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1) Do you believe a good artist is born with talent or
do they have to work to learn it?
I believe there are always people that are born with
natural talent – a gift for drawing, an eye for color
or composition, talent with a brush, etc. – but if
someone is not graced with these gifts, they can most
definitely learn. Focused application of will and
steady practice can take the place of natural talent.
The only things you need to be born with to be an
artist are an imagination and a passion to
create…everything else can be learned, practiced and
perfected through time and hard work.
2) How do you best manage to carve out time for art in
the midst of your busy life?
I work the usual Monday through Friday 8:00-5:00 gig,
so any art I do has to fit in around the evening and
weekend chores and errands. I fit in a couple of hours
during the evenings (on the nights I don’t have TV, so
Wednesdays are out due to “Lost” *grin*), and I’ll
usually dedicate one weekend day to painting, while I
do all my running around on the other day. I am lucky
to have a supportive family that understands there are
times when I will lock myself away in my room and paint
for hours at a time. ;P
3) Do you, as an artist, believe that you can
contribute to changing the world in some way?
Yes, I
do believe that. Art is a funny thing…it is very
personal, and the joy of creating it is a satisfaction
unto itself; however, the sharing of art can lead to
something that is so much greater than just the bond
between the artist and their creation. Even if it just
brings a simple smile to someone’s face for only a
moment, if someone looks at my art and feels anything,
I am reaching out to the world, and yes, changing
it…hopefully for the better! 
And, of course, when
artists band together for causes, we can make a very
real difference by contributing our art to help
charities around the world.
4) Of all your art, is there one particular piece that
you strongly connect to?
Not necessarily your favorite
piece, just one that strikes a chord with you. “Love Notes” is my current favorite painting of mine,
but “Rowena” is the painting I feel the strongest
connection with. I painted “Rowena” over a year ago,
and have painted more technically superior pieces since
then, but still to this day, I look at her and am
struck by her eyes and mysterious smile. She was my
very first painting that I felt was imbued with a soul
and she will always hold a special place in my heart.
5) Do you consider yourself to be a prolific artist?
Approximately how many new pieces of art do you produce
in a year?
I am definitely not as prolific as I would like to
be…my full-time job sees to that. I manage to do two
or three paintings a month, and if I produce at least
24 paintings per year, I’m happy. I did 25 paintings
in 2005.
6) In terms of promoting yourself and your art, what
seems to have worked the best for you?
I have not yet done a focused marketing campaign for my
art so I don’t really feel qualified to answer that
question. When I put myself out there, though, I plan
on doing as many art shows and conventions as I can,
since I know this is a great way to show off your art
and get people to sign up for your newsletter. I will
also advertise in various fantasy genre publications
and go around to local new age shops and show them my
portfolio in hopes of getting some wholesale orders. I
may also explore some licensing options. Internet
marketing is all very well and good, but it cannot be
your only method of spreading word of mouth and
building your fan base.
7) If you could take a sketch book and travel to any
place in the world, where would you choose to go to be
inspired the most?
I have always longed to go to Britain and visit her
ancient sites, historical castles, rolling hills, and
beautiful cottage gardens with sketch book in hand.
The artistic inspiration to be found there would be
tremendous, and one day I hope to be able to go for an
extended stay.
What are your artistic goals for 2006?
My goals for 2006 are to invest more time and money
into marketing my art, both on the web and locally.
2005 was all about learning, building my portfolio,
making contacts and buying art supplies and office
equipment. Now that I feel I have a solid base to work
from, my goals are definitely focused on promotion and
seeing where this wonderful world of fantasy art will
take me!
9) Looking back over the year 2005, would you have done
anything differently?
I would have definitely worked harder to offer more
products than just prints, bookmarks and cards. Key
chains, tiles, mugs, journals, boxes, magnets, etc, all
sell well and are more useful than prints that can only
be hung on a wall or put away in a drawer or scrapbook.
Making an effort to diversify my selection of products
would have almost certainly yielded better sales, but
because I didn’t do the legwork this year to make the
proper contacts and find suppliers, it is something
else that has to go on my 2006 to-do list.
