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Zindy
02-06-2012, 09:11 PM
Just simple ol’ Mike ;)


Can you tell us a bit about yourself?


I’m currently 35 and live in Holland. I have a wife and two sons, almost 3 years and 5 months. I work as a chemical analyst. I’ve always loved to draw, but I never felt taken seriously or stimulated in this, so at some point, that lead to discouragement. Until I had nothing to lose, I just dare to draw because I want it… whatever what might happen, whatever they say or try to press me down; I love to draw. I love to write and puzzle as well. I’m interested in the how and why of people and their creations and ideas and I’m interested in personalities. I tend to seek the artist behind the work. I’m a detailist by nature and I’m not fond of “standard”, fashion and cocacola culture, where everybody is thronged up to love the same thing and be the same thing. I love good conversations, but I hate dogmatism. I’m a pretty direct person, but I always try to not disrespect the person, unless they give me a good reason to do so. I love people who are open minded. I hate people who are rude for the sake of honesty and “freedom of opinion” and find themselves totally honest. I just find it irritating, obnoxious, arrogant and definitely NOT honest! I’m not the positive type, but I can make a joke ;). I’m a self-taught free hander and I love to pencil :D. I like works of those that show passion, a strong expression, originality and with balance. I'm indiscriminate about the medium. I'm usually not fond of standard manga, look-at-me-I'm-interesting photo's and celebrity-realism, the so-much eye drawing unless it has something unique to it.


How did you find the ZindyZone Forums?
That is a long story…
When I was alone right after ending my relationship, I’ve picked up drawing again. I barely could hold a pencil and I had the ambition to draw from my mind. I found my quality is lacking big time and decided to practice with celebs to upgrade the technique. I was struggling with the hair at the time I was making an fire angel, so I’ve typed in google “Holly Marie Combs drawing”, to see if not 1000’nds of others had draw her, and at the same time, revealed how the hair should be drawn. I found this tiny image on google:
http://www.zindy-zone.dk/html/drawings/stars/holly_marie_combs.htm
I was very impressed, but I couldn’t enlarge it. When I mouse-over it I saw this “Zindy-zone”, and I thought it was another kind of spamming annoying site, because of the word “zone” and Zindy of some nickname (as Zindy often is written as Cyndi or Cindy); so I didn’t take the initial effort to press it. But I was determined to hunt the artist down, because I was so impressed; instead I typed the name in google, so there were much more drawings revealed. I became very curious and jumped in the site to explore Zindy’s drawings. I was trying to track down the Holly-drawing, but soon I was lost in other drawings. One of the first encounters was “Unclothed and Honest”:
http://www.zindy-zone.dk/html/drawings/fantasy/unclothed_and_honest.html
Which I’m now the proud owner of!


How long have you been doing art and what got you started?
I don’t really know, but I’m drawing more intense now for 5 years, but with periods when I have the time; my life is kinda hectic over the last few years. I drew unusual things as a kid. If a normal kid drew a sun, he/she drew a yellow sphere with 8 inaccurate stripes. When I drew a sun, it contained lots and lots of fine addressed strokes, in colors of yellow, orange red and blue. I drew Snoopy + figures in an own imagined story. I drew perspective cubistic things, like Esher, but with ecoline at young age. All of those drawings are in the bin. When I was 27 I temporarily got back into drawing. When I was 18 I watched a soap called “Paradise Beach”, with actress Raelee Hill. She was/is about the same age as me. She played a personality I strongly associate with. Unwanted it became a strong memory. To get back when I was 27 I had this advice to draw to get out my emotions. So I chose the actress…but…I could of course imagine she would be like 30 years, not knowing her real age. So I’ve imagined how she would look at this age, while the series was long gone from the Dutch TV. I drew her with a lot of passion, cause that is what I WANTED to draw and I drew her in the exact expression I wanted; and in translation in my own age, with the struggles of brainstorming I was having at the time. Someone else owes that particular 3rd drawing as a gift for the good help. It was not a particular good drawing. It lacked a lot of shading and sophisticated work. But the owner told me it was a great drawing, so I was curious how a Raelee Hill of 30 years old would look like now. The likeness, despite of the lack of shading was gruesome and scary close, inclusive age-developing of roughly 10 years. It was then I realized I could draw straight from the mind, without any need for pictures. That again meant I cloud draw anything I desire, naked, raw and untouched! But still I was living with my ex and I had a cattery of Maine-coons, so drawing was not really a fair option. It never left my mind and when my relationship ended and got myself another place to live, I grabbed my chance and began to draw again. But I could not even get close anymore to what I want and I was still lacking the technical strength. When I discovered Zindy around the age of 30; I mean the first encounters to her drawings, something just snapped. Looking at “the clown”, “Emptyness”, “Unclothed and honest” and some more important drawings that reflected exactly how I felt at that time. I was so intimidated and impressed… I can’t describe it. I was never able to express myself in any manner and I wanted it that way so bad….so unbelievable bad. I cannot describe how much, but for hours I stared with tears in my eyes. I WANT THIS TOO, I could scream that from the top of the world!! I mean, if you could do something like that to a person, then you are one heck of an artist! From that moment I really drew like a maniac. The fact that I’ve fitnessed every day for years to the edge of obsession, was vanished like snow before the sun. I drew straight away when I came back from work and in the weekend I made days of 12 hours. One time I drew 17 hours in one row. It happened in that fire angel (the 4th drawing) and the flame awoke. I felt so much fire within…especially after the Milano drawing I felt the time was ripe to get myself out for the first time of my life!!!!: the drawing “WHY”. Finally I’m mastering the better technique, for it was not much at the age of 27. I’m not there yet, but I’m getting closer…


