This interview is totally awesome with New Zealand based artist Katie Robinson. She shares insight of her work and tells us some secrets.

If you love painting then you will love what Katie Robinson does with Stencil and Paint brush. She creates the most amazing portraits from photos.

Keep in mind though, once you have seen her work and read this you would just want to get one portrait customized for yourself, check it out!

Interview

- Please tell us more about your art and what did you do to take it further and turn it in to your profession?

This might sound silly but I have always thought of myself as an artist, in fact I was so busy being an artist in my head that I didn’t actually create anything till I was 27! My mother always said I should go to art school, but it wasn’t really my thing when I was growing up. Part of being an artist in my head was not being told what to do, haha. The way I got into it was very natural and there was no set ‘learning’ involved. I quite like how my style has evolved naturally with no pressure, so maybe not going to art school was a good idea =P

Once I decided to paint, which was about 3 years ago now, I just set out and did it. Incorporating digital images by way of stencils happened so slowly that I didn’t even notice that I had become a stencil artist.

I decided that I really should start painting, as it was something that I always felt I should do. So I found some old board and went to work. I loved the effect you get from using a blank piece of paper against a background and painting over it, after you take it off you are left with a perfect line. That perfection is something that I don’t usually achieve (or want actually) in my work so I liked to experiment with it and how it offset my normally quite dark and messy style. After not too long I realised I could apply this technique to various shapes and set out with a very simple rabbit image, then an actual person! The detail I could get was amazing and since then I have developed my skill to use with some really detailed images. There are a lot of different ways to cut a stencil that give you different effects, many, many hours of work with a blade later and I feel that I can achieve almost anything I want. It’s both a nice feeling and a frustrating feeling. The things that I could create if I had the time!!!!

- Your work is very unique and full of creativity. Where do you find inspiration to create such awesome pieces?

My inspiration comes from everything, every element of life gets me thinking and throws ideas into my head. Good, bad, confusing or straightforward and simple, anything and everything has something in it that I can use.

The photos that people want me to turn into portraits inspire me greatly also, I love that when I see the right photo my mind explodes with ideas and colours. The fact that they choose me to create something special from their favorite memories is very special to me.



- What, according to you are the pros and cons of being a designer?

The positive things far outweigh the negative things. The most prominent thing that I find to be a negative aspect of having a skill that I can use to express myself is that there is just too much that I want to capture. On a normal, basic day of my life I have many flashes of paintings and photos that I would like to investigate. In a particularly inpired time I can get quite frustrated that I can’t do everything that I see, ideas just keep coming and I am too busy trying to persuade my son Ash, who is 17 months old, not to eat rocks and throw his shoes into the toilet that often I don’t have the means to apply myself in that way. But really that just means that when I do have time I really, really get into it and don’t take a moment for granted!

The pros without a doubt are being able to donate my time and ideas to causes and charities etc. I love that I can use a skill that I have to raise money for people that really need it. I am always open to opportunites to use my art in a postive way.



- Please give us some tips for people that feel that they would like to get into art or design?

“Do It!” literally just do it and get started. Don’t take no for an answer and just perservere with your craft until things start happening. Approach it from a positive angle and positive things will come to you. If you can use your passion to create things you love, people will be naturally drawn to it. If you have a big idea and you are ready to convey it, there are people in the world that will share your idea and will love to see it! Also don’t let your tools of the trade bring you down. If you can’t afford canvases go and get some wood to paint on! That goes also for the other extreme, if you have a canvas in front of you don’t treat it as anything hallowed and special and be uber wary of what you put on it, just do it! You can always paint over it!

I talk to lots of people that would like to get into painting and they are just so shy of the paint and canvases, thinking that everything they attempt needs to be perfect. My favorite line is “The art police are not going to arrest you for painting a wonky tree” =P Art is whatever you create, it certainly doesn’t have any special guidelines it must live up to (some would argue that, but it’s what I think).



- What are your upcoming projects?

I have in my mind a few paintings that I am dying to complete. The general theme of them is to do with the area that we live, I am surrounded by the most spectacular sights and my mind won’t quit until I have captured some of them! There are a few old trees that I have my eye on and I have a thing for powerlines that I would really love to explore. I have done most of the design for them and now on to hours of cutting and then painting! I have been using a blue paint, that when used in a sky, turns a very light and happy scene into something quite gloomy and sureal, I plan on creating a body of work incorporating that blue.

For one particular gallery that has asked me to give them some work, I am going to start on a series of portraits of strangers. I haven’t developed the idea further than the plan to take my camera out into town and look out for some interesting characters. It has come from going out, seeing certain scenes and people and wishing I had my camera on me time and time again!

Another project I have happening is a commission from a Philosophy Professor in Washington DC. She wants a painting for her office that is inspired by a certain idea (which I won’t get into now =P) It’s a different kind of job for me and I am really enjoying being challenged.

