1 ) Tell us about yourself:

My name is Werner Kunz and I live in Boston since two years – originally I’m from Germany. Since my teenager times I was fascinated by good photography.
It triggers emotions and connects people. You don’t need to be an expert to judge if a photo affects you and is in your opinion artistic.
It is fascinating how powerful this art form can touch people and people who can really master this technique always intrigued me.

I shoot seriously photos since one year and would label myself as an ambitious amateur. I love digital photography because it combines the art of shooting the picture with the capabilities of modern post-processing programs. Theses two things used in the right balance can generate something really artistic.

Finally, I’m a big fan of all the new social media capabilities that offers photographers nowadays possibilities to share their work fast, easy and efficient. That enriches the own work tremendously and you can learn from other great photographers for free.

2 ) Tell us a bit about your artwork:

In the past I tried several different photo shooting and post-processing techniques. The most attention received my HDR Landscape photography (what you also featured on this platform). Here I usually try to use HDR or DRI techniques to generate a very rich and powerful look, but I still try to be realistic. I don’t like so much overdone HDRs, with a lot of halo effects and biased colors (mostly grey and blue). I want to give my audience the feeling they would stand at the place, where I was standing during the shoot and feel similar.
HDR helps here a lot, because it is closer to the color spectrum our human eye can see than traditional 8bit processed photos.

I would not limit myself to only HDR technique – I’m also fascinated by a lot of other techniques and try to combine them. For instance, I have done also some Black & White work or love to use infrared filters for my pictures. Although I was always intrigued by great landscape I try to get more experience in urban people photography.

3 ) What are your tools of the trade, including hardware and software:

Because I’m an amateur I still shoot on budget. I started with a Nikon D40x (very nice entry camera) but switched later to a Nikon D90. Great camera, great noise reduction, great handling. The right camera for an ambitious amateur

Lenses: I use the 18-105mm standard lens by Nikon. Nice feature is the vibration reduction and the optical capability is acceptable.

For ultra-wide angle (important in landscape photography) I use a .45x lens adapter on my 18-105mm lens. Something like a teleconverter. The quality cannot compete with a real wide angle lenses (especially sharpness in the corners), but these adapters are pretty affordable and the result is quite similar. I never got a comment that someone criticized my corners, when the photo is great

For low light I use a 35mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.8. Both pretty affordable and they generate a nice blur in the background

Software: For daily stuff and minor adjustments I use Adobe Camera Raw. Also for some final fine tuning.

For major artistic work I use Photoshop with some plugins. My favorites are photomatix, Topaz Adjust, Nikon Color Efex, and Nikon Silver Efex for Black and White.

4 ) How long have you been an artist and what, if any, hurdles did you have to overcome in the process?

I’m still on a journey to become a decent photography artist. I started like most of other people with a small pocket camera and shoot my daily life situations. I was fascinated by great photography, but had never the ambition to generate my own art.

This changed when I got my first DSLR. This gave me much more control over how I can do my photography and opened me a complete new world. Beside the technical advantages of a DSLR I also discovered a lot of post-processing technique, how to improve your image. So good thing on the digital age is that you don’t need anything else than a computer to do your post-processing. Way much cheaper and faster than in the old days.

At this point I only want to improve my pictures. When I discovered HDR techniques it hit me that my pictures can become really artistic.
I started to create photos for a broader audience and posted them on flickr. With this I don’t want to say that putting digital photos in programs like photomatix generates art automatically. Of course, you need to compose first your shots consciously and master photography shooting on a specific level. But, if you have done your homework and be familiar with post-processing to a specific degree, you can express yourself in photos that will generate a wow-effect by your audience. That is the gratifying thing on digital photography.

5 ) Where do you find your creativity and inspiration?

I love to browse flickr for photos. There a lot of amazing artist and you can find all kind of photography artwork. I also read regularly some photography blogs like inspire76. This is really a great source for inspiration and to get to new ideas

6 ) Who are your favorite artists and why?

Trey Radcliff (www.stuckincustoms.com): He is great in HDR and generates fascinating pictures with his gear. He also offers a tutorial on HDR that was the initial starting point for me to do HDR.