What medium/materials do you like to work with the most?
Color pencils, graphite pencils and Ecoline, a synthetic ink. On the contrary to most artist, I rather work with hards than bolds. Favorite pencils are 4H, 2H. I don’t like “messy” mats… respect to those that can work with it! I demand a smooth surface, because I’m a detailed artist, who wants to draw to the limits of the paper. So it is mostly I choose hotpressed heavyweight smooth ivory cardboard or Bristol. I use the cheapest paper for ramp-sketching and protecting paper. Further I use gallet, mars and lumoplastic erasers, an automatic sharpener, a nailveil to fine sharpen it, making the resolution I want possible. I use 0.3 mechanic B, 0.5 mechanic 3B to use it for edging, contrasting and streamlining. The rest I solve with woods. I use stump wood to color and stretch, and sharps to draw. I use toilet paper, graphite powder and a nylon pencil if I want smooth surfaces, and a lumoplastic eraser to make it grainless and to rub it in the surface. I use a knife to cut off my erasers, so I can retouch lines and areas. I don’t erase-erase often. Instead I manipulate them or dissolve them.


What's your favorite motive and why?
I just draw for myself; I just love to captivate what I want and I want this to be “frozen” in art “in memorial” effect, with your own touches to it. I know I’m capable to recall my memory very strongly. The drawings I had are those, mostly consisting of exercise. I’m going to distance more and more from fact-realism and especially celebs, but maintaining its convincing factor. But what I really have as a goal is to draw literally what is inside my head and heart and do that with a powerful blow; Especially to get it out. What others think or perform…not important for my motivation/inspiration; I just enjoy, observe and live what I view. Other works can feed the urge to draw though. I just want to channelize and get out my emotions. I want to draw and make it worth such an effort to reflect what I feel. When the drawing is finished, I don’t like the result, because it was me who drew it. A stupid reason in fact. Why draw then? I enjoy the progress, the growth, create and holding the pencil and relief my state of mind. I draw; I just do…

Zindy
02-06-2012, 09:11 PM
What are your favorite pieces of yours?

I don’t have personal favorite pieces. Each piece has its own personal story. I usually hate my own work and I’m not proud of anything I draw. I do have this love-hate relation with the WHY……!!!!-drawing, cause that one is pretty personal. I strive for perfect, knowing it doesn’t exist. The commissions were a success, but for others. I’m not insensitive for compliments, but I’m just not self-impressed.
http://zindy-zone.dk/forum/../images/mixed/up_close_and_personal/mike/why.jpg


Where do you find your inspiration?
That can be anything spontaneous. Mostly things that simply catches my eye. From a Final fantasy character to a giant hogweed, from dead leaves to sounds and music, certain fragments in series and movies. It contains a lot of shards that brings forth an analogy with a situation or recalls and triggers a strong image. The strongest inspiration and one of my strongest memories, was an experience of a monstrous thunderstorm. A mixture of fear, curiosity and impression took over me and let me channel the storm or something, I don’t know… that faithful day of 17 juli 2004, where I watched the storm developing and chasing me back to home in my car. Along the way back it grew to a monstrous shelfcloud. When I got to Antwerpen ring I turned my face towards the cloud after not seeing it for like an hour. There I had this free sight, while Evanescense played my immortal; And just as she sang: “…the wounds don’t seem to heal, this pain is just for real, there is just so much that time cannot erase...”, At THAT precise moment it got in harmony and I’ve turned my face and saw that…that THING, hanging like a huge claw to over the city, black with very light, heavy contrasted, tornadic rapid moving scuds. Flashes all over the place, with this petrol green rainhook! It was like the world sank and compressed or something. At the boundry I got struck and winds of 60-70 MPH came out of nowhere, with a front downdraft, that looked like the beginning of a tornado! The rain was so intense, you could not see the other side of the highway. I was sjitting all colors of the rainbow, but HOW it was I came into that rush, I just completely sucked everything in my environment in my view. That was so powerful that when it was over I nearly fainted. It is not a particular good song for me, but when I play that Evanescence non-rock version, I can relive that moment as if I where there and live the rain, the impact, the memory, the violence. As if I wanted to be swallowed; be part of it. Strange huh? But hey, that was one inspiration! When I get to that rush, I’m capable to draw anything my head and heart desires. It makes me something outside me; something bigger than myself. It feels like growing to 300 feet, powerful enough to punch a hole in the earth. It last not very long as it is extremely powerful and exhausting, knocking me down. It is then if I have a reference right in front of me and I can manipulate it at free will to draw over it!!! In this state I’m totally liberated; not just “forgetting the time”. I’m taking my complete environment in me and I just channel. I just draw as if I had 50 years of experience. Everything succeeds at that point.

