Interview with Danny van Ryswyk

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)My name is Danny van Ryswyk, 40 years of age. I am a Dutch surreal artist living and working in the historic heart of Amsterdam.

q) Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?

a)You don't 'become' an artist, it's not a profession like a computer programmer or construction worker. You are born with a talent just as you are born with a sexual orientation. It is something you are. But it needs an incredible amount of dedication to develop this talent. Been born with a talent does not mean that you can lay back and relax, it is not an easy life. It also means that I am very one-dimensional in my talents and interests. This is what I understand and do best. And I try to survive from within these boundaries. In the early 90ties I started working as a full time illustrator, specialized in Photorealism. I did an incredible amount of packaging illustrations of fruit, cookies, candies, you name it. The deadlines in the commercial field are always tight and never far away form been totally unrealistic. I worked so hard for so many years that I started to develop serious health problems like chronic stress and RSI. How bad they might seem, it was important that it happened to me as I needed to wake-up and understand that I was going the wrong way and was completely destroying myself and my artistic integrity. It was then I began to investigate how I could do the things I always wanted them to do, tell my own story instead of telling the story of a cooky manufacturer. 

q) Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.

a)My ideals do not manifest in my work. I try to have as little ideals and goals as possible. It is important to

stay away from such illusions. We humans have a habit of always looking at tomorrow and have these future dreams. It is important we live in reality and not in illusions. The fact is, we never know what might happen just a second away from now.

q) Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?

a)Sure, I listen to a wide variety of music styles. I highly prefer minimalistic dup techno like Basic Channel, and electronic ambient music like the works of Thom Brennan, it's hypnotic.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)Obscure surrealism. My work is best described as a fuse of absurdity, melancholy and Victorian portraiture.

q) Influences?

a)My UFO encounter I had when I was a kid. This has a very important influence in my life and work. This was the point I became interested in anything which is said to exist 'above and beyond' nature.

I have a large collection of books about paranormal and extraterrestrial subjects. I love 19th century photography, especially hoaxed ghost 'spirit' photography from that period. I just love weird things and odd antiques. Dreams.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)I have a mental image of an idea and I work from there. I never make a sketch, it takes away intuition. I start in ZBrush, which is three dimensional software. It is a complex program that allows the artist to 'sculpt' it's subjects in virtual reality. It works almost like real clay and gives an incredible freedom of expression. This is where my idea gets form and shape. After finishing my 3D-sculpture I import it in another three dimensional software program where I set-up light, camera and texturing. At this point everything comes together. Then I render the scene in high resolution and this is brought over in two dimensional software: Photoshop. In Photoshop I start to paint and manipulate my render for as long as needed to complete the right mood and obscure atmosphere I am aiming at. The whole process from start to finish takes many weeks to complete.

q) What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)Dedication, do something different. Stick to yourself and work from there.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)A holiday. I need a beach, a blue hawaii cocktail and some sunshine. I spend too much time in my studio.

q) What do you love most about where you live?

a)I live in the historic heart of Amsterdam. It is a very crowded place and lots of weird things happen here!

Amsterdam is beautiful. It is a big 17th century museum with a strange mix of tourists, yuppies, locals, laid-back people an lunatics. Amsterdam is never boring, you can go to a nightclub or wander in the small streets. Drink a beer on a bench and look over the channels, visit a museum and see the works of Rembrandt. 

I have traveled all over the world, but a place like Amsterdam is unique.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)Spend the day with my girlfriend, exploring the city, have some coffee, go to the movies and having a diner.

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)I am working hard on new works all the time.

q) Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)I don't keep track of where my work is published. All new work is published on my site.

There is an upcoming book of Dutch artists where my work will be published in, I recently got

published in an San Francisco based art magazine called Sex + Design, art blogs like you contact me, lots of good things are happening!

Interview with Jesse Corinella

q)Who are you? Where are you from and where do you live now?

a)I'm Jesse Corinella, born and raised on Long Island in Roslyn, New York.  I went to school at the University of Delaware and, after a bit of traveling, I ended up back here in New York.  Presently, I live in Carroll Gardens, in Brooklyn.

q)What is it that you do? What media do you use?

a)By day, I work as a retoucher at Wieden+Kennedy, but by night, I work as an illustrator.  Most of my work is done in pencils, inks and watercolors, though more and more, I'm working digitally.  I don't think I'll every completely work digitally, but it's a tremendous time-save to digitally colorize analog drawings.