Philipp Klinger (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcdead/): He is doing fantastic city and landscape photos. Especially from New York and Germany. His work is more subtle than Trey’s. I learned a lot from his DRI techniques.

Brian Burt (http://www.flickr.com/photos/briburt/): He produces wonderful photos of my hometown Boston. Worth to check it out!!!

7 ) Which piece of your art stands out as a favorite and why? (Please include a link to that artwork.)

Hard to choose, but I like my “Angel over Berlin”. I think the point of view of the shoot emphases the holiness of Angels.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/werkunz/3655693277/

8 ) Tell us about your artistic process from creation to completion:

à see question 4

9 ) If you could have your art displayed anywhere, where would it be and why?

Would be a great thing, if I would have once an exhibition in a Contemporary Art Museum. I’m honored that inspire76 featured my work.

10 ) If you could escape into any one fantasy world what would it be an why?

Let me survive first this world

11 ) Tell us about any upcoming projects you have planned:

I try to learn more on the photography side. I want to integrate off camera flash techniques in photography and also started to experiment with people portrait photography. Hope you follow my stream and you will see where that will end

12 ) Where can people find you, website etc?

www.flickr.com/werkunz

www.wernersworld.com

1 ) Tell us about yourself:

I’m a Middle-Eastern mix of Jordanian, Lebanese and Palestinian origins and I currently reside in Jordan. I’m a digital photographer, motion designer and blogger. I have 2 major passions in my life: One is visual arts- absolutely everything about it. The second is attempting to shed light on social affairs around the world. I’m a tech-geek when it comes to cameras and optics. I read a lot about politics, philosophy and geography. I’m 29yrs old, an Aquarius, and I enjoy fine-dining. I also quit drinking coffee 6yrs ago.

2 ) Tell us a bit about your artwork:

To sum up, I generally aspire to show people what the world looks like through my own eyes. I describe my artwork as clean, crisp, vibrant and emotionally compelling. For example, in the case of this image, I initially didn’t like the dull grey winter sky that day, so I changed some settings in the camera, pushed up the greens, increased contrast and came out with what you see. To me it doesn’t matter how you create the image. As long as an image can make you stop, pause for a moment, and think,  then that image has done its job and that’s what I try to achieve with my artwork.

3 ) What are your tools of the trade, including hardware and software:

I own a Canon G9, Canon 400D and a Canon 7D (Lenses, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, 50mm f/1.8, 10-22mm f.3.5, 24-105mm L f.4). I work on an Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM HP 17inch still running MS Vista [that I'm just dying to replace]. I have a copy of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premeire and Maxon’s Cinema 4D. I also have various other software’s for speciality stuff. And of course countless Moleskine’s and a library of over 100 art & design books.

4 ) How long have you been an artist and what, if any, hurdles did you have to overcome in the process?

It all started really when I was 14 and I saw Nirvana’s Unplugged Album on MTV and I decided then to pick up the guitar and become a musician. And for 10yrs till I was about 24 my whole life was about music and album art and gig posters (regardless of the fact I was studying Business Management at University in Beirut). Then one day my friend convinced me to take a Photography elective during our last semester. I bought a dingy 2mp Samsung camera and started taking photo’s and I’ve been hooked ever since. One major hurdle I had to surpass was learning all about photography techniques and the visual arts on my own. From ‘04 till ‘08 I studied the technical elements through tutorials and books. I carried my camera everywhere I went and just clicked away. Since I was experimenting with various styles and techniques, it took me a while to figure out my own approach, and eventually living and studying in Vancouver gave me an inspiration and creativity boost.Though I think there will always be some kind of hurdle, being an artist is an on-going process that lasts your whole lifetime I believe.

5 ) Where do you find your creativity and inspiration?

Often-times I honestly just wait for it. Sometimes, I sit down with my sketch book, or I re-do an old tutorial in a different way. Other times, I start by trying to re-create something someone else already did, and see how can approach it differently. I do that because art needs to spark something in your brain, some pieces- for instance these “social” posters- came to me while sitting in a bus. If I shoot a portrait or landscape and don’t instantly see the final product in my head, I’d most probably delete it right there and take another one. And of course all my art & design books are everywhere around me.

