Interview with christwriter

Time to get to know a bit more about christwriter. You've seen the work, let's hear a little something about the person.

Give us a short introduction about you.
I was born and for the most part raised in Texas. Both my parents were Devout Christians, but not the "thou shalt go to hell for reading that Anne McCaffrey novel with the boobs on the cover" sort, and pretty much raised me to be the same way. I love fantasy art and writing, though I didn't actually have a drive for art until pretty late in life. I have two animals, a cat and a real ugly dog...and that's that.

Where did you grow up? Tell us a little story about the young you.
My family moved around a lot, so I grew up in most of Texas. Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. I spent the most time in Corpus Christi, TX, though...we always called it the cheap beach. Where you went if you couldn't afford to go to CA or Miami. It's still a pretty nice place to live, and a good town...just awful small for a city. Because we moved around a lot, and because my mother did the same thing when she was young, Mom homeschooled me and my younger brother. She went way out of her way to keep us socialized, but she wanted to make sure we weren't starting a new school every year...or worse, in the middle of every year. Mom was a MENSA member when she was sixteen, so it wasn't like we were hurting for teachers, either. Mom is who encouraged my love for reading and fantasy art. When I was ten, she was going through this pile of old books, and I saw a set of three books with really gorgeous covers, and a fourth paperback that was kinda pretty. She handed them to me, fairly casually, and I think she forgot about it later. They were "Dragonsong" by Anne McCaffrey and the first three novels in Terry Brook's "Heritage of Shanara" series. It took me a few weeks to get through the first, about two days to get through the third, and by the time I hunted down and finished the fourth, I was hooked for good, both on reading and on fantasy stories. It helped with homeschooling. All Mom had to do was give me the books to read. I got my GED a few years ago, and I think I had the third highest score in the area (the program I took "graduated" about a hundred fifty students a year) with the highest score in writing, and of course, a perfect reading score.

What aspect of yourself really stands out? Any peculiar habits or odd fascinations?
I think the aspect that stands out the most for me is my emotions. I'm a very, very sensative person. This is good for being creative, because I can easily put myself into someone else's shoes (good for writing people who don't exist!) and feel passionate enough to survive in a career that's pretty difficult, according to what I hear. However, it does have its downside. I get upset very easily, and when I feel insecure about myself or my art, I can get shut down for days. Depression runs in my family and I'm still more prone to it than everybody else. I'm not very confident about me or the stuff that I do. I'm working on that, though, and I am making progress...even if I do still have my bad days. I also have a bad habit of talking to myself and carrying on one-sided conversations...I LOOK crazy, but I'm usually writing or trying to work through a scene, and talking it out helps more than writing it out. HEARING it tells me if what I'm thinking will work or if it really just stinks.

What is that common every day thing that can really make your day?
My cat. I found her when she was a two-day-old kitten at a flea market, during what was probably the worst two months of my life. I really needed something to focus on that wasn't the bad situation, and here she was, this little, plain-looking tabby kitten (for those of you who've never seen one, unless you REALLY like cats, the first week of their lives kittens are UGLY) screaming her little-bitty head off for her mother. I took her home because we had a pregnant cat at home, and I figured if I could keep her alive for a couple of days, we could slip her in the litter when they were born. Well...the momma cat liked her (she thought Abbott was the best kitten ever. Tasted just like the replacement milk we'd fed her, because I couldn't get baby's face perfectly clean) but that kitten REFUSED to have anything to do with that mother cat. I was her mother. And I still am. Waking up in the morning with this warm, fuzzy cat head peaking over the pillow, like "Get up mom!" still makes me grin.

Is there a typical topic, story or concept that fuels your creations? Where does that fascination come from?
For my art, I usually have two goals. My first, of course, is to create a fantasy that is as close to real as I can get. Something that you could get lost in without any trouble at all. Your own private Narnia. The second is to tell some sort of story, even if it's only two seconds long. Every image is a narration for me, a moment in someone's life with a second before that has to be told, and a second after that has to be anticipated. If I can make my pictures look like that dream you always wanted to remember when you woke up but couldn't, I won. If I can make my painting look like the camera shutter just clicked close, I've won.

Of course, I'm also writing, and that's where I find a lot of the subjects I repeat in my paintings. I'm hugely spiritual, and I find myself exploring "What if" moments with God a lot. "What if this happened" or "What if that happened." I personally believe that a lot of Christians put our God in a very, very tiny box, and I want to blow that box into little, tiny pieces. Another theme I have in a lot of my stories is the theme of addiciton/recovery and redemption of people who would otherwise be discarded by socioty as unfit. I grew up as an observer in several addict's recovery process, and heartbreakingly enough, saw people fail more often than I saw people suceed. To me, the greatest struggle in a man's life isn't against any antagonistic force outside of themselves, but it's within themselves, with their negativity and self-destructive habits, or as we Christians tend to call it, the "Flesh" or the "Old man". It's a struggle that I deal with daily too. I have my own negativity, and my own self-destructive habits, some of them pretty severe. Most of my stories draw on both my experiances and the experiances of others to try to show that struggle in as fantastic a setting as I possibly can.

