January 2011 // Issue One // Visual Arts Magazine // www.innovatedmagazine.com
SPOTLIGHTS // Alexandre Bordereau // Deborah Blount Loren Fetterman // Rodolfo Velado Banding Hendrix // Claudia Dunn Heather Coull // Jovan Milovic Nunzio Barbera // Kasidej Hempromaraj Oyun Studyosu
INNOVATION is how you reinvent the world around you.
Innovated Magazine | Editors Note
Introducing the “artistic showcase of talent”, also known as Innovated Magazine. We have to say that we are proud to have launched our first issue of Innovated Magazine. We know that many of you have never heard of us; how could you...we are new to the scene. We wanted to take a moment and introduce ourselves and maybe explain a few things about who we are and what our goal is. You see it’s very simple...we are here to enhance the art world. Everyone at Innovated Magazine is devoted to the arts, it’s safe to say we have an obsession for design, music, and anything and everything beautiful and inspiring. That is what made us come together and start this publication. Innovated Magazine is dedicated to finding Up & Coming talent from around the world and giving them a chance to display their work to all of our readers. This is an opportunity
Mallory Lindsley-Çiçek Creative Director & Production Manager mallory@innovatedmagazine.com Semih Çiçek Multi-Media Director semih@innovatedmagazine.com
for these amazing artists to tell their stories and experiences and inspire others with their words and amazing artwork. We like to think of ourselves as an “artistic showcase of talent”. We expect these artists to use our services to the fullest and hopefully gain the recognition and respect they and their work deserve. We have put a lot into our product and the artists involved have been more than amazing to work with, so we would like to take a minute and thank everyone who was involved in our first issue and wish them much success in their artistic futures. So, here we are, with our first issue ready to be read and admired by all. We hope that all of our readers enjoy all of the work we have put together for you all and we look forward to working with some of you in our future.
Please contact us at: info@innovatedmagazine.com For our latest issue, please visit: www.innovatedmagazine.com Innovated Magazine is published by 2 Innovated Design Studio
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10 RESOURCES:
Our top picks for helpful resources
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Over the years we have come to rely on certain websites for design resources; we wanted to share that knowledge with our readers.
Alexandre Bordereau: aRe-yOu-iN
Through the looking glass
Little by little, her own styles began to emerge and take shape. Art has been a journey, a life experience.
Making my mark
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I started studying Graphic Design at Teesside University in Middlesbrough, England, hoping to specialize in Illustration.
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...I don’t earn my living with what I do, that passion doesn’t take me much time, I shoot whenever I want, and there is no constraint.
Deborah Blount:
Loren Fetterman:
Rodolfo Velado:
An illustrated dream
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My interest eventually turned into a passion and a career pathway, thus I moved forward in obtaining a degree in graphic design.
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Banding Hendrix:
Paving the personal path
I wanted to sell my work. But I didn’t have a piece of work to sell, not one painting and I had not painted in years.
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64 Claudia Dunn:
A wave of addiction
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Lately I am shooting photos of waves. I could spend hours at the beach just shooting and shooting and shooting.
Heather Coull:
A “Coull” Collaboration
Industrial Modernism at its finest
I only got into design a few years ago when I was 15 at high school me and a friend discovered FlashMX on the school computers.
A “Nunzadellic” state of mind
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You know when you stare at something in the dark and the shadows play tricks with you, and it just looks different?
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Painting is a way to release my tensions, sorrows, and aggressions. It’s a way to express my enlightenments, passions, and inspirations.
Jovan Milovic:
Nunzio Barbera:
Kasidej Hempromaraj:
The playground in my head
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Though I have never enrolled in any art class, my art skills are self-taught and derive from my life experiences.
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Oyun Stüdyosu: SANALIKA:
Turkey’s largest virtual world going global Sanalika is a virtual world where teenagers meet thousands of new friends and discover a whole world like no other.
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Tips of the Trade | Online Resources
Learning the tricks to survival Learn a few of the secrets we use in our own offices. Knowing where to go for stock photography, fonts and even tutorials is important to any artist. The next step is to learn how to use these resources to your advantage.
W
e as designers, know how important it is to have a list of reliable resources. You never know when you are going to need to find that “perfect� photo or font for your clients website or advertising campaign. So, that is why all of us here at Innovated Magazine have put together our favorite online resources to share with you all. You will find four different categories listed below to get you started; Stock Photography, Fonts, Color Palettes and Photoshop Tutorials. Our entire team here at Innovated Magazine have used these online resources from time to time, if not more. At Innovated Magazine, we are determined to keep learning and growing which is why we frequently review new tutorials and continue searching for untapped resources. We are happy to be able to share these little secrets with our readers and hope that it will help you along the way.
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Stock Photography Free Websites
Paid Websites
http://www.sxc.hu
http://www.shutterstock.com
http://www.photl.com/en
http://www.istockphoto.com
http://imagebase.davidniblack.com
http://www.pixmac.com
http://www.stockvault.net
http://www.dreamstime.com
http://www.photovaco.com
http://www.ingimage.com
Typography & Fonts
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Free Websites
Paid Websites
http://www.dafont.com
http://www.type-together.com
http://www.fawnt.com
http://www.dstype.com
http://www.urbanfonts.com
http://www.tipo.net.ar
http://www.fontspace.com
http://www.pizzadude.dk
http://www.creamundo.com/en
http://www.fontfabric.com
Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Tips of the Trade | Online Resources
Color Palettes ALL Free Websites http://kuler.adobe.com http://www.colourlovers.com http://www.colorschemedesigner.com http://www.colorexplorer.com http://www.colorotate.org
Photoshop Tutorials ALL Free Websites http://psd.tutsplus.com http://www.abduzeedo.com/tags/photoshop http://www.photoshopstar.com http://www.photoshoplady.com http://www.bestphotoshoptutorials.net
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aRe-y M
y name is Alexandre Bordereau, and I can be found on the web with the pseudonym aRe-y0u-iN as an “artist name”. I’m 22, French and I’m self taught, I have never taken any courses in photography or graphic design. But I have studied computer science at the University, just programming, not design. The web is large enough to be able to teach myself through many tutorials offered. I don’t think I am an artist, I don’t earn my living with what I do, that passion doesn’t take me much time, I shoot whenever I want, and there is no constraint. But if I had more time to dedicate myself exclusively to photography I would be delighted.
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“Usually I focus on the do a series on the same a sense of déjà vu.”