What is your favorite season and does it influence your work?
Spring, finally some nice weather, without being too hot and cold. Everything gets color after a long period of blight. It does not influence my work. I can draw anytime, unconditionally, if it were a reachable option.

Do you have any new projects/artwork we can look forward to?
Yes and no… Yes, I’ve got plenty ideas I want to get down. No, for the lack of time and situation. In addition the 100+ hours drawings makes me quite unproductive, related to the time available. I work currently on “the last celebrity”, which stands for a project that is the last time I will draw a celeb for quite some time. This drawing lasts 275 hours. I don’t know how much, but it is gonna be way over 300 hours. Think of it I would produce 10 times 30 hour drawings :wink:. Other ambitions:
Some commissions after this
Zindy – Piece of your own medicine (yes, you’re not forgotten :wink:).
Maria – Arabian nights
Abstract works
Project MDK, which includes all of my past emotions, but only when I’m up to it
Project “the end”
Some spontaneous ideas as well, to shatter, surrealism, freakshow mind and bladibla…
I can write pages full. Hopefully I get a job position that let me draw more :wink:.


What are your goals for the future?
Get more time available for drawing and not have to focus on my survival all the time, without everything has to be a priority. To literally reflect my emotions with a lot of impact. Towards others, but especially to get myself out. I never had a fair chance to express myself, so that urge is huge and for the lifetime being. I’m icecold determined to reach it.

Is there anything you'd like to say to everyone at the forums?
Yeah, don’t draw mainstream fashion to get the attention you want and fulfill the need for the best performance technique there is (whatever that might be), to get the status “talented and intelligent” as it happens to be convenient you like to draw. Do it for yourself! Fall on your face, dare to step out. Draw it! Do it! Learn from your mistakes! WTF do you care what others think!
If you don’t get the concept, try watching the digi-toon movie “Surfs up”; you’ll get the idea :wink:

Cold Shiva
02-08-2012, 09:43 PM
I'm honored to be featured. Thank you for posting Zindy!

Chart
02-09-2012, 07:28 AM
When Zindy started Up Close & Personal, the first person I thought of was: Mike!
I think sometimes you're misunderstood at the forums, what with your criticism and eye for, if possible, perfection. You're like THE severe person at the forums :p I appreciate it though, you make me stay focused, learn the things that I should ;)

This Up Close explains a lot about the Why that is you :D

Moldova
02-10-2012, 06:25 PM
Sooo glad we get to hear from Mike! :D
You've always been able to explain things far beyond techniques, you really are able to see a pathway into the thoughts of the artist and I love that. It was a pleasure reading your interview!

Cold Shiva
02-10-2012, 08:04 PM
Thank you Chantal, you put a smile on my face. How is your boy? He looks quite a lot like you; he has your typical eyes...

Thank you Maria, The only thing I hope is to trigger artists looking for their own artistic nature, and not just a copy of a photo where technique is the only thing to celebrate. I can render to what I see in balance, but rarely I will critic someone "how to draw".

LisaFeehily
02-12-2012, 10:19 PM
nice one.
That is a long story…
this made me laugh, i like that you take the time to write long posts here though! ;) i don't always agree with all criticism you give people but often reading it is very helpful.

tim
02-14-2012, 04:01 AM
Mike is a vocal and great contributing artist so it's refreshing to read about what inspires and motivates him, and how he has developed his passion for art. Keep it up!

Cold Shiva
02-14-2012, 07:16 PM
What I like about you Lisa, you're direct and have a headstrong opinion.

Thank you for the kind words Tim, the respect is mutual!

jeanine
02-19-2012, 04:04 PM
It was so interesting to read the whole story about how you drew that actress Raelee Hill!

Cold Shiva
02-23-2012, 07:08 PM
Yeah, that drawing has quite an impact. Each of my drawings has its own story. Thank you for your interest Jeanine. :)