Judy Fox is a sculptor hailing from New York. Her works are incredibly detailed and simple in their concept, but striking in their impact. She has another series of halfway vulgar / introspective pieces of almost genitalia, which definitely deserves a glance. You can see those on her website, listed below.
Sorry to put up another animation so soon, but this was just TOO GOOD to pass up!
With some of the most advanced sense of color I’ve seen in work recently, Ronald merges fantasy and reality in such a juxtaposition that I forget I’m looking at an imagined image – it reads with such confidence that I just assume this madness must be real. Also, being such a prolific artist really gives him a wide range of artwork to be feasted upon visually…..
We featured Roman back on Jan. 2nd, and had some pretty fantastic feedback from his work. (See the original post here!) I’ve had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Roman at a few gallery openings here in San Francisco, and he agreed to a brief interview! Enjoy the second installation of our Artist Interviews!
You can find more of his art on his website, here:
1) How would you describe the transition from the student / professional artist’s world? What was the hardest aspect of the switch?
The hardest thing is getting paid, or rather not getting paid, at best not getting paid enough. I’d always thought if I ever do a drawing for the New Yorker life would suddenly become decent, needless to say I was wrong. I wouldn’t call myself a ‘professional’ artist at this point, at least if it implies making a living from art. I generally dislike the very notion of ‘professional artist,’ though my pathetic convictions clearly lead me nowhere.
2) Your least favorite thing about the art world nowadays.
How nauseatingly commercial it is. Any talk of ‘breaking into the industry’ makes me very unhappy.
3) What are your views on the progression into a digital nature in art? In your own work, how much is digital vs. analogue?
I think traditional linework with digital coloring is the perfect solution both for fast-paced illustrative prostitution and personal work. I’ve seen digital illustrations that look warm and convincing, but it’s hard (and fundamentally pointless) to emulate the look & feel of pencils and brushes. I always let my brush run dry here and there, the tiny imperfections give the piece a certain warmth, not to mention that these traditional tools capture the artist’s mood better than polished digital lines.
4) Describe your artistic process. How do you come up with compositions, getting the right mood for your pieces or even color schemes.
For commercial illustrations I do 4-5 rough sketches, one of them is chosen by the art director, then I do the lines, usually with brush & ink, rarely with nibs. Then I color it in Photoshop. I’m extremely anal about my colors and I spend hours mixing and adjusting 2-3 flat tones. For my comics I usually have the beginning and the end in mind, but most of it is improvised, sometimes even panel-by-panel.
5) Top 5 favorite artists / inspiration….
Chris Ware, Raymond Queneau, Jason, Seth, Vladimir Nabokov.
Thanks Roman!
Though his images tend to be a tad repetitive, the fun atmosphere of these pieces cannot be denied. Also, the fact that they are done traditionally (normally with acrylics on board) instead of vector makes me happy.
A really phenomenal contemporary artist! Its cool to see where our generation of fine artists is going with their craft, stepping away from the traditional paintings to a true contemporary mood. But there is such a supreme understanding of anatomy and expression, on top of dynamic compositions and subject matter, that you don’t even care what type of genre these could fit in.
Every now and then an artist comes by who is half your age and twice as talented, and it makes you frustrated. It makes you rethink you career path as an artist, what the meaning of your constant struggle is, and why you don’t just go back to that one job that was OK but you just weren’t “happy”. And then, you see THIS and it feels three times worse.
They’re *17* and already interned at Disney Animation studios…..*gasp*. I can see why.
Though I feel like there is still “something” missing from these pieces, perhaps an element of either super-realism or more rough strokes, these are absolutely great. I love the subtle color shifts and the incredible depth of anatomy. Not only are the moods spot on every time, but I can tell he loves to paint. Its wonderful to see someone so clearly in love with their craft.
