

Nader Sadek is a visual artist and craftsman who was raised in Egypt & has since moved to the USA, where he studied at MCAD, an art college in Minnesota. He has, in more ways than one, paved his own unique path. An artist who has not only become a stage designer in his own right but has also cooperated (among many others) with the likes of Mayhem, Sunn O))) and Attila Csihar, Nader Sadek has worked with many well know artists in the death-black metal genre & his name has become synonomous with many in this industry. Recently, he has collaborated with the pioneers of death metal themselves, Morbid Angel, in their new video “Garden of Disdain”. Taking advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity I decided to talk to Nader not only about his beginnings & musical roots but also about his most recent endeavors…
Artienne: What made you decide to leave such a beautiful place as Egypt, Cairo and go to America? What did you do before you left your country? Is the Arabic educational system much different from the American model? What kind of influence does religion have on your vision?
Nader: I needed to break free from the closed mentality of Egypt, and the government at the time. Which had suffocated me. It felt at the time that the only thing to do was to do drugs and other counter productive stuff, our society is very sick, and the artist in me needed a way out to express myself. Leaving was not only my only option it saved me. Before I left I studied in a German school then went to an American school. I never fully experienced the Egyptian model as I was in 2 western schools. Unfortunately Religion, like in any country is not a religion, its a way of life and a way for people to oppress others, a controlling tool. I went to America and was granted amazing opportunities met amazing people, and when I felt healthy again, I returned to Egypt to do the best I can to fix it. In my opinion there is only 2 reasons to leave your country, your either a shameless coward or you want your children to grow in a healthy environment. Since I have no family that I need to protect. Coming back to fight the good fight was what I chose.
Artienne: How do you recall this period after completing your studies? You began your career by making sculptures, drawings and exhibitions for various museums. What were your themes related to?
Nader: I went to a college in Minneapolis, Minnesolta, called MCAD. There I was exposed to a lot of art and artists. I later went on to create conceptual sculptures and installation art. My theme had to do with a fascination I had with petroleum. It is a very strange compound which is largely made of dead things. yet humanity has found a way to exhume to and make energy out of it, and wear until now addicted to it, every product that sever sold is somehow related to petroleum, like Gasoline and plastic, completely inescapable…
Artienne: How did your adventure with metal music begin? Have you ever listened to this type of music before you reached America? How did you start your cooperation with Mayhem? Did your cooperation with Mayhem start when you finished studying in New York?
Nader: My brother played me Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses at first i was probably 6-7, I was quite interested , but years later I heard Pantera, Sepultura and Deicide, the rest is history. I met Attila at a party by coincidence, we started talking about making masks, I made him his first mask which he wore at Mayhem and Sunn O))) shows.
Artienne: What was the main reason for creating the Nader Sadek project? I heard that you doesn’t describe yourself as a musician? Can you play any instrument? How did you manage to persuade to cooperate with many talented musicians as : Steve Tucker , Attila Csihar , Destructhor, ?
Nader: Well as an artist, I had a very big idea of what kind of sound I would like to hear, which was an infusion Death and Black metal, I always loved the vocals of death metal, while the melodies of black metal were also very attractive, drumming wise I loved blasts but I also loved groove, and I m also a really big fan of the technical Death Metal style, as well as more symphonic styles of black metal. I don’t know any band really, that does all those things at once, let alone in one song. Not saying this has been completely achieved in the band but it’s gotten close enough to where I’m extremely happy with it. This was the whole point of the project to make an extreme amalgamation of cultured metal sub genres under one banner. No, I cant play any instrument in the traditional sense, nor would I want to, I think that would kill some of the creativity, I see a lot of musicians who can play really but don’t write, I think really anyone can write, in a bigger way, I also see it as a “directing/producing” challenge a kin to movie making, which i also have the pleasure of doing. I really don’t care about the industry “standards
” or ow things are dong “traditionally. I do my own thing my own way. And wrote “Nigredo In Necromance” on my own , with the others adding additional harmonies, the bass line, and the additional beats. I also wrote the majority of the melodies on “Petrophilia”
Artienne: What is the most flustering when it comes to this type of projects?
Nader: Sometimes I bump into a musician who thinks its his project because they were invited to contribute, and starts to want to make decisions about the mix, and other peoples instruments and playing, it says a lot about them and maybe why they were kicked out of the band they originally received their notoriority for. It’s really quite sad. Especially when their personal life bleeds onto you. One guitar sit for example had a problem with his wife, it was a domestic violence case, and she reached out to me for help.It got very dramatic and I became very as a result. Nasty stuff. Another bad scenario is when a musician programs their instrument instead of playing it, and send sit to me as if it was actually played. Another case is people giving themselves credit for things they have not done at all, like a vocalist I worked with who did not come up with anything, told his Facebook friends that he did every thing to do with the vocals, he did not come up with lyrics or phrasing or patterns. Actually he told me he thought it sucked when i originally showed it to him, then when everyone liked it he took credit for it. When things like that happen it’s just further proof that well there is a lot of scum roaming the earth. Those same 2-3 individuals have also accused of giving myself credit for things I have not done, which has never been the case, I have always been highly transparent and have nothing in this regard to be ashamed of.