6 ) Who are your favorite artists and why?

I’ve always been conflicted about this. I like artists that create extremely complex images. Artists that can take almost every kind of media and splash it all together to make something truly amazing, those kinds of images that every time you look at it you find something new. Then on the other hand, I also love and am inspired by those artists that can make something so compelling from the simplest of lines or maybe even the beautiful use of negative space. I’ve got all kinds of artworks in my home. Here’s a small list of favourite photographers (in no particular order) :

and some digital artists :

7- Norma Bar
8- Tarek Atrissi

7 ) Which piece of your art stands out as a favorite and why?

It would have to be this image. This is the first image I created that got me into this whole digital art field. Before this one, I was just taking photographs and  everything felt a bit restricted to me. When I decided to start collaging different images and textures, I created that. The landscape of Amman was from a previous photograph I took while working at my first job. There’s about 10 different layers in that image and when I saw what I could do, I just burst into it and kept going. For me, I don’t know when to stop most of the time. I always want to edit, change or fix something. Even now after 5yrs. I still look at it and think maybe if it’s a bit brighter, maybe I should increase the blue’s a little. it’s that kind of thinking that makes me a detail-oriented person and It’s this image that got me where I am today

8 ) Tell us about your artistic process from creation to completion:

Some images literally take 10min. and some take a few months. For example this image, my friend was sitting at my house and I was playing with the camera’s settings and as soon as I saw it in the review, downloaded it, opened Photoshop, added some Curves adjustments, typed in that quote that I had read earlier that week and voila. This image on the other hand started with just an image of the buildings, I wasn’t getting good feedback, it felt dull and bland. So I let it sit for a few days and I looked around me for inspiration. Eventually I decided to add some Gradient Layers, 2 Curves layers, added the caption. It was a clear sky that day so I placed a sky from another image I had and ended up with a much better result. Basically my process is customizable for almost every project.

9 ) If you could have your art displayed anywhere, where would it be and why?

I’d have it displayed at places like the MOMA or the Tate. Though realistically and more “I-want-to-encourage-the-industry” thinking, I’d have it displayed around the Middle-East region in Royal courts, offices, public buildings and so forth. The reason is because as much as photography has a stable foundation in the Arts around here, digital & visual arts does not, or is just barely starting to see the light of day. And I hope by spreading my work around and establishing exhibitions and galleries where more than one artist can come together to create some sort of platform where these artworks can be appreciated in this region would be more beneficial. Giving back to the community sort of thing.

10 ) If you could escape into any one fantasy world what would it be an why?

oh, hmm.. there are so many! Living in the playboy mansion would be nice.. lol Actually the one thing I hope to ‘escape’ to is not really a world or place but an actual lifestyle. To have enough money to just pick up my camera and back-pack and travel the whole planet. Going from one place to the next just snapping away. That would be awesome. I don’t want to just go places, I’d want to live in each area enough to know it and become it. That is my fantasy lifestyle.

11 ) Tell us about any upcoming projects you have planned:

Personally, I’m hoping to get into fashion photography working with magazine’s and in a studio environment. Second, I plan to dip my hands into HDR photography and maybe hopefully in a few years I’ll publish my first photography book. I also really want to get into filming music videos and doing mini-documentaries. On a professional level, I’ve started giving private Photoshop lessons and am currently working on exhibiting my work in a local gallery.

12 ) Where can people find you, website etc?

www.balaeddin.com … there you will find links to my Wordpress, Behance, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr and to my Vimeo page.

13 ) Anything else you want people to know about you?

As much as I consider myself an artist, I’m also a designer. I’m obsessed with information graphics and good advertising. Typography and 3D are also on my list of obsessions. I just love it all really.. it’s the reason I get up in the morning. When you love what you do and have immense passion for it, it becomes your life from the moment you wake up till you sleep.

Thank You Challis for this interview.

No Bashar thank you!