I have wanted to make a painting for the Childrens Heart Ward in Starship Childrens Hospital where our son, Ash has had his surgeries. They have been fantastic to us and I would love to gift them a special painting one day soon. I have an idea and a photo and I would love to do it very soon!



- Which are your top 5 favorite websites?

www.depotartspace.co.nz – I have always loved this gallery, lovely people and fantastic philosophy behind it keeping it open to the creative community. I am currently sorting out a time to put some work up there. Funnily I used to always visit and never dreamed that I would be able to say that!

www.redbubble.com – This is such a cute site. It is a fantastic place for artist to submit their work for show and sale.

www.thebigidea.co.nz – Fantastic site full of opportunities involving all things creative in New Zealand!

www.antsang.co.nz – Ant is a very talented New Zealand artist that I really admire. He created my first and favorite comic ever, “Filth”.

www.stencilhistoryx.com – This is a beautiful site which some amazing work. I could look for hours!

- What are your magic tools, both hardware and software?

I could not live without Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

As for art supplies, I use DAS canvases and many, many (and any) types of paint and brushes.

A large scale printer makes my life a lot easier, I have developed a nice relationship with my local printer and visit him often! (I love seeing things in print that I have been working on)

A full can of spray paint and a sharp cutting blade brings me much happiness and I have to add coffee to this list or it wouldn’t feel complete!

- Where to find you on the web?

Website: www.katierobinson.co.nz

Facebook: Katie Robinson’s Custom Alternative Portraits

I have something exciting running at the moment, when we make it up to 500 members I will have a competition for a free portrait. We had great fun when the group got up to 200 and everyone posted their photos, very hard to choose but looking forward to doing it again!

Eric Thompson is a young artist from U.S., he brings amazing creativity in his art. We just loved what he does and wanted to share with all you.

In this Interview with artist Eric Thompson we talk a little about his art, design background and new project he is working on.

Interview

- Please tell us more about your art and when did you start this passion for design and graphics, and what did you do to take it further and turn it in to your profession?

I like to label my art as “realistic surrealism”; I take things that are abstract or imaginary and analyze them until they become reality. I am more a patient artist than a talented one, I can spend months getting something perfect so that it fits my hyper-detail category.

From a young age I was into detailed illustration. From elementary school into highschool, I would constantly have a sketch pad with me to doodle my ideas down. It wasn’t until recently that I made the leap into doing art as a professional endeavor.

I started framing some of my work and approaching local galleries and businesses, most of whom were happy to have my pieces on display. I’ve slowly started working some pop art themes with my fine art techniques which helps to broaden my horizons.



- Your work is very unique and full of creativity. Where do you find inspiration to create such awesome pieces?

A lot of my inspiration comes from wordplay and irony. Contrasting ideas or rhyming words cause synapses in my brain that make me want to visually manifest the wittiness. So I enjoy reading old books or magazine/internet articles and find interesting words that make me think.

Music is another big inspiration, the whole idea of harmony makes me see colors and patterns that I wouldn’t normally see if I was sitting in silence; I always love to have music playing while I work for ambiance.

Finally, math and science are big influences too. I try to incorporate some right-brained notions into my left-brained activities; patterns, negative space, the golden ratio, etc are all things I try to juggle while working on a piece of art.

- What, according to you are the pros and cons of being a designer?

The best thing about being a designer is the opportunity to flex your entire brain. It isn’t an occupation like being a lawyer or an accountant, you really get to use your whole mind when you work on something; emotions are just as important as skills.

The art community is second to none, so the social aspect of design is another great benefit.

The biggest con of being a designer is that, while you can work without inspiration, it’s hard to get motivated to work on something when you don’t have a spring in your step. Sometimes you can get more done in an hour if you are motivated than you would in the entire day if you aren’t motivated.



- What are your upcoming projects?

Right now I’m trying to finish up my US Banknote series. I did a $0 bill and I have 3 more I’m working on simultaneously. I’m also working on a few websites for 2 clients as well as a personal website. I’m a busy but happy person!

- Which are your top 5 favorite websites, and why?

www.ffffound.com - A very random collection of pictures, it’s easy to get lost browsing it for hours. Sometimes the pop art jogs the brain and inspires me to create something simple and cute.

www.abduzeedo.com – A site devoted to inspiring digital artists. Enough said.

www.2leep.com – This site is interesting, not specifically for artists, but for subject ideas.

www.weburbanist.com – Another random art-inspiration website.

www.instructables.com – This site is just cool. Let’s you think outside the box and inspires you to create using anything and everything around you.

- What are your magic tools, both hardware and software?

For digital art, I use photoshop & illustrator coupled with a whole bunch of plugins, brushes and font libraries. I also use a wacom bamboo pad for sketching a digital framework.

- Where to find you on the web?

I’m still working on my personal site, but for now, my flickr page , twitter or facebook are the easiest ways to get in touch with me. I’m always looking for new friends and somebody to share my work with!