Cynthia L. is an illustrator of the fantastical based out of Toronto, Canada. If you need another world to transport yourself to for while, just take a look through her gallery. The colors, the characters, and atmosphere created in each image is at once nostalgic of imaginary childhood make-believe friends and thought up places of retreat.

ToonariPost (TP): How and when did you first start practicing your art (are you traditionally trained or self-taught)?

Cynthia L (CL): I started drawing in high school after taking art, where the teacher was a stellar artist and a big motivational factor to keep practicing. Generally, I am self-taught because high school was mainly art history and I pursued science in university.

TP: What mediums do you use for your art work? Which is your favorite and why?

CL: I use mixed media, but a large percentage of that is watercolour paint. I adore watercolours because they are prone to imperfections and irregularities, and the results can often be unpredictable. It’s really the reason why I love traditional mediums.

TP: What piece of your work is your favorite and why? Which one are you most proud of?

CL: To be honest, I don’t remember the pictures too clearly after they are done. I think this one is a favorite at the moment because it is simple, but still has some mood to it. I’m proud of this one because it took so long that it threatened to jump into the abandoned paper pile but didn’t.

TP: When you first started did you ever hit any bumps in your art process. What were they and how did you overcome them?

CL: There were and still are countless bumps in the road. The first couple were probably drawing proportions and colours. I overcame or learned to live with them by trying to allocate some time to draw every day.

TP: Who or what are your inspirations and why?

CL: When I first started drawing, it was actually all fashion designs. Alexander McQueen was such a huge inspiration with his ornately beautiful and eccentrically morbid works. Later on, when I became more interested in the picture book illustration style, Tove Jansson was a HUGE influence. Her stylistic works are full of imaginative creatures and scenery, and that fantastical other-worldliness is something I strive to create day.

TP: Have you ever had to deal with a situation where someone else took credit for your work? If so, what did you do to resolve it?  How did this art theft make you feel?

CL: Art theft doesn’t really bother me anymore if the person is not using it for monetary gain. It used to upset me because of the time and effort put into a piece, and I’d still contact people if they are blatantly announcing that the picture is their own. But then I realized that the person will never get anywhere by works taken from others, and all the while I continue to make new things beyond the few stolen pictures.

TP: What is your favorite subject to draw and why?

CL: My favorite theme would be children in an imaginary world, partially because I’d like to illustrate children’s books one day, and also because I hope to capture the magic of the world seen through a child’s eye where anything can be, and is possible.

TP: If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

CL: I’d love for more than anything to master water color. It is my main medium of use, but I’m far from using it to its full potential.

TP: Outside of art what is your life like?

CL: I have a loving family, a handful of very close friends, and fantastic coworkers. On my off days I like to attend art events or explore downtown. When I work, it is in an art store. So I guess art is my life right now, haha.

TP: What are your goals in life?  Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

CL: Actually, I had a complete life direction change recently. I’d gotten into teacher’s college and was going to pursue teaching science. It wasn’t a direction that was driven with the right intentions, I think, because I was quite unhappy. It took me a while to finally let go of that, so now I am going to pursue graphic design and hopefully make creative output into a career.

TP: Do you feel that your culture has influenced you in some way that makes you different than other artists?

CL: I don’t think it makes me different, but there is quite a bit of Asian influence in my art because of the cultures I was exposed to as a child. Since I was raised in China and Japan, I think maybe some of the values and feelings in the pictures are slightly different.

Image Courtesy of   http://deathofrats.deviantart.com/gallery/

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Dani, the animal lover behind TVD-Photography’s astonishing photos, is a 26-year-old Australian photographer. She may not work at a zoo, but she certainly knows her way around both a camera and the animals she works with. To find out how such close-up and touching animal photos can be captured, Dani agreed to do an interview.

Toonari Post (TP): How and when did you first start practicing your art?

Dani (D): I first tried out and borrowed a friends camera in 2005 and found that I quite enjoyed taking photos so in 2006 I bought my first small camera, I didn’t last long with it as people on DA recommended I get myself a proper DSLR. So I must thank the people of DA who gave me the advice and support to move forwards.

