Behind The Screens: Interview With Fantasio

13 min read

Deviation Actions

DMD-CT's avatar
By
Published:
3.7K Views
Hello, and welcome to another edition of Digitalists new interview series:

Behind the Screens: Digital Art Masters


Through these interviews, we will get an in-depth look into the minds
and careers of DeviantART's most influential digital artists.

Today's featured artist is fantasio


:iconfantasio:

Oliver Wetter was born and raised in Trier, which is known to be the oldest city in Germany. He currently lives (and works) with his wife, kid and two cats in the countryside, not far from where he grew up. He works mostly as an illustrator for book covers and posters and also works as an art instructor. In addition, he writes about marketing and psychology on his blog, travels whenever possible and loves to collaborate on personal projects.

 
When did you first discover your passion for art? 

I think that began when I first discovered that my crayon scribbles on walls and windows did indeed upset my parents. In hindsight it seems I always enjoyed to see the reaction of viewers to my works. I believe this is still true today.

I see you are working on a series called "The Ancient Kaiju Project."
Can you explain to us what this series is all about?


This project is about a special learning experience, a tribute to popular culture and Hudson River artists. I was really looking to improve my creature painting and landscapes, so I decided to do that by painting monsters inside artworks of the old masters to learn from their strokes and lighting techniques. While doing so, I virtually gave that "thriftstore-painting" movement a try and digitally painted over well established landscape art.

To someone new, I explain it like this: The result of this project is similar to what Quentin Tarantino does with music in his movies. For example, in the movie Inglorious Bastards, where he used the song "Putting out fire" from Moroder/David Bowie to unforgettably underscore the scene where (*spoiler alert*) Shosanna prepares her revenge in order to burn the Cinema. That song had nothing to do with the movie as it was composed by Giorgio Moroder in 1981 (for a completely other movie) but it is a perfect example of putting together what does belong together - from a Directors point of view.

What is your favorite piece from your gallery and why?

There are many because there are many milestones. Like a diary entry, an artist has a lot of feelings and experiences that go into a work of art. In my gallery, a lot of works are also tributes or homages to other artists. The most important one to me is Corpus Delicti / Disquisition II as it is an intersection of many of the things I really love and also the one with the most tributes. In this particular work went some Olivia, Luis Royo, Nekro, Max Sauco and Michael Parkes.


As a professional digital artist, what advice can you give to those who are trying to become successful in the business?

That's a tough question, but a good one. I believe nurturing skills is essential, but so many forget that managing, communication, marketing and the person behind the art are equally as important as the work itself. Besides that, persistence and patience can go a long way and I mean that in every way imaginable. Lastly, the most important advice: Learn to program the right mindset, gestures and habits shape who you are and who you are going to be.


There are a lot of people in the community who think receiving a Daily Deviation 
is essential for achieving popularity on DeviantART. From experience, 
how much would you say getting awarded Daily Deviations has 
impacted your success on this site? 

While I think it is nice and appreciated to be featured in such a huge community, it should not be the single ultimate goal of any member, the same goes for pageviews in my opinion. When DeviantART shouts about a particular work on facebook or twitter it can have the same impact not directly on deviantArt but for the artists name in general. I have works in my Gallery that have even more views, comments and favs than all DD´s I have gotten. I´d say in the beginning and to help establish an artist on the community site, it is very helpful to get a daily deviation, specifically for fine artists, abstract works and literature this is true. Long time active members and fan-art centered artists should have no problem getting fans very fast and steady. I have a journal entry about how to get DD´s, maybe it is helpful to someone: fantasio.deviantart.com/journa…


Name three influential artists on DeviantART whose works 
inspire you and tell us why you look up to them.
He is one of my long time favorites and I follow him from early on. It is just amazing how he has progressed in the last 5 years or so. The intricate amount of detail and the constant quality is something I truly admire.

Unnamed by NekroXIII  Music for my eyes by NekroXIII    Steampunk  header design by NekroXIII

:iconsauco-m:
Also a long time favorite of mine, I love his ideas , the constructed surreal realities that all
seem to have a hidden meaning and it is hard to overlook the passion that goes in each
and every piece.


:iconkuvshinov-ilya:
I really like what he does: the strokes, the expression of his subjects, everything.
There is also a lot of passion and feeling going on that so many manga artists are
lacking and I believe it is exactly that which makes his work so popular.


Little Thoughts by Kuvshinov-Ilya   Red Flower by Kuvshinov-Ilya   Mathilda (Leon) by Kuvshinov-Ilya


Thank you fantasio for sharing your wisdom and experience with the community! 
Join us next week for another installment where we will be interviewing

sandara




© 2014 - 2024 DMD-CT
Comments7
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
fantasio's avatar
Thanks a lot, wishing you all the best!