Pascal Tremblay is a graphic designer / illustrator from Montreal. He has been working freelance for the past 11 years doing work for a wide variety of clients.

Pascal’s work has always been an introspective and personal way for him to express himself. He describes his work as a way to “define my emotions and thoughts in a way that when I look at it, I will know exactly how I felt at the moment I created it, but without making it definite for others.” In other words, though he has strong emotion connection with his work, it’s up to the person viewing it to decide what it means to her or him.

Different Skies

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

I was born in Germany but I pretty much consider myself 100% Canadian since I have lived here all my life almost. My dad was in the army so we moved around a lot and Germany was one of those places. I currently live in Montreal with my fiancee, Elaine. We’ve lived together here for 3 yrs and prior to this we lived in Malaysia for 18 months.

Amphitheatre

Arena

Birds

How would you describe your work?

That’s a good question because I never really think about stuff like that. I just like to start creating a piece and see where it leads me. I don’t really have a plan in what I do, I just let my intuition guide me. I think that, as a whole, my work could be described as a series of vague and fleeting expressions of myself. I like to keep the interpretation to the viewer and not pigeon-hole it into what I think it should be saying and, while it’s not a specific goal of mine, I do hope everyone can see a little something different in each piece. Over time I’ve been more and more abstract in what each art piece represents and my use of type has gone in the same direction.. Whereas before I might have put plainly the words I was thinking about, now they’re represented by a specific color or square, or whatever… So in a way I guess my work is a bit like an emotional puzzle to me. I always put a lot of myself into it and if I don’t feel anything intense I really cannot produce the kind of artwork I enjoy the most. That is probably why I can go for months without doing anything, I don’t force it.

Anchor

Focus

Heligoland Poster

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

I like to use a technique I coined “create and adjust”. It’s basically a semi-fancy term for “I just do whatever comes to me and then I arrange it all as I go to make it work together”. I really wish I could describe my process better but it’s really just improvisation each time. I don’t have a plan on and the more specific my concept I start with the more difficult it will be for me. If I keep it all flowing and organic it works much better. When it comes to client work I work differently and I can build towards a specific goal with no problems.. however with my personal artwork, it has to come naturally and on the fly.

Traffic

Windowcells

Are you a full time artist?

No, I do design mostly during the day but I also have other interests that are taking more of my time these days. I do feel the need to take a break from design recently. I’ve been doing this for almost 11 yrs and I need a break. I’d say art-making is the least time-consuming part of my work. Art doesn’t pay the bills unfortunately. It doesn’t pay anything actually and it’s not why I do it anyway.

Rainbow

How did you get started?

I started by dropping out of college and not knowing what to do with myself. Then I discovered Flash websites and it just gripped me. I had never had any interest whatsoever in art before this (although as a kid I would spend hours re-creating country flags with coloring pencils). I just stumbled into this dormant need to express myself, it was something completely new for me and I had finally found something I was passionate about. From there I kind of shifted from Flash to artwork and into print and web.

Unknown Sky

A Crowd

Any notable accomplishments?

Being able to make a good living off of freelance for 10 yrs is something I am proud of.. I still haven’t received my medal for it, which is very very disappointing.

Snow

Where can we find more info and keep up with your work?

Makeshift.ca is my personal portfolio, and while I don’t update it weekly or anything be assured there’s always something new in the works. Most of my work I don’t even post because the bill-paying stuff is rarely ever too exciting or mind blowing.

zero

Devils

What artists inspire you?

David Carson is the reason why I am here today doing what I do. Without him I would have never gone the path I chose. I’ve yet to met him. I do have an autographed Raygun magazine which I keep very dearly. It’s pretty much the only design publication I own.

Blur52

Jasmine Becket-Griffith is a world renowned Gothic and fantasy artist. You can find her unique style of fairy, fantasy and Gothic artwork in galleries, books and even big name retail stores across the country. Her characteristic style has a dark yet beautiful aspect to it that blends the mysterious with the dreary. You can see all of Jasmine Becket-Griffith’s work on her personal site, strangeling.com.

