 |
| Kairit |
1.) Could you tell me a bit about yourself as someone who works in the Traditional medium?
I don't know exactly what you'd like to know, but I've always been a very visually oriented person; I typically think in pictures, versus ideas or words or what have you. My personal tastes visually are along the lines of beauty and realism, so I don't generally go for abstract or cubist or impressionist type work, or even dark/macabre stuff, though there are always exceptions, and I try to appreciate the time effort and inspiration behind pieces even if they aren't to my particular tastes.
2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
I’m not, for the most part, employed in any way in the arts field. I do dabble from time to time, when work needs something, or a club/team wants a shirt, or something along those lines, but I'm not like a graphic designer or a movie set dresser or anything like that. If I could find steady work in a traditional field, I'd jump at the chance, but I'm rather pessimistic about the opportunities available to actually earn a living doing something I enjoy so much. I've watched my dad, who's been doing stained glass for about 25 years, and opened up his own shop about eight years ago, and even though he excels at his field AND is a good businessman, he only really makes enough money to support his art, but not nearly enough to cover food and mortgages and gasoline and all of the other things that we need money for. He still relies on his "real" job to put food on the table, so to speak. My aspirations are to make some money off of art, but I do it because I love it, not because it's profitable.
3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
As far as equipment and skills.... patience and PhotoShop, lol! I jump around from medium to medium a lot, so I feel comfortable creating art with just about anything, from expensive paints, to cheapo bic pens to whatever I've got on hand. I've whittled with a knife, and once when I was filling sandbags in the army I got bored and built a 15' fluted tower, just because. Really, one just has to have the patience and perseverance to see a project through, and take the time to do it right the first time. I say Photoshop, too, as it has proven a very valuable tool. Although I sometimes draw from sight, and do a lot of design freehand, I like to try and lay things out and plan ahead of time when I can. Although other techniques are available, I find that I can sort of mock up an image or work in PhotoShop, using reference photos, cropping, blocking in figures or objects, just general stuff to make it easier to visualize what I'm going for. I can block out proportions and perspectives as well, see how something will look horizontally vs. vertically, or how it will look relative to its frame/mat or the space on the wall it will occupy, that sort of thing.
4.) Do you use digital methods in some of your work? If not, have you ever considered it?
I tend to grid a lot when I'm actually drawing, so that I include what I want to include, without running out of space, or making an image too small, or disproportional, so PhotoShop is helpful for that. It also makes it easier to zoom in on a particular area to better view the details. All of these things can either be done without, or done with other techniques, but I find that Adobe simply makes life easier in a lot of ways. Of course I also use it when I photograph or scan finished artwork, to get the levels and contrast to match what’s on the paper, as my scanner tends to leave out a lot of the high and lowlights.
I don't know exactly what you'd like to know, but I've always been a very visually oriented person; I typically think in pictures, versus ideas or words or what have you. My personal tastes visually are along the lines of beauty and realism, so I don't generally go for abstract or cubist or impressionist type work, or even dark/macabre stuff, though there are always exceptions, and I try to appreciate the time effort and inspiration behind pieces even if they aren't to my particular tastes.
2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
I’m not, for the most part, employed in any way in the arts field. I do dabble from time to time, when work needs something, or a club/team wants a shirt, or something along those lines, but I'm not like a graphic designer or a movie set dresser or anything like that. If I could find steady work in a traditional field, I'd jump at the chance, but I'm rather pessimistic about the opportunities available to actually earn a living doing something I enjoy so much. I've watched my dad, who's been doing stained glass for about 25 years, and opened up his own shop about eight years ago, and even though he excels at his field AND is a good businessman, he only really makes enough money to support his art, but not nearly enough to cover food and mortgages and gasoline and all of the other things that we need money for. He still relies on his "real" job to put food on the table, so to speak. My aspirations are to make some money off of art, but I do it because I love it, not because it's profitable.
3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
As far as equipment and skills.... patience and PhotoShop, lol! I jump around from medium to medium a lot, so I feel comfortable creating art with just about anything, from expensive paints, to cheapo bic pens to whatever I've got on hand. I've whittled with a knife, and once when I was filling sandbags in the army I got bored and built a 15' fluted tower, just because. Really, one just has to have the patience and perseverance to see a project through, and take the time to do it right the first time. I say Photoshop, too, as it has proven a very valuable tool. Although I sometimes draw from sight, and do a lot of design freehand, I like to try and lay things out and plan ahead of time when I can. Although other techniques are available, I find that I can sort of mock up an image or work in PhotoShop, using reference photos, cropping, blocking in figures or objects, just general stuff to make it easier to visualize what I'm going for. I can block out proportions and perspectives as well, see how something will look horizontally vs. vertically, or how it will look relative to its frame/mat or the space on the wall it will occupy, that sort of thing.
4.) Do you use digital methods in some of your work? If not, have you ever considered it?
I tend to grid a lot when I'm actually drawing, so that I include what I want to include, without running out of space, or making an image too small, or disproportional, so PhotoShop is helpful for that. It also makes it easier to zoom in on a particular area to better view the details. All of these things can either be done without, or done with other techniques, but I find that Adobe simply makes life easier in a lot of ways. Of course I also use it when I photograph or scan finished artwork, to get the levels and contrast to match what’s on the paper, as my scanner tends to leave out a lot of the high and lowlights.
 |
| After Action |
5.) Personally, what style of art do you prefer? Do you prefer traditional means or do you think digital is the way forward?
I think that both digital and traditional have their places in culture. Digital allows one to create things nearly impossible with hands on media in a fraction of the time, but (at least for now) there are things, especially in the tangible world, that are simply beyond computers. There's simply no way for digital to create a textured surface, or a granite relief that you can actually touch (at least right now). That said, there are digital applications and artists that can really mimic the look and feel of paint, or charcoal, or actual photographs, and there are colours and styles I've seen digitally that would be hard to approach with traditional means. I personally have a small Wacom, and I do enjoy it, but I'm nowhere near good enough with it to approach what most artists can accomplish, and my tools are limited at best. It’s something I'd like to learn, but I see myself as being primarily a traditional artist, at least for the foreseeable future.
No comments:
Post a Comment