Lombi: Hey there and welcome to the interview. How are you today?
Ian: tired, I'm in the process of moving departments in my job and I'm discovering just how much junk I have acquired over the past 3 years...

Lombi: Alright, let's start off with you giving us a little bit of background info ... who you are, what you do, where you are fr0m, how old is your inner self, what your foot size is... that kind of thing :}
Ian: My name is Ian Field-Richards, I'm 29 and I live in the UK. I've been a professional graphic designer for around 8 years. My inner self is probably about 4 ½ ;) My interests include Mountain Biking, Digital Art, playing Guitar and breasts. Possibly not in that order though.

Lombi: How would you, in your own words, describe your style? What and who were your major influences in the development of that style? Does your soulmate have any bigger influences in what you do? Which artists do you admire and respect for what they do?
Ian: I find it really hard to pin down my style. I get bored really easily if I get stuck into one style so I try and do several different things to keep myself fresh. I'm sure that anyone looking at my work would be able to spot a style, I'd like to think that u could look at my work and say its recognisable as mine, but really I think its such a mixture of all the styles I love myself that its kinda hard to say.

My influences are very varied. Because of the job I do and the type of designer I am I act like a sponge, soaking up new techniques and styles and immersing myself in the digital genre. But there are a few artists who blow me away, Giger, Escher, Alan Lee, John Howe and others of that style. Also, I really get a kick out of surfing Deviant Art and seeing all the neat stuff on there which is evolving the scene everyday.

I admire any artist who can successfully draw freehand figures and light and shade and stuff without the use of reference or 3D stuff. I struggle with my freehand stuff and it frustrates the f00k out of me that I can't just digitally 'draw' anything I want to. Must be time for me to get a tablet I think....

Lombi: What kind of music do you listen to, when you work? What are your favourite bands/artists?
Ian: I mainly listen to rock and 'metal' when I'm working, but I have a huge range of styles on my MP3 rotation these days. I love anything that provokes an emotional response in me as that is generally when I'll be at my most creative. At the moment I have iTunes set to Random and its playing a selection of tunes fr0m Opeth, Devin Townsend, SYL, Steve Vai, Ozric Tentacles, Korn, American Head Charge, Tears for Fears, Unkle, Radiohead, Massive Attack, A Perfect Circle, Soilwork, Coldplay and Soundgarden. Quite a selection. If I want to really concentrate on a piece of artwork, or Ioose myself in something I tend to put on full albums rather than random. I couldn't imagine not creating without listening to music.

Lombi: A question everyone wants to know these days ... at what point did you want to become the artist you are now ... was there any breaking points or such? How did you get started in digital art?
Ian: I guess I always wanted to be an artist of some sort. I've dabbled with a number of mediums, learning airbrushing and painting when I first started and then moved into the digital medium when computers gained enough power to work in realtime. I suppose that its really only been the last year or so that I've truly gained the respect of the community for my work. Mainly because I've been putting more and more effort into it. Previously all my work was for print, so the online world of digital art has opened doorways to much, much more expressive pieces. Also, finally getting a website sorted helped give me the push to create stuff, even if it was to just create content for the website!

Lombi: The second most commont question out there (hehe) ... what software do you use in creating your artworks, how does the common process look like when you are creating a piece? Do you just see that software as purely a tool used to create or as something more? What kinds of media and techniques do you commonly like to use when you create a piece?
Ian: *gaH* I get asked this all the time!!!! Basically, I always use a number of packages to create my images. I very rarely only use one application to produce stuff. I think this is one of the common mistakes that people starting out make. You should NEVER rely on just the 3D package or whatever, you should always look at how you could improve or fix things or ADD with different apps. Each application has its strengths and weaknesses. The trick is to put things together to work on the strengths. For instance: I love the way Bryce renders reflective surfaces. Its not the greatest raytrace engine, but it can give you neat results in very little setup time. However, it is rubbish at creating anything other than primitive shapes (and its landscape creation is paperama) so I work up my meshes in 3D Studio Max and import them. This also solves the weaknesses of 3D Studio's scanline renderer. The two packages combined make for interesting results which are then worked up in Photoshop. I do around 90% of all the work in Photoshop these days. I love that package. I just start with basic 3DS renders or Bryce renders and let rip with Photoshop. Almost everything can be fixed with Photoshop. I'd be lost without it.

