FYI–I’m not sure how much I’ll be around next week, because I get to play all week at being a writer (HH:PW edits, dontcha know). I may weigh in with boring old progress reports, or I may just show up with a finito at the end. Or I may come every day for sanity breaks. However, it is my spring break priority, so I thought you should know I might be gone. And there might not be any Blood is Thicker Than Water next week either.
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Now, to the meat of today’s post. My friend Catrina Horsfield, a writer and artist, has generously allowed me to interview her about her artwork. But first, some art.
This is the conceptual picture that she drew of Errol Klarion and Stephanus Gale from The Substance of Shadows, my current out there project.
A recent picture of Janetta from Gossamer and Veridian, still in process.
The pencil sketch of Aurora (not a character of mine!) that she did for an anthology a few of us did a while back.
If the pictures have whetted your appetite, the interview and a link to more of Catrina’s art are just a click away.
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1. How long have you been illustrating?
I’ve been drawing ever since I was a wee lass, and always found a great deal of comfort in it. I’d had it ingrained, though, that art was not a career, it was a hobby, so I neglected it. I didn’t really get semi-serious about art until about ten years ago, when I decided that studying something I loved might not be such a bad idea. As for illustrating, I didn’t have the guts to do so until about 2000.
2. What inspires your art?
Pretty much anything, really. The color in the sky at sunset silhouetting trees. A quirk in my daughter’s expression. A trip to the zoo. At least five times a day I see something that makes me want to rush to my paints:)
3. What kind of art would you like to do professionally (ie comics, book covers, illustrations, etc)?
I’m finding myself drawn (heh) more and more toward portraiture than anything else these days.
4. What are your favorite subjects to draw?
Faces- and it’s a bit of a weakness. Lately I’ve been forcing myself (in the tiny bits of time I can grab these days to paint) to finish the backgrounds first before moving onto the face- I tend to lose interest otherwise and rush through the rest. There’s something about expressions which fascinate me, and trying to evoke as much of an emotion as possible keeps me painting.
5. Describe your creative process when it comes to pictures.
I don’t really have much of one! I’m horribly undisciplined. I tend to choose a color scheme and see how much I can balance it out. I do sketch compositions, but many times I get carried away in the middle of a painting and end up doing something completely different. Often it’s a disaster, but it’s thrilling when it works out. I’ve tried adhering to a strict plan and found that it sucks a lot of the fun out of it for me- the surprise of a success is a big deal to me. So I’ve given up working that way and just do what I enjoy.
6. What advice would you give young, aspiring artists?
If you have a passion for something, don’t diminish it or put it on the back burner. Study, practice, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes.
7. Where can people see more of your work?
I’ve started an art blog here– I update it whenever I can. I should have show information to post soon if all goes well:)