Jasmine Becket-Griffith is a full-time artist who makes her living selling her artwork. She has been selling her original Fairy, Gothic, and Fantasy artwork online since 1997. Often growing weary of the mundane world, Jasmine Becket-Griffith tries to slowly create her own through her fantasy artwork. Jasmine believes that with each piece of art she gets out of her system, onto paper, and into your home she has done her part to make this place a more magical planet.

Steampunk Alice in Wonderland: Alice & Mad Hatter

1. How did you become an artist? You have been selling online since 1997, what made you decide to take the leap?

I’ve always been an artist really, since I was a little girl. I was always the one at school sitting in the back of the class, drawing pictures all day. As a student I always enjoyed art contests and student shows, it was the only thing I really enjoyed about school. 1997 was the year I graduated high school, and it was that summer I decided to try to start taking my art seriously as a career. I was working at Dairy Queen and knew I wanted to try to pursue something more creative. The internet was new to me then (new to a lot of people actually!) and I immediately saw it as a wonderful visual medium to show the world my paintings! My dad got me a scanner for my birthday, and I used it to scan in my paintings and put them online.

Autumn Mermaid

2. Who is your inspiration? What keeps you making art?

I make art because I have to. I’m an obsessive person, and art is my compulsion. I sometimes begin to feel physically ill if I haven’t painted a painting yet that day. My hands don’t know what else to do with themselves! My paintings are very much how I express myself, I am not a very social person but I have a very rich inner world, and I share that part of me by painting my ideas and showing them to the rest of the planet. Almost all of my paintings are self-portraits in a way – the characters I paint are caricatures of myself in fantasy environments that are pure escapism for me. I don’t think I would live a very fulfilled life if I didn’t spend the vast majority of my time painting. And of course – as art is my only job, and my husband and my brother-in-law all work for me as their sole sources of income as well, that is a huge inspiration as well, hehe. Knowing my artwork has to support three households directly is a serious thing to consider. There are also dozens of people behind the scenes who work for the licensing & merchandising companies – my art is a big part of their livelihoods as well, so that is a big responsibility.

It's All About the Cats

3. What is your process?

I wake up every morning and do my daily exercise routine at 6:30am, eat breakfast, and then I paint until noon, have lunch, and then paint until about 10:00pm and eat dinner. I do this every day. Typically I finish a painting in a day’s worth of time, and then I scan it in and post it that night. I only take days off I have family in town visiting, or if I have an art show, or if I’m out of town. My husband works alongside me as my assistant and follows the same schedule. He makes my picture frames, processes orders, and handles the shipping and other mundane aspects of it all. We are hard workers – there are no evenings & weekends, hehe.

Wizard of Oz: Off to See the Wizard

As far as my painting process goes – first I picture the painting in my head. I usually think it up while exercising in the morning – by the time I’m taking a shower I already can see the painting in my head. Then after breakfast, I prime the piece of wood, canvas, or masonite I am using. Mostly these days I paint on wood. I only use acrylic paints, and I do it the old fashioned way – only my fingers, paintbrushes, paint & water. I usually begin with a several layers of neutral ground to create a smooth surface and a good starting point. Then with a dark neutral color (typically an umber) of paint mixed with a LOT of water, I begin scribbling out a very rough sketch with a skinny paintbrush. I don’t sketch with pencil since that makes everything all grey and gunky, just thinned paint with water. At this point it’s not much more than a stick figure and some vague shapes. Then I go in with darker paint and a thinner brush and make a much more refined sketch – almost like a drawing – this provides a good basis for the painting and I can still change stuff around at this point since I can always refine things with opaque paint. Then I begin painting my layers – I paint with just a few drops of acrylic paint dissolved in water – hundreds of impossibly thin layers by the time I’m done. I start with shadow areas, giving it all a sense of depth – that way my brain knows where to put the highlights later. I don’t ever use colours straight out of the bottle, I mix my own. I don’t really blend on the canvas, just mix slightly different shades and layer them transparently after the previous layer dries. I use my fingers to smudge it around to keep things from getting streaky. I then go in with colors, starting with darker more opaque colors and finishing with brighter, more transparent shades. Finally I add highlights, considering the light source within the setting of the painting. Then when it’s all done, I scan it in and show it to my online friends & fans! Then I put a coat of varnish and add a hanger or have my husband frame the finished piece.

