Interview with *apofiss

8/04/12



<thefluffyshrimp> Welcome to ASKtheARTIST. My name is thefluffyshrimp: and today I have the great privilege to interview <apofiss>, artist behind the ever popular Boggart series and other great works.
<thefluffyshrimp> Hey all you folks there in AtAChat! Go ahead and start posting questions now.

<thefluffyshrimp> <tipzip> asks "Apofiss, where does the inspiration for your art usually come from?"

<Apofiss> it tends to come from daily inspirations where dA actually has a huge role in it. the artists I follow, animes and movies... it's like an outcome from it all. also, the music... it does help a lot to imagine certain atmosphere more intensively.

<thefluffyshrimp> <Bonelos> asks "What program do you use?"

<Apofiss> I use photoshop and paint tool sai.; photoshop mainly for colour correction an such.

<thefluffyshrimp> <alxarien> asks "How did your unique style of art evolve?"

<Apofiss> I think it began back in 2008 when I painted the very first bubble no really, the painting called ''mutual thing'' ...it was like a certain start I think. I remember few years ago I got really inspired by cypherx (she's on dA) works - vibrant and colourful, also well thought out scenes and overall compositions.

<thefluffyshrimp> <Kurothekitten> asks "What inspired you to start drawing?"

<Apofiss> what did inspire me? hmm... a lot of things, too many to count them all; I have the influence map ;] also...I think it's how people are, some just love to create things from the very first days and hopefully it involves into something more.

<thefluffyshrimp> <elliiruno> asks "Do you have some artists as inspiration?

<Apofiss> oh yes! many… Thierry Doizon, known as barontieri on dA, Michael Kutsche -  amazing conceptual works about Alice in Wonderland. Jana Schirmer, with highly technical skills and lot more on dA like sinix, artgerm, loish, snowskadi.... I could go on forever! Jack Hamm and Andrew Loomis are also worthwhile old-school artists to learn from.

<thefluffyshrimp> <tipzip> and <namine1245> asks "How did you come up with Boggart?"

<Apofiss> I felt like creating a character with which I would be able to tell stories easy and fast, something to grow up with, to evolve...
<thefluffyshrimp> <ironnarwhal> asks "When would you say you started taking drawing seriously?"

<Apofiss> probably back in 2008, that's about the time when I got my first and current tablet as the work with tablet is so much more productive in many ways!

<thefluffyshrimp> <bonelos> asks "What is your favorite thing to draw?"

<Apofiss> basically I enjoy to draw characters like animals and environments to put these characters in. shortly, you could say I kind of like to create 'worlds' and stories, probably untold stories yet. sorry for my english ;] also human characters is something I strive to do more in the coming future.

<thefluffyshrimp> <elliiruno> asks "Do you watch anime?"

<Apofiss> I watch anime quite a lot yes japanese artists are amazing to come up with all that stuff.. strong and inspirational material it is indeed. Hyouka is the current anime I'm into, other than that I have watched around 50 or more animes...

<thefluffyshrimp> <oddwerks> asks "Have you ever thought of making some kind of storybook with your characters?"

<Apofiss> I have... it's like an imagined world with no strict story yet, a bit of sciencetific fantasy driven atmosphere. not sure if that will see the light anytime soon yet who knows :]

<thefluffyshrimp> <ironnarwhal> asks "Which do you prefer: SAI or Photoshop? And why?"

<Apofiss> SAI is good for sketching and general painting where PS is really good for overall colour correction and adjusting levels and all for making all sorts of atmospheric changes. also, SAI is definitely good for colour blending a similar brush feature you find in Painter.

<thefluffyshrimp> <pluto-planet> asks "Do you use default brushes, or custom brushes you or other have made?"

<Apofiss> I tend to use default brushes only as the works I do doesn't really need custom brushes. as far as I can tell custom brushes are most useful for conceptual speedpaints to achieve wide variety on visual part.

<thefluffyshrimp> <hiriachi> asks "How did you know that you wanted to do digital art?"

<Apofiss> the first time I touched my tabled... it was like a wonder! and you get CTRL+Z it didn't get better than that… generally you can achieve more vibrant results too.

