I’ve been drawing ever since I could fathom the notion of creating something just by thinking of it. Basically for me, an artist has the power to create anything they want. That’s a power that most artists take for granted. I get discouraged and frustrated doing artwork that’s based too much in our notion of reality. I like to have fun with my art, and explore my imagination rather than draw what I see every day.

Of course I do understand the importance of drawing what you see, you can learn so much more from life than you can from some book telling you how to draw. Using life as a model I like to expand upon it and add my own aesthetics to make it more personal to me. As far as subject matter the human figure is still my favorite thing to draw. There are way too many intricacies that are there to explore.

Mythology, history, cultures and religions are my favorite subjects to study besides art. I try to bring some of those interests into my work. By adapting them in my own style, or using parts of them, I try to have examples of the real world in my designs and illustrations. I feel that as a whole the illustration field is enormously underused, at least compared to what it used to be. I believe that art can be used to tell any kind of story and there are so many unique styles out there now days that an author should be able to always use illustrators for almost any project. I don’t think there is any substitution for a hand done illustration, regardless of how creative a photograph is taken.

I really would like to start my own company some day. I guess that’s my major goal as far as my career goes. But most of all I’d just like to be happy with what I’m doing. I always want to be challenged and stimulated. I get frustrated with school projects that don’t make me think beyond the "box". My company would basically be a multi-faceted art studio. Covering things from animation for movies, to comics, to children’s books.

I have many stories that I’d like to see come to life someday and I feel that I want to be in control rather than just hand them over to a publisher or a studio. If I’m going to do something I want to be in control. Yes, I realize it sounds like something you’d hear coming out of George Lucas’s mouth, but that’s ok. He’s been my mentor for quite sometime. What he has done with his life is what I hope to do with mine. He’s part of the creative process, and he makes movies and writes stories about things that interest him. He doesn’t let other people tell him what to do, artistically. And I think that’s the greatest freedom an artist can ever have.

I started working as a product designer at the Franklin Mint after gratuating best in my department at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. I wold like the next stage in my career to be the movie or video game industry, but for now working at the Franklin Mint, doing freelance illustrations for Wizards of the Coast, and working on my own art is satisfiying my creativity.
Please feel free to e-mail me with any comments or questions.

--Vinod Rams
ooteene@aol.com



 

© Melt Magazine 2002