Alexandre Bordereau | Conceptual Photography
yOu-iN
originality of a photograph, that is why I rarely e subject. I try to ensure that people have not
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Alexandre Bordereau | Conceptual Photography
I started taking photos 4 years ago on a whim, starting with my cell phone, then buying my first SLR leaving me more freedom to do the editing after the picture has been taken. In photography I like do to everything, my photos may very well be landscapes, portraits, and things which are a bit more abstract like light painting and photo manipulation. My main motivation is to see if I can recreate in terms of an image what I could think or imagine. My inspiration comes mostly from what I listen to in music (rock style like linkin park,
incubus, but also a quieter style like Moby), the rhythm and melody help me to get ideas, to imagine scenes, then I redraw them on paper to keep the idea somewhere. I also look at a lot of photos on the web every day, it’s by analyzing photos from other artists that we can improve ourselves. Drawing my ideas doesn’t take me long, I do a simple sketch. Sometimes the idea is here at the beginning and I start my project directly on a computer. Some creations can take more or less than 8 hours depending on the difficulty of creating the idea and if it’s a
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“My inspiration comes mostly from what I listen to in music (rock style like linkin park, incubus, but also a quieter style like Moby), the rhythm and melody help me to get ideas, to imagine scenes, then I redraw them on paper to keep the idea somewhere.�
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Alexandre Bordereau | Conceptual Photography
simple photo edit or photo manipulation. So the time spent on creation can go from 1 hour to 10 hours for complex editing. Usually I focus on the originality of a photograph, that is why I rarely do a series on the same subject. I try to ensure that people have not a sense of déjà vu. In my project, “Oh my head” I highlighted the feelings that everyone can feel at one point in their life, while removing the head of the portrait. I try to show that it is possible to express a feeling without facial expressions. I use often sad feelings for my creations, but also humor. When I do a creation for this project my starting image which is in my head never ends as we see the screen, sometimes my idea is too complex to be carried out and I have not yet enough good techniques. I must still improve myself, I still have much to learn. In terms of my other pictures I like to play with colors, framing, and depth of field. My main tools for creations are Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Lightroom 3, I always use these 2 software packages. For my photographic equipment, I use a Canon EOS 450D with a 18-55mm and a 50mm f1.8. Nothing really exceptional. For the future, I’ll continue my “Oh my head” project, I’m full of ideas, there are a lot of feelings I haven’t explored yet. I’ll do my best to take more beautiful photographs. I hope one day I’ll do an exhibition.
CONTACT BLOCK ALEXANDRE BORDEREAU Conceptual Photography Work Displayed in Article: Defense’s Lightpainting | Graph It | It’s oh so quiet Memories | Nemo’s Friend | The Sadness In Me
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Contact Details: • http://are-y0u-in.deviantart.com/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/are-y0u-in/ • http://www.redbubble.com/people/are-y0u-in
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“Thro
theloo
“As she began to draw m had a real knack for
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Deborah Blount | Fine Art & Illustration
ough
ookingglass”
more; she found that she the strange, twisted and slightly surreal.”
G
rowing up an only child, her imagination was her best friend. Horses were her first love, and consequently, the first drawings were of horses. She started copying artists she really admired; Disney, Dr. Seuss and much later, the likes of HR Giger, Salvador Dali, and Frida Kahlo. As she began to draw more; she found that she had a real knack for the strange, twisted and slightly surreal. Little by little, her own styles began to emerge and take shape. Art has been a journey, a life experience. Think Alice in “Through the Looking Glass”. Prim and proper up-bringing wearing petticoats and lace and being such a quiet good little girl; all this would stifle most but for Deborah, this upbringing seemed to internalize some strange vivid imaginings which she began to
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bring out onto paper with sometimes startling results. Her art was (and still is) her journey through that looking glass and the drawings that took shape were her suppressed feelings projected outward, and in silence. Having no formal art education, she did take one series of classes given by a local artist, which helped to hone her craft. Up until then, black and white, with fine lines and lots of detail, were what she loved most, with her favorite medium being pen and ink. With the occasional charcoal to add shading and depth, she did not get “into” color. Taking these classes really expanded her artistic mind’s eye, realizing the brilliance and richness of adding colors. Then came the discovery of the graphic tablet and she is now hopelessly addicted to the digital air brush. However, pen and ink will always remain her first “true love” as a medium. People sometimes tell her to “go paint something pretty and light”. She will flatly refuse; telling them that there are already plenty of light and pretty pictures, and if she were to begin subscribing to that style, her art would no longer come from the heart. It’s not as though she is a dark person, moody and melancholy all the time, it’s just that she truly draws what she feels and what inspires and stirs her soul. Her “mission” is to make the viewer think and dig deep into their unconscious. To look inside themselves in that deep, dark area of thoughts that most want to shy away from. It’s kind of like the train wreck. We don’t want to look, but we can’t help ourselves. Some of Deborah’s art is like that. There are people who come to her showings and shudder and say “Ooh, how disgusting”, and yet they continue to stare at the drawings. As it is with most artists, she is truly passionate about her work. Her drawings
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Deborah Blount | Fine Art & Illustration
are an eclectic menagerie; they range from cute to strange, bizarre and twisted. Some of them are even nightmarish. Being able to pull from a diverse assortment of creativity keeps her styles varied. She refuses to be “labeled” as being just one type of artist. She breaks down all internal barriers and external censors. No rules, no limits; just allowing the creativity to flow. People have described her work as “compelling, yet repulsive”, “bizarre”, “beautiful”, and “eclectic eccentric authentic...cataclysmically cool”. Deborah says, “The easy part is drawing or painting. The difficult part is promoting/ marketing my work.” She continues to hone and craft her work through many different mediums and loves juxtaposing images that emerge from her mind mingling with common every-day reality. True to a darker side; however, many years ago, she destroyed her drawings. She burned them, because a “friend” who after looking at her portfolio, told her that “Lucifer was an artist too”.
And that her art was sending an “evil” message. Deborah was horrified! This was a period in her life where she was very easily swayed and unsure about herself as an artist and an individual, and sadly bought into this person’s comments. So, they were all destroyed by fire. She went into a real dark funk, and was not able to create anything for fear that someone might not like what she created. It was during this very dismal time in her life when her mother stepped forward and told her to just let down all those unwanted thoughts, and allow the drawings to pour out. Slowly, and surely, she began to realize that NO ONE could keep her from drawing what she wanted, except herself. This was when she truly let down all internal censors and shut out the external ones. Her mother silently stood by smiling. So, what about all those burned drawings? Ah, from the ashes, they rise. Enter the Phoenix. For some reason, she had scanned all of the drawings (prior to them being destroyed, of course) and
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Deborah Blount | Fine Art & Illustration
gave them to a friend for safe-keeping. The friend moved away and she hadn’t heard from him for quite some time. Then, about three years later, by some strange twist of fate, the friend showed up at a local coffee shop where she just happened to be sitting, enjoying her favorite Iced Mocha. He had the scanned drawings with him in a black folder. Serendipity? Although she listens to what a viewer says, whether it be good reviews or bad, she now realizes that she is touching them in some distinct way. She enjoys that. Since that burning event, she realized that each drawing is a precious baby and each is unique. A little bit of her self goes into each piece; thus giving each drawing its own “soul”. When asked “what type of art do you do?” She thinks for a moment and then smiling says, “Whatever I want.” No landscapes or seascapes found here though. In her opinion, the camera does a wonderful job of capturing those images. And indeed there are many artists who do a fine job of painting them as well. You just won’t find any in Deborah’s gallery or portfolio. Funny thing is, whenever she has a gallery showing and brings her husband along, they always ask him about the art. He smiles and points to Deborah and says, “She’s the artist”. They always seem so surprised. Why? Does a woman artist draw a “certain” way? I don’t know. What do you think?
CONTACT BLOCK DEBORAH BLOUNT Fine Art & Illustration Work Displayed in Article: 7 Deadly Sins | Alice’s Strange Dream | Bizarre | Freedom | Surrealistic Fish Dark | Trapped in Silencecolor | Wall Flower Contact Details: • http://artbydebrah.weebly.com/ • debrahblount@gmail.com
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Makingma my
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ark
Loren Fetterman | Tattoo Artist
Q&A
“It was never a choice, I was always drawing. I was definitely that kid in biology class with a notebook full of comic book characters.”