Artienne: Your videos contains ecological and political message. On ” In the flesh” you used term ” Wounded flesh” as metaphor for oil. On another video titled “Nigredo in Necromance”, petroleum is an element that links two souls, an infected man and his beloved dead. In “Sulffer” we can see a man immersed in this black fluid. Why is petroleum so important in your artistic message? What’s the biggest inspiration for you? Political-economic issues, fantasy literature, horrors, films or sphere related to beliefs and mythology?
Nader: All those things u mentioned are in one way or another influences, but I can’t say it’s Political/ecological, I am only observing. In one of the previous questions, I answer that petroleum simply is an interesting substance, for example if you look at the descriptions of hell in the bible, it speaks of under ground lairs with flames and melting brimstone. Well what does that sound like in reality? It’s petroleum pits, so petroleum is just this fascinating thing that transcends into many topics.
Artienne: How do you approach the historical sources that are in our museums? Are they important to you as reference materials to build your artistic vision? How critical are you about this type of historical and archaeological material? I am asking about this because many artists prefer to read “Necronomicon” than “Epic of Gilgamesh”. lol
Nader: hahahah, The ancients knew far more about the architecture of life than we do now, fictional stories are also very important but they don’t hit me as hard as watching at epic structures which are impossibly built. To me that is far more inspiring.
Artienne: Many journalists compare your project to the music of Morbid Angel (In the Flesh) or Mayhem (riff’s) vide: “Souless”, “Mechanic Idolatry”, “Nigredo in Necromance”. How much influence did you have on the process of creating songs?
Nader: That makes sense, Steve Tucker of Morbid Angel was one of the main songwriters on “In the flesh”, so his influence is undeniable, when it comes to Mayhem that also had to do with the guitarist at the time, the combination of the two sounds created the aesthetic I mentioned before of a mixture of black and death metal. Some songs again like “Nigredo..” and “Petrophila” were written by me, to varying degrees, “Nigredo” I wrote start to finish, but “Petrophilia” I wrote many riffs that I felt went together well, the rest of the guys helped arrange it added a bridge here and there, etc, I also wrote a small section in “Soulless” , for my other EP , I wrote several riffs, like in ” deformation” , The process for “In the flesh” was a bit rushed, however for the other EP’s ( which some have not even come out yet) he process usually was that id write a riff or more and the others would arrange and make a complete song out of it, there are some songs also where I wrote no riffs, but helped arrange it, like ” entropy eternal” , with the post Tucker work, I wrote all the lyrics and the phrasing, I also directed what the vocals would sound like for example, I would want to try to have a part where it was very low growls, jumping into black metal shrieks in the next part, and doubling of the vocals, I created the actual phrasing, so there is an emotion behind that, and it needs to have the right accents to convey the emotion.
Artienne: When making masks do you use silicone or plaster molds? Do you do your own silicone pigments and thickener or you are using more simple stuff like Silplast Gel-00 or G10, or flocking, which has a fast working time? What is better to use in your opinion, flocking or pigment? How many layers do you use?
Nader: it totally depends on the project, for example normally I do use Dragon Skin ( platinum based silicone) , but for the Morbid Angel video for example, I used a 2 compound rubber, simply called ‘rubber’ its one of the limitations of living in Egypt, there aren’t that many materials here like there are in the west.
Artienne: Is there that one live performance you remember the most ? Looking at the scenery on some photos from your concerts I noticed that the branches are attached with black tape. Have you thought about using more natural materials such as linen or tree bark to cover the tape?
Nader: both gigs in Chicago have been stellar, Bristol in the UK was amazing, Portugal also was nice, one of the most amazing shows was playing my home land Cairo Egypt ! that was quite a ride! and New York is usually bad ass as well. I cant forget playing Neurotic Death-fest in 2015, the very first fest I played opening directly for Entombed in front of 2000 people, it was crazy!
No I use black tape because it s part of the piece, tape is plastic and trees are wood, so its a combination of plastic and wood, one Turns eventually in the ground into petroleum, where as the other has been taken out from the ground, extracted from petroleum and created, so its a duality that I m very happy with.
“My intention is to create a visual parallel to the song, a theme which repeats, yet within the loop-lay textures are controlled twists and turns. It was a bonus that I had the opportunity to use Sumerian iconography as well as obscure symbols of the pre-ancient past such as the Merkaba, a galaxy-roaming vessel. “
Artienne: You made a video for Morbid Angel’s song “Garden of Disdain”. Could you tell us more about your vision & concept with petroleum, crystals and the role of Demon and Goddess. What was the greatest inspiration for you? Who are the actors & statisticians who took part in the session? Did any Morbid Angel lyrics or iconographic sources inspire you to do this video? Did Ken Coleman have any influences on editions of this video?
