Feature-It-Monday

I’m a middle school teacher from Germany. I teach English, Art and Information Technology. In 2007, while I was still studying, I bought a second-hand graphics tablet, which sadly didn’t last long, but showed me the advantages of digital art and got me hooked.

I honestly don’t remember. I first came across DA in 2005 or so and then finally decided to join two years later.

There are a few advantages to working digitally. A screen and a tablet take up less space in my apartment, and it’s easier to edit images. The colors tend to be more vibrant too, which is important to me because most of my paintings are either really colorful or show off strong contrasts.

I don’t really have one process. Ideas come and go. I keep a list with scenes or things I want to paint, but often I just start scribbling to see where that’ll take me. Most of my paintings start as simple pencil sketches which I then scan so I can paint over them on my computer. Other times I’ll start directly in Photoshop. Lately I’ve also been using ArtRage and DAZ Studio a lot. I’m not good with human anatomy, so the latter program allows me to pose characters which I can then use as references.

Oddly some of my paintings I like the most, haven’t been too successful on DA and vice versa. I really like “The Moth”, “Always take the sun with you”, “Little Ones” and some of my greener pictures like “The Reader’s Path” or “Home Sweet Home”. The latter hold a special place in my heart simply because green is my favorite color and I love plants and nature. I’m also very proud of “Deep Friendship” which took me eons to finish.

Sadly, a few artists I admire have stopped posting on DA or deleted their accounts here, so I’ve more or less been forced to use ArtStation and Instagram more than I used to. There are still a few artists whose work I greatly admire here though: @MarcelaBolivar @gedomenas @AndreasRocha or @fdasuarez, to name just a few. I also enjoy reading Deevad’s comics whenever he uploads a new one.

Thanks to MorJer for taking part in Feature It Monday's Guest Interview!