As to technique, I'm not really sure. I guess I have a few but its just part of the workflow. I tend to follow the same workflow paths every time. Which can be bad sometimes as I get stuck in a rut. But mostly the set up phase of the artwork follows the same process, leaving me with what I would describe as 'a good start' which I can then add polish to and work up into the finished piece.

I like software that I don't have to struggle against. Apps should be intuitive and allow the artist to create freely. Some packages infuriate the heck out of me, like Cinema 4D for instance. I really like the results this package gives, it's a very individual style (although on the flip side you can almost always spot a C4D render, which is a bad thing sometimes). However, even on my highend workstation it absolutely crawls along. Much too slowly for my patience to allow and I frequently give up because things are taking too long. Any artist that gets good results out of C4D has my respect cos they have obviously sat for HOURS setting it up.

Other packages I use on a regular basis are Poser (which I am surprised at just how good the results are), Vue D'Esprit, Terragen and a tiny bit of Maya (although I'm pretty much a 3DS user these days).

Lombi: When you create a piece what normally inspires your work?
Ian: Music. Emotional responses. Mad ideas that pop into my head. Seeing other artwork also inspires me to create. Sometimes though, I'll not set out to create anything, but something just kinda happens and I get into it and this is generally when my best stuff happens.

Lombi: When you are working on a piece, when do you know that it's finally done?
Ian: I never know really. I have a tendency to over cook my work. Generally by the time I think its finished its already too late LOL. I guess I work on gut feelings. Like how you know if its worth working on or worth finishing... you just react to it based on the piece.

Lombi: Tell me how was it like breaking into the digital art scene ... i know it's very hard for young and unknown artists to get their name out nowdays ... how was your experience like? What's the best advice you could give to someone who wants to break into the scene?
Ian: It was a struggle at first. Deviant Art was the best result for me. It has such a great community and I guess it all snowballed fr0m there. When I first joined no one looked at my stuff, but the more you put on it, the more you get noticed and I have been quite productive over the last year so it was kinda hard to ignore my stuff ;)
It helps a lot if you take part in the community too. Networking like that gets you more recognition than purely submitting stuff. You need to take part and BE part of the community to gain respect.
Ultimately you just have to keep at it. Believe in yourself and stick with it. If you love your art, someone else out there will too. Be true to yourself and always produce artwork for yourself. Let people like it for its honesty. Never try to be something you are not.

Lombi: I've asked you to choose 5 of your favourite artworks to be featured here along with this interview ... so tell me ... why do you like these 5 so much, what are the stories behind them?

