Interview with Phoenix

Published    31st December, 2018

Could you tell us something about yourself?

My name is Phoenix and I’m a traditional and digital artist.

Do you paint professionally, as a hobby artist, or both?

I am working my way to becoming a professional concept artist, but for now, it is a hobby.

What genre(s) do you work in?

I tend to work in multiple genres mixed together. Sometimes it’s botanical and sci-fi, and other times it’s all my ideas thrown onto paper then into the computer.

Whose work inspires you most — who are your role models as an artist?

An artist that really inspires me is Alphonse Mucha. I really love his take on women and plants. He was great at keeping a constant warm colour scheme in his works.

How and when did you get to try digital painting for the first time?

About three years ago, I met someone who was also into art. Their art was beautiful and they pushed me to do better. I slowly got better over time with them as an inspiration. Early 2018, I traded some cheap alcohol based markers for their old Wacom tablet. I have been doing digital and traditional ever since.

What makes you choose digital over traditional painting?

I don’t choose between digital and traditional because I use traditional sketches to make my digital pieces. Digital is cleaner than traditional, which is more appealing to the human eye.

How did you find out about Krita?

I found out about Krita because I wanted a free software that would do what I wanted. Also, there is a dark theme, so it is easier on my eyes at night.

What was your first impression?

My first impression of Krita was excitement because I just kept messing with all the cool brushes and tools.

What do you love about Krita?

What I love about Krita is that it doesn’t take up that much RAM compared to other softwares I have used. It makes it really easy to record speedpaints for YouTube.

What do you think needs improvement in Krita? Is there anything that really annoys you?

Brush processing is a pain at times, but that can be blamed on my lower spec PC. There’s a few bugs, but that happens with every software out there and no one can avoid it.

What sets Krita apart from the other tools that you use?

What sets Krita apart is that its brushes and other tools are a lot cleaner to use compared to other software I have used.

If you had to pick one favourite of all your work done in Krita so far, what
would it be, and why?

My most recent work that I made. I titled it Watch and Burn. The reason I love it so much is because I finally was able to keep a very consistent colour scheme.

What techniques and brushes did you use in it?

I used a traditional sketch that was in blue pencil, then edited it in a photo software to make it crisp looking. I put it in Krita and used the multiply blending mode, so you could see the sketch. The last thing I did was colour with a basic ink brush and blended with the blender blur tool.

Where can people see more of your work?

People can see more of my work on these platforms:
– Instagram
– Twitter
– YouTube

Anything else you’d like to share?

Please continue developing Krita because this is the most friendly art software I have ever used in a long time. Also, art can be hard, but people should continue even if they are in a rut.