1 ) Tell us about yourself:

My name is David Liu.  I am 26 years old and in LOVE with drawing.  I’ve been doing this since I was a child, and I think one of the first things I have ever drawn were Ninja Turtles and Transformers.  I never had any formal training with an Art college or any courses in a university.  I feel I am driven by the constant pursuit of art nirvana (which I probably will never ever feel I will reach) to motivate myself to study, learn, and develop techniques in illustration, animation, and drawing.

2 ) Tell us a bit about your artwork:

LOL, well if you take my artwork at face value, laid out on a table, and looked at from a few steps back: it looks like i just draw pretty women and robots.  My style is a mixed bag.  I easily get inspired by many different artists of many different styles.  I can’t say that my anime style leans towards the cute big eyed cuties of Haruhi, or the buxom beauties of Magna Carta.  I definitely can say, whichever style I do decide to draw, there is still a bit of MINE in there.

Most of my work on deviantart.com is more or less my journey into self study.  I have noticed there are mostly character pages and designs as opposed to fully conceived pieces of art.  With every new piece, I feel I learn a new technique or take an existing one a little bit further.  LIFE IS STUDY!  And I would say that sums up my artwork, at least from my perspective.

3 ) What are your tools of the trade, including hardware and software:

Well first of all, nothing beats drawing on a physical piece of paper with a mechanical pencil.  The line quality and the integrity of the paper texture is something technology can not repeat (but I would not be surprised if some genius out there writes code that could mimic that).  My favorite program to draw and paint in would have to be, hands down, PaintoolSAI.  The line quality in that program does leaps and bounds over photoshop.  The painting in that program is immaculant, the vibrant colors that have the capability of blending on the fly just astounds me.

When it comes to work digitally, I usually work on a Wacom tablet, but as of yet, I am currently working on a Toshiba M700 tablet pc.  It’s great because I can see what I am drawing, but that is also its greatest flaw.  My favorite part about MOST of the programs I like to draw/animate in utilize a large digital screen and keyboard shortcuts.  Imagine not being able to color sample anything in photoshop simply because you do not have the “alt” button.  I would have to click the color sampling tool and then switch back to the paintbrush tool just to sample ONE color.  This is the reason why I loved paintool sai- I was able to set the color sampling tool to the click of the right button on the pen.  It works wonders!

For animation, I like to do the actualy frames of animation in TVPAINT animation studio, and occasionally Toonboom Studio.  But, since I work mostly from a small Tablet PC, it’s a pain to use those programs without the luxury of having a keyboard.  For animation especially, the left and right keys let me go back and forth inbetween frames (like flipping pages on paper).  This is an essential tool as an animator.  This can still be achieved with screen buttons, but animation is so time consuming that any time we can save makes the process go much faster.

4 ) How long have you been an artist and what, if any, hurdles did you have to overcome in the process?

I have been an artist almost all my life, but it was only a few years ago that I started to pursue this more passionately.  There are a few large hurdles that I am still trying to overcome.  Probably the biggest one would be- the lack of formal education, and the fact that my artwork is mostly illustrations based from a love of anime.  The lack of formal education is highly criticized by people (and sometimes family).  They feel that I would have more job opportunities had I completed a bachelors degree.  Well, that may be true- but my biggest argument to that was the time.  I would spend 4+ years in college, balanced inbetween working full time to support living alone, and keeping up a relationship with my wife and friends.  There would be NO time to draw.  So I told myself this: take the time you would be spending studying for school or being in class- and apply it to STUDY and developing technique.  I would have been “distracted” by other classes and the constant knowledge of all the money I was spending on school each and every semester that I would not have been able to devote enough time and energy into perfection techniques.

It was probably one of the better decisions I have made.  I know its great to have a professor guiding you through techniques and being there when you have those awkward learning humps, but I have to say – I LOVE all the time I have had to study painting and drawing by MYSELF.  I have learned so much (especially from some art friends on DA who have been a huge inspiration for becoming a better artist).  I don’t think there is ever a day where I do not push myself as hard as I can.  Believe me, self study is HARD!  I kinda wish sometimes I had that professor making me draw.