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)Everybody brings something unique to the table, be it conceptually or through their craftsmanship; lately, I think it's the way that I render, more than my subject matter, that's gained attention.  I really enjoy rendering, so whenever I get involved in a project, I'll spend tons of time focused on the minutiae of a piece.  As long as I can maintain a sense of scale throughout the rendering process, I always feel that the pieces come out stronger in the end.  Patience goes a long way, but to me, drawing is meditative.  I could never spend so much time doing this if I didn't enjoy it so much.  

q)How long have you been showing your work for?  Did you have a “big break?” 

a)I've been showing work since I was a kid, but not in any serious sense.  I was always the kid in school doodling in class, so I was always getting involved in small projects here and there.  I still haven't had any great break, but to be fair, I think I need to be producing more work to get there.  I don't think it's a single moment as much as it is persistence.  There's a lot of competition, so it's really important to keep fresh and updated with your work.

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)Oh, man.  Nature is a huge inspiration; pine cones, crickets, lightening bugs, dogs.  Outer space is huge too - I'm a really big science buff.  Lighting is huge too: the golden hour is my absolute favorite time of the day - that moment when the sun blares orange and red on everything it touches.  That blood orange on a concrete wall against a brilliant blue sky is something I think about every time I color a piece.  It's pretty unbeatable.  I don't follow design journals all too much, nor illustrators or photographers, really.  I probably should, at least to know what's going on out there.  I used to be a pretty big video game fan, but I've distanced myself from that world a good deal.  It's so easy to get lost in absorbing other peoples' products, so much so that you don't produce anything yourself.

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)For the past year and a half, I've been working on an epic science fiction graphic novel, OHM.  The story takes place on a dying Earth in the near future, in a world run by corporatized nations.  One such nation, OHM, is the centerpiece of the story.  I've been having a blast conceptualizing space ships, futuristic fashion and all sorts of fantastic architectural settings.  It's been a real project of passion, so at the end of the day, I'm hoping to knock this out've the park.

Also, I've been doing a bit of collaborating with a Brooklyn-based band, Snowmine.  I grew up with some of these guys, so it's great to see that they've gained so much traction.  They're really talented, so I hope that they keep getting the press that they deserve..

q)Do you listen to music while you create your work?  If so, would you give some examples? 

I do; I listen to a lot of ambient music.  Explosions in the Sk and Loney Dear come to mind.  I listen to a lot of talk radio too; WNYC is my go-to NPR and PRI affiliate.  I'm a really big fan of Radiolab and This American Life, so whenever I get a chance, I try to catch up with those programs.  Recently, I've been kind've obsessed with Joe Frank; I accidentally came across his work while working really late one night.  He's a brilliant, tremendously talented storyteller.  He produces both fiction and non-fiction and he goes to tremendous lengths to produce these wild, fantastical, rambling, biting stories.  Sometimes, they're light and fun and eccentric - but often, they're profound and dark and heart breaking.  They're great fuel to work through a long night in.

q)Do you do work in any other media? Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?

a)I do a great deal of writing, though it usually shows up in my illustrative work.  I do a bit of photography, too; I was simultaneously trained as both an illustrator and a photographer, though the pencil dominates more of my time than the camera nowadays.

q)What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)Keep working.  Stay really busy producing work that you're happy with.  Find the time to make a large body of your work, but even more importantly, share it.  As long as you have a cohesive idea or style, you'll be able to find someone, somewhere to help host it.  Once you've produced, get your work out there as quickly as possible; just make sure that it doesn't disappear into a drawer somewhere before other people get to see it.

q)Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?

a)Nope; I've been spending most of my time working towards a publication.  Once that piece is up-and-running, it'd be great to display all've the original pieces that went into it: character designs, setting designs, models and all sorts of production artwork.

q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)www.jessecorinella.com

Interview with Johnnie JungleGuts

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)I'm Johnnie JungleGuts, I'm 24 years old, and I live in Highland