How old are you and where are you from? I’m an American born in Berlin, Germany, and I just turned 24. We moved to Virginia when I was 5 and then to England another 5 years later, in ‘96, I’m from a military family so we’ve moved around a bit. Still sound like a Virginia boy though. When did you first realize you are an artist ? It was never a choice, I was always drawing. I was definitely that kid in biology class with a notebook full of comic book characters. I originally wanted to be a comic book penciller, and slowly my interests expanded. I’m very thankful for finding my place in concept art and tattooing, both fields allow plenty of freedom for self expression, while requiring definite skills that you can’t fake. Did you have any formal art training and if so where? I started studying Graphic Design at Teesside University in Middlesbrough, England, hoping to specialize in Illustration. After a year of that it was clear that my teachers had a pretty exclusive idea of what illustration was, or what drawing was...I was told to forget everything I had learned and start over, and that realistic imaginative art was no longer a ‘commercially viable’ art form. They were only interested in squiggly pen drawings, so I drew with my left hand for a year and they loved it. I quit shortly after starting the second year and got a job as a concept artist for a factual TV drama about the Viking invasion in 1066, and taught myself how to 3D model so that I could transfer to the Computer Games Art course a year later and specialize in concept art. How did you get started as a tattoo artist? I walked into a local studio after I heard the boss
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was into fantasy art and might be interested in buying some of my designs. He liked my style, and offered me an apprenticeship there and then. I’d been working as a freelance artist from home the year before, painting cards for games like Warhammer and Lord of the Rings, and doing concept art for some video game companies, but I hated being my own agent and I always wanted to learn to tattoo. I apprenticed on weekends and freelanced during the week, and 5 months later I was tattooing full time. I picked it up pretty quick. What appeals to you about tattooing as an art form? I really enjoy putting my artwork on people while I get to know them, it’s much more personally rewarding than emailing digital paintings to some company in India and hoping they pay me sometime soon. I love the fact that every mark in the skin counts, unlike most other art forms that you can edit as you go, you really have to zone in every moment and make sure it’s perfect first time. My art has always required attention to detail and control so that appeals to me. As for the art itself, I’m fascinated by symbols, and trying to capture a memory or philosophy or a state of mind in an image, until it radiates that idea and people are drawn into it as an experience and not just a pretty picture. I was shocked early on at how few tattoo artists can actually draw. It’s very satisfying to create an image for someone to wear for life who says that you’ve expressed what they were trying to communicate better than they hoped was possible. How would you describe your style? I try to keep exploring new ways of handling light and color and line, but I generally like to make my designs as three dimensional as possible, and create depth and luminosity. I like high contrast but smooth shading, and so far I’ve been mainly focusing on mastering grey scale work. As far as drawing goes I guess I try and balance slick and stylized with believable and realistic. Who would you credit as your inspiration? Comic book artists, concept artists, street artists, painters and tattoo artists...I learned to draw from Todd McFarlane’s Spawn comics, Burne Hogarth anatomy books and Wizard magazine, Greg Capullo, Dale Keown, all really tight stylized pencillers, then classic fantasy artists like Frank Frazetta and Paul Bonner. As for concept art, Jamie Jones, Kekai Kotaki, Aleksi Briclot and Andrew Jones are all amazing digital painters with strong traditional skills. Street artists, Dave Kinsey, David Choe, Daim, I’d love to get some Aaron Horkey and Handiedan prints. Michael Hussar and Alex Grey
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Loren Fetterman | Tattoo Artist
time philosophy course in February, hoping to earn my masters degree in a few years time, but obviously the art has to come first. I like reading, meditating, watching movies, painting, dreaming up comic book ideas (that I will eventually publish!), helping out with the art at festivals and hanging out with my awesome girlfriend. Any goals for the future? Probably too many. To be internationally recognized for my tattoo skills, and push my style and what I can do with the art form; I’m very excited and grateful to be a part of the scene at this point in time. I’d like to get into painting comic book covers and publish my own eventually, paint some cards for Wizards of the Coast, and get my original art into some major galleries. After my MA I might go onto study for my PhD. And it would be nice to run my own studio eventually, but I’m in no rush to leave Tamoko. Do you sell designs, & how can people get in touch with you? If you can’t make it to Harrogate for me to tattoo you personally you can still commission me for designs, but do your research and make sure your tattooist is safe and capable! The commissioned design is exclusively yours, and won’t show up on anyone else, though the original art costs extra. I love being approached with wild ideas for me to draw, and if I get to tattoo them that’s even better.
CONTACT BLOCK LOREN FETTERMAN Tattoo Artist are like the night and day of my favorite modern painters, Rubens and Caravaggio for classical work. In tattooing, Viktor Portugal, Jesse Smith, and Mike Cole help me stay inspired and motivated. And Tool and Nine Inch Nails keep me in the creative mood. What are your other interests? I’ve been into martial arts since I was 14, Ju-jitsu, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, I like to try it all and see what works. It’s a real necessity for me to express the inner primate regularly in a health way. I’m starting a part
Work Displayed in Article: Three Lilies | Celtic Dragon | Dragon Microphone Tiger | Samurai Dragon | Me at the Studio
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Contact Details: Tamoko Tattoo and Piercing Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England 01423 561 700 • www.loren86.deviantart.com • lorenfetterman@gmail.com
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An
illustrated dream “My first real contact with illustration was during my childhood in which I remembered seeing a TV commercial selling a cartoon kit...�
I
was born in El Salvador (Central America). Since my childhood I have loved and enjoyed drawing cartoons from animated series. My first real contact with illustration was during my childhood in which I remembered seeing a TV commercial selling a cartoon kit that had some cards with faces and you had to redraw the faces again, I remembered that when I saw it I was so fascinated by it that impressed my life. However, after having seen this kit on TV my interest for drawing began to grow as I began to draw and to explore this field more. This childhood interest eventually turned into a passion and a career pathway and, thus moved forward in obtaining a degree in graphic design since in my country there is no specialized degree in animation or illustration. As I began my degree in this area I began to incorporate drawings in every project that I made so that in the middle of my career I decided to learn and study how to draw and start investigating and practicing more.
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Rodolfo Velado | Graphic Design & Illustration
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“
“
...we always had in mind to create an illustrators community in my country to have a space to exhibit all these hidden talented people.
Innovated Magazine // Issue One
I began to research and to learn from artists I found on the net and found a contest from Brandstudio Press the company of greatest and talented artist Alberto Ruiz, who creates and helps other artist make their own art books so when I found out that he was running a contest for his new book “Eye Candy From Strangers” I give it a shot and got a spot on the book, it was in the last page in a little square but I felt like I had won a million dollars and I was so happy that at that time I really visualized myself in that I could make a living from drawing. So from this moment on I began to participate in contests and everything that I could to promote my art and let people see my work, joining art communities (deviantart cgsociety) and began to start putting an online portfolio. I began to receive invitations for exhibitions and blogs to publish my art as well as the opportunity to work with some local and international clients. After graduating and obtaining a Degree in graphic design my vision was to become an
Rodolfo Velado | Graphic Design & Illustration
illustrator and make a living from it as did the friends I made during my studies and with them we always had in mind to create an illustrators community in my country to have a space to exhibit all these hidden talented people. So with a lot of team effort and patience in this 2010 we launched 27pm, a site that its focus was to promote and create a community of illustrators in El Salvador, we put together exhibitions and shared a little bit of our knowledge and monthly activities on our site to give to all the participants a window to promote their work. My way of work The concepts I always use In my drawings Is that of child and nature because I really like these subjects but what I like the most is to tell stories in my drawings but mixing it with fantasy and humor. I always start making a lot of sketches and do a research of references before starting to draw, then with my mechanical pencil I make a lot of sketches until I get what I want, then I scan the final sketch and start inking in Sketchbook Pro and coloring in photoshop. My plans Right now I’m working in an advertising agency as a graphic designer and illustrator in my future plans I want to create an illustration studio and my own online store for selling my art and design products.