Nader: The interesting thing here is that outside of petroleum and my own projects, Steve and I have very similar thought s about humanity. Let’s just say, we don’t have very nice things to say. So when I was giving the proposal to write what the video will be about, it was not completely decided what song. When I submitted it, Steve immediately stated that it fits perfectly with “gardens of disdain ” . He sent me the lyrics and I was blown away. It’s those moments of mental Sync when you think to yourself ” that could not have been a coincidence” . The theme revolves around a type of deity which experiments with creating humanity, humanity does what it does best : Disappoints , and the deity sees it as a failure and destroys it. Believing that the failure may have been a result of the environment in which the human test was grown, the deity sends parts to be regrown onto a beautiful planet : Earth. Notoriority later, the deity comes to visit its creation, only to find that humanity fails it in the same way. Gives up, destroys it by flames, upon his return he meets his higher Goddess, he feels he’s failed in creation and she soothes and nurtures him. Despite it being my own story it really syncs very well with Tuckers lyrics , in the Gods creation of ” Useless beings”.
Oh yes. So I was some what inspired by the deity on the cover for the demon in my video , Ken modeled the pill , and animated one shot ( the pill heading to earth)
Artienne: Many of your fans compare the new Morbid Angel video to such productions as “Pan’s Labyrinth”, ” Hellraiser” and “Star Wars”. The scene where the children bodies are ripped into pieces is identified with the aesthetics of gore known from the acceptable horrors of the 80’s but most people unfortunately relate a type of chaos & disgust when it this is applied visually through music . “Garden of Disdain” reminds me of the painful rituals from the books of Graham Masterton as well as the imagery of Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster Cycle”. Was this the intended effect, what are your thoughts?
Nader: First, I want to thank you and all the people who viewed the video and felt that they experienced something profound or genuine. “Hellraiser” is of course a huge influence, I wanted to really go back to the early 90s inspirations with this, as far with my influences, the Morbid Angel song is cutting edge and cemented in modernity, but there is definitely a return to their roots vibe. So I remembered the things I watched when I was introduced to Morbid Angel in the mid/late 90s, like Hellraiser, my first MA album was when “Formulas” was released, living in Egypt, You got what was handed down to you you didn’t really get to chose. I was into Sepultura and Deicide way before knowing about Morbid Angel, for example. I wanted to reference a movie like Hellraiser. The violent themes reflect the story within the song, and the natural violence of the rhythm created. It needed to be intense. The Story I wrote for the song, coincidentally ( or not?) follows the lyrics. By that I mean , when MA’s management contacted me for the potential gig, they asked for an early concept, and without having heard the song or read the lyrics ( I was originally assigned a different song) but simply by having some similar ideas to Steve Tucker and having been long time friends and collaborators, I thought our ideas would overlap well, but didn’t think it would be so similar, he was quite surprised and showed me the lyrics to the song , I was actually quite surprised. Matthew Barney was a point of interest for me from the early 2000 until 2005 maybe, very powerful intense work. But I wouldn’t call his work an influence on the current version of me, his work is quite in the peripheral of my current influences. However as far as “Star Wars”, and “Pans Labyrinth”, while again not direct influences like Barney, of course its very flattering. But really there are many influences that are drawn from spirituality, the creation of the universe and life itself, also scientific theories like Francis Cricks. Crick is the scientist who discovered the double helix in DNA and he theorized about how earth came to earth in capsule.
Artienne: We should return to the figure of the Goddess and Demon. Who is Goddess and Demon? Perhaps An, the supreme being? Do you identify either with specific gods or demons? On board the Merkaba, it appears a woman has undergone the disfiguring process of deification. What types of meanings does this scene symbolize? I know Sumerian mythology is a bit chaotic because over the centuries the functions of gods have changed. Unfortunately it seems there is a lot of pessimism in your vision… the creation of humanity was a mistake, the gods failed and left the lands. Would this interpretation be correct?
Nader: yes, that is a great interpretation. There are many layers, the demon is my interpretation of The Morbid Angel, at least for me that was what I wanted to create, angels are beautiful loving creatures, but if they are dark and morbid , in my opinion they should be honest and merciless within their wise philosophical compass, the demon created a form of humanity, feeds them of his flesh and blood, and demanded very little, in return they betrayed him but ultimately he gives them another chance at life, to which he only gets disappointment again. I don’t think its pessimistic, you wouldn’t call a lion evil because it hunts a dear, its simply an exercise in trial and error. Humanity simply is not good enough.
Great observation with the disfigurement, the deity was at some point forced to make certain ‘shallow’ sacrifices in order to become a fully fledged goddess, the idea is that even gods suffer and even gods have gods that created them.
