This issue Equine Devine (ED) was going to have three interviews, but as I realise these artists have lives outside of deviantART I'll post them two by two. Be on the look out for ED3!

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Artist interview: STARRYNIGHTXXI

1. Hello, first off, please tell us something about yourself:

I am a recent college graduate with a background in Graphic Design, which drove me nuts, but I was pretty good at it. Now at almost-24 I am trying to find a way to be able to do the things I love instead of just the things I’m good at, with mixed success.

I love photography, printmaking, and photo manipulation. I hate, hate, hate having to do any sort of 3-D or animation stuff.

Obviously, I love horses. I am a hopeless barn rat and am currently playing stall slave at a boarding barn a couple days a week for money, then spending the rest of my time at the barn that my college’s equestrian team rides at, doing the same work I get paid for at the other place for the chance to ride, or just to be randomly helpful. I have even driven 15 minutes out of my way after working seven hours at the first barn just to help feed at the second. I ride English and western, and will get on any horse I’m given, but don’t own any of my own.





2. How did you get started in equine photo manipulation?

Oh geez… well, back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth- okay, maybe not THAT long ago, but about ten or so years ago I talked my dad into buying Paint Shop Pro (version 5, I think) for me and I promptly discarded the manual and started learning things on my own.



3. What program(s) do you use to create your art?

Now, Photoshop CS2, Illustrator if I’m feeling ambitious, which I’m usually not




4. As we all know, stock is vital to a photo manipulator. What are qualities you look for in stock?

Well, size is a big factor, especially when you’re dealing with images that are usually only 72 dpi, so the bigger the better. After that, I look for clarity because if an image isn’t clear it doesn’t matter how perfect and awesome the pose is.

Of course, there are some issues that can be fixed with the right care in editing, but irredeemable blurriness is an out-and-out stock sin.



5. What are your favorite images from your gallery and why?

Well, I like a lot of them, but there’s a few I’m really attached to:




“Hippogryph Revised” was the very first time that I tried painting from scratch, and I did it with my mouse so the amount of time and effort put into it will always give it a special place in my heart. I love the texture in it, as well, because as neat as smudging can look, I hate that in so many galleries, the only texture is no texture at all. Obviously, I went for the opposite effect.




“Up Above…” is another favorite. It didn’t come out the way I originally intended, but I think it came out better than it would have otherwise. It has more manipulation than probably any other image in my gallery between the drastic altering of the horse’s pose and the blending of the background. It also took just about FOREVER to find The Right Stock for the background. It’s the colors, though, that keep bringing me back to it.



In “Rosabella”, it’s the details, the painted in rose bush, the brindle markings on the horse, the vines that seem to be trying to drag the horse back in, and the hint of red left behind as they’re pulled away, that little bit of blood soaking into the hair. If you’ve ever run through a thornbush you’ll know the sort of bloody scratches they leave. I wanted to show the struggle to get through, but didn’t want it gory. Of all the images this one probably has the most meaning, as well as being a successfully fulfilled request at a studio.

Each one of these images started out entirely as an experiment. They were done just to see if I COULD do it.




7. Can you describe your general workflow?

Well, generally I start with a vague idea of something I want to try, whether it’s a concept, or a technique. Very rarely do I start with a clear final image in mind. Once I have this idea, I usually end up spending hours searching until I find the image(s) that jump(s) off the screen at me.

My work is very much about what inspires me to work with it and shape it. Length of time is never a factor for me, I almost never bother to track the amount of time spent working on something because I don’t feel that’s an important aspect of art.

I [usually] save constantly under different filenames so that I can always go back to the last major change.

Once things begin to come together is when I really get going, and when I hit this point, I usually won’t stop, I keep rolling along until the image is almost done, whether that’s an hour, or all night (and it’s usually all night). When I’m finally basically finished, I stop, walk away from it for a while, then come back with fresh eyes to take care of details that are missing.