“My advice for the people who wants to be an illustrator or love to draw Is that it doesn’t matter your age, your country or where you are. The internet is a really powerful tool so you can show your art and start promoting yourself as an artist. If you want to become an artist you have to love it first, practice every day and all you can because the best talent you have is perseverance.”
CONTACT BLOCK RODOLFO VELADO Graphic Design & Illustration Work Displayed in Article: Christmas Card 09 | Good Rockternoon | Sunny Day | Sweet Dreams | Apple of the Discord | Dragon Joust Contact Details: • www.fitografito.com • www.fitografito.blogspot.com • contact@fitografito.com
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“Have a realistic plan. A realistic plan will start with a few small goals that you know you can accomplish within a reasonable amount of time. I like to look at my greater goal, then I work myself backward on a piece of paper writing out the steps on how to get there.”
I
find most artists, whether you’re a painter, dancer, musician or any other creative medium also have a secondary medium that they explore in. It is challenging already to take a personal talent and make it work for you in a financial way. A lot of artists are talented in their field but lack the know how to get the ball rolling. So if you are an artist that enjoys a couple different ways to express your art, how do you choose which one to take to a professional level? A level in which you can make a living. These are the questions that I had to ask myself when I decided to leave the “work for someone else world” and just wanted to do art. There is no right way. The beauty of being a true artist is paving a personal path through trial and error. I will explain how I developed my painting skills to start to bring in income. Also how I decided out of the talents that I possess - guitar, martial arts, dance and painting how I chose what one to develop into a profession. I will also explain briefly my next mission and that is: how do I combine my mediums of artistic expression to form a supper “unit”. After graduating from the art institute of Phoenix, I got a job working at Air Photo USA. This was a map making company that had small Cessna airplanes that would take aerial photo images. I worked in the quality control department. My job was to scan whole maps in Photoshop and look for abnormalities. Such as specks, hairs, dust that the scanner picked up, bad color and wavy lines or over lapping images. Once I found them I would correct them in Photoshop. I did this for little over 2 years. Sitting in front of a computer all day was mind numbing, I almost went nuts! I was let go with a small severance package. I had some money saved and with the severance package that I received, I thought, “Now what?”. I was no longer doing any illustration and/or painting because I felt I was burnt out from the Art Institute of Phoenix. I was concentrating heavily on guitar and martial arts training. I had been playing guitar for several years by now and would practice at least two hours a day. I got pretty efficient in it. I wanted to produce and make music. But was I ready to?? NO, way. I knew this and to this day I am just now getting ready to really get some things recorded 6 years later. We are also our own worst critics. After leaving Air Photo USA, I had a bit of an emotional episode involving a relationship that went Splat! I figured it was time to pack my bags and move back to San Francisco my hometown and live with my older brother. I thought I needed to figure out what it was I want to do with my life before my small amount of saving was gone.
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Pa
Banding Hendrix | Fine Art & Painting
aving
the path personal
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I started meditating and asking myself, “What is it that I want out of Life?” I never focused on what I did not want in my Life. Every self reflective question/statement I asked myself was stated something like this: “I want to work for myself” “How do I work for myself?” “What do I have right now? “What talent that I have will and can be utilized to put money in my pocket and food in my mouth?” “What talent that I possess is going to make me happy doing it all the time?” I looked at the guitar player in me. I had been playing for a few years and although I had become fluent playing the instrument, I had no real experience writing songs and/or singing. Not to mention, I was shy and really had not developed confidence in my singing ability. So, the prospects of getting booked for any gigs soon didn’t look too promising.
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Banding Hendrix | Fine Art & Painting
Okay what’s Next? Then I looked at the dancer/martial artist talent in me. I have been doing martial arts almost all of my life on and off with different intentions and intensities. Although, I consider myself above a normal standard for martial arts ability, I knew if I wanted to open my own school I would have to find a new teacher. I would have to start with a new system and I would have to start competitions and fights to gain experience and establish a following. That takes time and money. I needed money Now! Plus, after evaluating the reasons why I train, doing cage matches and becoming a MMA fighter didn’t seem to appealing. I am not a fighter. I don’t train martial arts to win fights. I train so I know how to survive in Life and keep myself disciplined. I am into survival. I still train and I can see myself teaching one day. I would teach purely to give back to the community and not try to make a living from it. As for dancing, I had just picked up free style dance, house, modern and brake-dance. I had no formal training. It was basically the same story as my martial arts history. I asked myself, “What do I have left? Who Am I and what is my strongest talent?” I then asked myself, “What do I feel the most comfortable and confident doing? What have I been doing the longest? ART, Painting! Derr. I knew that I could start selling my art work if I started painting again. I had not picked up a brush in years. But, I knew it was inside of me and not that hard to find. When I look back at my earliest memories, painting and being creative always stands out as one of my fondest talents. I am what I am today and I am here today because that was the beginning process. Whatever your talent is, pick the one that you feel is the most powerful. Pick the one that is the most marketable. Also, pick the one that brings you the most freedom in mind and spirit because it is the most natural to you. Once you have found that, the next step is to make a game plan. Little steps, fight and win little battles because it is those that make up the entire picture. I will share with you my first game plan so you can get the idea. I wanted to sell my work. But I didn’t have a piece of work to sell, not one painting and I had not painted in years. I had to get the juices
going. I sat down and meditated... Bingo, this is what needed to be done. I went to the art store and bought a portfolio book with empty sleeves. I also bought pens and markers. I wasn’t ready for the brush yet. But I told myself that I am going to fill up this whole book with illustrations and then take the best ones and make paintings out of them. So I began. It was one of the most memorable times in my life. I drew all day filling this book up and getting myself inspired. I started to surround myself with like minded people. I also rented movies and read books on my favorite artist to find out their process. The universe I believe works in mysterious ways. Before I knew it an opportunity found me. I came back to Arizona from San Francisco for Thanksgiving and met a friend of mine from Arizona who runs a local chain of Italian restaurants. He gave art shows out of the restaurants every so often. He and a couple investors had a company called Dreamz Art. This company would give artists’ shows, represent them and make giclees prints of their work. He ask me to come up with a series. When the book was done come up with at least 6 new paintings from the book. Come back to Arizona and lets have your first art show. Great, everything was falling into place. I moved back to Arizona and had a successful art showing. I have been painting full time ever since, pop art, modern wall art, abstract art, surrealism. Once I got that initial push, I was able to support myself with my artwork. I find that opportunities constantly are coming my way. I appreciate all the opportunities that continue to come my way even though I realize we all have good days, good months but also have down days and bad months. The way I stay mentally positive is to do my best to stay productive! When I get stuck in life, I ask myself, “What can I do right now, in this moment that can help me go forward?” Be mindful of your time and how you spend it, because the smallest effort could start a chain of events that could link you to a huge success. Remember this, any productive action is a move in the right direction. No action is a move in no direction. Regardless how small, it is all part of the larger goal! I am constantly striving for the next level because I know if I keep this same formula success will always come.
