Featured Artist - JuliaMaster


deviantTRINI: Could you first tell us a little bit about yourself? Where do you live?... feel free to introduce yourself as you wish.
JuliaMaster: My name is Regan Smith, I was born on the 20th of October 1986. I live at the southern part of Trinidad in Siparia. I’m currently working as a draughtsman. I currently do both digital and traditional artwork but I’m not really into art as a profession (I find it really hard to sell my work since I won’t have it anymore…)

daTT: What moved you to get into the realm of being an artist?
JuliaMaster: I don’t know (lol). The truth is that my father is an artist and I guess as a child, growing up around paintings and other various forms of artwork, I “picked it up.” I can’t really say when it started because I myself can’t remember when, as long as I’ve known myself I’ve been drawing and was always known as the “art man” in my school years topping classes and entire forms (except for twice). The main reason I got into the digital side of art was because it gave me an unlimited supply of medium

daTT: Are there any other hobbies you enjoy?
JuliaMaster: Well let’s see, I’m addicted to Tekken and use Julia the most (reason for my name on DA), I’m trying to get into the habit of working out at the gym but my recent job is causing a few complications in my time management so I guess it isn’t really a hobby…. That’s about it

daTT: Are you perfectionist when it comes to your own art?
JuliaMaster: Well they say that the artist is usually his toughest critique. I’m not a perfectionist, the number of unfinished pieces in my gallery is proof of that but I do have a certain standard for my work that I may either reach or succeed. Each drawing I do is usually the end product of at least 6 drawings I’ve erased. I usually just make sure I get the proportions right (or at least close) then work from there.

daTT: Do you have you artwork posted elsewhere, another portfolio? If no, why not?
JuliaMaster: I have a site [link] it contains some old stuff that isn’t on my DA account and also sigs for forums and some cell phone wallpapers and start up/shut down screens, all of which I made myself with Photoshop.

daTT: Favourite artist or artwork on dA?
JuliaMaster: Well I don’t really have a favourite, I like many various styles of artwork so I guess what looks good in it’s respected style will be great art to me.

daTT: Could you share with us your creative process? Do you follow some general steps in order to reach a specific goal, or compose your image freely?
JuliaMaster:Hmm…. lets' see. Well every thing usually starts with a hand drawn sketch for me. I’ll try breaking up the different processes I do.
Sometimes I do a full hand drawn drawing then I scan it and colour via Photoshop, I use this one a lot. Then there’s the method I use where I make a rough sketch and from there go straight to Photoshop using the sketch as reference only. There are also times when I could just do everything solely in Photoshop.
As for the colouring process, the basic idea for what I do is shown in "a painting tutorial by JM"
When it comes to non-digital paintings, for acrylics it’s simply about painting like layers, first the sky and ground then keep building up more and more into the foreground.
Now with watercolours it’s a little more tricky since layers of paint don’t completely cover each other, this is good for shading and adding values but not good for when adding something like a dog in front of a tree, adding colour on part that’s still wet leads to blending so you need to wait till it dries depending on the effect you want.
You have to paint around objects a lot and if don’t think about all that you’ll probably end up with a mess on a piece of paper, therefore it takes a lot of planning, patience, and carefulness but once done right they make some of the most beautiful paintings.

daTT: When people comment on your work, what is important for you in their feedback?
JuliaMaster:Details mostly, I like to put a lot of details in my work, if I forget something like a shadow and someone point’s it out I’ll be grateful. I would like to someday be able to create a piece of art where everything seems perfectly done so each fault equals something for me to try my best to never do again

daTT: How important is DA for you? Does it influence or motivate you in any way?
JuliaMaster: Well DA definitely influences and motivate me, most of the work here are really good, at times I find myself looking at paintings and wondering if I could do that or how they did that, I’ve improved a lot since I first joined DA so I guess it plays a rather important role for me.

daTT: Thank you very much for your time. Time to say a few ending words...
JuliaMaster: Sorry if I was boring and if you slept through this at least you got a good rest XD (lol)
I’ll leave these words my father once said, “whatever you plan on doing in life you should try to be the best at it.” so for all you artists out there, keep trying, keep improving and keep on raising the standards of your work, it’s impossible to be the best but if you keep working with that intention you’re going to reach heights you never thought where possible.

Previous Featured Artist
_{• July, 2006}
~AlphaAxIs, interview found here and here