Tundra
July 20th, 2009, 03:22 PM
Laura is 'SingaSongofsixpence' on Etsy, and makes these old fashioned pen and ink drawings (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7505092). I liked her style, so I thought I'd interview her for NiH. If you have any further questions, you can ask here and I'll pass them on, or maybe she'll come in to answer herself! And like always, guests can reply.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/Livinginthepast/singasongofsixpencefishwhisperer.jpg
So, where are you from? Tell us a little about yourself?
I’m from Ottawa, the more-often-than-not chilly capital of Canada. I’m a university student and emerging artist with high hopes to make it in the art world (very high-hopes, I know, but a girl can dream)
Do you only draw the types of things in your Etsy shop?
I dabble in lots of different styles, but the quirky old-fashioned pen-and-ink drawings I do are my favourites. When I’m painting, my style tends to be much more graphic and simple; but no matter what sort of art I’m doing, my love of everything old-fashioned peeks through, usually quite blatantly.
How long have you been doing your art for?
A very long time. I’m only 21, and I’ve been experimenting with art for about 19 years. It’s an integral part of my life.
Do you have a natural talent, or is it all down to practice or lessons?
I’d say it’s half-and-half. Up until high school, I hadn’t been trained at all. I auditioned for a well-known arts high school at the age of 13, and got accepted, to my delight. There I got the chance to really refine my skills and find my own distinct style.
How do you choose what you draw? Or what you draw next?
I don’t really know…it’s a sort of mysterious process. Even looking back on things I’ve done recently, I can’t quite figure out where I got the idea to draw or paint something like that. There’s an artistic cliché of things just popping into your head, but that’s really what happens!
What do you use to create your art?
Mostly schmancy ink pens (I do mostly drawings), but when I paint I always use acrylic (because I have no patience for oil…I keep touching it to see if it’s dry or not, which really isn’t good)
What’s the hardest art decision you have made, or if that’s too hard, lately?
Probably deciding not to do a BFA in university. I applied, and was accepted into the program, but I decided to turn it down for history instead. My feeling was that I had already learned enough technical skills in high school and that I was ready to forge ahead into my own realm of creativity rather than having a professor tell me what I should be doing with my art. So far I’ve been very discriminated against in the art world because of my lack of BFA, but I’m still forging ahead as strongly as possible. I’ve got to stick it to the man!
What are your inspirations?
Everything old-fashioned, really. I think the modern world has lost its whimsy, and I find lots of quirky things to work with by looking to the past for inspiration. I have a particular love for everything Medieval and Victorian. I fuse the old with the new in my art, and throw a few weird elements in there too.
What do you think about the concept of ‘muses’?
I like it! One of my favourite periods in art is the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which was full of artists who used muses. I find it makes the art seem more romantic and personal. One of my muses is Mary Pickford, the silent movie actress. I find her face very interesting, and I use it a lot in my art.
Where do you work?
I don’t really have a studio space, so I work anywhere that’s comfortable…on my bed, on the floor, at work (when no-one’s looking), on the bus…almost everywhere, really.
Do you work from imagination, or source photos, or real life, or other?
I work half from imagination, and half from references. My references range from things I’ve found on the internet and in books, to my own photos.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever been asked to do, art wise? (Or done, if you’ve not been asked)
There was a guy I met at an art fair who asked me to do a painting with lots of weird and contradictory requirements. It had something to do with unhappy faces floating around with bar codes and electrical plugs. He also wanted some elements of stink lines thrown in there. Luckily, he didn’t pursue it to the end, and I didn’t have to do the painting.
How do you tell when your piece of art is ‘finished’?
Ah, a good question. Leonardo da Vinci once said that art is never completed, only abandoned. I go by that philosophy. I always feel like things could be more perfect, but I make sure I don’t over-work things and try to stop perfecting the piece to the point of ridiculousness. It’s hard to be completely satisfied with everything, but I’ve learned to let things go when the time is right.