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Banding Hendrix | Fine Art & Painting
Have a realistic plan. A realistic plan will start with a few small goals that you know you can accomplish within a reasonable amount of time. I like to look at my greater goal, then I work myself backward on a piece of paper writing out the steps on how to get there. If you try to conquer your large goal first without breaking it down into smaller units it probably won’t work. It will fall apart at the seams because it has no real foundation. So now that I am selling my artwork on a consistent basis how do I incorporate painting with my guitar playing? My goal is to play the guitar at gigs and display my art with it. I am using the same formula that I did with my artwork.. I am coming up with some songs, practicing them and doing my best to come up with a 45 min. set. Once I have my set finished, I need to put together a small business proposal that I can take and present to local venues and show them what I have. I think it would be a great idea, play my music and have a vending booth to sell my art. If you’re a multi talented artist and are having a hard time starting out and picking which one to pursue, I hope reading my process has helped a little. You might even have two talents that are equal. I have a few friends like
this. They dance professionally and play in a band, they DJ at clubs and show their artwork. Being a full time artist you have to survive and to do that you have to have a product/talent that you can sell to the public. I know now I can go to pretty much any major city in the world and if I have the right supplies to paint, I can feed myself, I can survive. I feel the next article I will write will be: Full time artists, more then surviving, it’s about thriving and becoming very successful.
BANDING HENDRIX Fine Art & Painting Work Displayed in Article: Dreaming Awake | Dreamscape | Audrey Is Dead Mona Is Dead | Buddha Green
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Contact Details: 480 217 1831 • b.hendrixart@gmail.com • http://bandinghendrix.blogspot.com/ • http://twitter.com/#!/BandingHendrix
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AWAV ofa
“I could spend hours at the beach just shooting and shooting and shooting not realizing that I have frostbite, am starving and am late to be somewhere. I guess you could say photography is my drug of choice.�
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Claudia Dunn | Photography
VE
addiction L
ately I am shooting photos of waves. I could spend hours at the beach just shooting and shooting and shooting not realizing that I have frostbite, am starving and am late to be somewhere. I guess you could say photography is my drug of choice. The waves are spectacular, some days tiny and calm, other days angry and raging as the wind blows their tops in all directions. Today the waves seem black and white . . . winter is coming and there is no reflection of a blue sky. Just grey and dismal. I dream of a tropical ocean. The waves are huge and the color almost unreal, turquoise blues and greens, the sun sparkling on the tips of the waves before they come down in a crash into the warm, wet sand, as I feel the sand between my toes. I take my camera away from my eye and realize it’s just a dream. I am cold and standing at the gray, winter beach. Longing for the sun, the spring and the summer.
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This photo was taken on a spring day. I was early to work and stopped off at the ocean in East Hampton. I rolled up my pants, took off my shoes and headed down to the surf. The sun was bright and warm. I sat down in the sand and started shooting. On that tiny screen I saw I might have gotten a couple of good shots. When I blow this photo up I realize the detail, the colors, the layers of waves and I am happy . . . and late for work.
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Claudia Dunn | Photography
Big Sur is outstanding beauty. Wherever I go it’s just natural beauty - everywhere. I went on a photo trek to Big Sur. I met people from all over the United States. We had class everyday and ate dinner together every night. We have so much to talk about and so much in common. We spent our sunrises and sunsets out shooting. There is nothing like waking in the dark and getting to the sea just as the sun arises. The quietness, the moments of golden light which disappear oh too fast. The sea sparkling in the sunlight. The morning California fog burning away as the day moves on. The California coast is so different from ours. The craggy rocks in the water, the vibrant colors of the sea. I feel like I am home whenever I am at the beach. This photo was taken in spring in Point Lobos. The trails are amazing and beautiful.
Trees growing to the shape of the coastal winds that blow. Seals basking in the sun. Spectacular views of the coast.
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“
. . . this is the life! I am full of peace and contentment.
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Claudia Dunn | Photography
Montauk is my destination this morning. I arise in the dark and make the hour-long drive. As I drive the sky is getting lighter and lighter. I fear I will not make it in time. I drive a little faster, wondering what the cop will think about my reason for speeding. I make it to my destination on time . . . ditch plains. Set up my tripod and realize that I will not see the sun from here. Run back to the car, and drive over to the point to the northern side of the tip of Long Island and get there just in time to see the great orange ball of fire. I snap a couple of shots and head back to ditch. The sunlight is golden. I am happier over here and find a purple starfish and a fisherman in his yellow fishing gear. He is so far away and I wonder if he caught anything. I spend a lot of time here and finally head to town for a big breakfast . . . this is the life! I am full of peace and contentment. I am glad I got up so early and wonder why I don’t do this more often.
CONTACT BLOCK CLAUDIA DUNN Photography Work Displayed in Article: Please contact Claudia Dunn or visit her website for details regarding the pieces in this article. Contact Details: • www.cdunnphoto.com
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A “Coul
collabora Creatively Coull is the collaboration of creative thinking, multiple passions, and a strong support system turned into an array of services and products. “Art and music to me is not only a way of communicating, but it’s also a form of therapy,” says Heather Coull, Founder of Creatively Coull, “I use it as something to get me through this crazy world that we live in. Painting is a way to release my tensions, sorrows, and aggressions. It’s a way to express my enlightenments, passions, and inspirations. When something inspires me to paint a picture it’s because I can’t fully explain in words the intensity of my feelings that lie behind it. So, I throw my thoughts on a canvas. When I’m upset and I write a song, I wake up with the sounds of my own music stuck inside my head instead of my own aggressions. I feel blessed to be able to live a life of such strong passions with the ability to express my feelings in ways when sometimes words are just not enough. I have a very strong support system within my family and friends. I feel concrete success and happiness no matter what I do because of the people that I have surrounding me. I am lucky to have so many people in my life that never laugh in the face of all of
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Heather Coull | Artist & Entrepreneur
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my crazy ideas, but yet support them and believe in them. I feel I have been blessed with the gift of creativity and couldn’t imagine being blessed with a greater gift. I am thankful for everyone that pushed me into launching my own business and who are rooting for its success. I’m also thankful for being adopted into the Coullest last name, ever. The start of my business, Creatively Coull, was in the 2001 when I learned that I could paint a portrait. I had taken art courses throughout my life and understood that I had a creative mind, but never found the “niche” that I was looking for. It was when my best friend, John Aoun passed away suddenly in the Summer of 2001 when I discovered that I had a unique talent for portrait painting. I never wanted to forget the way that John smirked, or how he used to always have a cigarette behind his left ear next to his turquoise visor. I wanted to find a way to
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“
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Here to make the world a Couller and more colorful place to live…
Innovated Magazine // Issue One
use my own creative inspirations from his life to memorialize him. I sat down one day and painted his picture. When I finished the painting I felt like that was my “silver-lining.” He had left me with a newly discovered gift or at least the rebirth of a particular talent that had been idle for years. Bob Marley’s portrait was next. When I graduated the New England Institute of Art with a degree in graphic design in 2006, I left there thinking that I wasn’t sure that I wanted a job solely in graphic design. In retrospect, throughout my experiences as a graphic design student, I found myself only interested in the advertisement design and the photography classes. I enjoyed the freedom of utilizing my creativity in anyway that I wanted. I take pleasure in being able to mix things together that I love and believe that this is what makes the best masterpieces. For example, I love astronomy. I find the thought of the sky and
Heather Coull | Artist & Entrepreneur