Raised by Wolves - Wolf Series

4. Who is your target audience? What do you do to market to them specifically?

I don’t have a target audience. Or rather, my target audience is ME – I paint what I like, and am just happy if other people find enjoyment in it as well! I do not have any particular demographic when it comes to fans of my artwork. Children love my work, and I have a lot of fans in the teen/young adult age group, but many of my collectors are adults (some even in their 90s!). Though nearly all of my paintings feature female characters, the proportion of female/male collectors of my paintings is about 50/50. Between a third and a half of my customers & collectors live overseas, all over the world. On a single day we’ll sometimes be shipping to over a dozen countries. I don’t market anything specifically – I just put my work out there for the world to see, and hopefully folks like it!

Marie Antoinette Masquerade

5. Do you participate in Galleries and Shows?

Most traditional galleries don’t really allow fantasy art, so I haven’t gotten into that scene much. I do however do several shows a year – the Celebration Florida Spring Arts Festival is in my hometown, and that’s a great place for me to showcase my original paintings. Each year I do the Art Show at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, FaerieCon in Baltimore, and MegaCon in Orlando. I really enjoy science fiction/fantasy conventions like these and it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet my fans as well!

Steampunk Alice in Wonderland: Alice in Clockwork

6. Your work has been sold on Merchandise at a variety of retailers, how did you create those partnerships?

I have licensed my artwork with dozens of companies. I’ve never created any of the partnerships myself, rather they have always approached me out of the blue and asked me. Typically the art director or licensing agent for a company comes across my work online (usually through my website or online galleries), or in books, magazines, at trade shows, or through other merchandisers. They’ll usually send me an email with a proposal and we’ll negotiate a contract for whatever merchandise line they are interested in producing. I send them the image files and sign the contract, and then they handle the rest. For this a small percentage of sales is sent to me as a royalty payment. I really love it when people license my work because it allows me to share my paintings with the world in ways I wouldn’t have been able to do just as a lone painter. For example companies like the Bradford Exchange, Hamilton Collection, and Ashton-Drake have licensed my paintings and characters for tremendous lines of collectibles like statues, figurines, dolls and other three-dimensional interpretations of my artwork and sell them all over the world! It is wonderful to have teams of talented people working on my behalf and handling the production and marketing of my babies! It is a terrific way to help expand my world while still letting me stay home and paint all day, hehe. Or for example California Costumes has a great new line of Jasmine Becket-Griffith Halloween Costumes out this fall – they’ve done a gorgeous job of creating fairy and fairytale costumes licensed from my artwork – which is something I would never have had time or the production facilities to do on my own. Licensing can also be a phenomenal inspiration for me as an artist – I have been co-licensing Jasmine Becket-Griffith/Disney merchandise with Disney – I was thrilled to create my own Jasmine Becket-Griffith style Tinker Bells, and Disney Princesses for upcoming merchandise lines. Sometimes it really is like a dream come true!

Koi Pond Mermaid

7. Do you belong to any social networks such as facebook or myspace? How is it working for you?

Oh yes, I am on LiveJournal (Jasminetoad), on MySpace (Jasminetoad), Facebook (Strangeling), Twitter (Jasmine Becket), and others. It’s often the only communication I have much with the world outside my painting desk. In addition to just human correspondence and keeping up with family, it’s also a great place to share my artwork and new projects with fans. For example on Facebook I have a Mobile Uploads folder where I post work-in-progress shots of each painting while I work – I snap shots with my iPhone camera and post them online all day – from the new blank canvas to the finished painting! I also post my new merchandise lines there, keep folks updated when I have Art Shows coming up, or new books out, etc. It’s a great way for collectors to keep up with me!