I am also a self-taught photographer. I’m very stubborn and refuse to pay hundreds of dollars for someone to tell me how to use my camera. There is just so much on the internet to use as resources for free.

TP: What piece of your work is your favorite and why? Which one are you most proud of?

D: This is always a really hard question for me as I have lots of favorites and am proud of a lot of my work, too. I know I can keep improving on it, but I have taken so many it is hard to choose just one of each but I’ll do my best.

Favorite: Mostly because I love cheetahs and I love the look on her face.

Proud of: I’m proud of the composition I got in this one and it just looks so natural and like it was not taken in a zoo, even though it is.

TP: When you first started did you ever hit any bumps in your art process. What were they and how did you overcome them?

D: Okay, here’s a story for you. When I first got my DSLR I obviously didn’t know how to use it to it’s full potential yet. I was using the auto setting a lot of the time and it was a 400D so if it was dim the flash would automatically come up. When taking photos through glass you do not want the flash going off.  Since I couldn’t figure out how to stop this I would put my hand in front of it so I wouldn’t get the flash. I had missed a great opportunity to get good photos of very small tiger cubs because of my inexperience.

So after that experience I went home and started looking up how to use manuals and what all the settings were. I had pretty much started to learn that just because you have a DSLR camera it doesn’t automatically make you a photographer. I started using and practicing with the manual and after that my photos started improving. I really enjoy using the manual and playing with all the settings now.

TP: Who or what are your inspirations and why?

D: Animals are my first inspiration. When I look at other photos or just go to the zoo and watch their behaviors I always feel the need to photograph them.

Other photographers on DeviantART have also been my inspiration. When I first started with zoo photography I would always look at *Sooper-Deviant‘s profile for inspiration and, in fact, I still do.

TP: Have you ever had to deal with a situation where someone else took credit for your work? If so, what did you do to resolve it? How did this art theft make you feel?

D: Well I don’t get art theft on my work as often as others, I always watermark and don’t make my images too big. I think this discourages people a little. I see my work in blogs, on Tumblr and other sites and I don’t mind as my name is kept on the images and sometimes links back to me.

I have seen my work used without permission, though, a few times. Usually I will ask people to give me credit and if that fails I do report it so it’s taken down. Admittedly, depending on the severity it does make me angry, thankfully no one has tried to sell my work though.

TP: What is your favorite subject to photograph and why?

D: Animals, of course. I love to capture their emotions through my photos and I love to share them with others, especially those who have no chance to see these animals in person in the wild or in a zoo. I’m always happy when I’m photographing animals.

TP: I notice a majority of your photos are of animals. Which is your favorite and why?

D: Cheetahs are my favorite. You won’t see many in my gallery since our zoo doesn’t have them. I love their cute little faces, I love their speed and I love that they’re different from other cats.

TP: What are some difficulties in taking photos of animals? Can you describe your process of getting the perfect shot?

D: Well I mainly do zoo photography so my challenge is to get the shot looking as natural as possible. No fences or man made objects. Most of the time I am able to do this. Another challenge is also to get emotion from the animals so patience is a must. Also I think about my composition and what would be visually appealing.

TP: I see you have hundreds of pictures! How do you find the time to take such breathtaking photos?

D: Well, I’ve been doing photography for a few years now and have traveled overseas visiting various zoos twice. In fact, I have plenty more photos to post, which will last me for the next few years! But originally, I was visiting the zoo almost every weekend taking lots of photos.

11. If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

Well if I could just draw anything from cartoons to real life drawings and be able to color and shade them I’d be pretty happy. I seem to have a hard time when I try and it takes me hours. So it would be nice.

TP: Outside of art what is your life like?

D: I live quite a boring life, photography is what gets me out there doing things. I do enjoy staying in and watching movies, going out to dinner with friends and traveling and meeting new people.

TP: What are your goals in life? Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

D: My main goal in life is to just be happy and do things that I love. I do photography as a hobby and it will probably stay that way however I do sell my prints online for anyone who is interested. When I sell something it’s just a bonus.