Are you part of a collective or group? Would you recommend it to others and why?
I've been a part of several groups. I "Grew up" as an artist on the Keenspace/Comic Genesis forums. A lot of people have complained that they're "eletist" and too criticial...which I found to be the best damn thing that ever happened to me. They never let me get away with anything, and doing a bi-weekly comic made me do something artsy every single day. I had accountability in my art and a deadline to MAKE me work every day. Nothing's better than that if you want to grow as an artist.

I've also been a member of DeviantArt for a couple of years. I kinda have mixed feelings about it. It's a great place to meet other artists and see other styles, but when it comes to getting the kind of critical help artists really need to improve...people get way too positive.

Visual artists and music is like cookies and milk, does music do anything for you?
Oh, yeah. I can't work without it. Silence just gets too heavy and that wonderful state called "Flow" gets harder to find without music. Of course, it has to be certain kinds. I've found that Everclear, Sheryl Crow, Imogean Heap and Sarah Brightman are great for working, as are Michelle Tumes, Micheal W. Smith and Mark Shultz, some incredible Christian artists. Especially Micheal W. Smith. That man is a muscial genious in his own right.

Which artists really influence you?
I think the first fantasy artist that really struck me was Josephine Wall. I remember finding a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle by her, and I actually cried when I couldn't buy it. Of course, I got it later, as well as several other puzzles, a calendar and a poster. Probably the next biggest influece was Julie Bell and Boris Valijho (however you spell it), especially Julie Bell. She kinda eclipsed Josephine Wall in the area of technique pretty quickly. Probably my biggest digital painting influience is Marta Dahlig, aka blackeri. I love her art, her style and her ability. And the last one is probably Alphonse Mucha. Not very many people can become the very embodiment of both a style and a peroid of history, but he did. And I found the story of how he became sort of Sarah Bernhardt's artist very inspiring. He got his entire career from one poster that no-one else had time to do. Very cool.

Which artists do you consider to be the great ones of this time?
Boris Valijho and Julie Bell, again, because they really inspired an entire generation of artists. And while technically he's not an artist, I think Stephen King, as a creator, has made an impact on our culture that very few people ever will. As far as music goes, the most unique sounds I've ever heard are Phillip Glass's composisions. Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes was also highly underrated. He's an amazing realistic artist as well as a good cartoonist, and he probably caught childhood in a few words and phrases better than anyone could with a three hundred page novel.

How would you describe your style?
Realistic fantasy. I don't try to think too hard about it, because I personally think that if I started trying to pin down my style to any specific thing to include in all my work, I'd lose some of my flexibility. I'm not afraid to drop something I do a lot if I find a way to do it better, or if something else gives me the results that I want. I'd rather think of how OTHER people would discribe my style and my art, rather than spend a lot of time dwelling on what I think of it.

Is there something specific that sparked your creative side?
Webcomics. I would not be an artist today if I hadn't stumbled across webcomics in the middle of 2003. My mom was such a good artist that I always felt too intimidated to try art. My six-year-old drawings sucked compared to her acrylic paintings, so I never tried. But when I stumbled across self-published webcomics, and I saw the progression artists made from being abysmally bad to being incredible, it was like a part of me realized that it was OK to suck at art for a while. So I went out and bought books on it and sat down and started drawing. And I was horrible, but it was OK. And I progressively got less horrible and less horrible. Now my mother says I'm better than she is. I am not, but it's nice to hear that.

What's your opinion about traditional media? Is it an advantage to have experience with real pencils, paint or conventional camera?
I think that it's a valuable skill, but I think the division between traditional media and digital media is getting smaller and smaller. I painted a series of murels for my church, and it was my first experiance in a long time with traditional media...which was actually kind of unfortunate, as they provided the paint, and every single blasted can of it was latex wall paint. Attempting to paint murels with latex house paint in the middle of Janurary when there is no heat in the building...that was HARD. But after figuring out that paint had to be finessed into place, it was pretty much the same as what I do now.

I think every artist should start trying to learn with the basics, even if all they do is draw with a pencil or ink. The very basic rules of good art--composision, color theory, anatomy, perspective--don't change if you're using Wacom tablets and Photoshop, or ink washes and Bristol Board. But what's more important to a young artist, in my opinion, is LEARNING and having the confidence to learn. It is easier to paint in Photoshop than it is with traditional paint. Being able to make gorgeous stuff in Photoshop gives me the confidence it takes to make pretty stuff with acrylics. It's just learning...but since I know what I'm capable of, I know I'm not wasting my time.

