Ian Schmude

Questions about you. What is your professional name?

My name is Ian Schmude.

Where were you born and does that place still influence you? Where do you live now and how does that place influence you?

I was born in Illinois, USA, but being a military family meant that I moved all over. I currently live in North Carolina and have lived here the longest, but I wouldn’t say anything about it has influenced me.

Do you have family, friends, or fellow artists who support you in your work, life and art making and how do they make a difference in your life?

The experiences with my friends are what provide a lot of ideas for my artwork. Many of them are artists themselves.

When and how did you start making art?

Art has always been fun since childhood, but it did not become something I considered as more than a hobby until I began taking art lessons at a private studio. There I realized I had a knack for it.

Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do?

Not really. As I learned more about art it slowly became a larger part of my identity and I began thinking about careers where art and creativity were necessities. I only realized

creating just for myself was important a couple months ago.

Why do you make art now?

Making art feels fulfilling. It is practice for my professional life and it is also just fun.

How has your work changed or developed over time?

It has become looser and more expressive in its aesthetic and more introspective in subject.

What are you trying to communicate with your art?

At the moment, self-expression. I struggle with words in the best of times. Art can communicate emotions or ideas where language falls short.

Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making?

Procrastinating and listening to loud music.

What element(s) of art making do you enjoy the most and why?

Getting paint on the canvas – building up an impasto is lots of fun. I like variety as well as interesting shapes and colors, so the beginning stages of a painting where things are somewhat formless are quick, easy, and fun.

What is your most important artist tool(s) and why?

My understanding of the fundamentals of art and how to use a variety of tools are most important. I am in the a bad artist blames their tools camp – you should be able to create something technically sound with a broken crayon (almost) just as well as with expensive tools. The fundamentals translate into every area of visual art, so you are well prepared to tackle a lot of challenges if you master the basic rules. Then you can have fun breaking all those rules!

How do you know when a work is finished?

When the changes I am making do not influence the image as a whole anymore; or when I am just sick of working on it.

What are the art making tools you use now?

I am trying to focus on my digital skills. So I use my Wacom Intuos Pro drawing pad.

What new creative medium would you love to pursue?

Knitting!

What’s the first artwork you ever sold?

I think one of my aunts commissioned a small oil painting from me.

Do you make a living from your art?

Nope. I rarely sell artwork. And I have only sold oil paintings so far, which I do not make all that often.

What strategies could you share with other artists on how to become successful professionally?

Make friends! Word of mouth is a great way to get job opportunities and find buyers. Of course, you should always have a portfolio on hand.

What are your goals for the future, for both work and life?

In the near future, I would like to be a character artist for a game development studio. In the far future, I would like to own my own game studio.

What interesting project are you working on at the moment?

I am working on music! Hopefully I will have something worthy to publish within the next year or so.

What or who inspires you?

Anyone, really. Watching artists create is simply fun. I love concept art for video games and watching painting process videos online because I get to see all the steps of creation – lots of amazing ideas are considered before the final product comes to life.

Do you have a favorite – or influential – living artist?

Kristoffer Zetterstrand. He is an oil painter that uses 3D software and video games to model references for his paintings. Also James Gurney who is a more traditional oil painter, but no less ingenious.

What work of art do you wish you owned and why?

Probably one of Albert Beirstadt’s paintings.

Where do you find ideas for your creative work?

Observing people, thinking about my past experiences, critiquing my own art, learning from other artists.

What does being creative mean to you?

That is kind of hard to answer. I am not sure. Maybe making art for the sake of art, to learn, have fun, or express yourself. Some measure of that is found in even the most commercial of art.

What is the best advice you ever had about how to be more creative?

Just work. Sitting around waiting for some brilliant idea to pop into your head wastes a lot of time. You could be practicing or learning new things in the meantime.

Contact information: Instagram @Hemloke

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