Hi Makadamia! it’s a pleasure to have you on Tibiart.net. We really want to start bringing highlights on Tibian Artists and we thought you’re the perfect first guest on this brand new section. Makadamia, a famous fansite item creator responsible for many fansite items items in-game nowadays and also a talented artist, spot some of her work here:

• 

• 

• 

Tibiart: People know you for your incredible artwork and items that are all over Tibia. But what about the person? Tell us a little bit about yourself, what got you into Tibia? and especially item crafting? Describe us Makadamia for the very few that don’t know you yet.

Makadamia: «I have started my adventure with Tibia in 2013 as a druid. For a few years, I was playing together with my friend Mad Def. We used to hunt bosses with rare spawn and in 2016 we created TibiaBosses.com, which is still an active fansite! Also, I found myself in the contests organized by other fansites. I started creating handmade things in 2014/2015 and I realized I really enjoy this way of spending my free time! Nowadays I can say that my hobby except Tibia is creating figurines made of polymer clay, drawing, and pixel art. It’s all thanks to these contests. To share my passion and encourage others to try themselves I created TibiaFanart.com, where I present all Tibia-related artworks and promote artists.
In real life my name is Maya and I live in Poland. I work as a cost estimator for HVAC systems in a construction company. Besides having fun in Tibia, with polymer clay and pixel art I also like cooking – Polish, Georgian and Korean cuisine are definitely my favorite! I also cook a lot myself, but I focus on macronutrients and my daily diet is sugar-free.»

Tibiart: What’s the easiest and harder thing about creating an item?

Makadamia: «Sometimes the problem occurs at the idea stage. I can then sit speechlessly and stare at the wall waiting for inspiration! xD However, usually I have more ideas than time to implement them. Something which is notoriously difficult for me are animations. They take up a lot of my time and I often lack the skills to make them the way I want. It’s also difficult for me to fit my idea into regulations approved by the graphics department at CipSoft. These rules limit many possibilities and sometimes I have to think hard about how to achieve the desired effect while complying with the rules.
The easiest part is drawing static graphics. From the pixel sketch to the fills and shadows. I love this part of the job. It’s the most interesting and you can see the effects very quickly.»

Tibiart: I definitely can see what you mean in your artwork, they always look so smooth and with such unique Makadamia print on them, to the point I think by now I actually could tell if an specific item was made by you. But tell us, What about contests? You’ve been pretty successful with your entries, which have made you win several times. What is the main challenge when you try to join a contest?

Makadamia: «It’s true, I started entering contests in 2014, and it’s been a long time since then, so I’ve managed to amass quite a collection of prizes. Contests used to be easier. They were organized infrequently, and there were few people interested. The level of artwork was much lower. Nowadays it’s a huge challenge for me to even be in the top 5. Sometimes I can only dream about winning. The popularity of contests has clearly increased and sometimes I am surprised how many talented people we have among us. This is fantastic. I admire these people and I am a fan!»

Tibiart: We know you’ve created a fansite yourself and it’s about artists and tibia fan-arts! TibiaFanart.com Tell us a little bit about your fansite and how it’s been having a successful Tibia website of your own?

Makadamia: «TibiaFanart.com was created spontaneously. One day my friend and I came up with the concept, and the next day the site existed. It was supposed to be a typical passion project, aimed at encouraging the Tibia community to spend their time creatively. TibiaFanart.com is also a suitable platform to present your creativity. Apart from the works of professional art creators, we also show a lot of drawings and graphics received from hobbyists. This has made the site a great medium for promoting artists and facilitating contact between people interested in buying their art.

Although running such a site is time-consuming, I welcome any positive feedback on the idea. I am happy to read that someone found an artist through our fansite and decided to support him/her by purchasing his/her artwork. Then I feel that I am doing something worthwhile.»

Tibiart: There’s such a positive insight in having a special place amongst our community to shoutout artists, we agree that there’s so much talent in our community that needs to be acknowledge and we appreciate TibiaFanart for it. What about your first time winning? How did you feel when you won your first fansite item contest and how was it to get an Item you created in-game?

