— The featured artist of Issue 44 of Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine, Australian AWAKE artist Sonia Pusey creates the most wonderful (often surreal, always captivating) artwork. I’m happy to be able to interview her here on Quill and Camera at last!
Q. What was it that got you started in digital photo artistry?
Believe it or not a Facebook Photo a Day photography challenge group that I joined in January 2016. You get a prompt for each day of the year and have to take a photo to suit the prompt. I started out just with my phone camera but three months later I bought my first ever camera, a Nikon D3300 (which I still use today). From then on, I became obsessed with taking photos. I would study other people’s photos and always ask the question “How did they do that?” and then try to emulate their results.
One day I bought a famous photographer’s video tutorial that I always saw advertised on Facebook … and I was astounded! The photos that I thought came straight out of his camera were in fact composited and manipulated in Photoshop. It was such an eye opener, a revelation. I knew I HAD to learn how to do this too. So, I bought a subscription to Photoshop … and became totally frustrated trying to teach myself. I even bought the book “Photoshop for Dummies.” I tried to follow free tutorials on the internet, but that was so tedious and slow going.
Yet … from time to time an advertisement for “Photoshop Artistry: Fine Art Grunge” would pop up on my Facebook feed. It had the most beautiful images, and I would swoon and think, “I want to be able to do THAT.”
After much “will I, won’t I” (I was a bit skeptical to say the least), I finally took the plunge and enrolled in June 2017. Turned out it was THE BEST thing I have ever done. It opened a whole new world to me. A rich magical world that has totally entranced me ever since. Six months later, without a second thought, I enrolled in the advanced “AWAKE” course. I gave it to myself as a birthday present. Best present ever.
Q. What is it that most inspires your work?
I always get inspired by other artists’ work. I love images that tell a story, that make me feel something, that make me take a second look. I tend to be drawn to dark images with melancholic and tortured emotions. I love paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and their masterful use of light to create a rich effect.
Music is another influence. Lyrics can be of great inspiration to me. I might hear a song on the radio and the lyrics catch my attention … and then my imagination takes over and a story starts to evolve. I love it when that happens.
And one inspiration sparks another. I find that often when I am in the midst of creating an image so many other ideas start popping into my head. I can’t fit them ALL into one image, so I quickly draw a sketch of my ideas for a later date.
Q. What does living a photo artistic life mean to you? 
For me, it means that anything I imagine I can bring to life in an image. The possibilities are endless. There really are no limits. It’s magical. With Photoshop anything is possible.
Day to day you notice all these little things … little things that you would usually walk straight past. But seen with an artist’s eye, the most mundane things hold so much interest. It stops you in your tracks and makes you grab your camera to capture them NOW … because you can’t wait and think “I’ll get that photo later” since that photo won’t be there later, it will have changed and moved on.
Another thing. Now that I think more artistically, I am very aware of light. I notice it and think about it all the time. Light is EVERYTHING in an image. It gives it depth and a mood. Without the right light your image looks flat and uninspiring. Nowadays I think about light a LOT.
Q. When creating, how do you typically approach your artwork?
I used to just let it happen … or more like hope that it happened. But I have learned to be more purposeful. As soon as I get an idea, I draw a rough sketch of it on my phone (stick figures mostly: I can’t draw to save my life!) And I add some notes so I’ll later remember more of the original idea that struck me. Then I source the images I’ll be using to bring the idea to life.
I work full time, so I only have time during the week to create at night. Most nights after dinner I sit down and create. I’ll have an idea and I just start dabbling. Sometimes it happens smoothly and quickly. That’s not always the case, but when it does happen that way — when it comes quickly — I think those are often my best works.
Mostly my process tends to involve … well … immense frustration and a bunch of decisions I have to struggle to make! For instance, I find it very difficult working out the colour tone of an image (is this too blue? should it have more green tones? is it dark enough? or is it too dark?) … All these questions and more I keep asking myself. It’s kind of crazy. Seems I always end up with about 5 to 10 differing edits (just with different toning) for every image I make.
I have discovered that leaving an image alone for about 8 hours (just go to bed and have another look in the morning) works amazingly well for me. And really, for all the frustration and angst I put myself through creating an image, the end result makes it all worthwhile.
So with the angst finally over, I dive right back in and begin another image … and the cycle commences again!
Q. What’s your next step as an artist?
I am happy at the moment to just keep creating and expanding my repertoire. I would like to get more artistic with my images. Incorporate a more painterly and abstract feel. I would also love to organize some photo-shoots with models (I have some friends in mind) and purposefully pose them for my images or take them to particular locations with various props and wardrobe changes. Definitely think that’s what I will be doing next!
Q. Any advice or tips you’d want to pass along to other aspiring digital artists?
I think passion is everything. If you have a passion for something you are consumed by it. A passion will pull you. It’s something you’re driven by – so it’s not something you have to push yourself to do.
A friend once gave me advice when I said I had no idea what to do or where to start on my very first digital collage: “Just start,” she said. That was it. Every time I begin a new image her words ring in my ears. Just start.