Ian: Five fav pieces:
Outwardflight02 - this was my first ever Daily Top Favourite in Deviant Art and it was really the piece that raised my profile and started the ball rolling to where I am now. It was a Friday afternoon render in Bryce that I messed about with unsuccessfully for a while whilst trying to make an abstract fr0m... only I couldn't make it work right. So I changed tack and added the background blur and it all clicked fr0m there. Not really one of my *best* pieces, just one that has a special history to it
Lament of the Weary - My first fully freehand digital piece. Quite a milestone for me really. Also I did this a week or so before I got married during the most stressful time in the lead up to it. Several things had gone wrong in my life around then, both personal and work related and it really reflects exactly how I felt at that moment. I still really like the feel of this piece and I loved working with the reds and blacks.
Rustbucket Redux - This was a workup of a pencil sketch by an artist called Genesis. When I first saw his sketch I was immediately struck by it. There was no question of not working on this piece. So I did a few test pieces and ran them past Matt (Genesis) and he loved them so I went on to produce the full thing. I just love the feel of this piece and it allowed me to be a little less restricted than with my own art. It was a joy to work on and I still love looking at it now.
Quiet Times - I did a series of silly dragon piccies and this was the final one. I had the idea just pop into my head one day and I have to say I wasn't sure I could pull it of or not. There was a heck of a lot of work that went into that piece, creating the paper and the trousers and the room and stuff. Like any good piece of art it look like its always been there and you just take a picture of it or something. I learnt a lot of new techniques for this and really pushed my skills to finish it. A silly idea made flesh and it makes me giggle to see it finished.
Amnesia - One of my latest abstracts. I don't really like many of my abstracts, mainly because I feel I am still learning this style and I haven't settled on my own style yet. But this one worked quite unexpectedly really. Right up until it was finished I was struggling to make it work. But I changed a few minor details at the last minute and it all clicked into place. I like it more now because it is satisfying to see it completed. It was also the first abstract since Outwardflight02 to do well on Deviant Art, almost 9 months later...

Cricky, picking only 5 pieces out of over 150 I've done the past year alone.... That was a hard one. I could quite happily add another 5 LOL
The most frustrating bit about choosing 5 of your works is that you are torn between the stuff you really like, but no one else does and the stuff that everyone else likes and you cant figure out why....

Lombi: You are an admin in Guidance Counceling on deviantART. Tell us a bit about this project.
Ian: I'm an admin for it and I have a very active role in its upkeep. The project itself is about helping artists improve themselves and get help and advice fr0m experienced artists. They get 'adopted' by a more experienced person and they get a direct line to this person to ask questions and get tips and advice etc. It has been running since October 2003 and is extremely successful. I myself have adopted a number of people and the response is always good. I love taking part in this as I really feel I am helping people to progress and improve their techniques.

Lombi: So tell me ... how would you describe the digital art scene roughly around your location? I've heard many artists complain about almost complete ignorance towards digital art ... especially fr0m traditional artists, galleries and such. Your two cents?
Ian: Yep. Complete ignorance. If it wasn't for the net I don't think I would bother. It frustrates me that digital art is not seen as being anything close to 'traditional' art forms just because it was created on a computer. Yet I put as much, if not more time into my digital work as I ever did with my traditional stuff. There is a lot of stunning work out there in digital land. The sooner it is seen for what it is - truly amazing work - the better.

Lombi: What do you think about the whole online art community thing at the moment? Where would you like to see the future of art go? What are your plans for the future (except of course continuing to make such cool artworks)?
Ian: In general the online community is pretty good. Although it is sometimes a little clicky. Deviant Art is the best of the lot. GFX is elitist and Digital Art is currently underpopulated due to its rubbish submission policies.
No idea what I'd like to see in the future. I'm quite happy just doing my own thing really...

Lombi: You have a very nice website. Tell us a little bit about it ... what will we find there?
Ian: Lots and lots of my rubbish all in one place. I'd love to expand on it, but I'm not really sure what to do with it LOL. I would like the forums to be a little more active, but its early days yet.

Lombi: You wake up one day and find out that you have amazingly cool superpowers. What are they?
Ian: The ability to make money out of my art. No wait, that's not a superpower, I'd need to be a frickin' miracle worker.
Either that or immortality. Or a life time supply of chocolate. No wait... to fly.. no, x-ray vision.... *gaH*
/me goes off to become an evil genius bent on taking over the world MWHAHAHHAHA

Lombi: You find out that you will be relocated on a desert island tomorrow. You can only take one thing with you. What is the one thing you can't live without?
Ian: Ah crap... suppose I better say I'd take the wife...
Nah, bugger it, it would have to be my Guitar. It nags less ;)

Lombi: Err ... umm... any questions for me?
Ian: Nopster.

Lombi: Well, that's kinda the end of the interview. Thanks for taking the time, my friend. Any final words of wisdom you would like to share with us?
Ian: Warning, contents may settle in transit.