Image Courtesy of   http://tvd-photography.deviantart.com/

The article Artist Spotlight: Dani Interview appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

J-Century is a male 3D artist from Malaysia that has traveled to various countries around the world. His collection of 3D renderings of everything from beautiful females, to dangerous weapons numbers over 700 and such an enormous gallery of work was just begging to be explained and explored, so an interview with this talented man was requested and agreed to.

Toonari Post (TP): How and when did you first start practicing your art (are you traditionally trained or self-taught)?

J-Century (JC): That’s a long story. I’m a self-taught artist, I think. I’ve loved to draw since I was 3-4 years old; my dad told me that. I started with pencil and paper, drew everything I wanted to draw. I never stopped drawing until now because I wanted to focus more on 3D art. For 3D stuff, I consider myself as half trained and half self-taught.

I actually learned 3D studio Max during my college life. I was a multimedia course student back then, around 2006, and 3D lessons were the last lessons of the course. I learned about the basics there; just stuff about how to make something in the 3D software by using the built-in default tool. And yes, modeling and animating are included as well. But I did not learn all of it because of shortage of resources and 3D was not really popular in my country at that time.

After that, I did not use 3D Max anymore since I worked as a graphic designer and my jobs are 99% graphic related. I have been practicing 3D since April of 2011. I am searching crazily for tutorials on Google and Youtube in order to make my rendering look nice. I started researching and developing render settings, too.

TP: What mediums do you use for your artwork? Which is your favorite and why?

JC: For the majority, I use Autodesk 3D Studio MAX 9 for modeling and rendering, and Adobe Photoshop 7.0/CS5 for post working and also texture making. Why still using version 9? Because my own computer is old enough and it can’t support the higher version of MAX. Besides, MAX is expensive.

Besides 3D stuff, I am also involved in some digital art production: photo manipulation, graphic design and some personal signatures. I use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW for digital art production.

TP: What piece of your work is your favorite and why? Which one are you most proud of?

JC: Alot! But my most favorite would be this one. It’s my OC (Original Character) based on the method of Miranda Lawson of Mass Effect 2.

The art which I am most proud of is “Alisa Bosconovitch J-Tune“; the “J-Tune”, stands for Jack’s Tuning, Jack is my name and I custom-made a gothic lolita outfit for her.

TP: When you first started did you ever hit any bumps in your art process. What were they and how did you overcome them?

JC: Yes, of course, I always hit a lot of bumps during my process. It’s the material issues for the models. I want my models to look like figurines, so I have to make their clothes, skin and accessories look realistic. I have to add some textures to them and adjust the tiling very carefully to make sure they’re suitable.

Generally, I will search for some solutions on Google, or ask my master-level friends. It’s feels good when we need help and a friend is just around to provide it for you.

TP: Who or what are your inspirations and why?

JC: Hyperdivine and Energise. Why? Check out their gallery and you will know why.

TP:  Have you ever had to deal with a situation where someone else took credit for your work? If so, what did you do to resolve it? How did this art theft make you feel?

JC: Sure, it always happens to me. I found a lot of people using my art without my permission and some of them steal my art, make some modify and claim as their it as their own.  I report that as a violation and usually in DeviantART the staff has a high efficiency of reaction for the report I make. Honestly, I feel quite happy when someone steals my art because no one will steal my art if it looks bad.

TP: What is your favorite subject to draw and why?

JC: Mostly the stuff I love: games, girls, cars, and military stuff. No reason to explain, I just love them. You will see a great amount of pretty girls in 3D rendering in my DeviantART gallery, and of course if you browse the rest of the gallery you will find some other stuff like sport car photos, firearms in 3D rendering, and some pretty girl photos (I have quite few pretty female friends, hehe).

TP: If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

JC: That will be digital painting. I’ve seen a lot of awesome digital painting and I often blame myself because I can’t draw and paint that kind of stuff! If I master digital painting, there are a lot of things I want to draw!

TP: Outside of art what is your life like?

JC: Outside of art, I am just an ordinary guy. I love cars, movies, music, outdoor activities, Airsoft guns, and superbikes. Sometimes I love to DIY stuff too. For example, a car exhaust system; work it together with friends who love cars just like me. I love to travel too; you Westerners called it backpack travel? I went to Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Paris, London, Korea and Japan before. My next destination is California.

