Georgi Ostashov is a thirty-three-year-old russian born artist. He has always been interested in different kinds of visual art. He started with traditional mediums and then the computer became the most essential tool in his art creation process. His works may be characterized as digital mixtures made from paintings, drawings, photos and media experimentation. Artists that inspire him are Miran Kim, H.R. Giger, Francis Bacon, Dali, Aivazovsky and J.M.W. Turner. Despite the fact that most of his works have gloomy atmospheres it does not mean he is some kind of psycho or a devil worshiper. He just believes that one of the greatest things about art is that it gives us the ability to see, imagine and feel things in certain ways. In his case it's the way he sees the transformation of these things into dark, brutal and surreal visions. Questions and Answers What is your favourite medium? I can describe my works as a digital mixture of traditional mediums such as drawings, paintings, and photography. Lately, I've been using a lot of digital photography. In the end it all depends on result I want to achieve. Who influenced you as an artist? I think No.1 on my list of artists is Miran Kim. What are you currently working on? I'm currently working on an illustration for Space & Time magazine, and webdesign for the Parzival official site. When commissioned for book covers do you read the book before creating the artwork? Yes I do, unless the publisher is interested in an already existing piece. I think the book's story is the best source of inspiration for creating its cover art. Do you concentrate on one piece at a time or work on many simultaneously? I prefer to work on one piece a time, but sometimes I do work on 2-3 simultaneously. Did you undergo formal art training? No, I'm self-taught. What is your opnion on the use of naked human form in SF/F/H art? I use it and I think despite the trend towards abstraction, the nude continues to be one of the major subjects that many artists want to use. What made you want to be an artist? When I was a kid my parents often took me to St.Petersburg's museums and exhibitions, and examining the masterpices there made a huge impression on me. I guess that's a first time I felt impact of power of art. If you can say that about a kid :) As a reader do you prefer SF, Fantasy or Horror? I read almost everything, each genre has it own quality, but I think the dark side attracts me more. Who is your favourite author? Dostoevsky Do you prefer SF, Fantasy or Horror Art? I prefer dark and mysterious kind If you could give one piece of advice to a would-be artist, what would it be? Be prepared to hunger :) Is there any piece of artwork you'd like to be remembered for? Each piece I've done is associated with some events my life went through, some emotions, dreams, nightmares, memories I have, so in that way all of them are valuable to me. But I like few works more than others. By now my favorites would be "Discovery" and "Way Out". Are you a music fan? If so, what? Actually my art started moving towards darkness when I began listening to dark kinds of music, from "Dead Can Dance", "Swans", "Recoil" to Death Metal bands. I almost forget to mention two great soundtrack, to Martin Scorsese's "Last Temptation of Christ" and Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula". I find music a very strong inspirational source. Music energy and moody atmospheric music help me to visualise and shape my ideas. It's almost like "on-off" switch :) But beside all that dark stuff I have pretty "normal" CDs too, but not too much. How do you view the increase of digital art? Is it impacting on the more traditional media? The computer is an excellent tool, it gives far more control over the art creation process than traditional media. And digital art as new art form constantly comes up with new visual solutions. Despite the increase of digital art, I do not think it will make a deadly impact on traditional media. Drawing and painting have their irreplaceable quality Where's the oddest place we might see your artwork? As wallpaper on a nun's computer What sort of equipment do you use to create your work? I use SONY DSC-F505V digital camera, PC 192RAM 455MHz 10Gb Are there any subjects you dread painting? I don't think there are any, but I have a few pieces which gave very dark and weird vibes. So I decided to keep them away. What preparation do you do to paint? Do you use models, photos or other reference material? Lately I do most of my work digitaly. I shoot with my camera all material I need for the work and then do the rest on computer. But it all depends on the result. If watercolours effects would be more appropriate for particular illustration I will use it. Where will we see more of your work in the near future, what's coming out soon? Cover art for novel "Sins of Blood and Stone" by John Urbancik, Catalyst press, coming out in April. Many Thanks, Georgi! Relevant Links Georgi Ostashov Artist Section Home13.Net - The Art of Georgi Ostashov