The Digital Art of Kyle Lambert – Interview Included

Posted on 27. Feb, 2010 by DAS Team in Articles

Thank you very much for giving us this wonderful opportunity to understand more about yourself and your art.

How old are you? Where are you from?

I am 22, and I am from the United Kingdom.

Could you please give us a background about how you were first interested in art?

When I was growing up, I spent most of my spare time drawing or making something. I used to love sitting in front of the TV drawing characters from my favourite TV shows and movies.

Since when have you been drawing (traditional art)?

As I said I have been drawing since I can remember, but it was secondary school where I began to take it seriously. In college I developed an interest in drawing people. I found this a great challenge that really helped develop my skills as an artist. During this period I moved from drawing with pencil to painting in oils. At university I really began to understand color mixing and discovered that I could paint super realistic looking images.

When have you started Digital Art? What was your motivation?

I discovered Digital Art half way through university when I was given the opportunity to play with a Wacom Tablet. After a couple of hours getting used to it I had produced this black and white painting of Jessica Alba. I bought one immediately and the rest is history.

Have you taken any formal education in Art or Graphic Design?

Yes, I graduated last year from a Degree in Illustration with Animation, I also did one year Fine Art Painting. Most of the software knowledge I have is self taught.

What kind of Graphic Tablet do you use? Do you use any other tools?

I use two tablets, obviously not at the same time though
I use a Wacom Cintiq 21UX for the majority of my work and an Intuos A5 wide for my other display. I have also used my iPhone with the Brushes App to paint images like the Jennifer Aniston portrait below.

What interests do you have other than Art?

I am a big movie buff and regularly go to the cinema. I try to balance my work with exercise and play football (soccer) twice a week and run and cycle as often as I can.

You mentioned on your website that you are also a web designer, do you see a connection between digital art and web-design?

I have designed and coded my own website now for over 10 years and have occasionally built website for other clients. I find web design fun because it blends design and technology. The coding side of it I find relaxing (most of the time) because of how logical and structured it is. It acts as a nice contrast to the artwork I do which can be quite organic and free without boundaries.

What is your favorite art piece that you made so far? Why?

I don’t have a single piece that is my favourite, I like different pieces for different reasons. I really love the challenge of painting a photo-realistc image such as the Rihanna piece. My favourite illustration project I have done was the Short Story project I did for my Final Degree Show. The main reason for this was that I went through the whole process of writing, storyboarding, getting models, illustrating and also animating. I also like the loose quality of the Will Smith painting I did, it was so fun to paint.

My philosophy is that your current project should be your favourite, or you are not doing your best.

To what extent do you see the digital art world shaping the future?

Massively. With graphics tablets as cheap as they are and computers and software as powerful as they, there are more and more opportunities for people to get creative. If technology keeps progressing at the rate it is right now, who knows where digital art will be in years to come.

In your opinion, what really qualifies someone as a digital artist?

I would say that anyone who uses their computer in a creative way can be classed as a digital artist. Whether that be a moviemaker editing a movie on their computer or a graphic designer or an illustrator sketching a composition.

Are there any artists out there who influence or inspire you?

Absolutely, every day I see an image or a piece of music or a person that inspires my future work. In terms of artists, I love the paintings of Lucien Freud and Jenny Saville and the work of Comic book artists like Alex Ross. I am always blown away by CGI characters in movies and I am always overwhelmingly blown away by anything that the guys at Pixar create.

Do you have a Digital Art Secret?

One thing that shocks a lot of people is that most of the time I only use one layer when doing a painting. This is because I am used to working on a canvas that has only one surface. Only in certain circumstances will I use multiple layers.

Are you a perfectionist?

Yes, which means I find it hard to find time to sleep. I just can’t stop until my work looks perfectly real or has that atmosphere or mood that I am trying to achieve.

If nobody has higher expectations than yourself, then you will never disappoint anybody.