Interview with the 2nd place winner of Derby 70
mamaGiraffe has been actively participating for only a short-time and just made a big splash with her first print. Here's more about her.
Shirt.Woot Stats? (first derby / shirts bought / shirts printed)
43 (Slogans) / 4 / 1. Well, my first derby was the text only derby but both of mine got rejected, so let's not count that. I had a baby in June so I wasn't keeping up with the derbies for a while. My next derby was Autumn (Derby #60 in September). You can see two of my entries in my signature. I had 2 entries in the Movie titles derby, and one in the art as text derby as well. I got votes and nice comments, but nowhere near enough to win.
What are you tools of choice?
I usually work by hand and scan things in. I'm still learning how to use
Photoshop so I'm pretty slow. But it's definitely coming along. I'd like to get a
tablet and try it out.
What is your typical process for going about a design?
Draw out the basics, scan it in, finish in Photoshop. Or sometimes I use one of my previously done pieces and re-vamp it to fit the derby, or to make it t-shirt worthy/printable. Like the fall leaves....it was originally hand printed using stone lithography, then in Photoshop I separated colors, added stripes, etc.
What design or art experience do you have outside the derby?
I have a BFA degree. I only took one computer art class though, so that's why I'm still trying to get the hang of Photoshop. In school, I did mostly printmaking, and a bunch of drawing, painting, sculpture, etc.
Which artists or designers inspire you?
My grandmother was an
artist. Of course I admire her work. And I'm grateful to have received her artistic DNA! Also, I like Chuck Close.....I've done a lot of paintings using his "optical mixing" idea. I find M.C. Escher's work intriguing.....he must have had a complex imagination and sense of design to create all those optical illusions! And of course, I also like the typical Monet, Van Gogh, Homer, Warhol, etc, etc.
Would you like to do art/design full-time? If so, what is your dream job?
I don't know about full time....my baby is my full time job now. I do want to be able to create and sell my artwork still....the idea is to be able to successfully work from home and stay home with the kid.
Any plans to ever sell your designs using a print-to-order shop like SpreadShirt or CafePress?
I haven't really looked into it, but I'd like to. I do art festivals in the summer and it would be fun to have t-shirts to sell in my booth too. I also have a
portfolio site.
What advice do you have for new derby artists?
I am a relatively new derby artist, so I'll take any advice anyone can give me. The only thing I can advise is get your design in early....no later than Sunday I would say....or else there isn't enough time to generate enough votes.
