— The featured artist of the 73rd issue of Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine is Korea-born / Sweden-based AWAKE artist Sara Victoria Sandberg. It’s wonderful to be able to interview Sara here on Quill and Camera . . .
Q: Can you tell us a little about your artistic journey?
I grew up in Germany, and my first serious encounter with photography happened in my youth during my gymnasium years. I was part of a student photography group and went to weekly classes. I learned photography in the traditional way and remember the process and the excitement of seeing an image develop and come to life in the dark room.
Later in life, during my years in Paris, a friend of mine introduced me to Photoshop. I soon found a way to create new realities for myself. I enjoyed putting an image of myself into different imaginative fantasy backgrounds with castles and gothic scenes found on the internet.
That was the very beginning of getting to know the potential of digital photo manipulation. And while I did take a break from that for a while, a couple of years ago I watched a course on self-portraiture in conceptual photography, and from there everything took off again.
I was looking for ways to expand my knowledge of Photoshop. Soon I diverted from using myself as a model and started to build images from skies, meadows, animals, and various interesting objects I photographed. This process ultimately became the way I would approach my craft and carries on until this day.
As a member of the AWAKE and KAIZEN groups I find myself going back into different sessions from the courses more or less on a daily basis. There is always something new to learn that didn’t stick the first time round. A little art, in whatever form it might take — either watching, doing, or learning — has become a fixture in my daily routine.
Q: What inspires your creative work?
I am inspired by the beauty, harmony and mystery of the world inherent within and around us.
I am drawn to beautiful and dramatic skies, open landscapes, and nature scenes. I’m inspired by animals and interesting objects that could feature well in a composite and add to the story and atmosphere of an image.
I spend time each day looking at the work of other digital artists from the private AWAKE and KAIZEN groups, as well as over on Instagram and Pinterest. I’m always watching tutorials and speed edit videos. All of this goes beyond simply enjoying beautiful art. It also encourages me to keep going, while opening up fresh angles for my own development.
Q: What does living the photo artistic life mean to you?
Living an artistic life generates an inner satisfaction and fulfillment that I don’t find in the same way in anything else. It is a sanctuary and a place of joy and balance.
Unfortunately, I’m unable to create every day as I have a very busy job. But living an artistic life extends beyond the canvas. This is why having found this place of retreat means the world to me.
Q: How do you approach your work? Any particular process you tend to follow?
I have tried to follow recommendations on planning out compositions and tried following a linear work process. I have even carried a sketch book with me to write down ideas as they come. But I have never managed to be persistent in this approach. More often, the ideas simply come to me when I discover an object that I want to photograph or emerge later when I begin to match them with other images in my library.
I do always make use of my own photos. Each leaves a little memory behind of the day when the photo was taken, which I can think back upon and so add to my own story of the piece. And I only work on one piece at a time. I always want to start, carry through, and see the end result before I can move on to something new.
Most of the time I create a rough photo sketch of my idea with the selected images, which means just loosely extracting the main objects and moving them around on the canvas to see how they fit together. Once I can visualize my idea coming together I can begin creating the actual piece.
I like to employ a lot of digital painting spread across numerous layers to enhance the scene and create light and shadows. Often I’ll add in a final texture above the painted layers. I definitely like when the photo composite starts to feel more like a painting than a pure photograph.
Towards the end, I usually merge the layers, turn them into a smart object, and fine tune the effects, contrast, and anything else that still needs work. I sometimes carry the piece over to NIK Color Efex Pro as I draw near the end of the process.
After that I will adjust my image for print, which I have found to require additional steps. A proper fine art print can require many more adjustment layers than the screen version if you wish it to turn out the way you envisage it. But it is definitely worth the effort (and all the trial and error it might require early on). It feels fantastic holding a printed copy of your image in your hands. It’s quite different from just seeing your work on screen.
Q: What’s your next step as an artist? Where do you wish to take your work next?
The extensive printing that I have been doing lately has to do with staging my first exhibition, which is slated to take place this year. Covid has pushed it back by several months now, but the plan is for it all to take off in early autumn. Which is both scary and exciting at the same time.
For the future, I would like to expand my work so as to showcase collections across various themes or categories. As I love to depict flowers but have used remarkably few in my work so far, I would love to begin combining them with animals or other objects. I would also like to take some of my work into a more surreal arena, play with various fantasy themes, perhaps create a series in black and white, explore some possibilities for decorative art and still life, try out a more painterly style, develop skills in digital matte painting . . .
Eventually, I am hoping that my art finds its way into galleries. And while these ambitions are only thoughts for now, they keep me motivated.
Q: Do you have any piece of work that you are most proud of?
It is hard to say if I have a favourite. Every image has its own story, and that story becomes part of the unfolding journey. From the point of taking the photographs to the final piece. With this is mind, I guess the pieces I am most proud of are the ones where I had to work a little harder to get the images, or had a little bit of luck to capture something at the right moment and time. It adds to the feeling of achievement.
For one of my latest pieces [the peacock image featured above at the start of this interview] I photographed a well in the snow. It was in the courtyard of a castle situated about an hour outside of where I live. First time I drove there in vain as access to the castle was closed due to Covid. I had to make contact with people there who generously granted me special access on another day when I was able to take time off work. By chance, it had just snowed the night before and a lovely powdering of snow graced the top and ornaments of the well. Being able to capture that photo at just that time (the very next day the snow all melted) made the resulting piece all the more satisfying.
Q: Any advice or tips for aspiring digital artists?
Believe in your art and your ability to create something amazing.
Try to listen to your own voice to find your style. Get inspired by other artists but don’t compare yourself to them. Get encouraged rather than discouraged should you find yourself caught up in self-doubt. And accept that there will always be people who don’t appreciate your style of art. Don’t take it personally.
Also know that you will experience periods of drought. Everyone does. That’s okay. Inspiration will always come back, often when you least expect it. As a digital artist you are already holding in your hands the holy grail of creative potential and artistic expression. So just give it time.
Learn to see your artistic life as a journey. You never know where it will take you. So believe in yourself . . . and be proud of every little achievement along the way.
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