Jennifer Hiew
☄️ // The mind behind Virize Art.
✨ // I'm a digital designer and illustrator with a focus on interdisciplinary design, including user experience (UX), user interface (UI), graphic design, and visual design.
🍃 // In my free time I enjoy collecting and writing with fountain pens, journaling, drawing, running, and playing floor hockey!
FAQ
Your frequently asked questions, answered!
1 // What programs and tools do you use to draw your art?
For my digital works:
- Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) Tablet
- iPad Pro 12.9" (5th generation) + Apple Pencil 2
- Wacom Intuos Pro Tablet (Small) for illustrations prior to 2021
- Adobe Creative Cloud, primarily Photoshop and Illustrator
- Procreate
- Sony a6100 + Sigma 30mm f/1.4 E-mountFor my traditional works I use a variety of mediums; I draw with mixed media more frequently than a single medium. The following lists cover what I use most often and are not extensive, as I like to use many miscellaneous tools, knick-knacks, bobs and bits, and other fun things — listing them all would take way too much time!Sketches and graphite:
- rOtring 600 Mechanical Pencil 0.5mm
- Pentel Ain Stein Lead 0.5mm, HB
- Kaweco Sketch Up Clutch Pencil 5.6mm
- Kaweco Graphite Lead 5.6mm, 5B
- Tombow Mono Zero / Elastic Erasers
- FACTIS Softer / Extra Soft ErasersTraditional mediums:
- Platinum Carbon Black Ink + Fountain Pen (Pilot Kakuno <EF> / <F>)
- Pigma Micron Pens
- Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils
- Faber-Castell Classic Coloured Pencils
- Shinhan Touch Twin Brush Markers
- Copic Ciao Markers
- Fountain pen inks
- Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolours
- Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache (Permanent White)
- Sakura Gelly Roll White Gel Pen
- Artistro White Acrylic Paint PenPapers and sketchbooks:
- Strathmore 400 Bristol Board, smooth and vellum finish
- ARCHES Aquarelle Hot Press Watercolor Paper, 300 gsm, Natural White
- TRAVELER'S COMPANY Traveler's Notebook (TN) Inserts
- Canson Artist Series Universal Sketch Pad, 96 gsm
- Hand Book Journal Co. Watercolor Sketchbook, 300 gsm⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
2 // Do you take commissions?
Commissions are closed until further notice.⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
3 // Do you take art requests?
At this time, I am not taking or accepting art requests.⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
4 // But I see you drawing art for other people?
What I do with my spare time is none of your business. If you feel so entitled to ask for free art or question what I draw, I suggest using your back button or closing your browser instead c:⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
5 // Do you have any prints or original works for sale?
Yes, I do have an Etsy where I sell art prints and original illustrations!⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
6 // Am I allowed to use any of your art on my blog/website/etc.?
I don’t allow the use of my art on blogs/websites/etc. unless the image(s) were commissioned by yourself, or I have given you written permission to use them on your personal blog/website.However, I don’t mind if you save my art to your computer or phone to use as inspiration or for personal use like desktop wallpapers or phone backgrounds, all I ask is please to not repost my art c:⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
7 // Am I allowed to share or repost your art on other sites?
Please do not repost my work. I have numerous links to my social media sites in my navigation where I post art—which can be shared, not reposted—through each respective social media site. The purpose of this site is to provide a record of my art that people may look at and appreciate, not to repost for your own gain.Note that there is a difference in sharing and reposting:SHARING is linking back to the original source from where the content originated from. It includes things like reblogging, retweeting, or sharing a link on another site in which the original artist gets full credit.REPOSTING or REHOSTING is taking the content, hosting it on another site (ie. any site that allows photo/image uploading), then distributing the content regardless if the content has been credited/sourced or not.I really shouldn't have to say this, but you wouldn't believe the number of times people have found my art being sold on some site's merch through Facebook ads. Selling my art on ANY site is a blatant infringement of copyright laws and people should be deeply ashamed of themselves for even considering it 😒⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
8 // Am I allowed to trace/reference/copy your artwork?
Please do not trace/reference/copy my work. If you get some inspiration from my art that’s perfectly fine and I encourage you to look at lots of other artists’ works, but I don’t particularly like it when people just copy or trace over my work, or heavily reference it.The reason why I don’t allow people to use my work as a reference or to copy is because simply copying other peoples’ art doesn’t mean you become a “better” artist, it just means you can imitate someone else’s style. You don’t get the whole “process” of how the artist got there, such as ideas, concepts, thought process, etc. Also by copying the works of other artists, you unknowingly gain their bad drawing habits!⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
9 // Am I allowed to use any of your work for NFTs or AI?
Absolutely not. I am completely against NFTs due to the overwhelmingly negative impact NFTs have on the environment, not to mention that they propagate rampant art theft on various social media sites.While AI can be a useful tool, many developers will scrape the internet for content to feed their AI art generators; often without asking for permission from artists to use their work and without any compensation. There are currently little to no means of protection in place to prevent artists' work from being used in this way, and as such I do not permit any use of my work for AI.I suggest doing some research on NFTs and AI to educate yourself on why many artists like myself dislike them—mainly the numerous non-ethical practices surrounding both controversial topics.⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
10 // Am I allowed to use any of your art for tattoos?
Please ask me for permission beforehand. While I would prefer if you commissioned a custom piece from me, I am generally ok with people asking if they can use my work for personal tattoos. Please keep in mind that I do not under any circumstances allow usage of my own characters and commissioned work I’ve done for other clients.If you’re a tattoo artist and you’re looking to use my art for your tattoo designs, you can fuck right off. I do not allow any commercial use of my work.⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
11 // What do I do if I find someone has stolen your art or posted it on another site without your permission?
Please send me a message with details on where you found my art! Don’t harass or contact the person(s) who stole or reposted my work; I will personally take care of the issue.⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
12 // Who is "FallenZephyr", and why does that name appear in some of your work?
FallenZephyr / FallenZephyrArt is the username I previously used, but I got really tired of people constantly misspelling it or calling me by the wrong name (I went by Fallen, but people would call me Zephyr instead). Anyone with a name that is either difficult to pronounce or spell will understand my frustration.Since I changed my online persona / name to Virize in 2016, all of my mispronunciation gripes have pretty much vanished. Most people call me Viri, short and sweet. I don’t really mind how you pronounce my name so basically anything goes (as long as you spell it correctly!) but I pronounce Virize as VEER-eeze or Ver-EEZE, and Viri as VEER-ee.⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅
13 // Why are some of your social media accounts inactive?
Any accounts that are inactive, I still list for the sake of connectivity and networking. Links will be updated periodically and I do try to keep my accounts up to date, especially if I happen to become active on more sites. Life happens!Social media is a turbulent landscape that can change at a mere whim, and I'm more than happy to not post anything for long periods of time because I'm confident in my own creative endeavours. While I do enjoy sharing art, I have no desire to post everything I create nor do I need validation from others to be satisfied with my work.⋅ ⋆ ✯ ⋆ ⋅