What would you say your biggest influences are in your art?

Music and movies inspire me most of all. Matte painting is my favorite genre at the moment, so I really enjoy the epic scenery in films, as I hope to be able to create works like that myself one day. I like reading books, so I draw a lot of inspiration from them as well.

How does an illustration come to you? Do you just get random ideas, see something and riff on it, etc.?

Usually the ideas come to my head randomly. There are fairly creative phases, but also months of total lack of inspiration. Unfortunately, I can’t force it. That’s not a big problem though, as it’s just a hobby of mine. Besides, it distracts too much from my studies for university. :)

What medium do you prefer to work in?

I’m definitely all for digital art, as most of my work is based on photo-manipulation. To be able to mix different media and images in Photoshop is very convenient, as well as the ability to simply save and erase. Of course I enjoy all kinds of art forms, though. At least looking at them.

How did you start out as an artist?

I had an internship with a design agency many years ago. That’s where I first got to know Photoshop. From there, I registered with different art sites, for instance deviantart.com. The interaction with and critique from other artists really motivated me to keep going and improve my Photoshop skills.