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Jayd "Chira" Aït-Kaci

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Quick and Nerdy:

Taurus | Fire Rabbit | INFJ

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Long and Pretentious:

A Berber/Venezuelan mix agender millennial born in Austin, Texas, grew up in Paris, France, and currently residing in Vancouver, Canada.

I'm perpetually learning about history so I can make sense of my future. When I was young I wanted to grow up to be an anime, and unfortunately I succeeded. As a kid I learned astrology in intense detail just so I can play Final Fantasy Tactics better. I think the secret to world peace is through cheesy 80's synth friendship power ballads and shounen openings. I have a chow chow, his name is Bocchama.

My only goal in life was to not be an artist under any circumstances, so clearly I'm nailing it and know exactly what I'm doing.

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What I Do

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I'm an independent artist. The majority of my time and attention is devoted to my original work.

The label Little Foolery is a collaborative venture between myself and writer Alex Singer, best friend and creative partner of many years now. I love her writing, and I ended up making it a mission to convince you to love it too.

Flagship Little Foolery titles I draw for include Sfeer Theory, Libertus Rubedo, Small Town Witch, and Song of the Bull Rider -- and help produce/manage many more besides that. Please check the stories out and discover a new favorite author,

I regard fan art as a very fun and low stakes ground to practice, study, and experiment. I very often do fan art to warm-up or cool down between my artistic assignments, or just because I really like to celebrate the things that entertain and delight me. You can keep track of them in batches through my website's art blog and also you can check out art as I do it through my work diary.

I do commercial freelance on occasion. Most of my paid work is NDA, so I don't often have a lot to share in this regard, but it keeps me busy. Most of my freelance work is being an on-demand satellite assistant concept/design merch artist to various media companies, studios and projects. Much less frequently, I do illustrations or comics.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN HIRING ME, PLEASE KNOW: I'm very rarely available for new clients, I am avoidant of long-term commitments and tight deadlines, and I am expensive -- but if all that doesn't deter you then please feel free to take a chance and inquire me with what you have in mind.

When my schedule isn't dedicated to drawing, I service a one-on-one mentorship workshop for artists looking to improve their skill and help repair creative struggles or burn out, Scope that out if you're interested.

That's about it. Thank you very much for taking interest in me and my work.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Q: What are your preferred pronouns?

I encourage she/her as default, but I am also all right with they/them.

Q: How do you pronounce your name? Where is it from?

Jayd : "JADE"
(my parents wanted to be unique)

Aït-Kaci : "AH-EET-KAH-SEE"
(It’s Algerian)

Q: Where did your nickname “Chira” come from?

It’s the nickname I gave myself when I was a young'un clicking around the internet. It stuck.

Q: Which name do you prefer being called?

I go by either Jayd or Chira equally.

Jayd is my legal name, Chira is my pen name. Basically, this means all my freelance work and official publishings are credited under my legal name, and my pen name is associated with my personal/fandom work.

How people address me typically is dictated by which avenue they were introduced to me by, but it's entirely your preference which name you prefer to use with me.

Q: What are your astrology signs?

• Ascendant Scorpio
• Sun Taurus
• Moon Virgo
• Mercury Taurus
• Venus Aries
• Mars Gemini
  

Make of that what you will!

Q: What art programs/tools do you use?

I use a 8x6” Wacom Intuos 3 tablet, I draw primarily in openCanvas 4.06E Plus, and color in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

I tend to use the default brush settings available in both of these programs, but occasionally use Kyle T. Webster’s brushes.

Q: Can I repost your work?

No.

Please do not repost my artwork on any social media or compilations without direct written permission.

Additionally, do not use my art for videos or projects (even non-profit) without direct written permission.

If you are unsure how to share my work, then please contact me first to clarify.

Q: Do you mind if I use your art for reference?

I don't mind being used for personal studies at all, but when publicly displayed please be considerate and source if heavily used for reference.

If used for academic homework, please cite me appropriately.

Q: Can I talk to you about NFT's?

You can either gain an extra brain cell you desperately need to get out of the scam right now and better yourself as a person and in life, or I sincerely wish you lose all your money and everyone who is unfortunate enough to love you if you're stupid enough to keep believing in the grift that's ruining lives, destroying art, and setting fire to our future on this planet.

Q: Did you go to art school?

I'm fully self-taught. The most formal creative education I've had was three months of animation (just long enough to draw my bouncing ball!) before I dropped out and never looked back, and that’s about the beginning and end of my art studies.

Ironically, I've quit or dropped out of every attempt at art training in my life.

Q: Do you work in animation?

Nope. Never have. Not even a little bit. But I'm determined to convince you otherwise.

Most of my industry/studio experience has been through merch concept and design.

Q: What is your art process like?

I have a work diary on Ko-Fi that tracks my work progress nearly daily, so you can definitely get a strong sense of my process following that, and also how I focus on evolving/refining it over time.

You can also subscribe to my picarto channel and catch how I draw in real time when I stream. I listen to rad music.

Q: Your gestures and character acting is so expressive, how do you achieve that?

After a bit of time teaching how to evoke emotional vibrancy in art to other people I've just accepted it's because I overthink literally everything to a degree that is perhaps a touch neurotic.

I'm a natural over-achiever so I enjoy looking for opportunity to put in details that people usually take for granted. The stuff someone would typically say "that's too much effort" is exactly the stuff I invest in. It's definitely too much effort, I just think that effort is worth doing.

Q: How do you keep yourself motivated and confident about your art?

Sounds cheesy, but: I remember back to when I was 5-6 years old staring at all the animation and comics and illustrations for hours and hours. I often sit at my desk thinking: "I'm drawing the art that would've blown that little kid's mind."

It's really hard to be down on your work when you know a younger-you would've been your biggest fan. I work hard to impress that kid. Feels good.

Q: Would you be willing to look at my art and tell me what you think?

I don't offer critiques openly because I don't really enjoy or feel comfortable editing someone else's art, but I do offer a mentorship workshop experience to help you improve and edit your own work,

If you're interested in hiring me to tutor you for your artistic improvement or creative healing, please contact me.

Q: Any general art advice you can offer?

• You have the existential right — arguably, the obligation -- to love your work more than anyone else ever could. You don't always have to like or accept your results, but you absolutely should love you made it.
  
  
• Evaluate your results based on whether you're bored by it or satisfied, not if it's good or bad.
  
  
• Art isn't a video game, you can't just mindlessly grind experience and expect to level up. If you're drawing all the time and nothing is changing, it's because you're not changing anything about how you draw.
  
  
• You have more to gain being bold, reckless, and quick. Slow and cautious gives you time to overthink something simple. Be the hare rather than the tortoise.
  
  
• You know you're improving when your process becomes easier, not harder. It's always good to experiment out of your comfort zone and push your limits, just don't assume you're cheating by leaning on your strengths. What's the point of gaining all that muscle if you don't flex it?
  
  
• Do everything you can to remember creating is supposed to feel fun and exciting. It's easy to forget. Remind yourself if you do.
  
  
• Health first. Always. Your art literally can't exist without you, so take care of yourself.

Q: I have a question that isn't answered in this FAQ?

Contact me! I'll do my best to answer!