Eric Petersen: âMy style is like a stock car in the desert with alien lightâ
Artistic medium:Â Digital
Displate: When and how did your adventure with art and creation begin? Have you always known that you wanted to be an artist?
Iâve been involved with art my entire life. My dad is an illustrator. My mom was a photographer. I went to school for art as well (B.A. from California State University Northridge with a concentration on graphic design, and continuing education at Art Center, School of Visual Arts, and The Cooper Union). I started making art in 2012 after moving to Olympia, Washington from NYC where I had been writing code for the websites of large corporations. I havenât always known that I wanted to be an artist, but I did know that it was within me.
D: How would you describe your artistic style? Itâs really coherent â schematic human figures, minimalistic compositions, vivid colours⊠Did your style evolve somehow over time or you knew from the beginning how it would look like?
My style is like a stock car in the desert with alien light. I knew a couple of things from the start that shaped it very quickly. I didnât want emotion or expression shown on charactersâ faces and I wanted a computerized feel that took the artistâs hand out of the equation (as much as I could while still getting the viewer to feel something). My first pieces were much more detailed with repeating lines. It has gotten more and more minimal since then. I am trying to open the field for imagination and not distraction. However, I donât like to lock myself in either. There is always room for change.
D:Â What would you say are your main sources of inspiration? Is there any artist in particular that inspires you?
I havenât really looked outward for sources of inspiration. My ideas come to me randomly and I write them down. Style-wise, I like the look and feel of old comics from the 1940s, video games, and instruction manuals. If I had to choose one artist, it would be Henri Matisse.
D:Â Why do you think you focus in your artistic creation only on humans?
I am human and I donât understand it. I enjoy thinking about it, and questioning the behavior of humans and how we interact with each other and ourselves.
D:Â How does the process of creation look like? How long does one of these illustrations take to complete?
I start with a visual idea that just comes to me at random and I write down a description of the scene and body positions. Then I build the scene in a 3D program, pose the characters and produce a render to draw from (this is to aid in perspective and human proportions â I want my images to look perfect and not look as if it were drawn by a human with inevitable mistakes). I draw the uniform width lines using BĂ©zier paths in Illustrator. I finish the color and texture in Photoshop. Lastly, I name the piece. The whole process takes me about a week which is mostly waiting for an idea (canât force this). The production part takes about 2-3 days.
D:Â You said that the characters and scenes you create are very minimalistic as you want to leave some space for the viewerâs own interpretation. What about the colours you use? How do you decide on the ones you use in a given piece?
My colors are me having fun. Pre-2012, I only liked making monochromatic images when I did any art - which was infrequent. I donât choose a color palette that is final from the beginning. I choose a base palette and then experiment with it in Photoshop until it feels finished.
D:Â Whatâs the coolest art tip youâve ever received?
The coolest art tip I ever received is the one I avoid now: âAlways make vector lines using BĂ©zier paths out of shapes. That way the lines have character.â I only use uniform width lines and do not use shapes. Doing the opposite helped create my style.
D:Â Do you have any particular art-related dreams youâd like to yet fulfil?
I would like to make screen prints. I have never done this before and have high expectations. I am currently learning about it and building what I need.
origamiaround
vaporwave
discoholicmusic
romaincrisis
jacobvanloon
annaxmalina
kianamaiart
kaledo-art