About my path as an artist, about criticism and inspiration, my interview with Elena Samoryadova.

elenasteem (74)in #elegance • 6 years ago

A little about my work and me.

We chatted with Elena Samoryadova about the path of the artist, about criticism and inspiration.

How did your artist career begin?

It probably began while studying at the university - at the art-graphic faculty. I am pleased with classmates early to exhibit and sell work. Thank you to our teacher Olga Borisovna Pavlenkovich. She explained how to get to the major city exhibitions, how to negotiate with the galleries, to hold your personal, helped send work to the exhibition abroad. This is in addition to the knowledge and inspiration that she gave us directly in the classroom. But I came to the profession of illustrator myself.

Do you work as an artist now, or is this your hobby?

Yes, I work as an artist on the main works - although in fact it is a design job (we are doing several magazines and books). And I work as a freelance illustrator.

What are your favorite subjects?

There are several of them. But all are connected, one way or another, with the animal world or the world of fairy tales. Now, for example, I am working on a series of illustrations for the author's calendar “Perfume”. My spirits are creatures patrons of the forces and phenomena of nature - forest, fog, moon, dreams, swamps, wind, sun, etc. They are powerful and wayward, and in them the features of the cat are guessed. There is also a large series with owls, fairies, sea creatures in the star depths and much more. In each of this series, I have my favorite works and those that, in my opinion, have failed.

📍 What technique do you like to paint?

I mainly draw using digital painting techniques or do graphic sketches with pens and markers.

When you start drawing, do you always know how it will turn out in the end?

No, not always, that is, there are general ideas and a key idea - but I don’t know what happens in the end.

📍 Whose opinion in your work is important to you?

Previously, it was the opinion of my teachers in high school. But now, perhaps, my own opinion - since art is a subjective thing and no one will appreciate me better than how well the idea turned out regarding the idea embedded in it, and how I represented this work. And it is I, and not someone else, who is responsible for drawing custom-made. But this does not mean that I do not appreciate the opinions of others - of course, it is important to know and take into account the opinions of people who follow my work or simply find time to look and comment on the work - this is very important. Well, the opinion of people who paint in my direction is better than me - but critics will not wait for them. Usually it is very delicate and modest people who are afraid of offending or somehow hurt. In general, I noticed that the higher the professionalism of a person, the less he likes to criticize and vice versa - the less a person knows and is able to do, the more critical and demanding he treats others.

📍 What inspires you?

Inspire the work of other artists, wildlife, books, legends and fairy tales, as well as movies.

📍Do you have any hobbies besides drawing?

My passion for past drawing is drawing. Ie when I do not draw to order, I relax, drawing for myself or doing some of my own drafts - this year there are two calendar and comic. Well, I also like to read, watch movies and TV shows. Sometimes (recently) I write articles for our magazines.

📍What will you advise to those who are just starting to draw?

I will advise you to draw as much as possible - whenever possible every day. Do not justify your laziness with a lack of inspiration or as it is now fashionable to say an art block. If there are no ideas, then draw from life or photos ... the main thing is to constantly draw and not forget to read theoretically material. Well, as much as possible to watch the work of other artists - this is a real fount of inspiration. Well, it also helps me to view the speed-speed video (the process of drawing other artists). And I recommend finding a teacher for yourself - it should be a person who paints better than you - ideally, of course, a teacher or a professional artist. Do not listen to the opinion of sofa critics - the phrase "you do not need to be able to cook, to say that the dish is not salty." This is a very superficial view of visual art. It may be nice or ugly to say, it looks like or doesn’t seem like such a critic can –– point out some superficial mistakes, but most often the artists themselves see these mistakes. But to give precisely professional criticism, which is based on knowledge and experience, on professional secrets will not by itself be able to.