TP: What are your goals in life? Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

JC: My goals are easy, get a stable job with steady income, buy a nice car, settle down and get married, get a dog, that’s all.
Art is my career and also my hobby, I will continue them no matter what.

TP: Do you feel that your culture has influenced you in some way that makes you different than other artists?

JC: Certainly, I am of Chinese descent from Malaysia and it’s a multicultural country. I get to know so much about different cultures of various races. That makes me different from others because I can make varied arts based on different culture, or combine them together.

Here are some examples:

• A panda (it’s categorized as Chinese culture).
• Miu Mitsuki, a fairy/succubus that can manipulate themselves between human-form and animal-form (Chinese, Japanese and Korean culture).
• A mermaid, yes we Thai people have a beautiful story about Mermaids, too.

Image Courtesy of   http://j-century.deviantart.com/

The article Artist Spotlight: J-Century Interview appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

NekoKirara is a full time graphic designer of Malaysian origin and you can find your artwork in her various galleries on Deviantart and on Tumblr. The first piece of her work that I was exposed to was “Koibito,” which means lover and was inspired by koi fish.

The resemblance is in the color palate, but the posture of the characters and the look of their eyes struck me and caused me to wander through her other galleries and become enraptured with some of her more macabre art. To find out more about the artist behind these pieces of art, I requested an interview and was allowed to ask a few questions.

Toonari Post (TP): How and when did you first start practicing your art (are you traditionally trained or self-taught)?

NekoKirara (NK): I started to draw in 2005 and am self-taught. I mostly learned to draw by observing and constantly practicing.

TP: What mediums do you use for your artwork? Which is your favorite and why?

NK: I do my work mostly through digital media, such as Paint Tool SAI and Adobe Photoshop. I used to do my work using traditional media (e.g. markers and color pencils), but I like doing my work through digital media nowadays because it’s really convenient.

TP: What piece of your work is your favorite and why? Which one are you most proud of?

NK: Ah, I don’t have a set one, it usually changes, depending on what I would make in the future, but this is my current favorite for now. I like it because I’ve always loved surreal elements that are out of the ordinary. The artwork I’m most proud of has to be this.

TP: When you first started did you ever hit any bumps in your art process. What were they and how did you overcome them?

NK: Not really, well, I have to be honest, I neglected my studies during school and put all the time I had on drawing because I knew it was what I wanted to do when I grew up.

TP: Who or what are your inspirations and why?

NK: My main inspiration for now is my favorite band, Goo Goo Dolls. Their music is the biggest inspiration to me. I have done quite a lot of work that is inspired by their writings.

TP:  Have you ever had to deal with a situation where someone else took credit for your work? If so, what did you do to resolve it? How did this art theft make you feel?

NK: Oh, a lot of times, it is no stranger to me. Usually, someone would inform me about thieves who are claiming my artworks as theirs, and I would, firstly, ask them to remove my work. If they refused to do so, I would just contact the administration or anyone in charge of the sites where my work is stolen to have them removed. It has worked very well so far.

TP:  What is your favorite subject to draw and why?

NK: As for now, I’m really enjoying drawing object heads. I have a fondness of doing dark macabre art.

TP: If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

NK: For painting, I would like watercolors. I have always admired the skills and patience needed to use that medium. I really like the smooth blending on textured paper. Other than that, I really would like the ability to play musical instruments, like piano, violin or guitar.

TP:  Outside of art what is your life like?

NK: Of course, but I’m afraid it’s nothing amazing. I just feel very blessed to have the ability to transfer what’s on my mind to a blank canvas, so I’m just drawing all the time.

TP:  What are your goals in life? Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

NK: I want to be inspired and to inspire people. It is my biggest wish! I want to send messages through my work. It would be the greatest compliment to me if I could do that. Art is already both a hobby and career to me. I’m really grateful to be able to make it.

TP: Do you feel that your culture has influenced you in some way that makes you different than other artists?

