Interview With 1stAngel

Robbe Corbeau

Welcome to the Artists Blog

When did you first become interested in art?

At an early age, grade school, then again in both junior high and high school, spending many a school day in both graphic arts and art classes.

Later as a newsroom employee, I was tutored somewhat in photography back in the days of the Nikon F2, F3, and the Pentax MX.

It was all heavy metal, thick glass, contact paper, red lights and of course lenses with German names.

What style of art do you use most?

Photo montage and computer graphics. I stopped using brushes back in the 1990s. I prefer the surreal, impressionist, and abstract schools of thought mostly.

Has your style changed from when you first began as an artist?

Sure, when I started, it was a John Nagy learn to draw set, with pencil, pastels, things like that, then later water colors.

It was kiddie art, and later, mostly architectural, flowers, things like that.

Shipwreck

Most of the art classes were free style, “just try to make something” in a particular medium, then later it was the tyrant who wanted 100 pencil drawings first. Hmmm I admire the portrait artists of course, but never advanced to higher levels of brush or pen, so it’s all photo and PC stuff for me, tho I admit that those days using brushes helped.

What medium do you use?

Photo, photo, and more photo … a cheap Fuji Finepix, digital graphics software, a PC …. Ulead PhotoImpact 6 A beat up HP 515N with Windows XP. Sounds dreadful, especially to a traditionalist.

What made you choose that medium?

I can’t go back 40 years, do 5,000 pencil sketches of various subjects, then pick up a brush and then learn to stretch canvass and mix colors. So lazy me .. a camera and PC, but it’s the 21st century and I think it has it’s place in the art world, tho traditionalists still cringe at the idea of photographs being art, and certainly not digital photography(??!!) …. spoilsports.

Do your ideas come from life or imagination?

They come from nature, from what I observe, and of course the imagination. Unsuspecting people at the beach help also … as no pays

Seaside

How do you choose your images and colours?

I take a walk, and when I see something I shoot it. Later at the PC, I clip, cut, copy, paste, filter effect etc., and it comes together. Good thing I don’t have to sit and mix watercolors together in 20 experiments, I can just zip that Hue slider back and forth etc.

Who is your favourite artist?

Van Gogh. Why? He was trained of course, but after that it was pure instinct and a child-like urge to break rules. I’ll take a crazy Van Gogh over a draughtsman any day. Da Vinci was a draughtsman, Van Gogh was an “artist.”

What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?

Right now it’s Autumn Arise or … Antipodes, left side/right side brain pix? I like crows, I like fantasy art, child-like and colorful, but then there’s the world of reality, the other world of mankind like atomic ….

Antipodes

How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?

Average? Anywhere from 30 seconds to several hours. It’s hard to average.

How well do you take criticism?

I think your stuff sucks!! It’s stupid, boring, yawn. What’s it supposed to be a picture of? It looks like a blob.I worked in a newsroom, the epicenter of cynicism, so I’ve acquired an exoskeleton.

Good critique is very helpful and welcomed.

What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?

Break into tears, run into the bathroom and hide, or swear at the muses and gods in general. Walk around, complain about how mindless, ignorant and uncultured the masses are. Plan global genocide, then after a few hours, I’m my old self again. Or, sketch out a novel, like Pyrpyx which is due out soon, then after writer’s block sets in, my art block is gone. See?

Birdrock 2

How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?

hmm… something in Pliny’s Natural History …Manuro de tabula? My Latin is bad. It means knowing when to take the hand away from the canvass. I’m a Virgo, I never know when; I have 30 different versions of most of my pictures.

Have you had exhibits in galleries?

Nope. Just Imagekind. I think POD is the way to go especially for people who can’t afford real world gallery space, or printers or Websites. CreateSpace is doing it for writer’s too. It’ 21st century commerce and I think it will work.

Have you any exhibits in galleries planned for the future?

Not at the moment.

What are your plans for the future?

Hit the lottery then head for the financial and/or worldy nuclear bomb shelter and wait out 2012, or whatever … and of course shoot more pix and make more art and make money?

What advice would you give new artists?

I know most “kids” new to art really don’t like the idea of starting from scratch, and sitting through 20 years of art classes with tyrants, but it’s worth the trouble. I really wish I had. (Think portraiture) 10,000 freaking pencils sketches first, if I see you with a brush in your hand I’ll smash your fingers!

Autumn Arise

Traditionalists may not be happy with it, but I love your digital paintings!! Thank you very much for being a part of 1stAngel Interviews

You can view more of Robbe’s images at Imagekind