8. What do you think is unique in your images?

I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about their uniqueness. I guess when compared to many of the images on DA I can see my photography and graphic design backgrounds coming through more in my attention to composition.

I think this is just a matter of experience and training, though. Having gone through quite a few college art courses I’ve had different ideas pounded into my head than those who haven’t [yet] had that opportunity. It’s also a matter of time; I’ve been around a lot longer than many of the kids who are trying their hand at it now.


9. Where do you find inspiration and how do you put your concepts from your head to the computer?

My inspiration comes mostly from the images themselves. I think many other photo manipulators will understand me when I say that I see an image and I just know that I have to work with it, and that the end result will look something like “this”. There is no set technique, I don’t do sketches, I just look at random until I find That Thing that speaks to me. It’s not something that I can force, I just have to look and experiment until I know I’m on the right track.




10. Do you have any equine photo manipulators you admire?

Oh sure! Arrsistable, for one, but who doesn’t admire her work? Acornah is another favorite. Both are consistent and pay attention to the small details of the images.

Arrsistable once said (and I’m paraphrasing) that she didn’t mind lower quality images because there’s hardly a single pixel she doesn’t touch and many of the kinks can be worked out in editing. It’s that sort of confidence that I strive for.



11. As a popular artist there is a great risk of work being stolen. Has your work ever been stolen? How did you you feel when/if it happened. How do you think you would feel if it did happen? What do you do when your work gets stolen? Do you feel the need to put copyrights on your images?

As far as I know, none of my photo manipulations have been stolen. I have found my photography used in manipulations though, and it does irk me a bit, but there is only so much I am willing to do about it, after all, I accepted the risks of posting my images on a site where they could be stolen without difficulty.

One thing I do is make sure that all the images are smaller, low resolution files that look fine on the internet, but aren’t good for much else. In reality, the pictures tend to be quite large, and I keep the original files stored on my computer should I ever decide to pursue something, I can prove that it’s mine with these (another good reason to save as many steps as possible, as well as the original stock images). I occasionally put my real name on images, but not always. Sometimes I’m lazy, sometimes I forget, sometimes there’s no good place to put it.




12. Is there any advice you would like to give to your fellow or future equine manipulators?

Don’t get stuck in a rut! So many people with lots of potential find one style they’re good at, or like, and never go beyond that. It’s damn hard trying something new, it can be frustrating and make you go batty when something that seems so easy turns out not to be, but it is so rewarding when everything comes together.

Forget about what’s popular, too. Popular mostly means overdone. Try it, attempt to master it, but don’t let it be the end because there is no end in art.













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Artist interview: ARRSISTABLE

1. Hello, first off, please tell us something about yourself:

Hello! Well, my most widely screen name used is Arrsistable, so if you ever see it around anywhere be assured it's me. I made it up years ago.

I have three children - Quinn, Colt & Hunter. Hunter will be turning 5 in the end of March, and since he's my oldest, they keep me pretty busy. Making art tends to be hard in that aspect, because I rarely have more than five minutes where I can sit and concentrate before having to get up to do something else. I love it though - it's my passion and outlet.

My husband Josh gave me a Wacom Intuos3 6x11 for Christmas a year ago and I absolutely love it. I don't think I could ever go back to making manipulations with just a mouse, and digital drawing would definitely be out of the question.




2. How did you get started in equine photo manipulation?

My very first manipulation ever was about 12 or 13 years ago, using Adobe 1.0, and it was a horse manipulation for an RPG I was part of.

Since I was (and still am) a horse nut, it just made sense to use them as subjects.





3. What program(s) do you use to create your art?

Currently I use Adobe CS2 with a Wacom Intuos3 tablet. Not very broad, huh?

In the past, I've used Adobe 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 5.5 Limited Edition, 7.0, CS & CS2, as well as Microsoft PictureIt!.