NK: I’m not sure what to say about this. Maybe, a little? I try to stand out from the ordinary through concepts, I’m always thinking of new ideas to win the hearts of my audience.

Image Courtesy of    http://nekokirara.deviantart.com/

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Megan is a 21 year-old Dutch photographer who absolutely adores ladybugs; so much so that her Deviantart username is the Dutch word for ladybug (Lieveheersbeestje). The name is the first thing that caught my attention, but then I saw her darling photos and could not resist asking her for an interview to which she eagerly agreed to.

Toonari Post (TP): How and when did you first start practicing your art (are you traditionally trained or self-taught)?

Megan (M): My interest in photography started a few years ago when I saw all the amazing photographs here on Deviantart. I did some research on the different cameras, and decided I wanted a Canon EOS 500D. After saving up the money I bought the camera and started practicing! I am mainly self-taught, with some help of photography tutorials.

TP: What mediums do you use for your art work? Which is your favorite and why?

M: Macro (close-up photography) is my favorite medium. I just like the details of an insect or an object that you can’t see that well with your eye, but can be enormous with a lens. I think that’s an amazing thing that you can achieve with photography.

TP: What piece of your work is your favorite and why? Which one are you most proud of?

M: I think “Way Up” is my favorite and also the one I’m the most proud of because it was one of my first macro shots of ladybugs and I had just bought my first camera. It has a lot of meanings to me.

TP: When you first started did you ever hit any bumps in your art process. What were they and how did you overcome them?

M: A few actually. I am a bit of a perfectionist so it can be really difficult, especially when you just started making photographs, and you see all the great photos on Deviantart. It can be a bit discouraging, but it also made me want to practice even more.

TP: Who or what are your inspirations and why?

M: All the amazing photographs here on Deviantart are a big inspiration for me. I also get my ideas looking at magazines and other photography websites.

TP: Have you ever had to deal with a situation where someone else took credit for your work? If so, what did you do to resolve it? How did this art theft make you feel?

M: I saw my photographs on a few different websites without a credit to me. It only makes me angry when the person says she/he made it. But on a lot of websites there isn’t an option to report the deviation/deviant as there is on Deviantart. So there isn’t really anything that I can do besides leave a comment.

TP: What is your favorite subject to photograph and why?

M: In the beginning I loved to photograph ladybugs, that is why I have so many ladybug pictures in my gallery. But now because there aren’t so many ladybugs in the winter, I try to work with small, cute items (jars, clocks, necklaces, etc.). And now I really love using those in my photographs too.

TP: How do you get the perfect shot to work when working with such a small subject or when photographing a moving subject like the one in “Splash”?

M: I always take many shots of one subject, so then when I upload them to my computer there just has to be at least one perfect shot. And sometimes I’m just lucky I think…

TP:  If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

M: I want to learn how to take landscape photographs. I see so many beautiful landscape photos with a magical atmosphere around me, I really want to try this too.

TP: Outside of art what is your life like?

M: Photography is definitely my biggest hobby, but I also love to draw! Before photography I made a lot of drawings. And whenever I don’t feel like photographing, I draw. And I really love animals, I have had a lot of pets. My newest pet is my guinea pig, she is so sweet and I just love to cuddle her!

TP: What are your goals in life? Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

M: I am not sure yet if I want to make photography my profession. But if not I’m sure I’ll never stop taking photographs.

TP: Do you feel that your culture has influenced you in some way that makes you different than other artists?

M: Well I don’t really think I’m am very different than other artists, I just try to keep my work unique and try to do other things.

Image Courtesy of    http://lieveheersbeestje.deviantart.com/

The article Artist Spotlight: Megan “The Dutch Ladybug” Interview appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Egyptsand is a Canadian artist, whose playful clay figures I first saw on her Deviantart page. She accepted my inquiry to ask her a few questions to better know the maker of these cute, clay figures and many other forms of art.

Toonari Post (TP): I see that you are an artist of many talents (plushies, clay figures, and traditional drawings). Which is your favorite medium to work with and why?

Egyptsand (E): I enjoy working in a variety of mediums as you’ve noticed. The earliest medium I remember using was graphite and colored pencils, and then I moved on to paintings and recently, sculptures and plush. I am favoring sculpting a lot more lately because I enjoy the 3D aspect of it.