“Creatively Coull is committed to making the world a “Couller” and more colorful place to live. With the goal of community at our core, our clients should expect nothing less than superior products and quality service with respect to art, music, and events. At Creatively Coull, donating a percentage of profits to charities is our way of paying it forward and giving back. Our goal is to become a nationally recognized brand name, capitalizing on sustained interest in art and music without compromising the integrity and sense of humor of our company’s culture.” all of its power, breath-taking. The thought of infinity above us, to me, is mind blowing. One Summer I bought a 4 ft. telescope and was able to photograph the moon on some special occasions where there wasn’t one cloud in the sky. Two of those nights included the night before the Red Sox won the World Series and the actual night of their win in 2004 (pictures featured to the left). They hadn’t won the World Series since 1916 and the night that they did on October 27, there was a Lunar Eclipse. I feel blessed to have been able to capture this moment in my own way. Throughout my entire personal life, I’ve had a passion for bringing people together. I always enjoyed meeting new people, attending parties, throwing parties, and coordinating events, thus leading me into another way of utilizing my creativity. I had dabbled with the idea of event coordinating for a living, but again didn’t want to be stuck in any one particular field alone. When I graduated college and got my first “real” job in the professional world I realized the importance of networking and meeting new people. “Word of mouth” marketing is the essence of any small business’ survival. The first event that I organized was a ski trip with about 20 of my friends, then I moved on to semi-formal boat cruises, and now I’m beginning the venture into social and professional networking events at bars and restaurants. Not only are painting and event coordinating my passions, but also I have always had a passion for music. I began to recently dabble in the music world when one of my best friends came back for a break while on his second tour in Iraq. Of course, I always loved listening to music, but I decided to actually write
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Heather Coull | Artist & Entrepreneur
a song for him as his “welcome back” gift. I had just bought a new computer at the time and started to mess around with a basic music program. The song was nothing more then a joke that we had going, but it launched me into the love of production, which resulted in an upgrade of my music software. Currently, I am working on an album with a collaboration of artists. You can expect the first mastered song to be launched on my website in February 2011. They will all also be available for download. Along with painting, events and music, I’ve also always enjoyed creative writing. Recently, I moved to Delray Beach, FL from Boston. I’m thoroughly enjoying the mixed pot of transplants from all over the world that Florida has to offer. I also quickly discovered that Southern Florida is completely swarming with some of the most amazing musicians, artists, and hot spots that you could possibly ever imagine. I found it a shame that the world isn’t exposed to some of these hidden gems. Given the opportunity to meet some extremely talented people and to experience some of coolest places makes me eager to do my part in exposing these people and places the best I can. Therefore, I decided to start a blog about the special things that I stumble upon throughout my journey in life and I hope that my readers find them as extraordinary as I do. Although I’ve had a broad scale of hobbies and passions throughout my life there is one theme that has always stayed consistent – acts of kindness. Due to my
Mother and Father I have learned the importance of being compassionate toward others. I have made “charity” a continuous theme throughout Creatively Coull. Every product on the website is sorted by a colorcoding system. For example, if a Bob Marley poster is purchased, which is dominantly green, a percentage of that profit will go to the “Going Green” foundation. All color codes are made to match the causes’ ribbon colors as close as possible: pink is breast cancer, yellow is soldiers, red is heart disease, etc. If there is a profitable event or other service that we provide then we will contribute a percentage of those profits to an actual charitable act that will be preformed by the Creatively Coull team. We will keep up our clients and customers updated by monthly e-mails so, please subscribe to our newsletter by visiting our website.
CONTACT BLOCK Heather Coull Artist & Entrepreneur Work Displayed in Article: Marley&Me | Eclipse | Moon | CreamCheese | Bruschi Photos of Heather Coull by Jamie Doyle Photography Edits by Anika Young Contact Details: • http://www.becoull.com • CreativelyCoull22@gmail.com
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Ind
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Innovated Magazine // Issue One
Jovan Milovic | Digital Illustration
ndustrial
modernism at its finest “I only got into design a few years ago when I was 15 at high school me and a friend discovered FlashMX on the school computers. We spent weeks creating badly animated cartoons involving talking toasters and violence prone snowmen (we thought it was funny at the time).”
H
i, My name is Jovan Milovic and I’m a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Graphic Design course at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. Ah just a little about myself before I start getting into talking about my work, so I can establish some context to my visual approach. I was born in Serbia in 1989 and moved to New Zealand late 1995 and have been living there ever since. I only got into design a few years ago when I was 15 at high school me and a friend discovered FlashMX on the school computers. We spent weeks creating badly animated cartoons involving talking toasters and violence prone snowmen (we thought it was funny at the time). Another program we played around with was Photoshop, learning to add the lightsaber effect into photographs and being totally amazed at our terrible early creations. After this brief fascination with tutorial based effects, I started doing photo-manips of scenes chopped from various sci-fi movies like Blade Runner and The Fifth Element (along with copious amounts of outer-glow and motion blur). It wasn’t till High School when I came across an art book containing the works of early 20th Century Russian Avant-Garde art that I became serious about pursuing design as career. The works of Malevich, El Lissitzky and Wassily Kadinsky had a huge impact on what I thought art and design could be. The works of Lissitzky were particularly influential in his frequent utilization of three dimensional rectangles and squares cascading in a white void. Another huge influence
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on my work is the Sheffield based design firm The Designers Republic. I became familiar with their work through the album covers of the electronic band Autechre which incorporated some visual elements of Constructivism which I was hugely into at this time. The minimal yet strongly futuristic and sometimes heavily industrial style of the Designers Republic to this day has a strong influence on my work. Before starting a work I usually write up a little sentence for each one
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Jovan Milovic | Digital Illustration
to be a contextual guide during its creation. Each piece of work tries to communicate an niche element of something futuristic without being too obvious such as including flying cars and robots. Examples of this approach can be seen in works such as “io” which I created as an abstracted “future industrial garbage dump floodlight power socket”. While in the final product it is kind of hard to identify and discern this original intent behind the work, I feel that it helps me in creating an indirect aura/atmosphere of something highly technical, complex and industrial yet unidentifiable in what it is actually meant to be. The actual creation process of each work I feel assists in achieving this highly complex yet simple nature of each piece. Growing up as a kid I was hugely into anything involving sci-fi themes and my favourite childhood activity was creating futuristic vehicles and buildings out of Lego blocks. In creating a work I adapted my previous fascination with Lego blocks into a method for crafting my work. I usually draw each portion of a certain object individually and then combine the pieces together instead of just vectoring a piece in one go. This process allows me to move around individual pieces and rearrange the entire composition as I see fit without loosing any quality in the original drawings of having to sacrifice various elements. This creation process also allows me to re-use various objects over and over again in other works creating a visual repetition not only in a specific piece but also across a range of works. Recently I’ve been moving away from full on works like the ones shown in this article to focusing on developing my logo and
“Before starting a work I usually write up a little sentence for each one to be a contextual guide during its creation. Each piece of work tries to communicate an niche element of something futuristic without being too obvious such as including flying cars and robots.” typographic skills since these areas offer a learning challenge and I want to see how I can spread my established visual style to these new mediums of communication. Also alongside this movement away from futuristic themes I try and use my repetitious vector style in fun pieces (Plex) that don’t focus on my usual themes of industry and modernism. In the future I hope to move on to creating motion graphics based artworks that will try to add a light narrative to the usually indiscernable visual constructions of my works. I also want get into crafting visual identities for musical acts as I feel that music is much more enjoyable when it can be placed in a visual context to experience it through.
