painting – FIND AND SEEK

INTERVIEW – TRINI SCHULTZ

July 30, 2017July 30, 2017Posted in painting, photo, photographyTagged fine art photo, photo, photography, surreal photography, Trini SchultzLeave a comment

Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you get your start taking photos?
I’ve always been intrigued with photography since I was little. But it wasn’t till I got my hands on a “real” camera, a Pentax K1000, a gift from my dad when I was 16, that my love for photography escalated. In college I took some photography classes to learn how to develop pictures and tricks to creating special effects since Photoshop was not yet around. I love journalistic and black white photography so my style began to lead down that path, until Photoshop came into my life.

How would you describe your style of photography?
Surreal or fine art photography.

What is your creative process like?
I used to sketch it out and try to recreate the drawing, but I found that it usually didn’t work out that way. Sometimes pictures take on a whole new concept on their own, which is fine, because they usually end up better than I originally planned. Most of the creative process is done during editing. Experimenting, and trying different ideas.

What inspires your photographs?
Anything from paintings, movies, music videos, nature, and other photographers I admire and have been following their work for years now.

How important a part does editing and manipulation play into the final product of a photo?
For my style of photography it plays a very important part in the final product. In surreal photography, Photoshop plays a big role to give the final product that dream-like feel, especially if the photo has added elements that are out of the norm. Some photos may require quite a bit of editing and some may require very little.

Your photographs are very painterly. What are some of your favorite paintings and painters?
Before I got into photography I did some painting, and with Photoshop I can combine my two loves of art, photography and painting. I love the style of old master paintings. I grew up watching my grandfather paint. I learned a lot about art from him, and by looking at the many art books in his collection. I don’t have any particular favorite painters or paintings. Too many to pick from and I love them all.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I enjoy creating fine art/surreal photography so I will continue with that. I also enjoy colorizing and creating surreal scenes in old family black and white photographs. It takes a little more creative work and editing, but in the end it’s fun to see what you end up with. I’ve tried doing some colorizing of historical vintage black and white photos as well, which entails a lot of Photoshop and skill as I found out. I love animals and I’ve included them in some of my photos. I would like to continue adding animals to my photos and maybe do a whole series of it.

INTERVIEW – COCO DAVEZ

January 8, 2017Posted in art, design, fashion, interview, paintingTagged art, artist, Coco Davez, creative, design, faceless series, fashion, moma, painting, picasso, spain, WOMEN ARTISTLeave a comment

Tell us a little bit about your background, how did you get your start in the art world?

In the art world I started professionally in 2010 when I lived in London.

What is your creative process like?

Every day I am documenting about aesthetic movements that I like that are inspiring me here and there. The most difficult thing is to find the idea. Once you have the idea the next step in the process is sketching, then trying different materials and color combinations; I make collages to get an idea of how it will be exposed in a real space. Once I convince myself it all works then I begin the final piece.

What inspired your “faceless” series?

This collection is a tribute to all my idols, characters that have somehow marked me throughout my life.

As a child you wanted to be a fashion designer. Is this something we expect to see from you soon?

If all goes well I would like to draw a line of clothes this year, but I am very thorough with all my projects and I need to have everything under control to carry it out.

I read that Picasso is one of your biggest influences. What is your favorite piece by him?

‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ is my favorite piece by Picasso, I remember seeing it for the first time in the movie ‘Titanic’ when I was eight years old and was fascinated by the colors of the painting. A few months ago I was lucky to see it at the MoMa Museum and of course it is a piece that provokes many things in me, I feel Stendhal’s syndrome when I see it. Although probably what arouses the most feelings in me is the photographic process of the creation of Guernica.

What is inspiring you right now? What are you currently working on?

I am currently sucking on everything that at some point in my life inspired me to create a book that I am writing and drawing on my relationship with art.

Coco Dávez is not your real name, what inspired this moniker?

My real name is Valeria Palmeiro, ‘Coco’ came up with a Sesame Street character that made me very funny and ‘Dávez’ is the total invention of a surname.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I hope that the Dávez universe will grow and not be left alone in the canvases, I would like this signature to become a company.

INTERVIEW – RICARDO CAVOLO

July 23, 2016July 23, 2016Posted in art, fashion, illustration, interview, painting, UncategorizedTagged art, artist, artist interview, Desiigner, fashion, fashion and art, Future, hip hop, illustration, interview, Kanye, Lil Yachty, mural, painting, ricardo cavoloLeave a comment

Tell us a little bit about your background, how did you get your start in the art world?

Well, I was born at my father’s painting studio. He is also an artist so since my very first day in this world I was surrounded by brushes, canvas, colors, pencils… So this was the natural path for me. I always knew I would become someone whose life is art. It’s been easy in that sense, I never had any doubts or a plan B.

I read that you are from Spain; how does your heritage translate into your work?

I’m not sure if my work is influenced by my country. I never use Spain and its tradition as a specific part of my inspiration. Or at least no more than other countries. I use Italian, American, African or Asian heritages at the same level as the Spanish one.

Your work consists of a lot of very colorful portraits. How do you pick your subjects?

I always have dozens of stories in my mind that I want to tell through my work, most of them are about pretty much the same thing: the non-standard people, the non-regular people, minorities (usually not well treated minorities). I’ve been living with gypsies for 10 years and have seen that B side of society, but there are also wonderful things that happen, there is also magic there, even brighter than the usual one. I like to speak about that magic from the B side of the society.

What is your creative process like?

I always create the story first in my mind, and the rest of the process is pretty much improvisation. I let my hands choose the composition and my eyes and heart choose the colors… There is not too much to explain, I just create the story in my mind and the rest happens naturally 🙂

I read that you listen to a lot of hip-hop while painting. What is on your playlist right now?

Desiigner, Future, Kanye, Lil Yachty…

On your Instagram I’ve seen a couple of really cool clothing pieces with your work on them. Is clothing/print design something that you thought you would ever be a part of?

I love fashion, it’s fun and it’s a great kind of art. I’m working on my own clothing brand, I hope I can get some fun from the fashion world someday.

What is inspiring you right now? What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a sort of illustrated encyclopedia about outsiders of our world, human minorities, cities, countries, animals, plants, artists… A book about the B side of life.