|
Interview with Leonid Kozienko
Featured Artist for May 2002
Would you introduce yourself and give a little personal background?
I'm Leonid Kozienko, from sunny Siberia, Russia. It's a great place (both nature and people) and I'm happy to live near the biggest lake of fresh water in the whole world!
How long have you been an artist? How long have you been creating fantasy art?
Like many, I started to fill the paper with drawings when I was a kid. Nothing special though, I just tried to fix my impressions from that big world around me. Fantasy art came into my life somewhere in early 90's right after the Tolkien's saga was released in Russia.
Have you had any formal training in the fine arts?
I'm mainly self-taught, but I finished an art school and also spent some time studying architecture design... boy that's been a really long ago.
What are your biggest artistic influences and inspirations?
I get inspiration from everywhere around me. Life is full of interesting things, so you just need keep your eyes open. :) A wide range of interests is what really helps me - I like many things-- from history to modern science. Oh and don't tell this to everyone, but women are a great source of inspiration too! :)
There are tons of artists (from classic to digital) who influence me - Craig Mullins, Peter 'Loki' Baustaedter, Masamune Shirow, Jason Manley, Steven Stahlberg, Luis Royo just to name a few, lots of folks from Epilogue and Sijun.com forum... the world is full of really talented people.
Can you describe your creative process - how you come up with ideas for a new drawing and how you take those ideas and create a finished piece of art.
It varies from time to time. Usually I get lots of ideas for paintings, the problem is that I can't paint simultaneously (or I'm getting too lazy) so I keep these ideas in my mind for a while. The next thing is developing your idea or sketching. That's the most creative part - presenting your idea with the first strokes. On the computer, I prefer to sketch from color without any b/w lines (if it's a color painting of course) so I can set up light, mood and color in the beginning. The next thing is rendering - adding details, cleaning up areas, etc. It's the most tedious and time consuming part of the process. The trick is to complete the painting before you get really tired, frustrated or lose interest. Of course, you can force yourself to finish it anyway, especially when doing commercial stuff, but the final impression will be smudged. I also have music playing in the background so I can fully concentrate on my painting and almost forget about the outside world.
That's basically how I work...
Do you have a favorite fantasy artist or an artist you admire?
I like many artists, from pros to newbies, for their personality, skills, imagination, energy and emotions they put into their works... sorry I couldn't pick someone.
What advice would you give to young artists who are just starting out?
Don't give up. The biggest mistake which people do is when they say "boy, that's impossible!" There is no magic, only hard work. If you really like doing these things then nothing can stop you. Keep improving your skills, be patient and squash your growing ego for a while. And one last thing - have fun doing it!
If you could be a character from a fantasy novel, movie or game, who would you be?
Well if you've seen my recent image called "Slider" that's how I imagine myself, heh.
Finally, what cartoons did you watch as a kid?
Uh, I don't know how to spell those Russian cartoons from my childhood, but I can remember that my biggest impressions were from some Japanese anime I saw in the cinema and I still can't forget-- "Polygon" - the most incredible cartoon I've ever seen.
|