4. As we all know, stock is vital to a photo manipulator. What are qualities you look for in stock?

Qualities.. Hrm. I usually look for something unique, or versatile. If it's versatility that I'm going for, I generally try to get something that is shot straight across, not angled up or angled down, since most manips are done as if the viewer is standing and looking at it. The angled-up ones are especially hard to couple photos with though, as are ones that are angled down awfully too much.

If it's a horse I'm looking for, I try to get something that shows some sort of action or movement, or at least with a clear expression on the horses face. I've been known to completely manipulate a stock horses body (neck & head position, all joints in all four legs as well as redoing the mane/tail), so if I can't find something that suits what I want, I'll just get a stock picture where the legs and head/neck are clearly visible, and create it myself.

The palomino pegasus in Love Transcended is one example of that. I used two stock photos of the same horse, but all I took from the second photo is the ears. The rest I just manipulated into place.






5. What are your favorite images from your gallery and why?

Oh, gosh, this is a hard one. I'm not usually all that fond of my pieces, especially the more popular ones. And that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I stare at it so much for so long that I just don't want to deal with it anymore.

If I had to choose, though, I'd pick these:

A Ghastly Night


A Ghastly Night has always been my #1 favorite, and probably because it's out of the quintessential "pretty horse pretty manip" box. It's smooth, but ugly. I enhanced the faults and flaws that the horse had originally (and it helped that old Jobby was.. old), and added a few more in myself. I highlighted his ribs, intensified his face, and basically did what I could short of gory holes or skeletal bones protruding out. The only thing that I'd change now is the mane and tail, making him a rattier one. I just didn't know how to do it back then... but then again, I really didn't know how to do what I did with his mane/tail either. I was still learning. Hell, I still am.

Risen


Risen I love just because of the colors and highlighting. I'm still very upset that I lost the original version of the picture, but oh well. It's just a picture, right? It's very fantasy-ish, and the horse is just beautiful in real life. I didn't have to enhance him at all to make that obvious.






6. Can you tell us how you went about making them?

Hmm. Well, since Risen seems to be a popular one, I'll pick that one and explain.

First off came the stock gatherings. ~random-one allowed me to use one of her pictures, so I had that at the base of the image, nothing else. The structure I found and instantly liked as well, so boom, it went in. The only problem with the structure and horse is they leaned opposite ways of one another; the structure was shot up (see! Hard to do things with shots that are taken leaning up), and the horse was shot at a wierd angle that left his head huge and his butt small. But still, both were very cool.

Next came the water images. I couldn't find any sky that I liked and fit well into what I was doing, so viola, I built one. I really enjoy painting.. maybe one day I'll attempt a full scale digital painting.

Since the horse and structure leaned away from one another originally, I had to change each of their perspectives. My first thought was to have the horse look as if it was jumping down off of the structure and almost as if it were coming into the viewers lap, but that was scrapped almost instantly.

The structures odd angle fixed, I put it at an angle into the water, then went about trying to balance the horse out. I rotated the horse too, tilting him up so he was in a more rearing stance, then added in a bunch of highlighting fog to give a cold eerie light. The mane and tail were painted in near the end, highlighted cold colors helping to blend it into the BG.

The highlighting on the body took a lot of time, following the curves of the bone and muscles, making the highlights softer the further away from the fog it got and stronger nearer to it. I also had to duplicate the horse a few times and change the colors and blending to get it to match and blend.

Overall the picture wasn't that hard, and it was fun to do. Probably why I it didn't annoy me while doing it, actually lmao.




7. Can you describe your general workflow?

I never plan out what I'm going to do, first and foremost. The most I'll have is a general feeling of what I want, and 7/10 times that changes before the picture is done. With my latest image, Whimsical Moments, I originally wanted a relaxed, calm picture of a horse on a grassy cliff. I worked for roughly six hours, blending grass and cliff images to build something that looked nice and was still original, and eventually gave up when I couldn't get a horse to fit into it like I wanted to. I think one of the most important things about doing images is to just go with the flow. If something just isn't working out, tuck the file away and start a new one.

