— The featured artist of Issue 47 of Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine, AWAKE artist Samantha Wells lives “on a little island in the south of the UK,” and from her little island is turning out some lovely work for us all to enjoy. It was exciting to be able to interview her here at last on Quill and Camera!
Q. What was it that got you started in art?
I have always loved drawing, even as a child. When I was in school my favourite subject was art. My favourite artists back then were Brian Froud and Alan Lee. I would always be looking at their book Faeries and trying to copy their images.
Then around 4 years ago I got started with photography. I began with a Canon 500D and upgraded to a Canon 70D when I got better at it. But no matter how many great lenses I bought, or how much experience I had, there was always something missing. I also found that I actually loved editing a photograph more than taking the picture. And I began feeling frustrated with photography — partly because I didn’t know any models, so felt confined to taking landscape images, and although the Isle Of Wight where I live is very beautiful, there are so many photographers here all capturing the same images. I also felt restricted with having to wait for the right light and trying to find somewhere that hadn’t been photographed before.
Then by chance I found out about 3D models and I got very excited by the idea of being able to place a model in my images. I started using Daz Studio 3D and found out I could even make up any surroundings I dreamed of. Daz Studio required a huge learning experience; there was so much to grasp to get the image just how I wanted it, with lots of failures along the way. Trying to get a 3D model to look real is quite difficult. I still use Daz Studio although admittedly not as much as it can take a whole day to make a scene, and my computer will only render using the CPU so it is very slow compared to others who are using a high-end GPU that can render something in an hour, whereas mine will often take 5 hours. That’s a long time to tie up a computer. Now I am learning how to more effectively extract items from 2D images and use them instead.
I then saw the advert for Photoshop Artistry and the wonderful images created there. And although I waited a bit and carried on with my own way of editing, I did finally take the plunge and joined the course. I’m so glad I did. I learned so much just from that course, especially how to use Photoshop better. I was only really using Lightroom to edit as Photoshop was all over the place to me, and I just didn’t understand it. After being in such a great course and learning so much, I then decided to join AWAKE when enrollment opened for that, and it was even better and really helped me push myself further. I just recently joined the KAIZEN group as well, and I am hoping for some great things to come from that too.
Q. What inspires your work?
Absolutely anything! Films, books, seeing a 3D model and having that instant vision of what I can make with it.
I belong to a lot of art groups on Facebook, so my timeline is flooded with images everyday. I get a lot of inspiration from seeing other artists’ work.
Joining AWAKE and being in the AWAKE Facebook group has inspired me so much and given me more confidence to create. The friends I have made there are amazing and encouraging. I don’t think I would have got this far without them.
Q. What does living an artistic life mean to you?
To me it means having more courage to make the art that I like, not just what others see as art. It means being ok with trying out new ideas, new approaches, new techniques.
I’m now brave enough to enter challenges. I never would before as I felt my work was very boring. I’m not sure I could enter a major competition yet; I don’t feel my art work is quite ready for that yet. But that’s fine. As I grow and learn more, one day I will be ready to put my work out there more and step onto a larger stage.
Q. How do you approach your work now?
Each piece starts with that spark of an idea, a vision, a feeling. I generally start with my main subject and work around that. But most often that image in my head that I start off with is nothing like the finished art work I end up creating.
I simply bring my subject into Photoshop … and it takes on a life of its own, almost creating itself. In a way, I just lay the foundations for it, and it carries on from there.
I don’t really have a set process. I did try working out a repeatable approach a few times, but I found it became boring very quickly. I like to continually try new techniques. It keeps things interesting.
Q: What do you see as your next step as an artist?
My next step as an artist is to give myself permission to let myself go more and really push myself to find my own style. I think I am almost there, but I want to try more new ideas and explore more surreal pieces of work.
I would love to begin selling my artwork of course. That would be amazing. And I would love to eventually get to that stage where people begin to know my work just by seeing it. (Why not think big? Haha.)
Q. Any advice for other aspiring digital artists?
Never be afraid to create artwork you enjoy. Even if you find many people don’t like it or criticize it, someone somewhere will love it! Remember, art is subjective.
Never be afraid to show your work or ask questions if you are stuck with something. This is how we learn.
But try not to compare your work to other artists. This one can be really tough, and I struggle with this myself. I see so many amazing pieces of artwork every day and wonder how the artists accomplished them. Then I begin to think “My art isn’t that good,” or I ask myself, “How did they do that?!” and feel frustrated. But you can’t let yourself overthink things that way. That’s just going to bring your mood down. Take it as a learning experience instead; try and figure out how the image was created, or even better have the courage to ask the artist themselves.
Ultimately, just keep working. Keep trying new techniques. And learn everything you can as you continue grow as an artist.
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Be sure to also visit Samantha’s online portfolio at https://artboja.com/art/hqg8i7/ to enjoy even more of her artwork.