Artienne: In your vision you mentioned “Merkaba, a galaxy-roaming vessel”. How do you approach the vision of Ezekiel and early Jewish mysticism? How profound are the roots of your inspiration of this symbolism?
Nader: Zero. I don’t allow Abrahamic religions to influence me philosophically as we all know at this point that most of their stories, advice and methods are burrowed from pre-historic and ancients schools of mysticism. The Merkaba is a diagram of life, a force of the living, the immortal, an energy that is constantly moving and thus does not know death. This is why the living deities reside in it.
Artienne: How do you rate “The Arab spring” and the political changes taking place in your country? Some time ago I read your article about the political situation in Egypt, have things changed since then? I also heard about the case of Julio Regeni, a political scientist from Oxford who wrote about changes in your country. When reading about these types of matters I get the impression that your country is not a safe place, would you feel this to be true?
Nader: Unfortunately , that is a good follow up question to the Morbid angel video, It was a failure and disappointment, despite it being the biggest protest in human history.
Artienne : “Nader is a gentleman, a first class host and a really fun, nice, sincere guy” said Karl Sanders, when visiting for his first time in Egypt. What are your thoughts about the visit of Karl, Derek Roddy, & Mahmud Gecekusu? Even with your tight schedule you’ve managed to make a few songs with them. Do you think your collaboration with Derek has been a success? When can we expect a new album?
Nader: It was amazing, the stuff is basically still being worked on, although the skeleton has already been flushed out in Egypt with incredible results. Mahmud is a great friend, he’s the greatest ( along with his brother Ahmet) guitarist and song writer in the middle east, he’s also part Egyptian, despite living elsewhere. It was great having him around and his contribution was invaluable, I cant wait to continue to work on it with him. Karl’s word are far too kind, I did everything I could to be a decent host, and I am really happy that he had a good time, on the same note, I was also really happy to literally take him to the doorsteps to the pyramid, it was a great honor to be with a man who built a career honoring 2 of the thing is love most Metal and ancient Egypt. This wouldn’t have been complete without Derek’s presence, he really took charge in the studio and we were all blown away with his energy. Despite being around him a lot in the last few years he never ceases to amaze me. There is no direct link to Egypt with Derek, as say being in a band which Egyptian themed or having Egyptian blood, however when I took them all to a non religious spiritual cleansing ritual, as a cultural exploration , to show them the different sides of Egypt. I noticed that he was in tears, he is a real artist and I value his collaborations deeply.
Artienne : It seems music has completely dominated the media and vice versa. Some people see this as a kind of symbiosis, but also something very destructive because the media has the ability to take advantage of music by corruption. Do you think the media has this type of influence on music, & if so have you experienced it first hand?
Nader: Unfortunately any industry is corrupt and the sleazy media takes over, which is why its a real pleasure to work with more underground publications like yours, no click bait, no ads, no incestual nepotism, just pure professionalism.
Artienne: Why did you choose music journalism? What is the most difficult challenge in your work?
Nader: I didn’t. It chose me, Several publications thought I had something to offer and invited me to write for them. I really enjoyed picking some of these talented artists brains and like anything else I move on to other things. In writing and interviewing there really aren’t any challenges, I try my best to bring out the most interesting from the artist, basically I try to approach the artist the way i like being approached. The idea is to get a productive conversation going.
Artienne: Well. Thank you for taking the time to talk to Elestra.
Nader: Thank you for this great interview and everyone reading it, be yourself, find your true calling and your higher self and never give up.
#black-metal, #death-metal, #fb-com-naderflesh, #metal, #nader-sadek
Music has always been a huge part of my soul and I loved being in a band … .. Playing my guitar or keyboard is something I love but making 3D illustration, traditional, digital painting, talking with different kind of Artists and have with them photo-session make me very happy also. A few months ago, together with Katia from Belgium, we decided to do the exhibition of our photos and illustrations. The idea may seem crazy because we live in different countries, but strong people create reality and make their dreams comes true…
Freya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCFGUTFEXZI and Wotan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nrU8L7GBl4&t=17s
Link to the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t–9_w-vG10The artwork was created by this great artist:
http://sanmandara.deviantart.com/
Art by “NAHOM1”
http://nahom1.deviantart.com/…/Verdigris-Guardian…
This is the Front Cover of the 7th Album “Spellbound” which will be released tomorrow.
Made by Carina Grimm, like all the other Album Artworks as well.
Picture created by Carina Grimm.
Picture created by Carina Grimm.
My art style is dark. Darkness, from the beginning, contains so much mystery.
Eric Fanta: Well my name is Eric Fantauzzie, but the last name is too long so I shortened it to Fanta. It is nicer and easy to remember lol. Before I went to college, back in Puerto Rico, I spent my time doing air brushing on surf boards. It was big at the time. From there someone gave me a chance to work in his store air brushing shirts and jackets.
