Hello, it's me... the strange and foul-mouthed one.

As I haven't really had much chance to take part in Resources Week, I thought I'd take the liberty of conducting a few brief but insightful interviews into the lives of some of the lesser known stock texture providers that lurk within the Stock Gallery.

With a gallery that's veritably busting at the seams with goodness, it's often all too easy to browse the popular images, use them and move on, without really giving that much thought to the person that's provided them.

Let's set the record straight, shall we?

_{I should point out that I've been mentioned a few times in the answers given and that no bribing was involved. This is not an exercise in self-promotion - quite the opposite. It's probably just because I was the one asking the questions... my fault entirely for not asking people not to include me.}


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Presenting - *aqueous-sun-textures

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came about joining dA.

Unrepentant old punk (in attitude anyway) and explorer in the place where digital cleanliness meets organic messiness. Joined DeviantArt to be inspired....

2. What do you think it is that drives you to produce and share your textures?

I create/photograph/scan textures for my own work. Once they've been created, they may as well make themselves useful elsewhere too

3. What equipment / techniques do you employ when creating your textures?

Nikon D50 DSLR, LiDE 20 scanner, paints.... If it's distressed, fading or rusted, photograph it or stick it in the scanner....

4. Are there any particular deviants that have inspired you to do what you do? How have they inspired you?

Not in terms of textures, no. Although, of course, =resurgere and `tExTuReMaTtIc are always to be looked up to. As an artist, with my *aqueous-sun head on, though, it would be a completely different answer

5. What do you think could be done, if anything, to improve the Resources gallery?

Establishment of rule based resource galleries for one. There could a 'free for non-commercial use as long as you link back' gallery and an 'I don't care what you do with this resource' gallery for instance, it would save having to keep typing out the usage rules on each description. Second wish would be button that filled in all the fields (description, gallery, mature content etc) automatically based on your own chosen pre-sets. It's be so much quicker to upload stuff. Third would be a tag on all resources so that people can easily track what they've used and acknowledge it. That should be enough to be going on with!

6. If you could only have 3 of your own textures in your gallery, which ones would they be?

Those that I, probably, use most often in my own work are:



7. If you could only have 3 other deviants textures in your favourites, which ones would they be?

I prefer subtler textures with a variety of possible uses. Three great examples are:



8. What are your three favourite pieces done utilising your stock by other deviants?

Too many people seem to be looking for one single texture that'll completely transform their image in one shot. Much more can be achieved with subtle blending and masking of multiple textures to enhance an image (personally, I often use 10 or more on an image).... Three great examples using my textures:









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Presenting - ~light-stock

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came about joining dA.

22 years old. Born on Christmas day. Student at history college. Historical architecture maniac. Loving photography. Reads a lot. To be honest I do not remember how I ended up joining dA but it was one of the best choices I made in the last few years. haha

2. What do you think it is that drives you to produce and share your textures?

I produce textures because they reveal a completely new world, because they stimulate your creativity and the way of seeing the world around you. It's like macro photography, you tend to photograph everything; suddenly everyday things around you become a subject to shoot. You get reactions like "Oh look, a piece of metal", "Oh look, a rotten piece of wood etc." I share them because others did too and I felt like they helped me. Now i also wanna help others. It's like that pay it forward thing even though I do not believe in it fully. However I am really really excited.

3. What equipment / techniques do you employ when creating your textures?

I use a Canon 400D/XTi with a 50mm 1.8, sometimes the 70-200mm L 4.0 and my new aquisition the mighty 100mm 2.8 macro. Techniques? One that worth mentioned is defocusing images resulting in glittered images. When it comes to post processing i usually use some classic adjustments(color, contrast) + gradient maps combined with blending modes.

I am a huuuuuuge fan of gradient maps, they can sometimes make a difference, turning a everyday texture into something spectacular, just like these clouds i shot on a overcast day... [link]

4. Are there any particular deviants that have inspired you to do what you do? How have they inspired you?

Well `tExTuReMaTtIc, I mean you, is one of them. I was impressed when I first saw his works and mainly was attracted by the colors of the textures. Color combinations in textures made me wanna do them. I also love that kind of textures that give you reactions like "how the f*ck did he made them?" If your reaction related to a work of art starts with a question then that's a really good thing.

5. What do you think could be done, if anything, to improve the Resources gallery?

I'm really satisfied with the resources gallery even though there is quite a large amount of unprofessional stocks. I always said that before submitting something ask for a few opinions and then ask yourself if you really really wanna submit that.

6. If you could only have 3 of your own textures in your gallery, which ones would they be?



7. If you could only have 3 other deviants textures in your favourites, which ones would they be?



8. What are your three favourite pieces done utilising your stock by other deviants?

I am not known around here so art pieces made with my stock are just a few. Anyway I love the most the next 3









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Presenting - *TSPStock

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came about joining dA.

Well I' am a 28 year old Polish fellow, currently living in UK. My dad is an artist and when I was a little nipper he was mainly painting abstract oil paintings, so textures were always there, around me. I don't paint myself, but obviously inspiration comes partly from his work. I came across DA few years back, and then came the idea of creating a stock account so others could us it in their works. Then I realised that this is not what I really wanted, and switched to textures and abstracts only.


