=artsaves1228

Full Name (or artist name used): Robin McQuay
Age (optional): 21
Residence: Tacoma, Washington
Education (optional): high school
Art education/self-trained: self-trained
Current profession: artist
Favorite art media: dark/fantasy/emotional
Favorite artists: Joseph Linsner, Luis Royo, Olivia, Alberto Vargas, Zindy
Literature type preferred: anything with vampires, witches, demons, and love
Ever been published? Where?: I've been in a few online magazines and had one of my drawings in “Bizarre” magazine over a year ago. These are the online magazines/galleries I've been featured in:
Diamondcomics.com [link]
c-heads.com [link]
antithesiscommon.com [link]
How do you feel about this interview? nervous




1. "artsaves what?" ( ~lesvaches )Does your screen name “artsaves1228” have any special significance? How did you choose it, and especially can we know what that specific combination of numbers mean to you?

“Art Saves” is actually from one of my favorite bands, Otep. But I believe that art really does save, its kind of hard to explain I guess. But no matter what's happened in my life, art has always been there. When I needed to get away from everything, I'd just disappear into my own world and draw for hours. My life would be pointless without art in it.

I guess I chose that name because it’s really simple, but says a lot about me and what art means to me. The 1228 is just my birthday, December 28th.

2. When do you feel the most artistic/inspired....when did you know art was your passion and what inspires it? (*steviesgirl)

There's never really a specific time where I feel really inspired or artistic, it just happens out of nowhere really. Either I feel like drawing or I don't. I can be in town walking around and see someone that I'd like to draw or see a magazine cover that inspires me or anything and feel inspired. I get a lot of inspiration from just browsing on deviantart and myspace. But I just randomly come across pictures of girls I find really inspiring, that just have this certain look that I have to capture, usually a dark, sad, long hair, lip piercing, girl as always! I notice I feel most inspired at night time though, that’s when I do most of my art. I guess just because everything’s quiet, everyone’s asleep, it’s nice.

I have always loved art, and always wanted to be an artist but didn’t really realize how passionate I was about it till I graduated high school. Towards the end of high school I did start drawing a lot more, I know it’s cheesy, but it was mostly because my husband inspired me a lot to draw more, he really believed in me. I always felt like high school art class was holding me down a little, and I didn’t really get to experiment with stuff I wanted to. We had to do it one way, and that was it. And I'm not good at taking orders from people and its hard for me to learn from others, so after I graduated I just started experimenting with a bunch of different mediums. I graduated in January of 2004 and spent the next few months just drawing. My husband got stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington while I was still back in Missouri and I was just really lonely. I didn’t have a "normal" job, I guess that’s when I realized this really was my passion, that there’s nothing else that I can do, nothing else I want to do, I have to make a career out of art or I'll go crazy! There was no way in hell I could ever work a typical job. I’m not good with people at all; I’m shy and quiet, so being able to draw all day in my own space with no one around sounded pretty good to me. But I can't even explain what art means to me, it’s everything. I honestly don't know where I would be without it. Especially within these past few years, it’s amazing to see those few people that really look up to me and my art and feel inspired by what they see. And having all that support from your family. That's what it’s all about, inspiring others with your art.

3.You are a many-sided talented artist; your interests include drawing, painting, photography, photomanipulation and modeling. Do you feel that any of these media provides more artistic freedom for you than the others?

Definitely drawing. It’s my first love. I like taking photos, but I really don't think I'm that good at it. I actually prefer to take nature photos or photos of animals. But it is fine using myself as a model when I take photos, being able to dress up and do my makeup. I use a lot of my own photos as references for drawings. I actually think I’d be a horrible model, I'd feel sorry for any photographer who'd have to deal with me, since I’m really shy. EVERYTIME someone takes a photo of me, I turn away. That's why I take almost all my own photos. I do like it though, I feel I have a lot of freedom with it because I can create exactly what I want, I see a pose or expression in my head and try to create it. Photomanipulation was just something I did for a few months, I don't know why...I guess it was just something I wanted to try out, until all of them started looking exactly the same, I started running out of ideas and started sucking at it! For me, personally, there wasn't much freedom to express there. I like creating images from scratch, its just not the same using pictures I just think are cool or pretty. Unless I was able to find the PERFECT model or image to work with. But with drawing, I can create exactly what I see in my head, down to the smallest details of eye color, nose, hair, lips, piercings, clothes etc. I like having all that freedom to create what I want.