The fact that I love to draw anime is hard for some people to take seriously.  I share this bit of information with some people prior to seeing my artwork, and they ALL give me the same reaction of “Oh. That’s neat.”  I had that same reaction from one of my regulars at work (I work at a restaurant btw), and everytime I see him, he would tell me “David, it’s a shame you aren’t in school.  You are a smart kid and you should go back to school.  Why don’t you go back? Is it the money? etc etc.”   It took until I showed him some of my artwork months later for him to take me seriously.  His reaction was more along the lines, “David, why are you working here still.  Have you looked into getting a job?”  HA!  One day I will have one.  *It did feel great to finally have him see how serious I am about this.

5 ) Where do you find your creativity and inspiration?

I find inspiration from lacking the ability and technique.  Nothing drives me more than seeing some fantastic artwork (or just some artwork outside of my style) and then studying it, breaking it apart, and taking the technique and putting it on paper.  It feels like I have to prove something to myself as an artist….like some sort of self proclaimed challenge.

6 ) Who are your favorite artists and why?

For animation, my favorite animation studio would have to be Gainax.  They started in their basement and then became AWESOME because they brought all these excellent animation techniques, injected them with steroids, and shot it through the roof!  I love how out of the box their style is.  The diversity of their styles from anime to anime also is astounding.

For illustration (in the animation field), I would have to say Studio 4C.  They paint the most beautiful backdrops in anime that I have ever seen- and at crrrrazy camera angles too!

For painting and illustration,  Hyung Tae Kim is a huge influence.  He doesn’t just paint the usual highly detailed anime characters, but his style is so distinct- the large exaggerated proportions and awkward poses.  He took what he loved to draw (anime) and gave it his own twist *and people out there are more than happy to pay him lots of money to draw his own way.  How cool is that?

7 ) Which piece of your art stands out as a favorite and why?

Hmmm geez, that is a hard question.  Well I will probably have to say the one that stands out as my favorite (at least for the moment), would have to be the illustration with megan and the onigiri.  Reason being, I used a painting style reminiscent of the old Haruhi illustrations.  It has nice bright colors, simple lines, and a cute expression.  It’s not something I usually find myself drawin, so it’s a cool feeling when you look at a piece of art that is yours but doesn’t look like yours.

8 ) Tell us about your artistic process from creation to completion:

Jeez- it’s just usually really long sometimes.  I start with a preliminary sketch for composition, pose, movement etc.  Then a next sketch is drawn on top with more of the essential details drawn in.  When I feel I have a good understanding/vision for the piece, I draw in the line work.  For paintings, I roughly draw in the line work without much thought to having it really clean because I plan on painting over them eventually.  THEN after hours and hours of drawing, I usually go in and apply small filters to correct the color, and enhance parts that need to be enhanced.  It is so important to get the vision correct in the beginning.  I can’t tell you how many times I rush into something with an unfocused vision, spend hours and hours painting it, only to realize that the arm is too long, or the face is painted incorrectly etc.  It’s really disheartening sometimes.  But for everyone out there trying to get better at painting: it’s a long and painful process.  I am not sure if its just me, but it feels like fail, fail, kinda got it, fail, fail, getting there, fail…..then YES!  And when you hit that YES! moment, you just started a new “level,”  so then its fail, fail, fail again until the next YES.  I am constantly on this process and always learning something though.  So all those time you feel you fail at a piece, you are taking away something good from it in the long run.

9 ) If you could have your art displayed anywhere, where would it be and why?

Oooh, well I would want it to be displayed in perhaps an anime magazine as a featured upcoming anime that I directed or worked on.  SIGH~  that would be sooooooooooooo awesome.  I would even love to be an invited artist to a convention to talk about techniques and such.  That would also be excellent.

10 ) If you could escape into any one fantasy world what would it be an why?

I would most likely have to say in the world of Final Fantasy.  I would love to be a dark night or ninja or something.  Walk around with a sword all day, going on adventures, fighting monsters (*randomly lol).

