George Smith Interview
Chapter XVIII: Human
NOTE: Human and Archae were part of a double pack release. This interview counts for both Human and Archae.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
This is a pretty unique opportunity; I'm here with one of the guys that really inspired me to get into digital art and graphic design, George Smith. Hopefully we can get into his head a little bit, to get to know him and maybe gain a few insights into the artistic madness that is precurser.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
How's it going today George?
George Smith (precurser)
It's going very good, just another day in the wonderful world of the 9 to 5 job world. I should say though, that working a 9 to 5 job is great and since I don't burn myself out by working on graphics for clients all day, I still have plenty of creative juice flowing at the end of a long workday.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
Could you tell us about yourself and your art/design background? Do you have any formal art training or are you all self-taught?
George Smith (precurser)
I don't have any formal training with anything that I do today. In high school I took the generic graphic design, and photography classes which gave me some basic knowledge, but as far as going to a graphic design school, no. I think it is safe to say I am completely self-taught in most of the things I do today.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
What are your tools of the trade?
George Smith (precurser)
I have been using Adobe Photoshop since version 3.0, back in the day I used to dabble around in Bryce, and more recently have been trying to conquer 3D Studio Max (which is not an easy task). For my photography I use a Fujifilm Finepix S7000, which I might add is an amazing digital camera.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
George, I know you've been at this a long time' how have you been able to stay so creative over the years?
George Smith (precurser)
You know to be completely honest I really don't know. Growing up I came to realize that I got all of my creativity from my dad, he is an amazing artist himself and can pretty much conquer anything he sets his mind to. I used to grow up watching him airbrush r.c. car bodies, creating flames to mask onto the bodies using tape and an exacto knife, he is a true genius at what he does even to this day.
I get creative blocks just like any other person and quite a few times I actually thought to myself that I would stop doing this, but I just gave it time and the creativity started flowing again. And being in an artgroup like this with so many amazing artists really helps, it is kinda hard to not feel inspired and try new things, it truly is an amazing feeling.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
How do you see yourself progressing further as an artist? Are there some new things that you'd like to try or possibly revisit during the next few months/years?
George Smith (precurser)
I think that my ultimate goal is to keep progressing and try to stay ahead of the trends. My biggest passion right now is creating in print size, thanks to the wonderful folks over at deviantART with the Prints service they offer. I really think that is the future of digital art, society needs to embrace it more and realize that digital art is here to stay. I think the prints service is really helping that.
Some things that I have been actually revisiting lately thanks to the latest themes here at DC are using more human form and photography in my work. I have begun to release more of my actual photography on its own lately but I feel myself nudging back to embedding tons of pictures in my work, making the observer look more in depth and find things in my artwork they might not have seen in their first glance. I am a sucker for hiding stuff in my artwork.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
I've noticed a lot of photography from you lately, and they seem to be very consistent and stylistically unique' do you do any digital darkroom work in Photoshop? Could you give us an brief overview of your process? (If it's a secret, I understand :P) Also, could you tell us about how you approach your photo shoots, what kind of things your thinking about, etc'
George Smith (precurser)
I have been shooting photos for a while now, even before I got into digital art. I got a lot more into it when I got my first digital camera. When I took the photography class in high school the one thing that I remembered my teacher saying was that you might be taking a picture of something everyone has seen, but the key to being a good photographer is to show that normal object in a different light, the way that you see it, to make other people see what you see.
I don't do a whole lot of post-production to my photos other than a few minor brightness/contrast tweaks. And lately (as seen in the Archae pack) I have begun to manipulate my photos a tad bit more by mirroring them and rotating them.
When I approach photo shoots I just try to make sure everything looks good. I am really anal with things so I try to line up lines if I am taking an architectural shot or I try to center things if they are objects. I try to make my pictures as perfect as they can be so there doesn't need to be any cropping afterwards. I also waste a lot of photos, not all of them come out how I like, I may take a ton of photos of one thing and have none of them come out right, those shots will never see the public, I only release ones I am very happy with.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
Do you have a favorite depthCORE pack? Any particular reason?
George Smith (precurser)
I think that my favorite pack is Evolution, that was the first DC pack that I contributed to, I was in quite a bit of a block at the time when Justin asked me to join and what a better pack than Evolution to help get me out of that slump. The experience of creating art for that release has pretty much set me along the creative path I am on right now, the name says it all; Evolution.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
I read in your profile that you like the Killers, they are also one of my favorites' what is your favorite track off their Hot Fuss CD? Additionally, what other music are you into right now?
George Smith (precurser)
Hot Fuss is an amazing album, it's really hard to pick a favorite off of there, the opening track "Jenny Was A Friend of Mine" is one of my top favorites on that album, but the whole thing is great.
My musical tastes are pretty much from one end of the spectrum to the other. I listen to stuff from The Killers to Slipknot, Mudvayne, Haujobb (industrial/ebm), Venetian Snares (idm/breakcore), Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, KMFDM (industrial), Covenant (ebm), to Nine Inch Nails, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Chemical Bros. I can go on and on. =)
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
What are some of the things you like to do outside of art?
George Smith (precurser)
I am a very avid vodka drinker. I enjoy mixing drinks a lot. My friends and I throw a lot of parties (at least once a month) where we get together at a friends house and invite tons of people over to drink and dance and just have a good time. I listen to music constantly and other than that I lead a pretty normal life of watching tv/movies, mowing the lawn, and doing the occasional home improvement.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
Is there any advice you'd like to offer up to any aspiring artists/graphic designers that may be reading this?
George Smith (precurser)
No matter what happens, stick with it. Even when people shoot down your work and say that you suck, it is all about persistence. If you have the will then you will find your way. There was a time when I thought to myself that I was never going to be good, that I would never get to the point of making things that inspired people. But it came, it took a few years but it came and its been good ever since.
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
I have to stay true to depthCORE form and ask, what are you wearing right now? Keep it PG13' lol.
George Smith (precurser)
Haha! It's actually pretty simple, right now I have on jeans, and a dark maroon button down shirt on. Nothing too sexy, hit me up later for that ;)
Pete Golibersuch (shockreflex)
Well that's all I have for now, it's been an honor and congratulations on becoming the featured artist for depthCORE's Human/Archae double release!
George Smith (precurser)
Much love and thanks (to everyone), it's been fun.
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