Park, Los Angeles.

q) Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really

get into it?

a) I first started taking art classes in high school because I wanted to

be a comic book writer. Then during my senior year of high school I

did a volunteer project with Dolphins in the Bahamas. The dolphins

were really queer and it was really inspirational for me. They seemed

so free, and I didn't feel so alone as a gay human learning that there

were many other queer animals. I felt like I owed the animals

something for these revelations and my artistic focus shifted to being

about animal welfare and wildlife conservation.

q) Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.

a) I'm a proud queer and I'm a conservationist, with my focus being

wildlife. I also know that even if someone doesn't look like you or

talk like you they could still be feeling and thinking the same sort

of things that you're feeling, even when we're talking about other

species. Most of my work features animals in some way but I try to

take this subject matter a step further and make people consider and

appreciate other kinds of living in new ways. Steve Irwin said that

people want to save the things that they love and I make my work under

that creedo. If I can help people love nature they're going to be more

likely to make choices that support our threatened ecosystems. If I

can get people to understand big gay me then they might understand the

gays a little better.

q) Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?

a)My favorite thing to listen to while I work is slowed and throwed

versions of R+B and Diva House tracks.  My favorite song is a chopped

and screwed version of Show Me Love by Robin S. My favorite band is My

Bloody Valentine. My favorite solo artist is Dolly Parton.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)I usually tell people that I make drawings of animals and videos with

animals and I have a radio show where I interview people about

conservation issues. When they ask me what kind of animals I work with

I'll tell them a few and go from there. I mostly like to let the work

speak for itself and I try not to brag too much about petting wolves.

q) Influences?

a)I hate to admit it because I don't like everything she does but I

think that M.I.A. was a huge influence on me because I was obsessed

with her in high school. We're both  multimedia artists who try to be

political and cool at the same time- it's a risky business but I

suppose it's a good model if you want to gain influence for a cause.

AA Bronson is an artist whose influenced me a lot. He's an artist and

a healer and it's often hard to tell when the art begins and the

healing ends. I'd like to simultaneously be an artist and healer as

well, and I see my painting and performance work as part of the same

practice that includes the hands on conservation and care taking work

I've done with animals.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)My painting process sort of revolves around me trying to paint

something, making little mistakes, and then leaving them in because it

actually makes the paintings weirder in these subtle ways. In my video

and performance work I usually try to take something that I'm already

doing in my life and make it weirder. I already sing in the bath tub

but why don't I do it in front of an audience? I'm already in South

America getting groomed by monkeys but what if I was singing while

they were doing it?

q) What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)To get out there in the art world you have to get out there in the art

world. Go to as many art events as possible. But don't forget to

actually make work.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I always look forward to my radio show on Kchung Radio that happens

every Wednesday, at 8:30 pst. You can listen to it online at

kchungradio.org or if you're in Chinatown Los Angeles you can listen

in at 1630 AM.

q) What do you love most about where you live?

a)Being an environmentalist I often feel like some sick secret part of

me wants the human race to fail, and for that reason I have a fetish

for apocalyptic wastelands. Los Angeles is an apocalyptic wasteland.

So I love it!

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a) Hiking or camping though I rarely get the chance to do either.

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a) I run a drawing club called  and we're having a show in mid June at

the Concord Gallery in Cypress Park. My band, American Grizzly, is

going to start recording very soon for our first record.

q) Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)Johnniejungleguts.com is the best place to look at my  work. Also,

JohnnieJungleGuts is my video channel on YouTube.

