colors Series below:
For more of her illustrations, check out her DeviantArt page here.
Which illustration caught your eye? Comment below!