Markus Vogt interview - 2011

Name: Markus Vogt
Place of birth: Würzburg, Germany

Black Cat: Hi Markus, for the beginning can you, please, tell me what attracted you toward art and when did you discover your talent?
Markus Vogt: Painting or all other sorts of creative work was always one of my main preferences since my childhood. I do no more know if there was a specific reason for this or anything else which attracted me to art. Everybody has certain strengths and weaks and i realized very early that my strenghts would be more towards the creative things and less towards the pure technical way of thinking.
Working digitally I started out in 2003 with vector graphics orientated programs like CorelDraw. Shortly later i became interested in 3d modeling and rendering packages like Cinema 4d, Vue, Bryce, Poser and so on. In combination with Photoshop those are my main focus now and the perfect way to express my artstyle.

B.C.: Which is your artistic background and what artists and art helped you to define your own style?
M.V.: I do not have any typical art school education. And in my opinion that is also not really nescessary for each and every person who wants to work in a creative way. Of course it has a lot of benefits if you ever went to art school but artists who don´t are also being able to produce great artworks if they are willing to learn a few basic rules and adapting those to their own creations later. As long as you are convinced from what you are doing and keep a clear aim in mind then you can achieve almost anything. It was not an easy process for me as i am completely self taught in the digital medium from the beginning via lots of different books, video tutorials, magazines and of course practical experimentations over and over again.
I am inspired by some of the classic painters and illustrators like HR Giger, Z. Beksinski or John Berkey as well as from some of the fantastic artists of today like David Ho, Meats Meier, Yann Souetre, Yang Xueguo, Allen Wei Ming or Paul Gerrard. My favourite photographer is Yann Arthus-Bertrand with his famous "Earth From Above" series. Last but not least "Earth" can be considered as THE art piece itself.

B.C.: Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work? Can you describe it?
M.V.: I always work digitally with my graphics tablet. My typical workflow is mostly the same: After having a rough idea of what i wanted to create i start out with the development of an interesting composition layout in form of thumbnail sketches or small previews. When i am satisfied with it i start out with some basic 3d modelling, texturing and rendering. After that i bring the image into Photoshop. I always apply all atmospheric and lighting effects as well as some detailing in Photoshop using photoreference or additional 3d elements.
My mostly used tools are: Photoshop, Cinema 4d, Vue and Bryce.

B.C.: Do you think you would be successful without computer?
M.V.: No, not really. I am a digital artist and used with the typical workflow of the digital medium.

B.C.: It is tempting to speak of a parallel world with you….How would you refer to your world?
M.V.: Well, i always loved unreal fantasy creations. In my opinion they can better force the imagination of the viewer and try to find an own interpretation. I would describe my style somehow as "futuristic dark art". Although most of my pictures may appear very dark they are never intended to support and associate terms like pure violence, hate, satanism, racism or any other similar tendencies! It is simply my personal taste and not meant as a drawing of an image from a bad or destroyed future. Sometimes i just want to show that the future might also have another appearance that we would hope or expect actually. Take a look at my image "Contamination - The Warning" http://markusvogt.deviantart.com/art/Contamination-The-Warning-212389189. The message in it should be the warning against the destruction of nature and life through mankind.

B.C.: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed." -- Albert Einstein, What I Believe, 1930. What do you think about this quote?
M.V.: Yes that is true for sure and should always be kept in mind. In many cases the best art results from seeing typical all day things with completely different eyes in a completely unusual way, turning the reality upside down. The best art comes from a limitless imagination and the ability to focus on the creative part only.

B.C.: What do you obsess over?
M.V.: I was always obsessed over perfectionism especially in art creation. One one side this has helped me to improve my skills and see my own images with other eyes but on the other side it has also demotivated me from time to time as i was not being able to realize on the digtial canvas what i previously had in mind. So i have experienced that setting your expectations too high is not a good idea, especially in the beginning. It possibly can block you from the pure creative process as you tend too much to focus on technical perfection which is not the right way of working in my opinion.

B.C.: Not to mention that art should have an effect, should communicate something. Do you think art’s purpose is simply to provide a platform for an artist’s expression?
M.V.: Yes in most cases art should communicate something or transport messages, ideas and feelings. When i should talk about my own images i must say that not all of my images have a special message in it. Some of them are just created because of the overall look that i liked. So i have to say that it depends. For me not all art MUST have a special message in it at any time. If you felt happy during the creation process and you liked what you achieved then it is a creation from your heart and then it can also be called artpiece in my opinion.

B.C.: Can you tell me about your artwork “Don’t be so shy”? What message are you try to convey?
M.V.: Well, for this specific piece i have tried to convey the message of human feelings and emotions through unknow fantasy creatures or alien lifeforms. Although the appearance might be very dark, strange und un-familiar to humans i wanted to show that those type of creatures could possilby have human- like emotions or fears as well. So i have tried to show that even alien creatures are not just being cold and lifeless like they usually might appear to most people.

B.C.: Do you have goals that you are trying to reach as an artist, what is your 'drive'? What would you like to accomplish in your 'profession'?
M.V.: My main goal was always to trying to improve my skills and the quality level of my artwork. I constantly tried to avoid standing still and always wanted to develop myself into other directions or styles. In the beginning i created many different kind of images like fractals, landscapes and even macro-photography. But over the time i noticed that it would be more beneficial for me to focus and concentrate on one favourite certain style. The Dark Art and Science Fiction! I would define my personal art style as something like "dark futuristic or post-apocalyptic cyber style". I always want to keep aesthetic aspects and quality in mind and try to avoid too many cliché type things. For me it is a limitation to always reproduce what a certain genre may require. I try to combine different things and aspects of art styles into something new.

B.C.: Thank you very much Markus for your time and answers and I wish all the good luck :)
M.V.: No problem, thanks for the interview, Didi :) All the best!

• Prev
• Next