CONTACT BLOCK JOVAN MILOVIC Digital Illustration Work Displayed in Article: Adverts | io | Plex | mc202 Contact Details: • jovanmilovic1@gmail.com • http://jomino.deviantart.com/ • www.behance.net/jovanmilovic
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A
“Nunzade state of mi
“In an age of Photoshopped surrealism, Nunzio B traditional approach to his layering, using real scissors a arrange the oddest combinations of perversion and truth yo time.” Lawrence von Knorr October, 2010 (Press Relea
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Nunzio Barbera II | Mixed-Media Art
ellic” mind
Barbera takes a more and glue to delicately ou will see for a long ase) – Oct. 05, 2010
M
y name is Nunzio Barbera II. You can call me, NuNZ. I just started these collage mixed-media pieces a year and a half ago, when my little brother passed away. His spirit actually spoke to me and told me to start painting again. He appeared to me in the form of a bright, green orb, that came out of a painting I did in college that was sitting on the floor in my bedroom. It was my first mixed-media piece. The orb flew out of the painting, right where I was imagining a skull in the shadows. You know when you stare at something in the dark and the shadows play tricks with you, and it just looks different? Well, does to me anyway. Hard to explain it, but this orb spoke telepathically to me in Peppy’s voice and said, “I don’t know what you’re waiting for. You only need like 50 bucks... Get up off your ass and start painting!” So I did.
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Nunzio Barbera II | Mixed-Media Art
"What the hell is he saying?" will be the first thought in your mind, followed by a careful study of the images within the other images. Joe Pesci once said in the move JFK, "It is a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma." This perfectly describes Nunzio's work. It is "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" meets "Creep Show" and "Mad" magazine. Nunzio combines irreligious, brash, funny, creepy hand-drawn elements and clippings from magazines of all eras, layering them by hand (not Photoshop, people!) onto a variety of materials. The result is pop art entertainment at its finest." Lawrence von Knorr October, 2010 (Press Release) – Oct. 05, 2010 I needed to create art again. It had been a good ten years without. No real reason why either, guess life just got in the way, so to speak. After such a long absence from my craft, I was having trouble drawing what I wanted to. I was getting so frustrated, I would throw almost anything I drew away. So out of frustration these mixedmedia pieces were born. I just started throwing what was left together. I’ve always had a great eye for composition and color so that’s the base I started with. I threw down some paint Pollock style and let the paint tell me where to put the magazine clippings. I knew I was onto something but there was still something missing. I didn’t feel that it was mine yet. With my drawing skills being a little rusty, I couldn’t just draw over it, which is what I wanted to do. I couldn’t risk screwing it up because it was already looking better than I thought it would, so that’s when I decided to take a couple drawings I had kept, cut them out and pasted them on top. I used sharpies and paint markers to brighten or enhance the color of the clippings I had down. As I blended and shaded, I turned the borrowed images into my own, bringing out different highlights, or background images. Turning it into what I saw instead of what was already presented. It wasn’t an easy process to figure out, and didn’t go as smooth as I had thought it would at first. The painting itself is in layers, so my process had to be in layers also, and I had to time them right. I had to figure out when to use paint markers or sharpies and when to use graphite or pen. I had to figure it out by trial and error, too. Some of my worst mistakes, I’ve somehow turned into my favorite pieces.
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"Have you ever eaten a really rich dessert on top of a couple drinks and then gone to bed only to toss and turn and imagine yourself running endlessly and helplessly from some terrible menacing shadowy entity that never quite catches you but is always right behind you? Such is the collage work of Keyser, West Virginia's Nunzio Barbera --- depicting the over-analyzed depths of a Freudian nightmare. Each work is a cohesive melange of horror, science fiction and popular culture merged into a representation of more messages than you can find on a teenager's iPhone.� Lawrence von Knorr October, 2010 (Press Release) – Oct. 05, 2010
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Nunzio Barbera II | Mixed-Media Art
I like that my mixed media pieces are hard to classify. And love the different tags that people give to them, lowbrow, pop-surrealism, dark or horror art, fantasy, visionary, contemporary, fine art (lol) and my personal favorite Anarchist art. If I have happened to start a whole new movement though, I’d like it to be called “Nunzadellic” (smile) Just don’t call it digital. That’s always one of the first questions I get and the answer is no. When people see my work in person, they can see that it’s all done by hand. Usually the second question I get is “What does it mean?” The answer to this question is never as cut and dry. This is where my twisted sense of humor comes in to play, I guess. Most of the images that stick out in people’s minds, are the images I pieced together because I thought they were funny. People get some of the most profound meanings out of something I just thought was hilarious. Other times I just hide something in there to get a reaction. Get people thinking and talking. “He put the pope in this one surrounded by naked women, he must be saying something about the Catholic church, or pornography, or sadism.” No. Really, I’m not saying anything, but you are, and that was the whole point. My work takes on it’s own meaning, I never give it one, but it always ends up with more than I could ever think of.
CONTACT BLOCK NUNZIO BARBERA Mixed-Media Art Work Displayed in Article: Beyond the Mind’s Eye | LOST | Peace Sells? | WWJD? | Aaarrghh!!! | Call Him, Maury! | American Waste Contact Details: Facebook Page: TWISTED VISIONS - The Art of Nunzio Barbera II
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TWISTED-VISIONS-The-art-ofNunzio-Barbera-II/111945672165367?ref=mf
• www.nunzio-barbera.artistwebsites.com • www.zazzle.com/nunziobarbera
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The
playgro
“At once I picked up some paper and drew without knowing anything about art… I just drew. I filled every blank sheet of paper with imaginary things from the playground in my head, the same place, same feeling, same bliss from my childhood.”