However, combining mediums (mixed media) is even more exciting for me to think about. I haven’t had many projects that call for this yet, but I am hoping to work on some in the near future. Another thing about sculpting is that you are able to feel the material with your hands, and it’s definitely a much different process than pencil to paper, which I quite like, that brings my creations to life.

TP: How and when did you first start practicing your art (are you traditionally trained or self-taught)?

E: I am a self-taught artist and have been doing art for as long as I remember. From the first day I picked up a pencil and pen, I began to draw and color all sorts of shapes everywhere. This progressed to doodling and art class soon became my favorite in elementary school. I began exploring different mediums as I grew older that were more available and accessible to me, like charcoals in high school, which were supplied by the school for students to experiment with.

TP: When you first started, did you ever hit any bumps in your art process? What were they, and how did you overcome them?

E: I’ve always been a big perfectionist when it came to making art, so I would always see visible flaws in my own work. This did not go well as one of my primary interests back then was realism, so I would spend hours and days just going back and reworking details until I was exhausted by the piece. Over the years, I have figured out various methods of simplifying details and saving time, but still retaining the intricacies. This has probably been one of the most valuable things I have taught myself.

TP: Who or what are your inspirations and why?

E: I am inspired by many artists for various reasons ranging from the quality of work to how much of a role model they are as an individual. I adore artists who are passionate for what they do and I am drawn to technical pieces in different mediums, especially ones I do not recognize. It’s very hard for me to pick favorites as I do not browse religiously, but a few artists on Deviantart come to mind: demiveemon, juumou, witchiko, babylondonstar for plush and costume, blackeri and farkwhad for digital art, olluna for her little misshapen human sculptures, and DannArte for beautifully painted and molded fan art sculptures.

TP: If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

E: I find it tough to choose a single medium, as I generally have an indecisive nature, but I am very attached to plushing right now. I just got a new machine, so I am excited to experiment and see where it will take me. Next up would definitely be sculpture, but I am aiming to push outside my comfort zone with most mediums (for example, working bigger or manipulating it in a way I have not before) because I feel like I can achieve remarkable things when they are done spontaneously.

TP: Outside of deviantart, what is your life like?

E: I am a full time student attending the University of Victoria and I enjoy gaming, taking commissions, playing piano, and working on side projects in my spare time. I used to play dance games (like DDR) competitively and still do occasionally for fun.  I feel as if I am able to tie together my experiences in my artwork as a means of self reflection. Not many people are able to harmonize their activities with what they do as a profession or would like to do, and for that I feel very lucky.

TP: What are your goals in life? Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

E: At the moment, I am finishing my bachelor of Fine Art in university, and am a freelance artist. I am planning on taking a year off after I graduate at the end of the year to think about the direction I want to pursue while working on some of my own projects. As far as a career goes, ideally I would like something that both is enjoyable for me and can supply me with a wage that I am satisfied with; I am not afraid of risk taking, but I also appreciate the security of a steady income.

I definitely want to do something related to art for my career, but I may have to take some time to decide on that still. I have thought about becoming my own manager and opening up a business, but I also like the idea of working on a larger project with a team of other artists. I’m very flexible with working alone and with others so I am not too concerned about this.

My biggest dream is to become a well established artist, to master and be known for what I do (when I decide on this, which could be one focused medium or a larger body of work in various mediums), and to be an inspiration for other artists. I have always fed off inspiration, so I hope to make it my biggest priority to help other artists achieve their dreams and motivate them with the drive they need to do this by being a good role model.

Image Courtesy of   http://egyptsand.deviantart.com/

The article Artist Spotlight: Egyptsand Interview appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Urukins is an artist from Portugal that has been drawing ever since she was little, but started to do it seriously around the age of 12 or 13.  Before then, she did not put much effort into her art, as it was just for entertainment.  She taught herself how to draw by looking carefully at cartoons as well as other people’s artwork to understand how the anatomy worked, how the artist used color, and other methods.

