I'm so very, very, very, very happy to be back to posting on Mondays for Art Appreciation Monday, I am only too painfully aware that I have neglected my blog for the past few weeks. However, I shall attempt to be more persistent in future. :)
This week, I'm honoured to interview another outstanding artist who is a highly praised international illustrator! I'm delighted to introduce you to-the amazing artist behind Greyfell-Fine-Art of Deviant art!
Also, one of our past artists, Mr. Thomas Bachmann contributed to the questions, so this is going to be a really spectacular interview today!
Recently featured as a Daily Deviation on Deviant Art, was Fatale Fashion
Every human is a puzzle, behind every face lies a mystery and inside each mind is a machine shielding our vulnerability. A machine which counts the moments in time, ticking away the days of our lives- gears that make us unique- the things that make us work, do and believe.
Our face is a mask, and it covers our inner selves to protect us.
This picture is so life-like, the shading and depth of the image is very true to life, and her face-despite being a puzzle, it is still in excellent proportion.
Joshua: Joshua Edwards
Ariana: Are you human/boy/girl?
Joshua: Male.
Ariana: What Country/Planet/State are you from?
Joshua: Originally born in Australia, but my parents travelled a lot when I was a child so I lived in a few different places. Mainly educated in the UK and Australia.
Ariana: Do you have brothers/sisters/only child?
Joshua: 2 brothers, 2 sisters…all older
Ariana: Do you have any pets?
Joshua: 6 cats and 3 dogs…I’m a sucker for small creatures without a home.
Ariana: Birthday?
Joshua: October / Libra
This picture, "Iguana", was the first picture I ever saw by Mr Joshua Edwards. It captured my attention immediately, and I was awestruck at his talent. As you can see, he has an impeccable ability to shade his artwork accordingly and make the features of his subjects so lifelike you want to touch them to see if they're truly real, or simply a picture.
Ariana: What inspires you most to draw?
Joshua: Not really sure what inspires me to draw. Different things on different days I think. Sometimes it’s simply a need to create something, other times it’s seeing the work of other artists and being completely blown away by the talent and ability and wanting to emulate it. A lot of the time it’s just a means of getting an idea or a concept out of my head that I can’t articulate in words.
Ariana: How do you cope with lack of inspiration?
Joshua: Lack of inspiration can be the hardest but I think I’m fortunate in that I don’t seem to experience it or have it that often. In fact, I generally have a hard time trying to keep ideas for new works out of my head in order to concentrate on the current work. If it is a problem then I simply try to go and do something else, housework, shopping etc…something mundane in order to clear my mind and let the idea come of its own volition rather than trying to seek it out.
Ariana: What are you currently using to create your art with?
Joshua: I mainly use just basic materials that I purchase at Hobby Lobby. Don’t really like art supply shops; quite expensive and a far too much of a chance of being engaged in conversation by pretentious people. I use just basic Kimberly graphite pencils and Bristol smooth paper. Not a big fan of needing to have exactly the right tools or the right materials. If the idea is right then the tools that you have will adapt themselves to it. My dad was a carpenter and his favorite saying was always that ‘a bad craftsman always blames his tools’. Sort of stuck over the years.
Ariana: Do you have a favourite media to draw with?
Joshua: Drawing is my favorite and I like using graphite pencil mostly. I occasionally use charcoal, chalks and pastels…but it depends on the composition.
Ariana: Do you do custom artwork for people?
Joshua: I don’t do custom artwork very often. I’ll occasionally do a portrait if I happen to find the person or animal interesting…but custom work is more in the line of an artist with a talent for graphic design which is not my strength. I also don’t particularly like dealing with other people on that level to be honest.
Ariana: Your skills are amazing, what would you suggest for someone who is just beginning?
Joshua: I was never formally trained and didn’t go to art school so I’m not sure how useful any advice I could give would be, but for what it’s worth I’d say the following: Practice, practice and practice. Literally practice makes perfect. Try to render subjects that you don’t like rather than those that you do, and do it as often as you can. You’ll find that it will expand your technical range, which will in turn allow you to delve into a greater level of composition. Technical ability without composition will only give you half of what art is about, and the same goes in reverse – a wonderful composition will never reach its potential until you have the ability to execute it. Be aware as a beginner that for every masterpiece you’ve seen hanging on a wall the very same artist who created it also created another hundred on the road to the one you’re looking at that were not. No one gets it right first time. Michelangelo chipped away at a lot of pieces of stone before he took on David. Also accept the fact that art isn’t about what other people think or do…it’s really more about expressing yourself in terms that you understand and control. If people like it great, if they don’t then that’s an opinion they’re entitled to. And last, but by no means least…learn how to draw. And I don’t say that as someone promoting my own medium, I mean it in the most serious possible sense. Every great artist - no matter what the medium they worked in, the style they ended in being famous for, or the era they were born into – be they painters, sculptors, iron masters, gold smiths in whatever form…all of them, despite the apparent differences in language, work, and end product, all had one thing in common. They were all proficient at drawing. From Picasso to Pollock, and Caravaggio to Cellini….every single one of them learned how to draw properly. Basic drawing technique will teach you the elements of art that are required in all other disciplines. An artist who can’t draw is like a carpenter who can’t use a hammer and chisel; it will never look right and it won’t stand the test of time.