Eric Fanta: My big sister decided to move to Chicago, so I tagged along, and she was the one who told me to do something with my talent. So that is how I chose the art school in Chicago. Yes NYC is known for the street and subway graffiti. What I think about graffiti, in my opinion, if it is done in the right way, it is awesome. It is another form of expression, just like abstract painting. You’ve got to look for the meaning. Yes, the architecture of NYC has been a big influence in my work. Those streets have more than a million stories lol .
Eric Fanta: well my mom and grad mother used to design clothes for carnival every year. In Puerto Rico, my dad was a musician in a band. And my two sister, well, they followed in my mom’s footsteps.
Artienne: How are you working on your pictures? How do you do rendering and post work? Do you render figures with a background, or put it in later? I noticed you have a lot of knowledge about photo-manipulation and you use very interesting techniques.
Eric Fanta: All my renders are made first in Daz Studio. Afterwards I take the image to this magical program called Photoshop, and that’s when I do my magic. All of the light FX and backdrops are done in Photoshop. Photoshop was my first software program, so I spent a lot of time learning it. Then, I take all of these images and start photo-manipulating them for a while. And then one thing leads to another.
Eric Fanta: Modo is an awesome software, and yes it is similar to Zbrush but easy. I use Modo for basic modeling.
Eric Fanta: About my private projects, which I have been working on for the last two years… There are two of them. One is a web comic and the other is a short 3d animation. The goal is to show artists that no matter how difficult it may be, we can still achieve all of your dreams no matter if it takes a lot of time, even years. We will get there. What I think about Cinema 4d is that it’s an awesome and easy software program. That is the one I use to do all of my animations.
Eric Fanta:My art style is dark. Darkness, from the beginning, contains so much mystery. It is good when you can develop an image from dark to light. LIFE itself is my stimulation.
Eric Fanta: I was approached by Sympatico Studio about 2 months ago, and they asked me if I wanted to do some work for them. My answer was yes it will be a honor. Whether I see myself in the future as a promo artist is a good question. I guess the simple answer is, let’s see how far the road will take me.
Artienne: What do you think about the works of Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo or Carlos Quevedo? Have you thought about digital painting?
Eric Fanta: What I think about Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo and Carlos Quevedo… My opinion is they are pioneers, they are masters, and they are far out awesome. Every artist should get inspired by their work. I only dream to be one of them lol lol.
Eric Fanta: My plans for the future is to make my mark, so other artists can follow and make theirs…
Today we will visit North Germany where lives fantastic 3D Artist Sonja Fischer, who create lovely renders with animals and fairies…
Artienne: Hello Sonja! I’ve always wondered who Shozai is … Where did your nickname come from and why did you choose that name? Your name reminds me personally of Japanese culture and means in your language “Auftenthaltsort”. But the genesis of your name may be different so please point me in the right direction 🙂
Shozai: I was looking for a cool name for an online character in Everquest II. So I looked on the Internet and found this name. It sounded very nice to me and I choose it 🙂 That’s all 🙂 I didn’t know what it meant in my language until now. My character in Everquest was very great, a Druid elf girl. I always played in a special wolf transformation, so many other players didn’t even know what my character looked like when not running on four paws. 😀
Artienne: What attracted you to the 3d graphics world. What did you do earlier? Did you have experience with Photoshop and graphic design? Why did you choose Poser?
Shozai: I am a big Fan of Pen & Paper, Pathfinder and D&D. There was a time when I wanted to make my own character image. So I started to research how I could do this and found two graphic software programs, Poser Pro and DAZ Studio. I choose Poser mainly because I thought, a program which has to be paid for would be better supported 🙂 Before I found this great hobby, I was reading much more, mostly fantasy novels. I played games like Everquest II, Diablo I & II, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars Online, Elder Scrolls, Anno 1404 and many more. I had nothing to do with graphic design.
Artienne: Some time ago I found your old profile on Deviant Art. There are dozens of pictures showing different figures like a wolf, an angel, a sorceress, vampires and fairies. Was that your first step with Poser? What was your goal at that time? Many Artists sold their work there? Do you also? What is your opinion on Deviant Art? Why can’t we find your latest work there?
Shozai: I searched for a place to put my pictures online and found Deviant Art. I thought it would be a great idea to create an account, but after a while I regretted my decision. Someone blamed me for not replying to his commentary. I wasn’t on the site daily, and my answers were coming too late, I think. I am happy now with my galleries at DAZ3D and Renderosity. The people there are really nice, I love the commentary they give my pictures, and they don’t blame me if I forget to say something, or if I don’t reply on a daily basis 🙂
I wanted to make a figurine-series with my Poser character. It was a great way to learn, and I had something I could look at. I am not selling any of my work. People who are interested in my art can have it. 🙂
Your question about Deviant Art reminds me to delete the account 🙂 Thank you, I completely forgot it.