And I wouldn’t also mind growing up in Konoha as a ninja student either.  OMG, that would like answer all my childhood dreams and ambitions.  I would love to be a ninja!!  **day dreaming about it……

11 ) Tell us about any upcoming projects you have planned:

I am working on a manga that a friend and I came up with called Megane Moe.  It is a story about a young girl who attends a new private school her sophomore year.  The humor is inspired by Azumanga Daioh, School Rumble, and Ranma tossed in with American youth culture.  The art style is hugely inspired by Haruhi Suzumiya.  I love the way they draw.  I have never been able to draw anime in that style and now, I am finally starting to understand it.  It’s a good feeling.  I have a lot of commissions projects as well- so if you think about it, I have a LOT of upcoming projects.

And currently as well, I also have some design work with the studio I am working for (part time right now) as a Concept Artist.  The name of the development studio is Kill Space Entertainment (KEI).  My art sempai is the lead art direction over there.  He is also the lead inspiration for me being an artist as well.  (THANKS EVAN!)

12 ) Where can people find you, website etc?

FIND ME ON THE DA!  lol  angryangryasian.deviantart.com
From there, you can see almost ALL of my works and studies, as well as links to the manga – Megane Moe.

13 ) Anything else you want people to know about you?

I love art.  I love drawing.  I can’t stop and won’t stop.  Thanks Challis for the opportunity to be featured on Inspire76.  It is a great honor and privilege.  *o yeah, and I apologize for my poor grammar and scatterbraing typing.  I get too excited about these things that my head is all over the place.

*o yeah I also LOOOOVE Boxing.  It’s kind of a catch22 since if I really wanted to pursue boxing amateurly, it is a direct endangerment to my hand’s motor skills.  Don’t worry, I mostly shadow box for cardio. lol

Thank you David!

1 ) Tell us about yourself:

I was born and raised in Detroit MI, but now reside in Illinois with my four rescue dogs and two rescue cats in a little house on a hill. I am an exhibiting mixed media artist, web and graphic designer, and a creative reality manipulator and dream catcher if you will. I adore working on group projects, and helping other artists. I am a full-time student studying Psychology, and have never had any formal art training.

2 ) Tell us a bit about your artwork:

My artwork was originally self-therapy through recovery of child abuse. As I grew past that time in my life to reflect on the past and confront the many demons I held deep, my work has grown as I have and my attention is more in the present with my new work. Although the focus has changed it has kept the beautifully cathartic aspect that I am continually drawn to. My work contains an exuberant amount of symbolism, and tiny intimate details that are lost with a quick glance or when viewed small on the Internet. Each piece I create is personal and reflective – the process has helped me gain insight and stability in myself.

3 ) What are your tools of the trade, including hardware and software:

Nikon
IMac
Tablet
Photoshop
Acrylic Paint
Puppy Love

4 ) How long have you been an artist and what, if any, hurdles did you have to overcome in the process?

As many would say, I was born an artist. In the words of Pablo Picasso “All children are born artists. The problem is to remain artists as we grow up”. I find this to be very true. Becoming a successful artist is another story; this is where the hurdles present themselves. Overall, we all bear our souls through our work no matter if the notion is prevalent or obscure. We are selling ourselves, which is a lot different then selling any other product on the market today. When selling appliances, you can look at the appliance objectively. When looking at yourself as an artist and evaluating the artwork you create, it is virtually impossible to be objective.

This field also involves public sharing as a form of entertainment (Exp: Film, Music, Etc.) one needs to work to stay humble, thankful and a real person. I truly believe at first art is typically forged through the heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears, but making sure it doesn’t become about money, numbers, attention, or selling out – is the key. Being a successful artist has corrupted people, I’ve seen artists lose their focus and suddenly become what they least wanted to be.

5 ) Where do you find your creativity and inspiration?

I am inspired by life and what is happening around me and inside me. Also by music and reading, I read all the time and can’t go very long without sound to entertain my brain. Their creativity, as many people recognize, have a great deal of motivation housed within the work and love to explore their energy.

6 ) Who are your favorite artists and why?

Children are most certainly my favorite artists in the world. They are raw, real and looking back Picasso was right, they are all artists. I also adore Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Anne Sexton, Etc.

7 ) Which piece of your art stands out as a favorite and why?

Today I feel it’s “Exit Ghost”, but tomorrow that will change. While I was framing it today, something else hit me about it that helped me reflect more about my life.

