Friday, 10 June 2016

Chat with Noskyvisible's Art Director Stephanie Overstreet

Stephanie started working with us last November and since then has contributed a lot to our growth and success. We thought it would be a great idea to introduce you to her and her amazing art work. Underneath is a short interview with Stephanie where she talks about art, life and games. enjoy!

Can you explain your method and the tools you use?

My current go to program is the Autodesk sketchbook App on my galaxy tablet. It’s a pretty decent program considering that it’s an app but it’s definitely a small fry when you compare it to the head honcho programs that professional artists use these days. My goal is to pull on my big girl shorts and upgrade to photoshop as soon as I get a functioning tablet for my computer. In the meantime the sketchbook app suits me just fine. For a typical piece of art I prefer to sketch it out on real paper first, sketching feels more comfortable on a physical piece of paper, I haven’t exactly concluded why that is. I upload the sketch into the program and ink over it starting with the outline followed by color layers and and a multiply layer for shadows. It’s a pretty straightforward process, no fancy tricks there.

when did you know you wanted to be an artist and where there any artst in particular that you liked?

Being an artist was one of those things that seemed to just always be part of me. My mom likes to tell anecdotes in which she couldn’t keep a single surface safe from the tyranny of my markers. Particularly pillow cases. Growing up my brother was a pretty big gamer and subscribed to game magazines, so games have always been a huge influence on my style. I liked to flip through the magazines and look at concept art for games like final fantasy, phantasy star, fire emblem, you name it. There was also a particular artist I’ve always been a huge fan of, the works of Lois Van Baarle, better known as Loish. I think she has an unparalleled knack for color and fluidity in her works, I’ve spent a long time studying her pictures attempting to assimilate a fraction of her style.

has you inspiration changed over the years and f so who inspire you right now?

It certainly has. When I was younger I valued intense realism for the sake of the mere talent it took to achieve it,  but I think i’ve grown a strong affection for simplistic cartoons over the years. There are also other concepts I’ve grown to love such as the glitch aesthetic and gif art, both things that did not exist when I was younger. The glitch aesthetic is such an enchanting concept, as it takes something we’ve all experienced, and indeed been frustrated to experience, being a program or console glitching, and turning it into something eerie yet beautiful. I enjoy it’s ability to create a positive spin on something that is often overlooked due to its negative connotations.  Gif art is incredible as well for its ability to give life to illustrations. The artist that inspires me the most currently is Sachin Teng. He makes illustrative paintings that have a crisp, playful linework but also incorporate a sense of mysticism and intrigue. Many of his paintings are fan art but they are so creatively rendered that you wouldn’t know it at first glance. The first piece of his I ever saw remains my favorite, it’s a serene gif of a young Amy Pond encountering a weeping angel with her hair and dress blowing in the breeze. It’s worth a look up.

where do you see your practice going in the future?

I’ve earnestly loved getting into games. Since I grew up staring at game art it feels cathartic to be able to take a dabble in the field. It’s still new territory for me but I hope that I can grow into my shoes here and continue to do this. In general I want to begin to incorporate moving elements into all my artwork so they are no long stationary piece but living bits of art. I haven’t got all my ducks in a row to make this happen yet but It’s my goal and I’m definitely on the way.

what is your favourite game and why?

It’s a tough choice, since I love so many games but I am going to have to say it’s the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. This was the first game I really played through as a kid and have probably played through it since at least a dozen times(but probably much, much more). I loved the world, which had this sense that it was much bigger than just the game you were playing. There was a sort of underhanded darkness to the games that more recent zelda games do not incorporate either. I suppose it’s a bit like having a first love. You never forget it, and no game can make you quite like the one that inspired you first. I’m hoping some day I can be involved in a gaming project that garners as much enchantment in someone else as young and impressionable as I was.

Stephanie is based in Oregon U.S.A. you can contact her for commission work here or any of the links bellow

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