Interview with Viktor Hachmang

q)Introduce yourself, name, age, location.

a)My name is Viktor Hachmang, I'm 23 years old and I'm based in The Hague, The Netherlands.

q)Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?

a)I'm not sure if I see myself as an artist, since I work in the grey area between art, illustration, graphic and product design. But I started out being obsessed by drawing and comics when I was young which gradually grew into a love for graphic design and (more recently) also a strong interest for the rest of the applied arts field.

q)Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.

a)I'm not attracted to any ideology, really. I try to avoid political commentary in my work. To me, the most valuable thing about art is the fact that it doesn't have anything to do with "real life", it's the realm of imagination and illusion.

q)Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?

a)Music plays a big role in my creative process. When I'm working I tend to listen to one song continuously, mostly very long winding pieces or post-punk tracks with a lot of repetition. I guess music helps me focus.

q)How would you describe your work to someone?

a)Maximalist and very heavy on patterns.

q)Influences?

a)My main influences are Italian postmodern design from the 80s (Sottsass/Memphis/Alchimia) and 60s Japanese psychedelic art (Tadanori Yokoo/Keiichi Tanaami). But also Pablo Picasso, Hergé, Joost Swarte, Swip Stolk and Yuichi Yokoyama, among many others.

q)Describe your process for creating new work.

a)I'm interested in a lot of different aesthetics and in my work I like to reference famous artworks. So when I'm creating new work I mostly do a lot of research and then combine all these references and styles and try to make it look somewhat cohesive.

q)What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)The internet.

q)What are you really excited about right now?

a)Excited to see what the ceramic plate and textile I designed for Landfill Editions look like printed.

q)What do you love most about where you live?

a)That it's a big but quiet city.

q)Best way to spend a day off?

a)Museum, bookshop or the zoo.

q)Upcoming shows/projects?

a)I'm in a traveling group show called Power Redux together with Michael Willis, Hugh Frost, Øivin Horvei and Espen Friberg. It will be shown in Oslo and London this summer.

q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)My website www.viktorhachmang.nl.

Interview with Eric Rosner

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)Hello my name is Eric Rosner (44), I'm a New York City Artist. I illustrate the Gilded Age of Manhattan from 1880-1910. I also illustrate flowers and iconic pop art.

q) Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?

a)I've always loved to draw, starting from grade school. I continued drawing much more intensely during college, it was a lot more satisfying to illustrate a hand or soda can then study an accounting class.

q) Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.

a)I love the depth of history that New York City offers. There are so many layers and so many different worlds that have been created here: from the trades of the Dutch, the take over by the British, the boldness of the colonists, the massacre of the indigenous people. America was battled for in lower Manhattan, it was also the capital of the US for awhile. The abundance of wealth, the power of the industrial revolution, epic structures soaring towards the sky, women's suffrage movement, labor day, scandals and villainy, the birth of Vaudeville and entertainment and so much more. The shear magnitude of events and people is staggering. Manhattan was the true city of the future and it delivered. I love to get lost in it's embrace.

q) Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?

a)Definitely! I love to be carried away by listening to great tunes. I love an eclectic mix of different genres.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)I try to capture lost historic pieces, freeze them in time. I imagine a street scene or doorway corner or perhaps a store window and conjure up all the events that must have played in front of these areas and these buildings.

q) Influences?

a)Winsor Mccay is my idol. That man is a GOD. I also love Norman Rockwell.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)I search for an interesting photo reference from the Gilded Age 1880-1910. I try to find a epic buildings or street scenes or maybe an iconic object. I illustrate everything on a fine tooth paper pad with an ultra fine ink marker.

I try to build the objects with a structure, create deep shadows that help the 3d aspect. Sometimes it feels magic as if a great spirit guides me along, other times it's pure Butkus and nothing works but when it does work it's a high that you simply can't purchase on the street, simple bliss.

q) What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)I see a lot of stuff that seems to be a rehash of other rehashes. I really think you have to create a fresh approach to get noticed. Maybe your thing is drawing tiny straw mushroom caps, well, then bust it out and make it interesting. You have to get your audience to say "wow". You can't fake good art, either its "wow" or go home.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I love creating illustrations for new media like iPhone and iPad. I have made a few apps and it's a lot of fun. I'm working on a new iPad book now with the new iBooks Author software from Apple.

q) What do you love most about where you live?

a)I live in the epicenter of NYC that has so much history. And it is chaos. I love the fast pace of it.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)I love to get a cup of coffee, listen to music on my iPhone and illustrate something.

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)I have several shows coming up. The next one is at a high-end salon/gallery "Midoma" and the following one is on Fab.com

q) Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)www.erosner.com

http://www.erosner.com/product-work/

http://www.erosner.com/blog/