2. What do you think it is that drives you to produce and share your textures?

At the moment inspiration comes from other DA artists and texture stockers. It's also interesting to see what other artists turn my textures into.

3. What equipment / techniques do you employ when creating your textures?

I use digital SLR at the moment, and post-processing software such as Lightroom, Aperture, Photomatix and Photoshop. I also employ self created brushes in PS to paint digital abstract textures...In future I would like to try some scans and seri print and maybe give oil painting a go.

4. Are there any particular deviants that have inspired you to do what you do? How have they inspired you?

There are many of them, but definitely your (`tExTuReMaTtIc) textures and abstract photographs gave me a lot of inspiration. I guess it is because of the way they are presented and color is just incredible. Also =bashcorpo's, ~lebstock's, ~AcidPromQueen's and ~dazzle-textures's work is truly great and inspiring.

5. What do you think could be done, if anything, to improve the Resources gallery?

I don't really have any ideas on how to improve it. I guess it would be nice to see a little bit more appreciation from some of the stock users and put more impact on fighting with people, who steal our resources, presenting them as their own art.

6. If you could only have 3 of your own textures in your gallery, which ones would they be?



7. If you could only have 3 other deviants textures in your favourites, which ones would they be?



8. What are your three favourite pieces done utilising your stock by other deviants?









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Presenting - *struckdumb

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came about joining dA.

I joined initially just browsing the beautiful imagery - I was impressed by the dark landscapes of artists like *incisler and =raun



Later I acquired Photoshop and got back into photography for myself - DA seemed to be the logical place to start displaying my results.

Soon I was hunting down strong textures from the site and making use of the best ones in my montages. This lead in time to the realisation that I could probably make a few good textures of my own - once that started I was hooked and found that I enjoyed making these almost as much as my photo-imagery. Most recently I have developed an interest in texture for texture's sake - enjoying them as works in themselves - some are truly absorbing or very beautiful. I'm beginning a collection: [link]

2. What do you think it is that drives you to produce and share your textures?

Initially the need to have a resource for my montage work. I wanted to have my own original materials since I was beginning to rely very heavily upon textures in my work.

It just seemed logical to make them available for others - otherwise creations that take some time to make would get limited use.

3. What equipment / techniques do you employ when creating your textures?

Photographs, scans, painted imagery, layers of these. I have a number of shots that I have taken with my camera - these I have altered in varying degrees. I tend to run an illustration effect on many and fade that in with the original.

Scans I enjoy - high resolution (or not much point) antique and aged effects especially. Some textures I have made from scratch - working with brushes, layering different designs.

I use overlay, multiply, colour burn and lighted blends a lot.
Once I had a bit of a collection I started overlaying one texture on another for further variations.

4. Are there any particular deviants that have inspired you to do what you do? How have they inspired you?

Beyond those mentioned initially I was blown away by the work of ~IrondoomDesign - I love his dark, graphic scenery:



5. What do you think could be done, if anything, to improve the Resources gallery?

Keep the textures high resolution - sometimes a come across what looks like a great image but the details are blurred. Textures generally look best if every grain and scratch is fine and sharp.

The site in general could make a few new options available:

PHOTOBOOKS - - it would be great if visitors could collect imagery and lay these out in photobook format. I think many people might only be inclinde to buy a small number of prints, but books of favourite images would likely be very popular.

SLIDESHOWS - - wouldn't it be a great thing if the site allowed collectors to view their favourites galley as a slide show. Fantastic screen savers and just good viewing.

6. If you could only have 3 of your own textures in your gallery, which ones would they be?



Not because they are my most attractive - but likely the most generally useful.

7. If you could only have 3 other deviants textures in your favourites, which ones would they be?



No - I wasn't put up to this - these really have been incredibly useful resources for me.

8. What are your three favourite pieces done utilising your stock by other deviants?

I rather like these:









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Presenting - ~da-mara

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came about joining dA.

I started digital scrapbooking, and I was floored when i saw the digital potential of Photoshop. OMG! rust with the click of a button!! I am a terrible painter and don't like to draw. I LOVE realism. Photoshop truly is for me! I had been watching da for years and now I could participate!!

2. What do you think it is that drives you to produce and share your textures?

I have an insatiable passion for beauty, an unending desire to create. it seems such a shame to let my things rot on my computer, I LOVE it when someone does something with my stuff.

3. What equipment / techniques do you employ when creating your textures?

I only have Photoshop Elements, and a scanner. when I exhaust the potential of Elements, maybe I'll upgrade.

4. Are there any particular deviants that have inspired you to do what you do? How have they inspired you?

I can't say that anyone here has inspired what I do because my skills are so limited i can't begin to approach what people do here. I do hope to be able to do what you guys do someday, but it'll be a while. Honestly, I think that `tExTuReMaTtIc is my favorite here because of his gorgeous realism.

5. What do you think could be done, if anything, to improve the Resources gallery?

Oh, the gallery here is already perfect!

6. If you could only have 3 of your own textures in your gallery, which ones would they be?



7. If you could only have 3 other deviants textures in your favourites, which ones would they be?



8. What are your three favourite pieces done utilising your stock by other deviants?






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A BIG thanks to all of you that took part and allowed us a brief look at the person behind the textures!