Usually my pics take 20+ hours to complete. Sometimes less if everything just clicks, and sometimes more if it is being difficult, like Whimsical Moments which took over 40 hours to complete).


8. What do you think is unique in your images?

Unique. Honestly, I don't really know. I don't compare my pictures to others, and I don't see an effect and think, "Hey, I should try that." What I do is just open up adobe and putter around until something rolls out.

One of the most consistent comments about my images is my manes and tails, so I suppose if I had to pick something, I'd go with that.

My manes and tails.


9. Where do you find inspiration and how do you put your concepts from your head to the computer?

I don't know. Whenever I have preconceived concepts, I end up frustrated, mad, and cursing at my monitor because what I want to do just isn't working out. I try to take inspiration from an order if I'm doing one (and it seems like I always am), but if I'm doing something for myself then I just mess around. Either something will turn up and I'll get into a groove, or I'll close adobe out and go to bed.



10. Do you have any equine photo manipulators you admire?

Sure, there's lots that I admire. Axis, Acornah, Starrynightxxi & Rikku stand out, but there's a ton I like just because of the little things that make them unique.


11. As a popular artist there is a great risk of work being stolen. Has your work ever been stolen? How did you you feel when/if it happened. How do you think you would feel if it did happen? What do you do when your work gets stolen? Do you feel the need to put copyrights on your images?

Ugh, the ever popular, "Omg, dat pic wuld 2taly l00k gr8 4 mi hors char1!1!!!!"

Yeah, I've had my work thieved many, many, many times. It really bothers me, but I just try to stick my head in the ground and not think about it. There's crap on Flickr thats mine (really, you guys should try searching your name or the names of your more popular pics on that site), on photobucket, on HL and other sims, RPGs all over the place... It's borderline pathetic. I'd have to say the ratio of stolen pics to the times that people ask is roughly 80:1, if not higher. There's a large amount of wallpaper sites that have taken my work, especially POH: Wallpaper. Sometimes they credit and link back to me, and sometimes they just offer it up.

My advice to you folks: if you ever upload wallpaper as a kindness to the community, put your DA name on it in an obvious place, because it *will* get stolen. But then again, that goes for anything, I suppose. I try to contact the places that have my pics, but gods, sending out 4-5 emails a week and dealing with sometimes shitty responses from people is tiring. If they even deem me worthy of a response, that is.


12. Is there any advice you would like to give to your fellow or future equine manipulators?

I have a ton of advice, but yet as soon as I get to this question it all goes out the window.

Most importantly, though is to take your time. Spending 2-3 hours may seem like a lot right now, but it's really not. There's pictures where I spend that much time on just the hair.

Create your own backgrounds. It's unique to you then, no one else has it, and you can make a world of your own.

Blend feet into things. Make sure shadows/colors match.

The Healing tool is a neato tool - I highly recommend you messing with it to help cover up flaws.

Make sure you get lighting right. Don't have it coming from the side on the subject and have a sunset picture in the BG - it just doesn't match up.

Highlight your subjects. Pick a highlighting color out of the BG and add it into where the light would bounce off your subject, such as softer over shoulder muscles/barrel, a harder line over the hip and eye, nostril, line of the mouth... It'll really help blend your subject into the bg, and draw the viewers eye along the image.



13. Is there anything else you would like to say before we close?

Just have fun. I know everyone says it, but it's true. Do it because you love it. If you're a studio slave like myself, take the time to do something for just you once in a while. Don't burn yourself out. Smile. Do happy pictures! Everyone does sad ones... try something light and joyful. You'll be amazed at the response you get.

Most of all, though, just try to enjoy what you do. There's so many things in the world that could make you unhappy - try to let this be the one thing that is just yours, and that you can make your own.





IN CLOSING:


I hope you enjoyed these interviews. They are both very capable and talented artists, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that - just go and have a look at their galleries and study their work. If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment below or send me a note