Shard Fourteen - Featured Artist: tsukijin

Alright everyone, I'd like a little change of pace now. Rather then focusing on me (to my rabid fans, don't worry, that'll still be a priority), I'd like to focus on some fellow artists and general people whom I know, like, or both. (yes, yes, it's normally both.)

Today's feature is a fellow artist I've known for some time on deviantART, and who I've had the pleasure of collaborating with before.
he was also the first person to support my idea of artist features, and as many of you know, agreeing with me is a very quick and easy way to get on my good side. Of course, I'm only featuring him because he's a great artist. =D

~tsukijin
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tsukijin's got a really great drawing style; very detailed generally, with some influences from American comics, especially in the shading. His backgrounds are especially impressive; I remember first really seeing his work in an immensely detailed drawing of a haunted-esque house on a block... I can't seem to dig up the old image, but the detail in the sidewalks and the house itself was quite stunning.

But enough mindless flattery! We have an interview to get into now. I sent tsukijin a small list of questions, which he graciously answered.

Geo: What would you say was it that first got you into art and drawing?
tsukijin: hm... As far as I can remember, the thing that got me into drawing was a show called "knights of the Zodiac" and the posters that were for sale at the local store. Me and my friends would trace the images from those posters onto our notebooks. That was the first instance of me picking up a pencil for something other than writing. Then a few years later when I picked up a Spider-man comic... that sealed the deal, I knew I was going to draw for the rest of my life.

You have a very detailed drawing style. What would you say inspired your drawings to have such a level of detail?
haha, I suppose it all goes back to when I first picked up a history book and saw those old Portrait paintings that looked like they were photographs, there was one that really impressed me the most, It was a painting of King George the 8th, in the book it had so many details, the attention to light was amazing and over all the painting was extremely badass.

Then I got a chance to see it for real in a museum in New York city. And I was severely disappointed... The painting was like 12 feet tall, and all that amazing detail I saw in the book was nothing more than hastily applied smudges on the canvas, the whole thing was an embarrassment. All my life I had been trying to recreate the amazing detail of that painting only to see it be painted out of smudges. so I decided that if I was going to draw or paint, the detail would be cool to look at from up close as well as from far away.

I personally find it hard to spot mistakes in a lot of your work, but the artist generally disagrees with such comments. In your eyes, do you have any weaknesses in your art that you'd like to fix?
of course, there are many things that I would like to fix in my art. The most noticeable in my eyes is the hair, I've been struggling with drawing hair for many years now, and I still don't feel comfortable with the way I draw it, so that area is being currently developed the most.

I guess I also have to work some more on extreme perspectives. A lot of people(including myself) enjoy watching wicked action scenes with crazy cool camera angles so I'm working hard to be able to draw that type of thing with minimal effort.

Alright, that's about everything I can think to ask, now. Any parting thoughts?
Well, I want to thank you for interviewing me. haha I had never really thought about my origins of art and stuff, so it was refreshing having to reflect on that aspect of my life. I tend to let things happen and then forget about them, but it was nice to reminisce I suppose.

Oh, one last question. Geo; great person, or greatest person?

...hmm. I seem to have forgotten to send that last question. I'll mark him down as answering "greatest". bonus points to anyone who can tell me what that's a reference to.

A fun guy to talk with, and a great artist to watch. I don't think I can say much more on the subject, so I'll leave the parting comments to some of his art, which has happily volunteered itself as a final bit of flattery. (click on an image to view it full-size.)

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