Ariana: What is your current favourite finished work?
Joshua: I don’t really have a favorite work as such. They all mean different things to me. Some are landmarks where I can see I reached another level technically….others where I had been trying to get an idea across and finally managed it in the form I wanted. Forced to choose I’d probably currently pick ‘Cogniscant’ as it was the first work in a current series that I’m working on where I feel that I’m really starting to find my voice as an artist.
Thomas Bachmann: How long did it take you to get as good as you are?
Joshua: I’ve been drawing since I was about 7. My mum had a giant book called Grey’s Anatomy for the Artist which I used to copy from on butcher paper. My earliest drawing were all anatomical studies.
Thomas Bachmann: How long does it take you to finish a picture?
Joshua: It depends on the composition. Generally no more than 50-60 hours but some larger works can take considerably longer. I also spend quite a bit of time laying out/ sketching ideas and actually just sitting playing with pictures in my head which I suppose all counts.
Ariana: Do you have a favourite thing to draw, movies, people, animals, etc.?
Joshua: My favorite drawings are generally those which communicate an idea rather than an actual living thing such as an animal, person or scene.
Ariana: When did you decide you wanted be an artist?
Joshua: I didn’t really decide at all to become an artist. I was more drawn into it over the years and as the result of personal circumstances.
Ariana: Do you have any interests outside of drawing?
Joshua: I read a lot when I’m not drawing. Mainly history. Quite a bit of literature, some sci-fiction and crime fiction.
Ariana: How do you wind down after drawing?
Joshua: I don’t really feel that I need to wind down after a day of drawing. I actually find it relaxing. It’s more a case of dragging myself away from what I’m working on in order to eat and sleep rather than the other way around.
Ariana: Do you have a favourite food/drink?
Joshua: Favorite food would be vegemite. Non-Australians will have to Google it.
(Note to readers who don't want to Google vegemite: Vegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives developed by Cyril P. Callister in Melbourne, Victoria in 1922.*)
Ariana: What would your advice to other artists be?
Joshua: My main advice to any artist would be that no matter how good your work is, your eventual success in the art world will be exactly the same as success in any other creative endeavor - and that success is as much about exposure as it is about talent. No matter how amazing your work is, it will make absolutely no difference if no one ever gets to see it. Don’t be afraid to get your talent seen and also don’t be afraid to take the hits from other people who may not like your work. Everyone is a critic and no more so in the art world.
If there is one thing we are aware of, when gazing upon this picture, it is that Mr Joshua Edwards is a brilliant artist. This picture very much like Fatale Fashion, but yet, also so very different at the same time. It shows an image of the mind and how complex it is behind the face which is a mere mask covering it. I also would like to draw your attention to the eyes and soft features of the woman's face- they are very soft, but also very pronounced, producing an amazing finished result.
This one is my favourite, of course- I love most any artwork of horses, so it is no surprise that when I saw Midnight Mare, I was enchanted! She's so majestic and her eyes are so soft and gentle, against the dark background, she is as radiant as the moon against the sky.
I want to thank Mr Joshua Edwards of Greyfell-Fine-Art so very, very much for participating in Art Appreciation Monday. Not only for participating and allowing me to send him a million questions, which he so kindly answered! But also, for being such an inspiration to young artists in the world who are just beginning, in the middle or at the height of their professional career!
If you enjoyed this interview and the amazing artwork, you can watch when he posts up new artwork on Deviant Art here.
Or you can like his page on Facebook here.
Also, Mr Joshua Edwards is hosting a "Limited Edition Print Contest"
Where you could win a custom framed and matted Giclee standard limited edition print of any of his masterpieces chosen by the winner (it could be YOU!), hand signed and numbered, and it will be shipped free of charge to any destination worldwide!
To be eligible simply visit the Greyfell-Fine-Art Facebook page, click the like button. Any genuine comments either posted on the news feed or on an individual work featured in the photo galleries would also be appreciated. :)
*****All the artwork/pictures belongs to Joshua Edwards!!!!
There are links in blue which will direct you to
the originals.**********
DO NOT USE ANY OF THE PICTURES/or/WRITTEN WORK
POSTED HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!!!!!!!
If you wish to contact Mr Joshua Edwards please click here.
Not to mention he deserves many more followers on Deviant Art so follow him here.
*Vegemite: Wikipedia
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