A Ferret and His Fairy

8. You live in Celebration, Florida how does being so close to Disney World impact your art?

I love Celebration, it is a great town. It was built & designed by the Walt Disney company and is a work of art in itself. I am a big Disney fan! I would say that I do indeed get a lot of inspiration from the fantasy and whimsy of Disney World. Walt Disney himself is a big inspiration to me as well, and I think about him a lot. The parks and surrounding areas are beautiful and I am always inspired by the man-made aesthetics as well as the natural beauty of the flowers, woods and swamps of where I live. Oddly enough, my living here doesn’t have anything to do with my collaboration with Disney merchandising, it’s just coincidental (I do all that stuff via email).

Sewer Mermaid

9. What do you do when you are not making art?

I travel! Seeing the world is very important to me. I get a tremendous amount of inspiration by traveling. Since I work (ie, paint) pretty much 24/7 and do not take off for weekends or evenings, once a month or so I shut down for a few days, grab my backpack and my husband and skip town. In the past year I’ve been to Mexico, Germany, Japan, Colorado, Paris, the Bahamas, I forget all the places I’ve been lately. Often I combine it with a business trip or an art show, and in truth I do spend a lot of time drawing or doing work online remotely, but it is great to get out and see the world. I live very strangely, sometimes I’ll fly to Europe for two days just to visit arn art museum, then not leave the house for two weeks, and then go spend a few days in the Caribbean drawing mermaids. Sometimes I think I go to the airport more than I go to the grocery store.

Lady with a Bosch Egg (a Hieronymus Bosch tribute)

10. What are your favorite pieces on Imagekind?

Oooh! That’s a tough one! Let me see – three of my all-time favorites are my Marie Masquerade, my Alice and the Mad Hatter, and then maybe my Allura, but my favorites change all the time!

Dennis Mash has been making works of art using non-traditional techniques for decades now. His ideas and techniques have evolved over the years, but he has carved a niche for himself with his gorgeous x-ray images of shells, sea life, and everyday objects. Dennis was kind enough to share his image making methods and his marketing ideas with our blog readers!

The Inside Nature Gallery is a collection of shells and sea life from oceans around the world, all of which have very cool looking internal designs. When friends or clients would see my work, they would come up with other ideas for me to X-Ray. The Inside Design Gallery represents those ideas. I am currently the President of Medical Insights Inc., specializing in consulting, integration and implementation of solutions for the diagnostic imaging market. I continue to work at a local hospital to keep up my diagnostic skills and look for new subjects.

1). How did you start making these types of images?

It’s not like I discovered this technique – other people have done similar things before. When I was in the Navy, my friend Lynn Walsh had the idea. We were both in special procedures – specifically looking at arteries with an x-ray. One day, Lynn said “Hey! Why don’t we x-ray this shell?” We were always looking for new ways to make a little money, and when we saw the images we knew we could sell them matted and framed.

2). What techniques do you use to get your images? How has your technique evolved?

The technique was originally a combination of Radiography and Radiographic film processing. (By the way, a Radiograph and an X-ray are the same thing.) At first, it was trial and error. We were using film, and developing the films in the radiology darkroom to create a negative. We varied the exposure till we got just the right contrast and gray scale to show all the internal dimensions of the shells. The next step would be to go into the darkroom and combine the negative with a piece of subtraction film. Subtraction film gives you a positive image, with a clear background. The original images were the actual films mounted onto a white pebble background, giving it a sense of depth. It looked more like a pen and ink drawing than an x-ray. I taught myself to do matting and framing, and when put all together it looked really neat. This is how I created my prints until 1980.

