*mashina has been on a steady course upwards in terms of skill and expression. His spectrum ranges from surreal to macabre and political, all laden with his own unique signature.







How would you describe your art?

It’s my therapy and my relief valve. Without it I would be a seriously unhappy person.



What is your personal favourite piece of yours and why?

As of now, I would pick up “Regurgitation” because it came out exactly how I imagined it in my mind. I wanted to create something exaggerate, something creepy but intriguing at the same time. “Regurgitation” has that precise dirty look and feeling that I love and I’m satisfied with the whole manipulation. Plus, I had a lot of fun taking dozens of photos of my face with my mouth wide open.





What inspires you?

The night and the right music are the best catalyst for ideas. I don’t have a particular source of inspiration, it just happens that all the thoughts and feelings in my head flows out better at night while listening to music. All my works are the result of a precise thought therefore it’s rare for me to be struck by the proverbial idea that comes out of nothing, you know, the one with the lamp over your head turning on with a flash… but it happens, sometimes.



Which are your all time favourite photomanipulations on deviantArt?

I really cannot decide myself, there are so many great works out there that for me it’s impossible to round down the choices to just three or four works. To me it would look like an offense to the people not included. I swear I tried to choose some works but I couldn’t make up my mind.



Which tools do you use?

The main tools are my digital camera, Photoshop CS and a flatbed scanner for scanning textures or the occasional hand-drawn element. I’ve also planned to learn how to use Illustrator but unfortunately I’m still lacking enough time to apply myself to it because of my studies.



What advice would you give to anyone just starting out doing photomanips?

I would start from the simplest thing: since the basis of photomanipulation is photography itself you should make practice with your camera, see how the light works, study some composition rules and perspective. If you can, go to a photographer and ask him for some advices: the best places to do this are those little photo stores run by photographers (and not by simple clerks responsible for film developing and printing). Don’t be afraid to talk to the guy, they usually like to have a conversation about their craft if you ask politely. The notions you’ll learn may be useless at first but they will be useful sooner or later.

In addition, in order to have a good photomanipulation you must do some pre-planning and pre-visualization because the more you think before, the best you’ll have at the end. When you’ll be taking the photos you’re gonna use, make sure the light source is the same for all the subjects or at least try to have a similar light source among all the subjects in your photos so that the final result will appear homogeneous and correct. Also, think of how and where you intend to position your objects in the image and move them accordingly in front of your camera because angles and perspective are important, too. Now, this is a quite “scholastic” approach, you could also be creative and make something completely wicked, everything depends on the grade of realism you want to achieve but if you want to do something believable (albeit in its surreality) this is the way to go.

Regarding Photoshop, tutorials are a good way to start learning the methods but you’ll never be able to say that you learned something until you’ll start to experiment by yourself. Go ahead by a process of trial and errors until you understand to which actions correspond which results.

In the end, all you need is patience.



Many thanks for your time.