Artienne: In your work sometimes we can find delicate eroticism. Here I talk about the time you worked with Poser. The first thing that attracts the viewer to your work is good light, interesting composition, ideas and nice colors with good post work. Where did you learn all these things? One of your pictures reminds me of the cover of the Ophtalamia Via Dolorosa. What was your inspiration at this time?
Shozai: You know I had to search what Ophtalamia Via Dolorosa is. 🙂 I must admit that I have other musical interests. 🙂 The Cover of Via Dolorosa I don’t know, but I can see elements I use like the butterflies and a nature girl.
Everything about composition and post work etc. I learned since 2012, as I started to work with Poser. In the beginning I didn’t do any postwork. After a while I wanted to make “eye-catching” images and started with postwork 🙂 I discovered a new world. And after I discovered what people do with “just” Photoshop, I was breathless. I knew I would never reach this perfection, but I knew what I wanted for my pictures now and started to learn.
Artienne: You made some time ago a very interesting render of Ella … Is this your self-portrait? What is her history? I noticed you often use it as a thumbnail on your profiles.
Shozai: My portrait of Ella. It was, for me, one of my first pictures I really said, “oh wow, this looks great”. I loved the dreamy look, and I love her pose and her hair. Okay, I love everything about her 🙂 It is not a self-portrait 😉
Artienne: When did you discover Daz and why did you decided to work mainly with this program. Is this software better than Poser? What are the differences between these programs? Did you think about combining them ? Some artists do that, so I am just curious what you think about it?
Shozai: In 2015 I gave DAZ Studio a try. My one and only reason why was: Alessandro’s animals.
My experiences with Poser gave me an easy start, and I was really, really happy when I made my first picture with an animal by Alessandro with this wonderful fur. I saw, that DAZ Studio has much more options for me than Poser. And when IRAY came out, it felt like I was in heaven. Now I had everything I longed for.
Poser is a good program, DAZ Studio is better suited for me and my artistic focus. It is just like a bicycle against a motorcycle. IRAY made a huge difference. Superfly was a big disappointment for me.
Poser has a very good dynamic clothing option, DAZ Studio has not. I’m just waiting until DAZ Studio might have it too. I know that some artists combine them, especially the dynamic option. It is great that we can do this. More possibilities are always great.
Artienne: I have noticed that since you started working with the Daz program, you are doing a lot of renders with animals, especially designed by Alessandro. Why? In my opinion you have to be a very warm person, who loves animals. I’m sure the big inspiration for you are videos with animals and nature. Do you have any pets? Who is Ciara? I remember your beautiful render with the fantastic blue Twil’ek… but lately I see you prefer to make more fantasy images with sweet dragons, fairies and animals of the forest rather than action sci-fi renders. Why?
Shozai: I was ALWAYS looking at Alessandro’s animals. I wanted to work with them so badly, and as I started with DAZ Studio, his animals wandered one by one into my DAZ Library 🙂 After a while I wrote him, how great his animals are and if he ever needs a person to help him with promotional pictures, I would be there 🙂
He answered me and we started a collaboration, which was a lot of fun and led to a tender friendship. We know something about each other, especially our love for animals. Those and our nature in general, are the jewels of the Earth and we have to save and nurse them. He thinks the same. I love the person he is and I am happy I got to know him.
Ciara is my little Maltese girl. A special dog breed. 🙂 She is my beautiful baby. A baby with small demon horns and angel wings, I can tell you 😀 She has the strongest character I ever experienced in a dog. 🙂 I love my furry girl. And we have a canary named Filou 🙂 A beautiful and smart guy, though a little shy.
I posted a picture of Ciara. You can see it here: Ciara
Until now, I haven’t found a “Shozai-Style” which everyone can easily recognize when looking at my pictures. I have a wide range of things I want to do. Mostly animals and Fantasy, a bit of Horror and Sci-Fi, and sometimes I want to show my girls with her dessous 🙂 And sometimes a current contest will inspire me and influence what type of picture I want to do. Any ideas I have that I do not use immediately, I write down so I don’t forget them 🙂
Artienne: You made a very beautiful picture called Thoughts are Free … and I have a question: is the old German song called “Die Gedanken Sind Frei” inspiration for the title? You know this is an old song about freedom and some German bands like Hecate use the lyrics…
Shozai: I know the song but this was not my inspiration. I usually don’t listen to German music 😉 I prefer music in English. When I was young, a girl of maybe 15 years, I was often listening to two German songs: “Als Conny Kramer Starb”, a sad song which made me cry often, and “Nacht voll Schatten”, a wonderful piece.
Sometimes it is really hard to find a good title for your pictures. This one was easy. The girl, sitting on a rock, looking to the stars, thinking what might be up there. Even though you are chained to the earth, maybe something or someone is hurting you, but your mind can always send your thoughts out, no one can discourage you. You can cover and protect yourself with your fantasy.
