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Interview with Amy Brown
Featured Artist for November 2000
Would you introduce yourself and give a little personal background?
Umm...I'm small (faery size) red hair, kind of a stubborn brat. Okay,
maybe a BIG brat. I spend a lot of time stressed out and frustrated because
I can't get all of the ideas in my head on to paper fast enough---always
striving to paint the perfect painting, but never quite get there. That pretty
much says it all. Is that personal enough?
How long have you been an artist?
Let's see, I'm 28, been painting for 8 years, but have drawn forever.
How long have you been creating fantasy art?
It's always been fantasy oriented---I love it because there really aren't
any rules--whatever you can imagine is possible.
Have you had any formal training in the fine arts?
nope
What are your biggest artistic influences and inspirations?
My absolute favorite is Brian Froud, also Brom, Alan Lee, Michael Parkes'
later pieces, James Christiansen, Daniel Merriam. I love so many, these are just
a few. I read fantasy books every night, have an extensive collection of art
books watch movies when possible (Labyrinth and Heavy Metal are my all time
favorites).
Can you describe your creative process - how you come up with ideas for a new drawing and how you take those ideas and create a finished piece of art.
really get ideas all over, sometimes just from a word someone says in passing.
Sometimes I start with a great title and work from there, other times I just
like a certain pose and see where it goes. I tend to just paint--rarely have a
solid idea to start with. I imagine the character as I'm working as if it were a
real creature and let it tell me what it wants to look like.
Do you have a favorite fantasy artist or an artist you admire?
Brian Froud is the BEST!
What advice would you give to young artists who are just starting out?
Paint AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! I've done over 600 paintings in the last 8
years, and I truly believe it's the only way to REALLY improve and be the best
you can.
If you could be a character from a fantasy novel, movie or game, who would you be?
That's REALLY hard--I think I'd like to be one of the Crow Girls in
Charles De Lint's 'Someplace To Be Flying'---very good book.
Finally, what cartoons did you watch as a kid?
Justice
League, Star Blazers, Scoobie Doo (watching that right now), the usual"
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