<thefluffyshrimp>  <namine1245> asks "Your works are always so pleasing to the eye, how do you choose your color scheme?"

<Apofiss> I try to use less base colours than I probably should and as I personally like less abstract colour combos so I tend to go with two main colours to being with. it's kind of easier for the eye to capture what is really happening within the image. deep down we like simple things I guess ;D and as for details I don't mind a lot of details if those are used well.

<thefluffyshrimp> <bonelos> asks "What advice would you give to aspiring digital artists?"

<Apofiss> don't break after first few or many fails! it's nearly impossible to accomplish amazing results with just few trays. Also, while tutorials are really helpful, try always to figure out things by yourself... how it works and so on - it helps in the process, in the long term that is.

<thefluffyshrimp> <Tipzip> asks "Why do you always draw bubbles?"

<Apofiss> because I'm lazy and not just that I find bubbles as a perfect complimentary object to make the whole thing look complete :}

<thefluffyshrimp> <twilight-zero> asks "A lot of your work features cats of some kind. Is there any special reason for this or do you just enjoy drawing cats?"

<Apofiss> probably both, well...cats (probably like most animals) are great subjects to show the movement, emotion... and there is something mystical about cats, something that appeals to me personally; certain secrets gives an extra interest for the image :}

<thefluffyshrimp> <bonelos> asks "What tablet do you use?"

<Apofiss> it's wacom intuos 3, medium sized one.

<thefluffyshrimp> <alxarien> asks "Is there any work of art that you wish you had created?"

<Apofiss> yes, the first one which comes in mind is the amazing Cheshire Cat painting by Michael Kutche! ...and probably few more which you can find in my favorites gallery :}

<thefluffyshrimp> <elliiruno> asks "How many languages do you know?"

<Apofiss> latvian, english and russian... I know a lot of random japanese words thou

<thefluffyshrimp> <namine1245> asks "What did it feel like for you when your artwork started to get so much recognition and attention?"

<Apofiss> it felt like I would have won a million *half-joke* BUT better because it's something I have created on my own, something that gets a genuine love and appreciation from you all :} if I'm not mistaken then the 'marchin on' got a lot of attention back in 2010 which was a huge suprise, I didn't realize it at first.

<thefluffyshrimp> <alxarien> asks "How did you come up with your nickname?"

<Apofiss> back on year 2000 I loved to play Age of Empires 2 LAN parties where I used nickname 'apofiss' ...and which comes from tv-show called Stargate SG1 where apophis was the bad guy D:

<thefluffyshrimp> <alxrien> asks "Do you have any set goals that you would want to achieve in the future?"

<Apofiss> I would love to create a visual story with my own original characters; it would be like a pretty big goal... boggart probably is like a little start, experiment. visual story can also transform into an animation, who knows.

<thefluffyshrimp> <Silent-Reaper> asks "Besides art and painting, what else do you do or do you like to do during your free time?"

<Apofiss> besides art I'm also into making simple tunes and application design, biking or any other physical activity is something I enjoy. I don't think I would be able to sit next to the screen all day along D: and I am (or was) into all kinds of technical stuff and of course the nature, that is something to go to and enjoy as much as possible.

<thefluffyshrimp> Alright everyone! The official interview has now ended.:devApofiss: will be making some closing words, and then will be joining you all in AtAChat for some free chatting for a short while.

<Apofiss> okay

<thefluffyshrimp> I want to thank everyone who joined us here for the second official < asktheartist> interview. On a side note: We will be hosting the next interview with <cataclysm-x> next week!

<Apofiss> thank you all for being here and asking all the questions, and hopefully my answers where good enough or somewhat useful :]

<thefluffyshrimp> On that note, DO NOT FORGET TO WATCH <asktheartist> TO BE NOTIFIED OF MORE INTERVIEWS! If you do not login to deviantART often, you can also watch us on Tumblr or Twitter: Username "AskArtists" or on Facebook -->http://www.facebook.com/pages/AskTheArtist/254281478019891?ref=hl

<thefluffyshrimp> Lastly, I want to personally thank you again, <Apofiss>, for gracing us with your presence tonight and for allowing us this opportunity to interview you.

<thefluffyshrimp> Thank you all again. See you next time!

<Apofiss> likewise, thank you for having me!