Artienne: R.A. Salvatore and Terry Goodkind’s books are an important place in your heart. What attracted you to them? What do you think about the Forgotten Realms and The Demons Wars Saga?
These are two examples for very good writers. Forgotten Realms is pure fantasy. I love the mysteries of this world, the undiscovered wonders, sometimes just a whispered word in the wind that is reaching your ear.
I could tell you so many good books and writers. But I think, people know about them, if they love fantasy. 🙂 Richard Kirk, the saga about Raven, Imagica by Clive Barker and of course “The Sword of Truth” by Terry Goodkind.
Artienne: Nightwish…. I was surprised when I read that you are a fan of this group, because so many people associated with Daz Studio have a completely different taste of music than me. Do you like Old Nightwish with Tarja, Anette Olzon or their current female singer, who was previously singing in After Forever? Are you a fan of gothic metal, rock?
I love the sound of most of the songs from Nightwish. Something must touch my music-soul, otherwise I don’t like it. I don’t like everything from Nightwish too. But most of it 🙂 I love how Tarja sings. I have her single CDs too. The other girls are different. I like some of their songs too, like Amaranth, but I must admit that I don’t have the newest music from them yet..
I have a big selection of what I like. I just can’t say I love only this style of music 🙂 An Example: I really love “Sing to Me” by Alan Walker. I heard it, looked up and said “What is this song? I need it” 🙂 The other songs from him are nothing for me.
Floor Jansen is good, but she’s not as charismatic like Tarja 🙂
Artienne: My last question … How about your plans for the future?
Shozai: I have no plans. I am a daydreamer 🙂 I want my furbaby next to me, a good life for my boyfriend and me with fun together and alone, and I want to stay healthy which is a wish I have for all I like and love, too.
And maybe, sometime, to meet Alessandro 😀
Medusa Gorgona: I am photographer inspired by fairy tales and Pre-Raphaelite paintings. I love create dark whimsical romantic pictures with textured look, dominated by strong colors.
My goal is find a speck of magic in every woman and turn it to bonfire to light a beautiful vessel of human body from within.
“Wind among the Blooms”
Cool and cold day with Gemma, when we shop for dresses to shoot and shoot each other in my garden. I love Gemma retouching style, so pre-raphaelite.
Photographer Gemma Wyrd – model & photographer
Model Medusa Gorgona Model
Studio Medusa’s Garden Studio — with Maria Mirage.
Photo taken by Riitta Toro Photography
Model & MakeUp & Stylist Medusa Gorgona Model — with Maria Mirage and Riitta Toro.
“Taste the Winter” Winter Fairytale series. Cold and Blue calling in winter short days we all want to add some sparkling beautiful magic to our lives.
Styling & Photography Medusa Gorgona Photography
Studio & Costumes Medusa’s Garden Studio
Model Natasha Felix
Makeup Monique Giamattei Makeup Artist
Photographer & Stylist Medusa Gorgona Photography
Model & Makeup Elladora
Assistance Isabella Barter
Rings & Headpiece Medusa’s Craft
Wig Gothic Lolita Wigs
“Last autumn bloom” from “Autumn fairytales”Photography Medusa Gorgona Photography
Videography Richard-Wakefield Photography
Model Jessica Megan
Studio & Costumes Medusa’s Garden Studio
Wig Gothic Lolita Wigs
Harvest fairy” from “Autumn fairytale” series,
Photographer Medusa Gorgona Photography
MUA Anna Fullbrook – Makeup Artist
Studio & “Magical forest” Medusa’s Garden Studio (my back garden)
Wig Gothic Lolita Wigs
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Classical fairy tale couple ! Both are such fantastic models
Photography Medusa Gorgona Photography
Model & Retouching Gemma Wyrd – model & photographer
Model Luca
Studio Medusa’s Garden Studio
“Unlock autumn dream sadness” from “Autumn
Photography Medusa Gorgona Photography
Videography Richard-Wakefield Photography
Model Jessica Megan
Studio & Costumes Medusa’s Garden Studio
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Photography Medusa Gorgona Photography
Model Simone Clare Stocks
Studio & Costume Medusa’s Garden Studio
Wig Gothic Lolita Wigs
Photography Medusa Gorgona Photography
Model Simone Clare Stocks
Studio & Costume Medusa’s Garden Studio
Wig Gothic Lolita Wigs
Tempting beautiful “Raven Mistress” from Halloween inspired series. Magical powers embodied in enticing daughter of the night.