8 ) Tell us about your artistic process from creation to completion:

Sometimes I just go with an idea in my head, other times I will sketch ideas on paper and work from there. I have a random sketchbook I keep with me, so when I get ideas I can jot them down. I don’t have a consistent process each time I work, although a constant in my studio is food and music. I am always eating something.

9 ) If you could have your art displayed anywhere, where would it be and why?

I would love to share my work in a place where women and men change their lives through reflection of my work and assists them in working on themselves. So if that is at a gallery, a store or someone’s living room that is the best place for it to be displayed, and it would make me most happy. It’s not about the place; it’s about the effect the placement of the art has.

10 ) If you could escape into any one fantasy world what would it be and why?

I would love to live in the Victorian Era and be successful woman artist, since basically that was something unheard of.

11 ) Tell us about any upcoming projects you have planned:

First off I am excited for the release of my Silver Era Tarot deck that will be released Spring 2010 by Schiffer Publishing. The deck consists of 78 original artworks that take on the tradition meaning of tarot, and is a fully function tarot deck with a companion book written by Author Russell. J. Moon.

Obvious Remote Chaos, my poetry, lyrics and short story book that is illustrated with my photography is currently at the publisher being laid out for a late 2009 or early 2010 release as well.

Currently I am in the depths of working on the Lowbrow Tarot Project. The project will showcase 23 amazing artists who will use their creative genius and unique style to take on a tarot deck, tabletop book and exhibition, which will be released at the events opening on October 9, 2010 at Billy Shire Fine Arts. We also have a website with more information and an artist at www.lowbrowtarot.com.

Finally, I am also working on 3 other books that I can’t share yet, an oracle deck, and another full 78-card tarot deck. There are a plethora of other things too in various phases since I just can’t not be doing –  something.

12 ) Where can people find you, website etc?

Art (www.auniakahn.com)
Graphic & Web Design (www.auniakahndesign.com)
All Things AK: (www.findkahn.com)

13 ) Anything else you want people to know about you?

Just that I am super elated to be doing what I love and I want to thank everyone for the support. I appreciate every comment, email, teary eye, smile and everything in between.

Thank you Aunia for finding time to do this interview!

1 ) Tell us about yourself:

I am a Lebanese American digital artist and photographer.  I love to capture beauty in the world around me, and have been interested in just about every form of art since childhood.  I have worked in many medias, from textiles to painting to collage, but the world of photography and digital art are my specialties.

2 ) Tell us a bit about your artwork:

My artwork is a combination of digital painting techniques and photographic media.  I use many different images in a completed piece. I let the core image drive the inspiration and direction of my pieces.  In the photographic elements, I love to shoot all different kinds of subject matter and work in many locations.  I have a huge library of thousands of images that serve as a core for my work.  No matter what my subject matter, I focus on bringing out the natural beauty in my subject though age.  I find aging an image allows the subject to truly shine. I also love to experiment by trying different combinations of images, no matter how strange or chaotic.  Sometimes the chaotic element makes it to the finished work and adds a bit of the unexpected to an image.

3 ) What are your tools of the trade, including hardware and software:

I shoot with a Nikon D300 and a selection of lenses. My preferred lenses are my Nikkor 17-55mm, my Nikkor 50mm , and my Lensbaby.

I have a large selection of studio lighting equipment, nearly all Alien Bees mono lights. I am in love with my latest acquisition, the 86″ parabolic umbrella (you can find a review of the device on my blog). It just creates the most amazing light. I prefer to use simple lighting techniques with two, maybe three lights at a time.

I like to edit my work in the midst of the chaos of my living room on my Lenovo Y530. It is durable and has taken a few hits with ease (my 19 month old threw a hard sippy cup at it and dented the case). It is speedy and has a great monitor.

For software, there a few programs I could not live without.  Adobe Photoshop CS4 is where I do all of my editing.  I use Noiseware Professional for noise reduction and skin smoothing and Alien Skin BlowUp to literally blow up my images for print.  I also love the filters from Photokit, especially the creative sharpener brushes.

4 ) How long have you been an artist and what, if any, hurdles did you have to overcome in the process?