Why do you think you’ll sell?
I’ve only made one sale so far, but I’m hoping that number will skyrocket at some point. I hate to boast at all, but I think I’ve got something unique going on, and I hope others will see it too. My prices are also quite ridiculously low for original art, so that might help too.
Does it matter if you don’t?
I want to say that it doesn’t matter, but I think I’d be quite sad if I didn’t sell anything else. I need the re-assurance that my art is saleable! But of course, I’ll love what I do no matter what.
If you were to do something else creative, other than the style of art you are currently doing, what would you choose?
I love the look of medieval art…the stuff that came just before the Renaissance. People don’t really dabble in that style anymore, which I think is a shame. I try to revive it a little in some of my pieces, but I’ve never gone all-out medieval with my art. I wouldn’t want it to be that sort of fan-fiction version of the medieval style, but something genuinely medieval-looking…true to their aesthetics, but maybe fused with a more modern subject matter. I think that would be really cool…like modern triptychs or altar-pieces, minus the über religious theme.
What would be the best hint to beginning or amateur artists you could give?
Be unique! That’s the main advice I have. I hate seeing artists today trying to be Jackson Pollack, Marc Rothko, or Andy Warhol. Quit trying to be someone else, and find your own artistic voice. If you’re attempting to mimic the style of someone else, you’ll never do it as well as they can. It unnerves me that many emerging artists think they have to paint or draw a certain way to be accepted in the art world. Don’t listen to anyone else trying to tell you what YOUR style should be…that’s for you to decide. If you’re unique, people will remember you; whereas if you try to do what everyone else is doing, you don’t stand out.
Will you tell us how to do one of the techniques you use?
When I’m doing a pen-and-ink drawing, I always use crosshatching. To do this, you draw several quick line strokes one way, then draw perpendicular strokes overtop of the original strokes to achieve various effects. This is used for filling and shading, depending on how tightly-knit the strokes are. I doubt my description is very useful (I’m not very good at describing how to do things), but maybe this will inspire curious beginners in ink drawing to look it up!
Thanks again for the excellent opportunity to be included in your forum!
~ Laura
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/Livinginthepast/singasongofsixpencefishwhisperer.jpg
So, where are you from? Tell us a little about yourself?
I’m from Ottawa, the more-often-than-not chilly capital of Canada. I’m a university student and emerging artist with high hopes to make it in the art world (very high-hopes, I know, but a girl can dream)
Do you only draw the types of things in your Etsy shop?
I dabble in lots of different styles, but the quirky old-fashioned pen-and-ink drawings I do are my favourites. When I’m painting, my style tends to be much more graphic and simple; but no matter what sort of art I’m doing, my love of everything old-fashioned peeks through, usually quite blatantly.
How long have you been doing your art for?
A very long time. I’m only 21, and I’ve been experimenting with art for about 19 years. It’s an integral part of my life.
Do you have a natural talent, or is it all down to practice or lessons?
I’d say it’s half-and-half. Up until high school, I hadn’t been trained at all. I auditioned for a well-known arts high school at the age of 13, and got accepted, to my delight. There I got the chance to really refine my skills and find my own distinct style.
How do you choose what you draw? Or what you draw next?
I don’t really know…it’s a sort of mysterious process. Even looking back on things I’ve done recently, I can’t quite figure out where I got the idea to draw or paint something like that. There’s an artistic cliché of things just popping into your head, but that’s really what happens!
What do you use to create your art?
Mostly schmancy ink pens (I do mostly drawings), but when I paint I always use acrylic (because I have no patience for oil…I keep touching it to see if it’s dry or not, which really isn’t good)
What’s the hardest art decision you have made, or if that’s too hard, lately?
