1 ) Tell us about yourself:

Hey, I’m Maarten Kleyne, a 22 year old dude from The Netherlands who likes to call himself a digitalartist. Like many out there I’m a self taught designer, however, since last year I started school again in the hope to learn other ways of using graphic design as well. I’m following the part-time bachelorstudy: communication & multimedia design. Anyway, aside from that and my day job at Footsteps Iwork on my ambitions as an independent artist creating digital art in various ways.

2 ) Tell us a bit about your artwork:

I found out that the type of work I enjoy most is creating digital art like posters, covers, personalartworks and such things, which is why in begin 2010 I shifted my focus on a broader perspective thenjust web design. What I love about that kind of work is the possibilities it brings, because simply put:they’re endless. In my artworks I can express anything, which is what I do. Quite often my personalworks are my own visual interpretations of music because I find a lot of inspiration in it. When itcomes to my personal work I always give it a story, but I never tell that story myself. I let it up to theviewer to look at it in his or her way and see their own story in it, you’ll never know what they see in itand it’s actually pretty surprising what some people come up with. I guess I like my work to entertain aperson.

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

Well you know, the basic things, nothing fancy. I work on a Sony Vaio laptop (yes I’m a Windows userby habit) using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Perhaps the only odd thing about my setup is myinsanely high sensitive Razer mouse, I like to be in precise control.

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

Designing or being ‘creative’ has always been a hobby of mine, you know the “since I was a kid”story. In 2006 I made it my job by starting at Footsteps as a web designer. All the while I kept makingartworks and random creations which led me to broadening my focus as I said earlier. There haven’tbeen any hurdles in that path to be honest, everything just flowed in a natural way and here I am, still designing things. I guess the hurdles are still on route.

5 ) Where do you find your creativity and inspiration?

I basically ‘find’ inspiration anywhere and in anything. I’m not looking for it, it’s just there. Music oftenstimulates my flow of mind and sets my creative-juices to stir. Buildings, people, street art, objects, shapes, colors, etc. also feed my inspiration and creativity on a daily basis.

6 ) Who are your favorite artists and why?

There’s loads of mad-men out there who make incredible art. If I’d have to pick favorites I would say:Roger Dean and James White. Roger Dean because he’s artistically genius, he had a huge influenceon me. I’m a big fan for fantasy and his art is marvelous, his work shows you that there’s absolutely no boundaries in art. If you have a creative imagination you can design entire worlds with images likewriters do with words. James White hasn’t inspired me in a style kind-of-way but more as a personand the way he does things. His approach at being a visual artist is incredibly inspirational and pushesme to think about my own ambitions as an artist.

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

My current favorite is “Pseudo Silk Kimono” because it was a very fun personal project which put mein a different working direction. I guess that perhaps it’s a bit strange that I favor a personal and not a client project, but to me it reflects a turning point in my design career.

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

It really depends on the type of project. Client projects are all the same I think, you start off withgetting a clear concept of the assignment and then you work that all the way out to a great end usingyour magical skills and tools. To me personal projects are never the same, it also depends on the typeof thing I’m doing. But in rough steps: I start off with an idea or brain fart, I do some sketching andend up with something I either like or not. If I liked it then I re-open it another day (mostly the dayafter) and if I’m still liking it then I start working on the details, finishing the piece(s) up. With personal artworks it’s not rare for me to start off with an idea and end up making something totally differentin the process. I guess you can see it as a form of expressing my mind. I always start working on high resolution because I never know what I might end up with, I knocked my head against that hurdleonce so… a hurdle after all.

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

Good question, a question which I haven’t given enough time yet and certainly will have to thinkabout just for the sake of it. So my apologies for the simple answer, but: any exposition or museumshowcasing digital art would be very pleasing.

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

My own unrestrained mind, because I believe it is a place full of wonders.

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

I’ve got some awesome (at least I think so) self-initiated projects and ideas lined up but I am limited in my time so I do not have them ‘planned’. I will make them happen but I can’t say when right now.Other than those I’ve got some collaboration projects lined up and a tutorial piece I did will hit the web soon (perhaps it’s already out when this post comes up).

12 ) Where can people find you, website etc?

If you’re looking for more of my work or about me you can visit my website: www.mkleyne.com, Ialso run a personal blog there. You can also find me on Twitter, Behance and Flickr if you want to stayupdated.

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

I’m a huge sucker for bananas or anything flavored like it. Seriously. Other than that: If you have the desire to tell or ask me something, feel free to let me know whatever it is in any way you like. I’m always open to that.

Thanks again Maarten for the great interview and keep up the inspirational work!

]]> http://inspire76.com/2010/10/12/artist-alex-dueckminor-design/feed/ 0 http://inspire76.com/2010/07/10/artist-ben-slater-graphic-design/ http://inspire76.com/2010/07/10/artist-ben-slater-graphic-design/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:55:37 +0000 Challis Sanders http://inspire76.com/?p=2895 An acclaimed underground graphic designer with a background in architecture, Ben Slater was the founding Art Director for WOUND (International Fashion Art Music and Architecture magazine) for the first year of publication. He also has designed for numerous art and music commissions, including the publicity for the renowned firefly music events, and established the unique graphical style for nocturnal art salon Tescodisco. He also founded the Photowhisk art collective and worked as the lead graphic designer in a regional newspaper.

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