4. How do you feel about the possibilities offered to an artist by the traditional vs. digital media?
What about the exposure that the internet offers to you as an artist – are there any advantages/disadvantages to be found there?

It seems like nowadays digital art is getting more exposure than traditional art. I admire those that can do digital art, but I’d just love to see traditional artists get the same amount of exposure. So many comics are now done on the computer instead of the traditional way, or artists draw them out with pencil then take them onto the computer and color it. I never even knew it was possible to draw on the computer until a few years ago. It’s hard to explain, I just love doing it the traditional way and probably always will.

Without the internet, I probably wouldn't have much exposure at all. I've tried hanging my art in a few places around where I live, and my art just isn’t people friendly, unless you draw really weird abstract paintings or realistic portraits or take pictures of mountains and cute cats, you probably won't find a place to hang your art. The internet is a huge place, with millions of people. Which is a great chance someone will see your art. There are so many sites where you can show your art. It’s really great, I never thought I'd rely on a computer and the internet as my way of living and getting my art out there, it really is great. Hmm disadvantages, the obvious, the people who feel they can just take your art and post it wherever the hell they want without permission, or steal it and claim they did it. I put a lot of hard work and passion into my art, and it really hurts when someone just thinks, "oh this is pretty!!1!11 I wanna save it and put it all over my myspace profile!!1". I really hope that someday something serious can be done about this, it’s not a big deal to some people, but it is to me.


5. A little more about the “hows”:

***What music inspires your beautiful artworks? (*demoncherry)

The only band that’s every really had an influence in my art is Evanescence. I think it’s probably obvious their music and lyrics and Amy's beautiful look have inspired my art. Their music is kind of like a release, I feel like I’m in a different world when listening to them. When they first came out is when I started drawing the pretty, dark, sad "goth" girls. Other than that, I listen to just about anything when I draw, I listen to a lot of country(many people probably don’t know that about me!) lots of rock, heavy metal, classic rock and the few occasional radio friendly songs that I can’t stand but find myself listening to.

***What materials do you use? (~Dekarkn)

Just about everything. In a typical drawing, I use a lot of charcoal, charcoal pencils, white charcoal, and my lovely Sharpie markers. A lot of people ask how I do my drawings and what materials I use, and when I say white charcoal, most have never even heard of that. I use it lots in my art actually...but I don’t want to give away my secrets In some of my art, I use this really cheap, kind of crappy black paint, especially on the hair and clothes. Then when it dries, I go over it with white charcoal. I also use color pencils every once in awhile. I have a bunch of different types of paper, but I use Arches Watercolor about 98% of the time. It works best for charcoal.

***Exactly how do you do your drawings and then get them on here??? (~teenagedeathgirl13)

Well I just draw them, then after I'm done I scan it onto the computer. Sometimes the drawing is too big for the scanner, so I scan it in 2 parts and I have to put it together in Paintshop. That's about it, I just scan them.

***Can you give us any tips on using mixed media?(*demoncherry )

Experiment lots?! I think traditional artists should experiment a lot with different mediums to find what you're really good at and comfortable with. I honestly never thought I'd use charcoal or be good at it, but tried it and now I don’t know how I lived without it. You just have to know what works well together, since I use so many different mediums in one drawing I had to experiment a lot with what works and what doesn’t.

***Do you use any special tools to get the blending so smooth?( *demoncherry)

Lots of toilet paper and q-tips! I use Charmin toilet paper to shade with, I fold one of those little squares and use it to shade the bigger parts in my drawing, like the hair or arms, face. And use q-tips around the eyes, lips and nose. The paper I use is really rough, so I’m surprised I can get it smooth at all, but it stays really well. I also sometimes use small tortillions, and blending stumps to shade the smaller areas.

6. How would you define the Gothic element (from subject to colors and mood) that is present in your work? Are there other Gothic artists that inspire or have inspired your visions?