Probably deciding not to do a BFA in university. I applied, and was accepted into the program, but I decided to turn it down for history instead. My feeling was that I had already learned enough technical skills in high school and that I was ready to forge ahead into my own realm of creativity rather than having a professor tell me what I should be doing with my art. So far I’ve been very discriminated against in the art world because of my lack of BFA, but I’m still forging ahead as strongly as possible. I’ve got to stick it to the man!
What are your inspirations?
Everything old-fashioned, really. I think the modern world has lost its whimsy, and I find lots of quirky things to work with by looking to the past for inspiration. I have a particular love for everything Medieval and Victorian. I fuse the old with the new in my art, and throw a few weird elements in there too.
What do you think about the concept of ‘muses’?
I like it! One of my favourite periods in art is the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which was full of artists who used muses. I find it makes the art seem more romantic and personal. One of my muses is Mary Pickford, the silent movie actress. I find her face very interesting, and I use it a lot in my art.
Where do you work?
I don’t really have a studio space, so I work anywhere that’s comfortable…on my bed, on the floor, at work (when no-one’s looking), on the bus…almost everywhere, really.
Do you work from imagination, or source photos, or real life, or other?
I work half from imagination, and half from references. My references range from things I’ve found on the internet and in books, to my own photos.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever been asked to do, art wise? (Or done, if you’ve not been asked)
There was a guy I met at an art fair who asked me to do a painting with lots of weird and contradictory requirements. It had something to do with unhappy faces floating around with bar codes and electrical plugs. He also wanted some elements of stink lines thrown in there. Luckily, he didn’t pursue it to the end, and I didn’t have to do the painting.
How do you tell when your piece of art is ‘finished’?
Ah, a good question. Leonardo da Vinci once said that art is never completed, only abandoned. I go by that philosophy. I always feel like things could be more perfect, but I make sure I don’t over-work things and try to stop perfecting the piece to the point of ridiculousness. It’s hard to be completely satisfied with everything, but I’ve learned to let things go when the time is right.
Why do you think you’ll sell?
I’ve only made one sale so far, but I’m hoping that number will skyrocket at some point. I hate to boast at all, but I think I’ve got something unique going on, and I hope others will see it too. My prices are also quite ridiculously low for original art, so that might help too.
Does it matter if you don’t?
I want to say that it doesn’t matter, but I think I’d be quite sad if I didn’t sell anything else. I need the re-assurance that my art is saleable! But of course, I’ll love what I do no matter what.
If you were to do something else creative, other than the style of art you are currently doing, what would you choose?
I love the look of medieval art…the stuff that came just before the Renaissance. People don’t really dabble in that style anymore, which I think is a shame. I try to revive it a little in some of my pieces, but I’ve never gone all-out medieval with my art. I wouldn’t want it to be that sort of fan-fiction version of the medieval style, but something genuinely medieval-looking…true to their aesthetics, but maybe fused with a more modern subject matter. I think that would be really cool…like modern triptychs or altar-pieces, minus the über religious theme.
What would be the best hint to beginning or amateur artists you could give?
Be unique! That’s the main advice I have. I hate seeing artists today trying to be Jackson Pollack, Marc Rothko, or Andy Warhol. Quit trying to be someone else, and find your own artistic voice. If you’re attempting to mimic the style of someone else, you’ll never do it as well as they can. It unnerves me that many emerging artists think they have to paint or draw a certain way to be accepted in the art world. Don’t listen to anyone else trying to tell you what YOUR style should be…that’s for you to decide. If you’re unique, people will remember you; whereas if you try to do what everyone else is doing, you don’t stand out.
Will you tell us how to do one of the techniques you use?
When I’m doing a pen-and-ink drawing, I always use crosshatching. To do this, you draw several quick line strokes one way, then draw perpendicular strokes overtop of the original strokes to achieve various effects. This is used for filling and shading, depending on how tightly-knit the strokes are. I doubt my description is very useful (I’m not very good at describing how to do things), but maybe this will inspire curious beginners in ink drawing to look it up!
Thanks again for the excellent opportunity to be included in your forum!
~ Laura