MIKE KANE

FOREST QUEEN

by MIKE KANE Australia

https://www.mikekanephotography.com.au/

DOWN UNDER art ists

Australia and New Zealand

LYNNE ANZELC INTERVIEW

By Trish Hoskin

Today I am introducing you all to Lynne Anzelc. Lynne is a successful designer and has her own website and digital store at Oscraps.com.

Lynne hails from northern California and creates beautiful imagery kits, that when combined both by her wonderful design team, and anyone who buys her products would make you think you are seeing one of the old world masterpieces hand painted.

Lynne’s work has intrigued me for some time, and I have purchased several of her kits which have especially helped when creating some of my travel albums.

I thought we would like to hear from Lynne to explain a little about herself and her life as a Digital Designer.

Lynne perhaps you can tell us a little more about your life – where you grew up and what led you to Digital Art?

Our family moved quite a bit in my early years, and we settled in California, so most of my life has been spent here. I accidentally fell into digital art. I was creating a family album after doing some Genealogy research, and my niece told me that it would be much easier if I did this digitally. Well, off to learn Photoshop I went, where I met the people who changed my life forever. From that class I joined Cilenia Curtis’ team, she taught me the ins and outs, and a few of the girls I met in that class are still on my creative team today. One of those pivotal moments in life.

How does a “set of products” come about – where do you get your inspiration from to create your ideas?

Oh my, inspiration comes from everything! But primarily nature. I love visiting our National Parks where I photograph everything from the trees to the bugs. I scour art galleries, both online and in person, which is why many of my kits have that old world feel. The ‘seed’ of a kit will typically come from one object, say a flower, and suddenly my mind explodes with a “storyline”.

Your products often become a bundle of integrated items such as elements, word art back grounds and the add on’s to the main kit – how long does it take you to design a whole range?

It will typically take me three to four weeks for a full kit. I have a tendency to over-create, meaning put too much in a kit, which often has to be pared down due to size. I am trying to create smaller kits, but I seem to be going in the opposite direction! The AddON is my effort to keep the kit manageable, but still give everything I want in a kit.

What is an average designing day for Lynne?

I am embarrassed to say I work 10-12 hours a day. Some of that is my compulsion to stay organized, but the majority of time is in extracting. Since I get my material from photos, public domain and scans, I also spend time trying to match color and lighting so it is cohesive.

Countryside Countryside Countryside

Has the Covid Pandemic affected your creative skills?

I know for some it has allowed them more time to work on it whilst others have lost their “Mojo”. I have experienced both of those. In the beginning the extra time was fabulous, no interruption of the creative process. But as time wore on, and I had friends and acquaintances affected by the virus, my mojo sort of took a left turn. Currently I am back on track!

Looking through your products in the Oscraps store (which I am afraid I visit way too often lol), I see that your themes seem to centre around old-time themes, travel, and yesteryear? Has that been intentional or has this sort of morphed into your angle on art?

Definitely a morphing! I was on the verge of quitting, frustrated that I could not create like other designers, I felt like a failure. A friend suggested I start using my photography from our travels, and it sort of just evolved.

Your extractions of images are truly detailed. Do you have any tips for our group on how to get that perfect image?

Patience. Be willing to take the time. To be honest, I still extract the old fashion way, I do not use automated tools. The key is to isolate your subject, zoom in, way in. For me, extracting is relaxing. I get a thrill of “freeing” the subject.

I love the fact that it is quite easy to create an almost recreation of one of the masters look a like paintings from your art and the design team produce amazing things, how does that make you feel when you peruse their work and what appears in the Oscraps Gallery?

As you may have guessed, I LOVE art, and I adore seeing what people produce with my kits. I look at myself not as an artist, but as a supplier. So it is thrilling to see the variations that these artists create! I was honoured to have a customer ask to set up a Group on Facebook for everyone to post images containing something from my kits, I visit it daily, their artwork is amazing and inspirational!

Paris In Spring Paris In Spring Paris In Spring

Simple Pleasures Simple Pleasures Simple Pleasures

Thank you, Lynne, for sharing your knowledge and a bit about yourself and beautiful art. As you can see on Lynne’s business card (next page) are the links to the Oscraps Store and Lynne’s website and a couple of images of her work. Lynne’s kits come with Serif Craft Artist download links as well. (Note; the links are not live but can be accessed via the web.)