Urukins was happy to answer the following questions in an interview.  ‘TP’ will stand for Toonari Post and ‘U’ for Urukins.

TP: What mediums do you use for your art work?  Which is your favorite and why?

U: Traditionally, I use different kinds of inks, markers, pens, coloring pencils, acrylics, watercolors, and coffee.  Digitally, I just use Paint Tool Sai and Photoshop CS 5 along with my tablet, an Intuos 4. Out of all of these, the ones that take my heart are coffee and a black ballpoint BIC pen.

I pretty much spend hours doodling with these.  I think the ballpoint pen is a great tool. It gives me flowing lines, and it kind of keeps down every single line that I did to build a drawing.  People can see the effort I put into it. And then coffee, I love coffee, I think it has a pretty nice color.  I shade a lot of my sketches with coffee. It’s great to drink and also has a great smell and color!

TP:  What piece of your work is your favorite and why?  Which one are you most proud of?

U: On every moleskin sketchbook that I buy, I draw a special deer.  There will be one page dedicated to a single deer where I will put effort and a lot of myself into.  These pieces have somewhat of a special meaning to me, so I can say that they are the works that I am the proudest of.

TP: When you first started, did you ever hit any bumps in your art process?  What were they, and how did you overcome them?

U: I think my first bumps were anatomy and coloring.  I had a lot of difficulty with anatomy. I couldn’t figure out what joints were meant to fit and where.   All of the animals, people, or mythical creatures that I drew during this phase had a logic challenging structure. I cringe at looking at my old work. It’s comical how I tried to make their bodies reasonable.

I also colored like a five-year-old!  It took a while to understand how a colored pencil worked, and when I finally figured it out, I ran into another bump–light source. One cannot simply cast random lights and shades on a piece. It makes it look a bit dumb, in my opinion.  When I realized that the shading I did made no sense, I started observing my surroundings and then tried to copy what I saw onto paper.  Eventually, I got the hang of it.

TP: Who, or what, are your inspirations and why?

U: Disney, Dreamworks , cartoons, my grandfather, and my mother are my main inspirations.  They were the ones who pushed me to start drawing.  As I grew, I got other sources, of course.  If we go classical, I can point out Dali and Leonardo DaVinci. On a more modern look, there is Banksy, some Deviantart artists (such as Lunacylore, Kaziczek-wolf,and JNCarvalho), and a few Japanese artists, such as Yana Toboso and  Katagiri Ikumi.

All of these people have styles that just fill me up with a need to draw.  I want to be as good as them; I want to look at my artwork the same way that I look at theirs, to think ‘my own artwork makes me want to draw’.   Youtube videos also inspire me.  I can honestly say that watching a three-minute video of a kitten playing with a feather makes me want to draw.

TP: What is your favorite subject to draw and why?

U: Birds, canines, deer, and old people. I love animals. I think they are cute, pretty, and interesting, and I adore drawing canines because of their expressions and their behavior; they can be pretty entertaining.  Birds and deer have this beautiful, mysterious thing about them, like crows and owls.

Having one of these birds in a picture can add so much to it.  The whole environment can change just because of their presence.  We build a stereotypical image of them; we connect crows to death, owls to secrecy or silence, and so on.  Deer, as stupid as they are, are amazing animals just for their looks.

Again, we can get a certain aura and feeling with a picture of a deer that maybe a duck can’t get.  It’s hard to explain.  And old people, yeah, I love the expressions old people make, especially old men with mustaches!

TP: Outside of deviantart, what is your life like?

U: I am a regular teenager, I suppose.  I spend a good part of my day in school. Sometimes, I spend an afternoon with school friends at coffee shops.  Friday and Saturday nights are for my closer friends, games, and just overall being silly, and spending as much time as I can with my boyfriend, drawing, gaming, or reading when I should be studying!

TP:  What are your goals in life?  Do you plan to continue art as a hobby, or make it a career?

U:  I don’t know. I’m in my last year of high school, so I have to decide.  I would like to pursue something related to art, but I don’t see many art related opportunities within my country.  The most likely thing to happen is for art and work to become two different worlds in my life. Art would be a hobby, and I would pursue something else professionally.

