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"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." ~Pablo Picasso~ |
Who are your favorite artists? Dorian Cleavenger, Xenia Eliassen, Lorenzo Sperlonga, A. Andrew Gonzalez and Jonathan Earl Bowser. Links to their sites will be added to my links page. What are your favorite colors to paint with? There are a lot of colors I like to work with, however I think the most used are Dove Grey, Fire Red, Black, Phalo Blue and Indigo. What do you prefer to use as a background, Solid Black, Solid White or Imagery? My personal preference is a solid black background most of the time even if it doesn't seem that way when you look at my gallery. I find black allows for the colors to intensify, become more vibrant and standout better. Though I will say that there is no guarentee on what a background will look like or be made of until the base colors are laid down for main objects. Sometimes I will start out with wanting only a solid black backdrop only to find half way through it that the painting is telling me it needs to be on white or have a full color backdrop. Why do you chose to paint fantasy rather than real scenes, people and animals? I've always been told I have my head in the clouds, that I'm a day dreamer and a little off in how I see things. Fantasy seems to fit me well. I love the freedom that Fantasy Art gives the artist, there is no right or wrong, no category like impressionist, surrealist, abstract, it is simply Fantasy. It is a place where you can paint trees that look like people and people who have purple skin tones or hair that seems to be alive and move of its own accord. I do not want to spend a lifetime painting a mirror image of what everyone sees when they look at the woods or out a window, I want to paint the world I see and share the vision, how ever odd it might seem, that I hold in me with the world. My imagination is the one thing that can never be influenced by anyone other than myself, it is something that is hard to keep once you become an adult and this is the one way I know how to keep it alive. Do you find anything difficult to create in your work? You grow in ability as time passes on, but no matter how much time and practice goes into what I create, I seem to always get frustrated with nature. Something as simplistic as a dirt path lined with flowers or greenery can really fluster me. I find with painting small details like that, I have an issue with getting the proportions right. I'll get it one of these days, I'll fall into a groove with painting a feild or pathway in the woods and have it stick in my head. Tools of the trade: What are your personal items to create with? Traditional Artwork I paint on smooth paper, my preference is a nicely weighted water color paper bigger than 10 inches squared. The paints I use are not from an art store but rather the craft isle in any shop that has one. Ceramcoat, Americana, and Folkart, which come in 2 fluid ounce bottles work just as well as an expensive set of professional acrylic paints from any art store. With the acrylics I do add a medium called " retarder ", it is a clear liquid additive that does not dilute the color of the paint in anyway but it slows the drying time of the paint to allow for better blending. My prefered brushes are usually synthetic gold tone hairs from a semi professional line which can be used for acrylics or watercolor and also make a great brush for inking. The sizes rarely vary and are quite small, I think the largest brush I have is a size one and the 0/5 to 0/10 are my favorites. If I put a finishing protective coat on the work after it is dried I have always and will always use Krylon spray. I cannot praise their product enough, though I do reccomend that when spraying it, you do so near an open window or in a open space. Digital Artwork I use a PC Tablet created by Wacom. They are a top rated producer of digital tablets on the market today. My personal tablet is the Intuos 3, medium sized. With this there are no paints or anything required, however there are programs that are used in conjunction with the tablet to produce the work. The programs that I use personally are Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Corel Painter X. They are both created for a wide range of applications in the creative sector. Do you use reference material? Yes. I love making things look realistic even in the fantasy realm. I have a stock pile of images that I hold onto for reference when I'm painting. Everything from models to plants, animals and clothing. I think that all artists have thier own little stash of reference material that they hoard away for inspiration in their work. I have to admit it really comes in handy, especially with the clothing aspect. Fabric folds and lighting are not as easy as some might think and well, if you do not get them right it could potentially throw off the light and shadow of your work and make it a big mess. I love the people out there that actually pose and create prop work for artists to use. Like in past times where painters used live models and structures that they could litterally touch, the new age of artists have photography and the internet. It allows us to find anything and everything from any part of the world, be it a simple color scheme or the layout of a cathedral. Reference materials really do open the doors for the collision of realism and imagination. More Questions and Answers will come as the site progresses. Do you have a question you would like to ask? Please feel free to email Angela You can also find me on: |
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