On the creative side, what are you trying to achieve? Is there a reachable goal you've put your focus on?
I want to be a professional. If I have three goals, it'd be to have a career, make enough money to feed my animals, myself and pay my rent, and finally, to see my art on the cover of something popular.

Or publish a best-seller I wrote. Either way, have one thing out there that a lot of people see. Kinda like climbing Everist just to get a photo taken and go back down. It'd be real nice to go into a book store, pick something up and say "I made this."

Do you strive to be as versatile as possible or do you stick to one thing?
I want to be versatile, yes, but I also want to do my passions. Right now, that's fantasy art. Eventually I think I'll take a few steps away for a while, if for no other reason than to build a balanced portfolio, but for now...gimme dragons, unicorns and warrior maidens. In practical gear, of course.

Is there a certain ritual that takes place before you start working on something?
Not really. Sometimes I pray, just to bring God into it, 'cause that's always important. But usually I'm just to restless to do anything ritualistic.

How do you work? Describe the process you go through.
The first thing I do usually is get the concept. Like my current project, four dancers themed after the classical Elements, came because of four doodles in a notebook when I was bored. I try to have a solid idea, even if it's something as simple as "action shot" or something. Then I try to find the references I need for the picture. I'm a very, very lazy painter. If I don't have something in front of me to remind me what something REALLY looks like, I'll paint what I think it looks like, and most of the time, that's wrong. Every time I DON'T use references I get told how unrealistic it looks. My favorite resource is magazine clippings and photographs that I can just tape to my monitor or around my workspace. I'll build my palate and then do a basic sketch both for composision and concept, and to make sure the palate works. I'll start with the focal point, usually the people, and work my way out. Usually, though, the finished picture will have fewer things in it than the first sketch did. When I feel a picture is done, I stop. It's easier to underwork than overwork, because if I underwork I can always go in and fix it. Overworking makes it almost impossible to get back to the starting point.

What equipment do you use to create your work?
Usually, Photoshop and a 9-by-12 Wacom Intros tablet.

Have you been educated in what you do? Where did you study and how much do you profit from it?
I'm self-taught, and I know I've got bad habits up the yin-yang. I do want to get art training quite badly. Unfortunately right now, I can't really afford it.

Wich programs do you use and what do you use them for?
Photoshop is King in my world. I use it for just about everything. I also use DAZ Studio and some of DAZ's models as anatomy refrences, as the models have skin "maps" that are just the musculature underneith. That's been a bit help for me, learning anatomy. I also own Poser, Bryce, Hexagon and Blender, but my 3d work is pretty lackluster.

How do you work on improving yourself? Any secrets you'd like to share?
PRACTICE. Oh, god I can't emphasize that enough. Every single day, you should be doing something artistic. The other thing you need is to have accountability with other artists. Someone you can count on to smack you upside the head and say things like "Necks don't work that way!" The best way to learn is by having someone consistantly point out your mistakes. Ever wonder how good you'd be at math if your teacher never told you when you got a bad answer?

I think my third bit of advice would be to people who want to be artists but think they have no talent: It's OK to suck. Go to artists you like and ask them to show you what they were like when they started. I bet you'd be amazed at how bad they were years ago. If you don't draw when you suck, you'll never learn how to get better. I think too many people give up when they're still drawing badly and never bother trying to improve because they're so bad at it. Don't do this. If you have a passion for art, throw yourself into it and dedicate time and energy to improving it.

Describe your dream job. Where would you love to let loose your creativity?
PIXAR!!!! 'Nuff said. Failing that (probably failing that) my dream employer is Baen Books. I want my books published by them, 'cause I think they've got one of the best marketing stratigies out there, and I want to be on their book covers. They've got most of the authors I love, and I'd kill to get to paint for those people.

Any final words for the readers?
Well...live your dreams, even if doing it makes you look like a failure in other people's eyes. It doesn't matter, in the long run, what people think or how you're remembered, because you have no control over either. I'd rather focus on living the best life I possibly can, so that in the last few seconds of my life, I have no regrets. The world measures success by dollar signs and copies sold, but you hear about so many of them burning out and dying of an OD or suicide. I've been broke for three years now, and the amazing thing is, since the people around me are just as broken as I am, I've been able to help more people than I did when I had money. It's a very, very hard thing to do, to chase after your dreams, but personally I believe it's worth it. Of course, we'll have to wait and see how this whole thing goes. It may be that I crash and burn after all. But at least I'll have a pretty good time doing it.