M
y name is Kasidej Hempromaraj, a Children Book Illustrator, Character Designer and Conceptual Artist. I love to draw funny kids, wicked animals, red nosed grumpy old men and any type of hilarious characters that bring a smile to the viewers face… at any age. Though I have never enrolled in any art class, my art skills are self-taught and derive from my life experiences. I was born in a commercial district in Bangkok, Thailand, where markets, factories and car parks are everywhere, but there is nowhere for kids to play outside. Like any kid there, I’m addicted to Japanese manga, anime, Disney features and video games. One day my family and I were together watching Stephen Spielberg’s The Land Before Time; everyone enjoyed it while I was sitting alone, stunned with a teary face. I was really fascinated by the movie; the journey of the dinosaur kids stuck in the my head for so long. I found myself easily and deeply enchanted by anything beautiful. My childhood
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in my
Kasidej Hempromaraj | Illustration
ound
y head
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was full of many crazy imaginary adventures (usually the mixed versions of many cartoons and comics) and some tender memories like friendships, unconditional loves from my Mom and Grandma, seaside spectacle during summer vacation and so on. Those things merged together and became a wonderful playground in my head, where I escape to when I take a nap, opening an untapped resource of creativity and ideas. After I grew up, still being a daydreamer, I tried to find something I would love to do for a living. Even though inside my heart I would like to be the creator of a featured animation, I was too afraid and had many excuses why I should not do that; like I’m not a natural born artist or only westerns could be in Disney or Dreamworks. However one day I came across an art magazine spotlighting an Indian digital artist working in the animation industry. Reading his passionate story of climbing from a background with zero experience till reaching the professional career by following his heart encouraged me so much. Even though very few people could do that, but I believe if someone can do it, so can I. At once I picked up some paper and drew without knowing anything about art‌ I just drew. I filled every blank sheet of paper with imaginary things from the playground in my head, the same place, same feeling, same bliss from my childhood. It was incredible fun. I definitely knew this is what I going to do for the rest of my life. Whatever it was good or bad luck for me, I can’t enter an art university due to my family financial problem. I went abroad to Japan doing non-related art jobs to survive and did my own art at night. I just drew all the time and kept looking for knowledge and the information about the industry. I found that the Internet was a very useful resource for self-studying anything you want to know nowadays. Most of them are free such as professional artworks for studying, painting demo on YouTube, tutorials in art forum communities, etc. Animation podcast, tips, inspirations and information from a bunch of professional artist Blogspots, a piles of art books and magazines. When the student ready the teacher come. Being a self-taught artist has its benefits, such as being a self motivator or a life time student who keeps learning from everything, everywhere all the time. I keep finding the way and many things come to me as a dot to dot connection. I learned art from many famous artists through the back door. Anytime I feel frustrated with my art, I look around for some good pieces from
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Kasidej Hempromaraj | Illustration
“My childhood was full of many crazy imaginary adventures (usually the mixed versions of many cartoons and comics) and some tender memories like friendships, unconditional loves from my Mom and Grandma, seaside spectacle during summer vacation and so on. Those things merged together and became a wonderful playground in my head, where I escape to when I take a nap, opening an untapped resource of creativity and ideas.�
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other artists and analyze them. I’m moving forward with my plan to enter the international industry. The life experience when I was working in Japan also taught me invaluable lessons for living and having common sense. Years passed and by then the miracles come. My art skills keep improving, I have created a reputation with clients and I have done many commissions and projects. At one point I came back to Thailand starting my full time artist career. When I draw I do it in the act of searching for the best visual of the subject form within my head and then bring it to paper as same as possible. For example, In one of my pieces you can see here which have a giant white red crowned crane in the green lake, I closed my eyes and drifting myself to the imaginary lake. From the bushes I took a sneak peak of the farewell event of a young Chinese refugee emperor saying goodbye to his Mom and Sensei before taking a flight with a giant crane for a journey to fulfill his destiny. Because of the thick mist and far
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Kasidej Hempromaraj | Illustration
distance from me to the subjects, I can’t see them clearly. So I had to do many rough sketches to find the true shapes and designs. I tried to figure out which style was the best to describe the scenes. Though I like to draw funny and warmhearted art I seriously use both my creativity and logical sides of the brain to deal with story telling and designs. When the final product comes is when I think that the picture looks quite similar to what I had seen in my mind. It’s not an easy task especially when it is the client, which I have to share my imaginary
world. However, it’s a funny game for me to which I have become addicted. I am currently enjoying my life as a full time artist in Bangkok. Everyday after work, I’ll spend my free time learning art and working on my personal projects. They include, but not limited to, daily paintings, feature illustrations, and a children book that is soon to be published. I know that my art journey has just begun, so I continue to grow as an artist and looking for the next project and opportunities for career in animation, game or illustration related fields. If you are interested in my art and need some help in any artwork related task, please feel free to contact me.
CONTACT BLOCK KASIDEJ HEMPROMARAJ Illustrator Work Displayed in Article: Japanese hot spring | Dragon den | Captain Konstantin Go, fulfill you destiny | Yum Yum Parade | Tiger Buggy
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Contact Details: • galgard@gmail.com • http://galgard.deviantart.com • http://galgard.exteen.com • www.kasidej.daportfolio.com
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SANALIKA
TURKEY’S LARGEST VIRTUAL WORLD “We are opening up the global version with some of our favorite features, hoping to impress our international avatars and make them have great fun from day one.”
I
stanbul, Turkey (November 30, 2010) Sanalika, Turkey’s largest virtual world opened up in 2008, announced that they are now opening up their global version and ready to repeat, if not exceed, Sanalika’s amazing success in Turkey globally. Sanalika is a living fun and social online platform that is open for 24/7 and accessible over the Internet literally from everywhere on earth without downloading any kind of software. There are streets, parks, concert venues, cafes, restaurants, movie theaters, exhibition centers, shops and department stores, hair salons and transportation options such as subway and ferries in Sanalika virtual world, that is the leading virtual community for Turkish kids and teenagers. Sanalikans, people of Sanalika, have their own places where they can decorate to their own tastes. They throw parties and entertain guests at their virtual apartments or even at their own cafes
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Oyun St端dyosu: SANALIKA | Online Games & Virtual Worlds
A
GOING GLOBAL
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if they own any. They can go to concerts, movies and exhibitions either with their existing friends from school, work or neighborhood or with new ones they make in Sanalika. Sanalika’s avatars created in two years have passed over 9 million this month and expected to reach 10 million by the end of this year. “Sanalika is a virtual world where teenagers meet thousands of new friends, play fun-packed multi-player games with friends and discover a whole world like no other. Our fascinating growth made Sanalika a very important and unique platform for the brands to reach and communicate with the consumers. With more than 9 million avatars created since 2008, Sanalika has all the advantages of offering a virtual world reflecting the rich Turkish culture, making Turkish Sanalikans feel at home, making Sanalika real. This is a great success factor for a virtual world as the resemblance with the real
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life simply enhances the in-world experience. Our users share cultural activities, events and fun games with the others, build teams and clubs, run their own cafes and invite people over, which makes the whole experience incredibly social and interactive. This huge trend of wanting to be social on the Internet made Sanalika even more popular as our users race to invite their off-Sanalika friends, classmates, even family members to Sanalika as soon as they register and create their avatars.” said Semin Ozmorali, the marketing manager at Oyun Studyosu, the developer company of Sanalika. “Encouraged by this amazing success, we also opened Sanalika Spain this year and we are now going global full speed and getting ready to open up our global English version in the next few months.” Sanalika Global will have many exciting features just as the original Sanalika. The look and feel of this virtual world is very global as the name
Oyun Stüdyosu: SANALIKA | Online Games & Virtual Worlds
emphasizes and its language is English. All the cultural elements, the architecture, the ambiance, all virtual goods and services enhancing the user experience are designed to give it an international identity. “We are opening up the global version with some of our favorite features, hoping to impress our international avatars and make them have great fun from day one.” added Semin Ozmorali. “Sanalikans will be able to purchase one or two-floor condos from The Sanalika Real Estate Office and buy furniture and cool products to decorate their places to your taste. We’ll also have an exciting and challenging photo competition where proud Sanalikans can take a picture of their unique condos and send it to us. Special hairstyles and spectacular costumes will be available to create your very own style in which you can enjoy chatting with friends while sipping your cappuccino or ice tea in our hip cafes. Among so many colorful activities, surprises and gifts, balloons, gums, fireworks, bubbles are just a few to name. No need to emphasize that fun and possibilities are endless in a virtual world like ours, so for our global Sanalika version as we will keep Sanalika community informed and updated via our social media accounts as usual about the upcoming events and features.” Sanalika came fifth on Google Zeitgeist 2009 for fastest rising search terms across the globe. About Oyun Stüdyosu: Oyun Stüdyosu is a game development and social entertainment company founded in 2008 in the beautiful city of Istanbul, Turkey. With a team of more than 40, Oyun Stüdyosu develops online fun and social platforms including Sanalika.com, the largest virtual community in Turkey, Sanalika Spain and Sanalika Global.
“Our goal is to provide innovative and exciting features with elaborate visuals in our products. The games we publish are the games we all love to play.” added Mrs. Ozmorali.
CONTACT BLOCK OYUN STÜDYOSU: SANALIKA Online Games & Virtual Worlds Contact Details: Oyun Stüdyosu Interaktif Teknolojiler Reklam Hizmetleri San. ve Dıs. Ltd. Sti. Istanbul, Turkey +90 (216) 373 8670 • info@OyunStudyosu.com
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