Community Corner: Entransing

The Community Corner returns for another monthly issue where we spotlight and interview individuals about their amazing contributions to the Halo community—art, cosplay, animation, streaming, Forge, and so on.

Last time, we were joined by artist Will Clements to learn more about how Halo has inspired him as an artist.

Today, we're joined by Samantha ("Entransing") to learn about her journey with Halo and the stunning artwork she has produced of its characters, worlds, ships, and more!

Welcome, Samantha! Thank you for joining us for this month’s issue of the Community Corner. Tell us a bit about yourself—who are you, what do you do as part of the Halo community, and where can we find you?

Hello! I’m Samantha and I’m a Sydney-based freelance artist specializing in traditionally drawn art. I’ve done hundreds of Halo artworks over the past few years in a variety of mediums—from ballpoint pen to oil paints.

You can find my work on Instagram at @entransing_ or on Twitter at @entransing, where I’m always updating it and creating new works!

What’s your Halo origin story?

At the start of 2013, my parents gave me the choice between an iPad or an Xbox 360 as a high school starting gift. The choice was obvious for me, and I soon had an Xbox along with some great titles—Skyrim, GTA IV, and of course Halo 4, which I was immediately drawn to.

From there, I basically played the game nonstop, starting with the campaign, then jumping into multiplayer, before going back and playing all the previous titles. From this journey, I made great friends, great memories, and a love for Halo that’s stuck ever since.

Are there any particular areas of the series that you find yourself gravitating towards—are you drawn towards campaign, multiplayer, Forge, expanded universe stuff, or a mix of various things?

Over the years, I’ve been drawn to different aspects of Halo. In the beginning, multiplayer was my main interest, as I could spend hours having fun with friends in matchmaking and custom playlists. Ranked playlists and playing in tournaments was also an interest of mine, so a lot of my time went into the multiplayer aspect of Halo.

However as of recently, time has become scarcer, so I’ve dedicated less time to multiplayer, instead opting to go co-op through the Halo campaigns, introducing the series to friends and making more memories along the way.

What are some of your favorite pieces of Halo media and why?

My favorite Halo media pieces that I’m currently collecting are any kind of Halo book, whether it be the novels or the art books and visual guides. These are a major source of inspiration for me, and I love discovering little bits of lore here and there that I wouldn’t have learnt from the games alone.

Do you have a favorite Halo character—both in general, and a favorite character to draw?

I’m going to have to cheat a little and say my favorite Halo characters are the six members of Noble Team.

Halo: Reach is my favorite title of the whole series and drawing them always brings back memories of first playing through the campaign, discovering their fates and the fate of Reach. But… if I had to pick one member from the team, it would be Kat-B320.

Tell us your origin story as an artist—how did you discover your love for it and what are some of your major inspirations?

Art has always been a major part of my life; I’ve been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil.

However, video games really opened my eyes to a whole new means of artistic expression and a way of discovering new and creative ideas and worlds.

Destiny was one of my first major artistic inspirations, where I picked up my first game art book: The Art of Destiny. From there, I discovered my love for science fiction art, where I analyzed and drew virtually every page from the book. If you scroll down far enough on my Instagram, you’ll find my very first pen illustrations, which is where it all began!

As I’ve considered pursuing art, other inspirations have arisen to help me develop my own style. I’ve recently fallen in love with the Berserk manga and take a lot of inspiration from Kentaro Miura's linework. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many artists at conventions as well, whose own art and stories also inspire me further.

Where do you start from when you begin working on a new piece of artwork and how does your process go from there?

To even begin to put pencil on paper, I need ideas, which can come at any time of the day. Whether it’s through suggestions from others or my own inspiration, I have a folder of thousands of reference pictures ready to go when an idea comes my way.

I keep my sketches pretty rough most of the time, making sure to just get the key details and proportions in. The next steps change according to how I’m lining or shading the piece. It could be in ballpoint pen, fine liner, brush pen or watercolor.

You’ve done some absolutely incredible illustrations of various Halo characters, and I see you’ve recently been doing some ships—the Pillar of Autumn, Spirit of Fire, Infinity, etc—and landscapes as well. Do you vary your approach based on the subject?

My recent UNSC ship series has been so much fun to work on as yes, it required a different process to my usual routine.

Given the highly detailed nature and blueprint look of these drawings, I had to take a much more careful and precise approach towards the work. I had to break out the ruler, do measurements and line each stroke up to make the work as precise as possible.

However, with my oil painted landscapes, the process behind these was on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Painting these landscapes is always such a therapeutic and calming process for me, as I can let loose, focus on brushwork and blending, rather than precision.

It’s really these differences in my practice that allow me to continuously stay inspired, even if I’m drawing the same subject over and over. There’s just so many different ways I can approach the same landscape or same character. I can never get bored of it!

Do you listen to music when you go into artist mode? What Halo tracks are on the drawing playlist for inspiration?

Music is a must for me, and I love to match what I’m drawing with its respective Halo soundtrack. My favorite soundtrack has to be that of Halo: Reach, but some of my favorite individual tracks are The Rookie, A Spartan Rises, and Ghosts and Glass.

How would you describe your style of art? Do you have a favorite medium to work with?

I would describe my art as my approach towards realism, with a touch of comic-book style linework and shading in my pen pieces.

I’m strict on my palette being mainly black-and-white with a dash of color for emphasis. However, since I do cover a lot of mediums in my art—pen, graphite pencil, oil paint, watercolors—my art style is also very dynamic. My favorite medium of all has got to be the standard Bic ballpoint pen, as it really tests my skills as an artist and is so fun to use!

How do you think your art has evolved over time? And how would you like to see it develop further?

I often look back at the artwork I’ve made over the past few years, and with each new piece I create, the evolution of my art only becomes more and more apparent.

My technical skills are always changing and developing as I learn from past mistakes or change directions in my art style. I am blessed to have so many opportunities to explore new ideas in my art, and I would love to continue with more creative and more ambitious pieces of work that test my skills further.

Do you have any wisdom to share with other artists out there who might just be getting started?

Art is all about consistency—put in the hours and you’ll see results!

Don’t be afraid to share your art with others, whether it be friends or fellow artists. You can learn a lot about where you can improve, and where your strengths are as well.

And most importantly, enjoy the process. Your best art is made when it comes from a place of love and passion!

What’s your favorite piece of Halo artwork?

It’s really hard for me to choose a single favorite piece, but I really love the cover art of the Halo novels, as well as Halo’s environmental concept art.

I really love the cover art of Halo: Shadows of Reach and Halo: Outcasts.

What’s are some of your favorite pieces of artwork that you’ve done? And is there something Halo-related you might be excited to draw in the future?

I’m always super proud of the Halo oil paintings I do, and they always receive a lot of love as well. This piece (the top of the one pictured below), based off an artwork for Halo: CE, is one of my favorites and was quick to find a home with a fellow fan.

I also love the Noble Team series I did for a friend of mine, all in ballpoint pen with a touch of watercolor.

While I’m mixing things up a bit more in terms of my art, I always have Halo artwork ideas on the backburner. My next plan is to do an epic Blue Team piece, so stay tuned for that!

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Whilst I’m mainly an artist by trade, I’m also a graphic designer, designing and illustrating for books and websites.

Thank you so much again for joining us, Samantha! Do you have any parting words to share?

It’s a dream come true to be featured here and to be able to express my love for Halo with thousands of fellow fans! I want to say a big thank you for having me, and great work with keeping Halo’s spark alive!

Don't forget to go and follow Entransing on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with all her latest and greatest art pieces!