Chambered Nautilus Perspectives

In 1980, I started working with Andy Reisberg, owner of Photographic Archives in Dallas, Texas. Andy had seen my work and suggested I collaborate with him to take my art in a different direction. He turned my films into gorgeous silver-gelatin prints, sometimes sepia or selenium toning them. We focused on my 13 most popular pieces. Andy and I really collaborated on the process to get the artistic results that I wanted.

Later on, I had my negatives scanned to make giclee prints. I now use different digital techniques to put the images together as collages.

3). What post processing work do you do them?
After scanning, I clean up the backgrounds so they are pure white. If the image is not toned, I will apply a duo-tone filter in Photoshop. It’s a very time intensive process to get it looking just right!

Pacific Crab

4). How do you choose your images? What are you favorite subjects to work with, and why?
When I first starting making these images, I was in San Diego. Everywhere you looked there were shell shops. Shells were easy enough to get my hands on, and they were gorgeous as well.

I’ve x-rayed many other items as well, though, mostly at the suggestion of family and friends. One year, I made an x-tray of penny loafers for a shoe company that presented at the Apparel Mart in Dallas. They put up the images in their showroom. It was a different, fun advertisement for the shoes. The musical instrument images that are in my gallery were borrowed from a band store in Dallas, and I just paid them back in images!

I prefer working with shells though, but maybe I have just been pursuing them longer. I’ll x-ray pretty much anything!

5). What was the catalyst to sell your images as fine art?
As soon as I saw the first image that we made, I knew I could sell it. Once I saw the finished framed and matted product, I knew that others would want to buy it and they did. It was fine art from the beginning. I try to connect my art to every aspect of my life. It has become the thread that connects my artistic side to my professional life.

Shark Jaw Smiling

6). Do you show your work in galleries? Do you participate in shows and competitions?
I am still represented by the Photographic Archives Gallery in Dallas, Texas. I participated in a number of competitions in the early ‘70s, but I hate to say it, I just don’t have time anymore. My main focus is getting my internet presence worked out and developing my online marketing plan. I might participate in more competitions and shows in the future.

7). You send out some interesting material to your buyers and fans. Can you tell us more about it?
I travel a lot, and wanted former clients and potential clients to have a way to easily see my artwork in my Imagekind galleries. So, I created a marketing email that I sent out to my email list that showed examples of my various pieces matted and framed.

I also designed a CD that I would give out at any Radiologic meetings that I would go to, and I think most radiologists would be interested in my work. I designed the CD in PowerPoint, and built a slideshow to showcase my images. I even added a little jazz music that plays in the background. One thing I learned is that a lot of people are not comfortable with just sticking a CD in their computer, and going to find the drive, and then the file to get it to play. I took that advice to heart and bought an auto-play program so that the CD plays automatically as soon as it is put in the disk drive. The CD boots up with a menu of options, including buttons linking to my Medical Insights web site and my Imagekind galleries.

Basket Starfish Sepia

I really like to have options for those that can’t afford to buy a print. My work is really popular as greeting cards. The greeting cards at Imagekind are great quality, and that’s what I use today when giving out samples of my work. I always give a box of greeting cards to the Radiology departments after an installation. I think it’s important to reach out to those that would be interested in your work.

8). How did you decide on Imagekind for printing?
I started using Imagekind after searching for a way to output my digital files. It’s also really convenient to have my images available on the internet without building a big website. I don’t need printing experience or a lot of money to sell excellent quality images – the printing is great! I knew it would be a great way to market my work for the future, and I found it at the right time.

Precious Wentletrap Shell

9). What do you do when you are not making art?
Currently, I am the President of Medical Insights Inc. I still work in the hospital as a Diagnostic Radiologic Technologist part time. I’m married and we have 3 sons. If I’m not traveling for my job I am working on my website and projects.

10). Who is your favorite artist on Imagekind (besides yourself!)
To be honest with you, its hard to answer, because I just haven’t had the time to look at everything! I can’t possibly give you a favorite because I haven’t looked at everything. I do have to say that I look at all the artists who have become my fan, and all of them are extremely talented. I really think there is a ton of great talent on Imagekind, and if my work isn’t quite right for someone, I will always recommend my fellow Imagekind artists.