Image Courtesy of   http://urukins.deviantart.com/

The article Artist Spotlight: Urukins Interview appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Griffsnuff is a 22-year-old artist from Norway, whose mom got her into art at a very young age.  She spent a lot of time drawing with her daughter by holding her hand and starting out with simple subjects to draw.  This special bond between Griffsnuff and her mother allowed her affection to grow towards drawing and kept her at it.

She did not have any help with her art until she joined an art school in 2005, where she learned art basics.  She also joined the digital art community that same year and associates this with her improvement skyrocketing from thereon out. Griffsnuff agreed to do an interview, and her responses appear below.  Toonaripost will appear as ‘TP’ and Griffsnuff as ‘G’.

TP: What mediums do you use for your art work?  Which is your favorite and why?

G: I would call myself a digital artist by now.  I do some traditional works as well, but most of the time I draw digitally. My favorite medium has to be Photoshop. There’s just so much you can do there, even if I might not use many tools, it’s good to be able to have them. I also love using Flash just as much, its great to draw quick, simple drawings and to animate them, which I also love doing.

TP: What piece of your work is your favorite and why?  Which one are you most proud of?

G: My favorite artwork that I’m most proud of is Deathfight.  It may not be the most detailed, rendered, or most cleaned-up scene I’ve done, but I was able to portray exactly what I wanted. This made me very proud!

TP: When you first started, did you ever hit any bumps in your art process? What were they, and how did you overcome them?

G: Ever since I can remember there have always been bumps and blocks, sometimes they were hard, sometimes they were easy. But they are important! Because each time I improve by learning how to fix them.  So you could say anything has been a bump sometime in life. Humans were a big one of them early on and during art school. I love drawing cartoon-y, so when we had to draw realistic ones, I struggled a lot.

TP: Who, or what, are your inspirations and why?

G: Everything is my inspiration. I can be inspired by mostly anything. I think it’s important to be open to where inspiration can come from and not just stay inspired with one thing or just a few things.

TP: Have you ever had to deal with a situation where someone else took credit for your work?  If so, what did you do to resolve it?  How did this art theft make you feel?

G: I’ve dealt with all kinds of scenarios where people stole or heavily copied my art. At first, this pissed me off so much, and it hurt me and my pride. This is a fairly normal response when something personal has been taken. But now I’m very open, having a huge following, there are many people who are inspired by what I make.

I no longer see a problem with people copying me, there will always be those who never give credit, and it’s not that big of a deal to me anymore. I am glad that I make things that others want to make too.  But there have been times when people have actually taken what I’ve made and claimed it to be theirs.

When this happens, I just try to talk to them, there’s no reason to create a huge angry storm over it.  I have the proof that I made most of my things, anyway, so it usually gets resolved nicely.

TP: What is your favorite subject to draw and why?

G: I love to design things, whether it be creatures, landscapes, characters, and so on. I love to try new things and draw in several different ways. This is why my gallery has such a variety. I would get bored drawing the same thing over and over.

TP:   If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

G: Traditional watercolors! Oh, I would so much love to do that. It’s just so beautiful and delicate! I love art that’s been made with watercolors so much. I guess I am too impatient to do much of it at the moment, though.

TP: Outside of Deviantart, what is your life like?

G: Outside of Deviantart,  I am a concept artist at a newly started game company in Norway called Krillbite. I started working there this January, and it’s what most of my time goes to. Other than that, I live in a tiny apartment with my pets.

TP: What is it like to be able to be part of a community (Deviantart) that allows you to share your artwork with artists from all over the globe?

G: Its great! It’s the main reason why I’ve improved so greatly, having so many different inputs and comments on what I create. It has also let me inspire and help so many others, which is the best feeling in the world.

TP: What are your goals in life?  Do you plan to continue art as a hobby, or make it a career?

G: My goals in life are to help others and inspire others as much as I can, and create things. I will keep doing art as a hobby and as a career like I am doing now. I love drawing, and I don’t think I will ever stop.

Image Courtesy of   http://griffsnuff.deviantart.com/

The article Artist Spotlight: Griffsnuff Interview appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.