5 Questions for Marina Beldiman

We have with us today guest digital artist Marina Beldiman from Bucharest, Romania.

I came upon Marina's artworks while sourcing for art-tributes of the late David Bowie previously.

Marina attended Art High School in Romania and although she received formal education in traditional art, she sketches her drawings today using concept art and illustration. And we have invited Marina today to share with us her experiences with digital art.

Qn: What did you use to create this artistic tribute of David Bowie above?

The David Bowie tribute is a digital painting done entirely in Photoshop. I used a hard chalk brush because I like the traditional feel of it.

Qn: Where do you usually get your inspirations to draw/paint from?

My inspiration comes from all sorts of things, like Pinterest with images of concepts or illustrations, nature or right now I’m in a technical phase and I get a lot of inspiration from looking at engines, machinery, old military tanks. But that changes all the time, it can be a feeling I get walking on the street or a gesture of someone that triggers an idea for a character, illustration I want to paint. I think inspiration is more of a state of mind in the sense that you have to stay open and receptive at everything that comes your way.

Qn: What do you think are some of the most common issues that artists face in painting?

I can’t speak for the traditional painters but for digital artists, the most common issue apart from the technical side (getting to know all the digital programs required in the industry, even 3D ones) that requires a lot of work to get at a certain level of rendering, is probably having your own artist voice and style. When you start out everyone likes an artist or more and you want to copy their style, but having your own artistic voice is more important and very difficult to achieve as it takes years and years of practice.

Qn: What did you use to create this image above? And how did you do it?

This concept is a Fantasy mech, I wanted to combine organic with mechanical parts. The image is part photo bashing for the mechanical pieces and the headpiece is painted, all done in Photoshop. I always start out with black &white sketches until I feel the concept has a life of its own and I go from there like being guided by it. For this I wanted to make a kind of fleshy mech, something that emulates the human muscles this is why i chose the crimson color.

Qn: Lastly, what was your most creative artistic accomplishment?

This is a hard question because I don’t think I have a creative artistic accomplishment yet. I still think I’m far from it but what I consider an accomplishment is learning to have patience, to believe in yourself and…keep practicing!

We thank Marina Beldiman for sharing with us her artworks and experiences in this interview. For more of Marina's works, you may visit her website at https://marinabeldiman.blogspot.com or her deviant-art page at https://marina13m.deviantart.com