F E A T U R E D  A R T I S T  I N T E R V I E W

CW Crisman is a well-known and well respected Bryce artist.  I had the very great pleasure of interviewing him and getting to know him a little better.  Here's the interview in full.

OI: I first want to say what an honor it is to have you as a featured artist on my site...there are tons of artists on the Internet today that have considerable talent, and I'm just glad to have an opportunity to talk to some of them and showcase their work.
CW:  Thanks. It's an honor to be chosen.
OI:  You are probably the unsung inspiration for many Brycer's, including myself, and so my first question deals with your approach to 3d artwork in general, and Bryce in particular. How do you come up with ideas for scenes that will be memorable and remarkable?
CW: Well, that's what I would like to know LOL.. Particularly when I go through times when I'm "blocked". I first of all try to please myself when I'm making anything. I'm my own worst critic. I've often just been trying a new technique or program that I've read about or seen and that leads to the finished image.
OI: Some of your art has curious twists. Your well-known "Found in My Grandfather's Trunk" series contains surreal and fantastic images portrayed as faded and cracked photographs. Other individual works have interesting blends of light and shadow, color and monotone. Are these images created with the end effect in mind from the very first, or do you create as you go along, adding elements and editing as you see fit?
CW:  I think that one of the strong themes that runs through everything I do (not just art) is dichotomy. I like when opposites play against one another and also with one another to create a complete gestalt. "Found in My Grandfather's Trunk" is a very good example of this. I knew that when I created the image there would be the interplay of the fake and the real and what is reality today (with the X files and all that). Depending on the audience the image works on several levels. With a Bryce audience the image works in that I've done something with a Bryce image that no one has done before. With an audience that knows photography, I'm manipulating an image in total. It is the interplay and the thought provocation that I'm after.
OI:  Put another way, do you improvise much, or do you always begin with a specific plan in mind, and end up with what you see in your head?
CW:  That depends. Most of the time I've created something in a modeling program or in Bryce and then I create a reason for this "thing" to exist. Artifact Honeymoon in the Southwest 2 started out as an model I made in Organica and I needed a reason for it to exist so I created an entire story for it that is carried in the title. But "War" started with an image that hit me in the middle of work and all I did was do my best to recreate what I saw in my head. The final image wasn't exactly what I had first envisioned but I think that I exceeded my expectations in some aspects. Often with an image I'll have a render from Bryce that is just plain awful or didn't work in some or many aspect and I'll take it into PhotoShop and mess with it until it looks better. In this respect this is total improvisation. I've been using PS for so long that I just do until it looks right or I've reached a point where I know that nothing will help the image.
OI: I've enjoyed your recent turn into organic artwork. Your pieces have an eerie human-like resemblance, yet twisted or deformed in frightening or disturbing ways. Then again, many of your pieces, while conveying horror in a quiet way, are also strangely compassionate (see Guardian #4 for reference). Do these pieces convey your feelings in art, or are they just one output you have chosen to explore for now?
CW: Again this is one the one hand the effect of a new tool Organica. On the other hand I have always felt that most electronic models are too mechanical. I loved to play with clay and Playdo as a kid and had wanted for years to be able to do soft, squishy shapes in computer modeling, but until recently most "metaball" and other modeling programs that make organic shapes were just too expensive or ran on SGI. Also, I'm still playing with the dichotomy in images as well as in Guardian trying to express a range of emotions. I've got a baby on the way and I've been projecting all of the mixed emotions that I have into my art. It's kind of therapy for me. The deformations are deliberate in Guardian in that it makes the human aspects something to play off of, but also it plays to the very heart of what being a daddy means. You have to be strong and protective and valiant and at the same time you have to be loving and caring and soft and nurturing. Michelle Surges created the expression of the face, giving me everything I asked for and then some. A good friend of mine wrote this about Guardian.

OI: How have you improved over the years as a Brycer?
CW: Each version of Bryce brings with it easier ways to do things. If anything I've learned how to better light objects in Bryce and how the interaction of light and the textures work. I've become much more adept in using the DTE (although I was using it in Bryce 2 when it was a hidden Easter egg) now that it is easier to use in B4.
OI: Is there a specific avenue for thought and artistic expression you'd like to explore in the future?
CW: I'm gonna go with my heart more often. If there is one thing I see in our little community of Brycers it is an extraordinary depth of ability but an astound lack of emotional depth. Now, granted not every image has to say something, but I feel that if I can say something (without hitting someone over the head with the message) than I'm doing my part.
OI: What goals do you have for your artwork?
CW: To improve at every level. Whether that be creating better skies, modeling, or finally end product, I want to make sure that I am using my tools to their fullest capabilities. I feel that I've got a long long way to go yet.
OI: Who have you been influenced by most, and how?
CW:  Hmmmmm... Big list. All of the old masters to start. When I lived in NYC I had the opportunity to just sit in the Met for hours and look at just a few painting and sculptures. Also I have to say that Martin Murphy and Jeff Richardson have been huge influences on my work. Martin Murphy's tutorials have made me realize just how much I can do with this stuff, and Jeff... well he's Jeff. Whimsy mixed with cool stuff and an incredible talent for all aspects of Bryce and 3D art in general. I've also been heavily influenced by all of my friends that hang out at the Bryce Forum. Often their feedback changes an idea or an image in positive ways.
OI: Is there any advice or suggestions that you can provide that might prove useful to 3d artists of all caliber -- any words of impact that should be remembered?
CW:  Play. Follow your heart. Don't fall in love with your render, because nothing is perfect and everything can be edited. Don't be afraid to crop. Don't be afraid to loose part of an image at the expense of a better part. Use what ever tools it takes to make the image "right" . No work is EVER done, it has just reached the stage of "right".
OI: Thanks so much Mr. Crisman. I have really enjoyed this opportunity to interview you, and I really can't wait to see more of your fabulous work.
CW: Thanks Jeremiah, This has been a blast.

View CW's image showcase.