10) Have you learned one particular tip or technique
that you feel has made you a better artist?
If so, can
you share it with us?
I work predominately in watercolor, and one of the
techniques I love to employ is wet-on-wet blending. I
get a lot of compliments on my subtle shading,
especially on my portraits, and it’s accomplished by
blending wet colors over many layers. For example, on
my faces I lay down a light wash of flesh tone, which I
do allow to dry completely, but then once my darker
follow-up layer of flesh tone is applied, I immediately
add a layer of sepia, blending out from the darkest
point. If it’s too dark, I stroke with a clean wet
brush in the opposite direction blending back up to the
original starting point. Lather, rinse, repeat until
done! *grin* (I usually do about 5-8 layers before I
feel I’m finished.) Keeping the paper wet allows for
soft graduations that add an almost airbrush quality to
the piece. For highlights I rarely mask out white
areas, but instead lift the colors in the places I want
with a cotton ball or q-tip. This works well and keeps
the overall soft feeling of the piece, but you have to
know where you want to do it, because it does wear away
at the surface of the paper and repainting to correct a
mistake will look blotchy.
11) Tell me a little about your creative process. What
steps do you take to create a work of art?
First, of
course, is the germination of an idea, which can come
from anywhere. A picture or scene will catch my eye,
or a word or phrase will catch my fancy. Once an idea
is planted, then I work on taking reference photos…I do
not have the drawing skills yet to get proportion,
depth perception or lighting right without reference
pictures, so I assemble the shots I need and put them
together like a puzzle on the computer to achieve a
general layout. Then after I’ve sketched out the
complete painting, I transfer it to the watercolor
color paper. Now the fun really begins! As much as I
enjoy drawing up ideas in my mind, my true love is the
painting itself. I will sit at my art desk, with my
dog snoozing under my chair, listening to a movie
soundtrack (usually Hans Zimmer or Howard Shore) and
sigh in contentment as layer after layer of paint
slowly develops a two-dimensional collection of lines
into a living, breathing painting.
12) Do you feel artists should sell their originals
cheaply at first or hold out until they are more
popular?
I feel that artists should hold on to their originals
until they can command a better price. Unless you are
pressed for space and have to sell them to make room,
why not store them until you’ve built a fan-base? I
have yet to sell any of my originals (although I have
given a couple as gifts). There are a few of them that
I don’t want to part with at any cost, and there are
others that I am just holding on to until I can get a
fair price. I believe that 2006 might see me placing a
couple of my originals up for sale.
13) Do you take part in any art shows or conventions?
If you do, can you share any tips on getting started in
these venues?
I have yet to take part in any art shows or
conventions, although where I live does afford me that
opportunity when I am ready to take it. I first have
to build up enough inventory of a variety of items to
display in my booth and I need to decide on how my
booth will look. Yet another thing on my 2006 to-do
list! I did help work a booth at a wholesale tradeshow
this year, though, and from that experience learned
that I will always wear fairy wings…my coworker and I
got so much attention from them and it was a simple
matter to steer people from the wings to our art and
our e-mail sign-up sheet. Never be afraid to be
flamboyant! ^_~
14) Tell us about the newest members of your
family….(Your BJDs!)
Hee hee. *grin* I have recently
become completely enamored of Asian ball-jointed
dolls…they are fully posable, beautiful and
wonderfully customizable dolls. My current family
consists of Sybilla (CP Lishe), Ophelia (CP Miyu),
Devlin (Volks Heath), Alexis (CP Breakaway) and Jabari
(CP Tan El). I order them without the factory make up
so I can do them myself, and I just love painting my
dolls’ faceups. I also really want to learn how to sew
because I have so many costumes I want to create for
them. So not only are these dolls beautiful and full
of personality, but they are useful as well…I have
already employed Sybilla as one of my models on a
painting and plan on putting the others to work in the
same capacity soon! ^_^
Name: Deborah Grieves
Website: http:/
www.cynnaliafantasyart.com
email: deborah AT cynnliafantasyart.com
DeviantArt: http://cynnalia.deviantart.com/
ArtWanted: http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=15296
LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/cynnalia/
Epilogue: http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/list.pl?gallery=11915