I know everyone has their own definition of what Gothic is, and I always find it hard to explain what I think it is. Basically, to me I just think it’s about the beauty in darkness and sadness. I think the keyword there is beauty, I've always found the Gothic style to be beautiful. Not just about those little teenagers you see hanging out in front of the mall dressed in all black, TRYING to be sad and hate the world and wear dark makeup. I don’t know. I've just always found the corsets, dark hair, makeup, piercings to be so beautiful, especially on women, as most can tell from my art and always found the sadness inspiring, its weird cause I’m not a sad person at all, but it inspires me so much. Like if I see a sad person, I wonder why they're sad, what happened to them etc. I think the typical colors used to create the mood of gothic art are usually black and red, which is what I used a lot of starting out. But I realized that I can still create a dark atmosphere with lots of blues, greens, or whatever. I actually never really strived for the dark, gothic art that was just kind of what came out on paper when I started drawing.

The biggest inspiration that does a lot of gothic art is Luis Royo. His art is soooo beautiful. I also love Joseph Linsner’s art, most of his isn’t really gothic, but some of it has a dark atmosphere. He was the first artist I ever really discovered and loved. There's also a ton of artists on deviant that inspire me tons, *Zindy inspires me lots! Models like *redletterflight , *autumn-melody , =Dagwanoenyent , *TarnishedRose inspire me a lot, I've used *redletterflight in my art several times. She has the perfect look for my art and inspires me lots.

7. Have you ever posted something on a site that you wish you never did and what was it? (~lesvaches)

Hmm not really, I used to be into nude photography and had some photos like that on here, till I just grew out of it, but I never really regretted it. There's been a few art forums and sites I've posted art on that I kind of wish I didn’t...just because well, people can be cruel sometimes I guess you could say.

8. Do you decorate your place with your own works? (=FallenRox)

I have a few of my drawings on the wall. I actually have these two frames next to each other that I change every once in awhile to a new drawing. I have a few of my big canvas paintings hanging up, and a few I did for my husband and one old crappy, drawing that was signed by Corey Taylor of Slipknot. It’s not very good, but I treasure it Most of the art on my wall is from other artists I've bought art from or that was given to me. I also have 4 paintings done by my grandpa, he's an amazing painter.

9. Have you ever received a comment here in DA or somewhere else that you consider that defines the essence of your art?

I’ve gotten a few comments like that. There’s an art forum I’ve posted on for about two years and I remember this one person who was commenting on my art about the bloody tears I draw on some of my girls. He was kind of interpreting it in his own way saying the bloody tears were a way of my character showing their emotions and letting us know how they feel since, of course, a drawing isn’t actually capable of TELLING you how it feels. That when we bleed, its because we’ve been hurt, and when we cry its usually because we’re sad. And since it’s not possible to cry blood (as far as I know) that when you combine blood and tears, that the girl in the drawing must be hurting very much. I cant’ remember exactly what he said, but it was something like that. So if it makes no sense, sorry! Its just I never really figured out why I even drew bloody tears and it was interesting to hear someone else’s interpretation of my art. I also get a lot of comments from people who say they can relate to a specific drawing and the feelings and emotions in it. But most of all I just really love hearing peoples interpretations of my art and their story behind them, it really shows that they’re looking really deep into the drawing and what the message is and what it means to them.

10. Do you consider that your style will change dramatically in the future or do you see yourself following the same path?

My style has already changed a lot within the past few years. It’s still the dark style and always will be, but I like trying new things with hair, eyes, clothes etc. to make myself a better artist in my eyes. I know a lot of artists strive for realism, but I’ve never really cared about that. I think art is about emotion, not trying to make a drawing look identical to a photo, if I want to see a drawing that looks like a photo, well then I’ll just look at a photo, there’s nothing else there but a lifeless realistic drawing. But it is kind of fun trying new things with my art, trying to get the eyes or hair to look real, while the shading or lips look cartoonish…if that makes sense. I like combining realism WITH the cartoonish, dark style. I hope that I’ll continue to improve and get to a place with my art where I’m really happy. I think it’s impossible for an artist to ever be perfect at what they do, because you will always have something you need to work on or something new you could try. But I don’t plan on changing my style dramatically, I like creating art that’s a little different from the other stuff out there and knowing that when someone sees one of my drawings they automatically know it’s my style. I definitely plan on following this path with my art, I have no other choice and no doubts I will succeed.