Photography Medusa Gorgona Photography
Model Natasha Felix
MUA Anna Fullbrook – Makeup Artist
Behind the scene video Fudge Tiger
Assistance & Video Nataliya Ilieva
Wig Gothic Lolita Wigs
Studio & Costumes Medusa’s Garden Studio
First time in my life I was inspired by the lights. Yesterday I just tested new product called ElianeCK HDRI Lights for Iray from Daz Studio. I tested different variation of lights and I found purple one, so add nice background in violet tone and gave my model clothing and hair also in violent and purple color. My first test render looked like that( picture 2) ! I didn’t made any post work with Photoshop or another program when it comes lights and colors. I was very happy with my result and made another render (picture 1) I like do a lots of post-works so I tested Topaz and Photomatix pro to get fresh, more intensive and warm tones.
Today we will visit Spain, lovely country where many of us were there because of holidays, good gigs and fantastic medieval festivals. Emma and Jordi are lovely married couple, who had deal with digital art, modeling in 3d world and photography. They both have amazing experience and very good education which helps them realize their dreams. Jordi is 3d modeler, photographer who made content for Poser and Daz Studio. He is sponsor of 3d Creative magazine and 2d Artist magazine. Emma, his wife is Digital Artist specialized in Fantasy, Sci-fir illustrations. She is also blogger, had many interesting exhibition in Spain and other countries. More information about their activity you can find in this interview 🙂
Digital painting by Emma Alvarez
Product “Violin Soul” designed by Emma and Jordi
Personal Transporter by Emma and Jordi
Character: EJ Adora designed by Emma and Jordi
Character: EJ Rosalia designed by Emma and Jordi
Artienne: Emma -On your blog, you mention often artists such as Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell. Is only these artist had the greatest influence on your digital painting?
Emma and Jordi: Absolutely! And Ken Kelly. When I was a child I was absorbed looking at Frank Frazetta’s illustrations. I used to look at disc covers of rock bands. When I saw Steve Vai’s disc cover “Love and Warfare” I decided that I wanted to become an illustrator.Digital painting by Emma Alvarez
Title: The Unicorn Under The Moon
Artienne: I really like your artwork“Spring in the Golden Garden””the Dreamer Mermaid”and The Unicorn under the Moon”. Is it a mixed media, photo-manipulation or digital painting? I understand that your artwork, images were printed on canvas? Have you thought about the release of the book with your digital painting ?
Emma and Jordi: All my illustration works are mixed media. They combine many different techniques to get the result I want. At the beginning when I did the exhibitions, I printed it in paper, but the matt crystal was very expensive, and the glossy one gave problems with reflections and light. So in an exhibition I tried to print it in canvas, and liked the result so much that I started to print in canvas, and my “Justice” illustration in canvas visited 36 exhibition rooms. In my web page they can be bought printed in canvas.
I have my web page very outdated, I have to find time for that. Yes it has always been in my mind to make a book with all my illustrations. I sometimes write and thought in mixing tales with my illustrations. I will do it some day.Digital painting by Emma Alvarez,
Title: Spring in the Golden Garden
Artienne: You participated as illustrator with 5 books. Can you tell a little bit about your experience as book illustrator?
Emma and Jordi: The experience of watching your work in a book is wonderful. My father was a business man of book publishing. Since I was a child I saw books and dreamed with being part of them and not only editing. But everybody expected that I was a book editor as my father. Watching my illustration in a book was achieve a dream of my childhood. In addition, one of the books was a selection of sci-fi works made by the ex-Marvel UK editor, John Freeman, and another had Ken Kelly as judge. Those two books are very special for me because they are not only important professionally but also at an emotional level. I chose the artistic part and although it has been a long and hard path I finally can say I got it to be my profession.Artienne: Emma you had many of exhibitions and conferences in different places in Spain and other countries? Which one was your best exhibition and conference? Jordi also has deals with photography. Did you have any exhibitions together? What were your greatest achievements in this field?
Emma and Jordi: My favorite exhibition was in Barcelona, in the Dali museum in a dedicated room for a collective exhibition. As Dali is one of my favorite painters it was a blast to have one of my works close to his paintings. My favorite conference was about digital art. Many people who didn’t know about it was amazed with the topic, the room was full, with people standing because the chairs were full, and the public was very warm and nice.
We have exhibited together, Emma with a painting and Jordi with a photography in Taza (Morocco). The exhibition appeared in the news of the public television and it was great.
Artienne: Jordi you are making contest for Poser and Daz Studio! What this mean? Can you say more about it? What are you working now?
Emma and Jordi: Not in this moment but we have it in our thoughts.
Artienne: Any plans for the future?
Emma and Jordi: Our plans is to keep on giving the best of us in our products. And in the personal side we are thinking in moving from our city and go to a new and exciting place where we can continue developing our creativity. We always thought that home is where the heart is.Product “Temple Guardian” designed by Emma and Jordi
Shiba Shake – 3d Artist who doesn’t like to talk a lots about him self but he makes fantastic illustrations. His magic world is rich with different kind of creatures, elves, mermaid, dragons, vampires, demons and etc. Every render is like a beautiful story, fairy tale full of life and treasures of nature.