Overworked and Underpaid is a series that spotlights designers from around the community, examining their paths to creation, experiences, and perspectives on graphics. In this edition, we interview Antman about his art journey and the various paths he has taken over time.
Designed by Cassie
Antman started out messing around with whatever free art programs he could find—Paint, Paint.net, GIMP, all of it. Back then, he really looked up to Apollo’s work, and that inspired him to level up his own skills. After a few years of saving, he finally bought his first Photoshop license. In the old Club Penguin armies days, graphic shops were everywhere, and like most people just starting out, he got rejected from a bunch at first. Eventually, he broke through, landing a spot in his first shop, continuing to grind and improve from there. Over time, his style improved, his confidence grew, and he started making a name for himself in the community
One of Antman’s recent works
Antman started making art for the army community in the early 2010s. He eventually opened up his own graphics shop called Antman’s GFX. Over time, he completed more than 200 orders and even built a team of around ten designers before stepping away from graphic design and the community altogether. He did work for a bunch of armies, the likes of Doritos, Water Vikings, Special Weapons and Tactics, and many more. His main focus was always the Small/Medium community, where he really made his mark.
Thumbnail for Void Troops by Antman
Club Penguin Armies reached out to Antman to dive deeper into this experience.
What would you say the hardest piece of art was?
I’m going to be honest I don’t really have an answer to this question. I just started doing graphic design again 2-3 months ago after not doing it for almost 10 years. I try not to put too much effort into my designs because I want to keep it fun and unprofessional. Once things start feeling like a “job” to me, it takes the enjoyment out of it