Makadamia: «It was 2014 and my first winning item was a Midnight Panther Doll. To this day I find it hard to believe what happened, haha! 😀 Back then, I didn’t even have a clue what pixel art is. Just on a wave of enthusiasm resulting from winning Memory Box (“Parcel Castle” contest 2014) and Ferumbras Doll (“Tibian Chef’s Kitchen” contest 2014) earlier, I spontaneously participated in the fansite item contest organized by TibiaMagazine.com.ve. Having never made such items before, I opened MS Paint for the first time in my life and at 800% zoom, I started playing with pixels. I saw my competitors’ sprites (including the amazing Lupus Aurelius) and I didn’t even dream that I could win anything. To better illustrate this lack of faith in my work – I checked the contest results nearly a week after they were announced because I wasn’t expecting anything. When I finally saw that I had won it was a shock to me. It was 2 a.m. and I remember being so happy and energized that I didn’t fall asleep for several more hours. I even called my mom, waking her up to brag about it…. xD«

Tibiart: We all have seen your success in creating amazing and top-tier designed items, is it something you feel like you haven’t achieved yet?

Makadamia: «I am an extreme perfectionist, which manifests itself in a rather obvious way – a permanent and profound lack of satisfaction with my own work. Against all rationale, I’ll admit that I lack a sense of satisfaction, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to achieve it.»

Tibiart: I think there’s such a human thing in talented people, they often feel the same way you feel. I think that’s a feature all great artists have and tbh I think autocriticism is what makes you that good! The more talented you are the deeper the feeling is.

What are your goals both in Tibia and in the fansite environment?

Makadamia: «I don’t have any goals in the game. Seriously!

A long time ago, when I first started the game I created different goals for myself, like looting a particular item. The problem was that with a low level and existing Tibia participation system this goal was impossible to achieve and it was frustrating. I think that this game shouldn’t be a source of any frustration, so I eliminated all wishlists, goals, and desires a long time ago. I just enjoy the here and now and if there’s an opportunity to achieve something cool or spend time in an interesting way – I take it.

The question of goals is different when it comes to running a fan page. Here I have to act according to a plan and develop the project in a targeted way. I remember that creating this site the only goal was for someone to visit it from time to time, look at all the beautiful artwork created by players, and think – «this is cool!». It’s been almost 1.5 years since the site was created, I have some ideas and plans in my mind, but the goal is exactly the same.»

Tibiart: We can’t get enough of an experienced artist like you, talking about our favorite subject, art! But let’s talk about Tibia for a bit, what’s your level, your server? When did you first start playing?

Makadamia: «I play as a druid on the EU non-PvP server Bona. My nickname is Makadamia. I’m currently level 840+ and slowly moving forward! I started the game in 2013.

What do you enjoy the most about spending time in Tibia?

I think I’m a typical charlover and RPG player who doesn’t care too much about numbers and stats. I’ve got enough of this stuff in real life! 😉 In 2013 I started checking bosses and I think this passion will stay with me forever! Even though I’m extremely unlucky with loot from these creatures it hasn’t discouraged me so far, and there’s so much more to get! 😀 I like to accomplish everything in the game on my own, so I spend a lot of time trying to get various items or achievements.»

Tibiart: What do you think Tibia needs to change? And what feature from the past would you bring back?

Makadamia: «I think the issue of things to improve in the game is so huge that there is no point in going into any detail. Something that clearly annoys me and should be a priority is balancing professions correctly. I also really enjoy playing as a duo EK+ED, and it’s a very difficult time for that configuration. The team hunt policy is based on a 4 vocation team, while when playing a knight or druid it is often more profitable to play solo than two. This is a pity.

What I miss is something that was not directly in the game, which is probably remembered by all users of the 10.0 client – the popular TibiaCast tool – a platform for showing the game live and/or recording Tibia, which is now being replaced by Twitch. I miss it, and to this day I regret that guys have ended their activity.»

Tibiart: Ugh I do remember Tibiacast and I for sure miss it too! But hey! It’s been a pleasure to have you with us! But we don’t wanna take all your time although we would want to keep you here with us forever HEHEHE! That’s why we’re gonna ask you to leave a message for your friends/Tibia community reading this interview and ofc show us your top 3 artworks or items you enjoyed the most to feature on our website.

Makadamia: I would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to visit my website TibiaFanart.com, view the artwork of our wonderful Tibia artists, and encourage you to visit their social media and support them by leaving like or comments. It really motivates these people to do more and develop themselves, and it costs nothing! Such small gestures can do a lot!

Tibiart: Thank you very much for accepting our invitation and helping me with the questions Maka, you’re a great person and a wonderful artist and really do admire you a lot. From Tibiart.net we send our bests regards and we invite our community to visit the great fansites: TibiaFanart.com and Tibiabosses.com. Also invite you to follow Makadamia’s instagram to get the latest news about her.