I have been creating digital art for around 10 years and have been very serious about my photography for the past 5 years. I started with 3D animation, moved to graphic design, and eventually into a mix of the medias with photography.

I think the biggest hurdle in my art has been finding the right audience.  Digital art is a very new field and people are not always sure how to respond.  Is it a photo? Is it a painting? My art falls between the lines in a place that is hard to categorize. My work also tends to feel “old” or “vintage” and doesn’t seem to have a home amongst the typical newer photographic works on the gallery walls.

5 ) Where do you find your creativity and inspiration?

I find creative inspiration everywhere around me.  My biggest inspiration are my two boys (3 and 19 months). I adore watching them discover the world.  I am in awe of how they notice the smallest details on the tiniest flower. The world around them is so new and free.  I long to create in a way that is as free as they are.

I am also incredibly inspired by the early days of photography.  I love the freedom the early photographers had, the pioneer spirit.  I think they were then what digital artists are now.

6 ) Who are your favorite artists and why?

This is a very hard question because I have too many to list here.  As far as photography is concerned I am always in awe of Annie Leibovitz. I started reading Voque as a child and have been collecting her images from the magazine pages for many years.

My mother has always been a fantasy artwork collector.  I grew up with Boris Vallejo calendars filling the walls.  This has been a big influence on how I work with models.  I strive to create a fantasy world like the ones in the calendars.

Traditional fine art is also another source of inspiration.  I adore Monet for his amazing brush strokes.  I am obsessed with texture.  I love to go to the St. Louis Art Museum and inspect paintings for the texture and feeling.

7 ) Which piece of your art stands out as a favorite and why?

My favorite piece is a very simple seascape image, called “Forever”.  The image was taken in San Francisco, CA.  The day was especially cool and the surfers were not going in the water, they were just sitting and watching the waves. It was maybe 5 PM, so the sun was on its way down, showing in from the right side.  The sea was just so perfect and seems to go on forever.  I am in love with ocean and wish that I could live by it. For me, this image is where I could be forever.

8 ) Tell us about your artistic process from creation to completion:

An image for me starts one of two ways, random inspiration or avid research.  If I have an idea that can be worked out in the studio, I will build a set and hire models when needed to create the core image, though most often I am just walking along and I snap away.  Often times, those are the images that stay with me and move into the next step in the creative process.

After choosing a core image that speaks to me, I start to play.  I edit out anything that is obviously out of place, such as basic color and skin retouching.  Then I let the image do some work.  I layer multiple images together to texturize, age, antique, and change the color of the image.  The hardest part is knowing when to stop.  An image may take me one hour to one week to complete.  I know the work is usually done when everything I add I don’t like.

9 ) If you could have your art displayed anywhere, where would it be and why?

Okay, another hard one! I would love to see my art at the Bellagio Fine Art Gallery in Las Vegas.  The Bellagio is known for being a place for luxury and I would love to have my work in a place aimed at people who buy work because they adore it.

I would also love to see one of my images at the St. Louis Art Museum, mostly because I grew up going to this museum and it would be amazing to have a piece in a place where everyone I know could go see it.

10 ) If you could escape into any one fantasy world what would it be an why?

My fantasy has always been to live as an artist in Paris.  Walking the city with no where to go and taking pictures.  The city is just so romantic and classic.  Paris is a very special city in my heart and my dreams.  I will live there, one day.

11 ) Tell us about any upcoming projects you have planned:

I have a few upcoming projects.  One that has me very excited is a line of jewelry featuring my fine art images.  I am also working on two series, one new and one expanding.  I am working on expanding my Pink Explorations series with pin-up inspired fantasy pieces.  I am also working on a collection pieces I call “Cracked”.  This series will explore combining images with the concept of items that are cracked apart.  There is one piece done already and many more to come.

12 ) Where can people find you, website etc?

My website is http://www.arianabauer.com
You can also find my artwork for sale at http://arianabauer.etsy.com and locally in St. Louis at Mist Spa.

13 ) Anything else you want people to know about you?

I currently have work on exhibit at the Flax Gallery in St. Louis, MO and will be featured at the Soulard Art Market in St. Louis, MO on November 14-15, 2009.

Thank you Ariana for your time!