Trivia Tuesday is a weekly feature where I try and stump our readers with interesting art facts. Test your knowledge of the art world and let’s see if you have what it takes to be an art master.

• HD paul blart mall cop

Question: The world record for the most expensive photograph ever sold was shot by photographer Edward Steichen in 1904 of a pond in Long Island, New York and was sold in February 2006. How much did the photograph sell for?

Camera by Cool Art Cool Gifts

[poll id="16"]

**polls close next Tuesday, 6/2/09 and the correct answer will be shared then.

Last week’s poll answer: True; Art has surpassed the stocks.

Welcome to our series of interviews with some of our favorite member artists on Imagekind. They may be best sellers or up-and-coming artists. We hope that you can learn from these members and find some great new artists to love!

Second in our series is Imagekind artist Patrick Morand. When he isn’t making beautiful photographs for select clients, Patrick is taking gorgeous landscape pictures of France. He uses unique angles and processing to give his images their signature look. Patrick was kind enough to answer a few short questions for us.

Born in 1966 in the French Alps. Scientific studies and graduated as a software and network engineer.Worked as a software project manager for a company during a few years and rapidly decided to be self employed. Nature lover always, spent more than 20 years climbing rocks across the European continent. – Patrick Morand

1 ) When did you first realize that you wanted to be a photographer?

Not sure when I decided, but I remember how it happened. A friend who was kind of a garden designer offered to pay me for taking photographs of his garden work. As I was self employed, it was not a problem and so the story started like that …

2 ) You are a professional photographer for a living. How is your professional work different from your artistic work?

In what you call my artistic work I mostly do natural landscapes. In my day job I photograph many things:

- Garden, swimming pools, villas. This is very similar to my landscape work. Villas interiors, a few portraits, industrial processes, physical experimentations, paintings, etc.

In my landscape work I’m totally free to decide how I’ll shoot the scene, in my day job sometimes the client lets me have freedom and sometimes he doesn’t.

Sunflowers field in the storm light - Provence

3 ) What gives you inspiration to make your work?

Nature first, but also some painter’s works, and other photographer’s works.

4 ) Do you show your photographs at any galleries?

Yes, a few along the Mediterranean coast. My dream would be to run my own gallery. I know where it would be, but I still have to wait a few more years.

5 ) What is your online presence?

The first place is my french website patmo.net where I show a part of my stock. It’s only about my personal work, not about my day job because this one runs mostly by “bouche à oreille”.

Then comes my English blog: french-landscapes.blogspot.com

I’m also on Imagekind, Twitter, Flickr and a few other art sites …

Orange dawn - Provence

6 ) What equipment (camera, lights, processing programs) do you use to take your pictures?

I mainly use my Nikon DSLR. Some studio lights for portraits, interior shots or paintings. Some flashes also. I also use many types of software. Mainly SilkyPix, PTGui, Photomatix and PictureWindowPro.

7 ) Did you ever use film? How have your photographs changed since you have started taking pictures digitally?

Yes, black and white negative films a long time ago and I loved processing them in my own darkroom. Color slides (mainly Fujifilm Velvia) for landscapes. I loved (and still do) medium and large format film cameras.

About changes, I don’t really know. I think I experiment more with digital cameras. No film costs of course but a huge time to spend on the computer (and that’s a real cost).

8 ) What is your favorite photograph that you have made?

Difficult question, it changes every day!  I can cite these two :

Mediterranean vapors - Le Pradet - Provence

Clouds over Toulon in Provence

9 ) Who is your favorite artist (besides yourself!) on Imagekind?

Another difficult one. The answer is Mike Dawson.

10 ) Thanks for taking the time to tell us about yourself, Patrick! Your photographs are breathtaking, and we certainly hope to see more soon!

Thank you!

Natural threat - Mediterranean seascape - Provence