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You are not an average or ordinary artist. Your work is quite unusual. How come that you have decided to be so different?
This was not really consciously decided. I’m a person willing to express ideas and feelings with the world. If I wouldn’t, I would die instantly. My purpose has always been to be provocative but in a positive and inventive way. I want people to think: “Damn, yes it’s possible!”.
How hard is it to be such an artist? I suppose it takes a lot of time to be so creative and innovative?
Being creative is my favorite part of the job, I’m getting used to it but it’s a full-time commitment with many sacrifices and many satisfactions too. Anything that’s more technical, mechanical and repetitive tends to annoy me very much and I always try to avoid it. Being imaginative and finding original ideas take a lot of time and energy, yes.
Can you describe how you are creating portraits in digital circlism and where did you get idea for that? How many of these portraits did you make?
“Digital Circlism” is a mix of Pop Art and Pointillism. It is created with digital tools usually featuring celebrities. It is made of thousands of flat circles on a black background. Each circle has a different color, a different size and a different tone. I often make a photomontage first using a bunch of references, then a digital painting and I finally apply my "digital circlist" technique. When making a portrait with circles, it is important to focus on the dynamic movement of someone's face. I place each circle one by one, there is no automatic process, it's a time consuming method). Several softwares can be used to achieve “digital circlist” images.
I’ve only made 13 portraits so far as it is very time consuming. It takes between 100 and 180 hours for a single portrait. I started my first image with digital circles in February 2010. It's still a new technique, evolving all the time. I started it with flat circles, I might be creating other patterns soon.
Finally, I've been making all kinds of portraits since more than 15 years. I wanted to develop a very original technique. As I've been working with digital tools recently, this came quite naturally.
Your project Pencil vs Camera got a lot of attention in media. How about that, are you still involved in that project and how much time you needed to have a collection of those photos? How do you make them?
Yes, I’m still working on it, definitely. I started the series in April 2010. I’ve made some 70 “Pencil Vs Camera” images so far and I intend to make 100 at least. It will be finished in a few months. So the full series will have required some 2 years of work. It’s quite long in a lifetime.
I was humbly pleased to see the huge impact of “Pencil Vs Camera”. If I die today, this is certainly the only thing people will remember of me. But there is always a way to do better and keep it going…
Which tools do you use for digital circlism and which ones for Pencil vs Camera?
“Digital Circlism” is 100% digital so I mainly use digital tools… A computer (MAC OS X), a digital graphic tablet (Wacom Intuos 4) and softwares like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.
“Pencil Vs Camera” is half digital (photography) and half traditional (hand made drawing) so I use cameras (Nikon, Samsung and Sony) paper and pencils (different brands).
Where are you looking for inspiration?
Nature: Nature is a god for me. I could spend days walking in empty fields, forests, deserts or mountains. I would never be tired of admiring all the beauties and landscapes Earth can offer. I find comfort and balance in natural places when I feel sad or depressed.
Human intelligence: All the accomplishments of Mankind… There are a lot of things to include in this category: Knowledge, Culture, Sciences, Arts, Music, Architecture, Engineering, Computers, Technology… When I see a skyscraper for instance, I see it like a huge sculpture and I’m really impressed by the quantity of work, genius and human mastership involved. There are so many examples and sub-categories.
Human societies: Interactions between people and the way humans find amazing solutions to complex problems have always intrigued and inspired me.
Personal stuff: I’m also inspired by many small events in my life, my family, my friends, the people I love.
Can you live from your art, are you working somewhere or are you one of those privileged artists who can make a living from their art work?
It has taken several years before I could eventually manage to make a living out of my creative work. I have made in the past plenty of little jobs that didn’t satisfy me at all. I’m now a full-time artist, I have no direct boss, which is awesome. I feel lucky for that. My only boss is the public I'm making art for. But as I said, it took many years to get there, and it's not the end.
What do you think about using new and trendy technology in art? There are some "old school" artist who feel that art isn't really art if you are using super-modern gadgets to create some piece of art? Do you think that they are exaggerating?
I think artists need to be a mirror of the society they live in. So, if it's for the better, why not using all the technological tools available to make new kinds of artworks?
Will your future art career be as innovative as it is today, do you think you will have enough ideas in the coming years to work in the way you are working now?
That’s an excellent question. I know that I’ll have to find new and fresh resources to fill my creative well because I don’t want to lack of ideas. This means I might do a 1-year break and live some new experiences.
Are you afraid that one day you will run out of ideas?
As mentioned above, this is a fear I have sometimes. I don’t want to be redundant in my creative works. So I’ll have to find a solution if I ever run out of ideas in the future.
This was not really consciously decided. I’m a person willing to express ideas and feelings with the world. If I wouldn’t, I would die instantly. My purpose has always been to be provocative but in a positive and inventive way. I want people to think: “Damn, yes it’s possible!”.
How hard is it to be such an artist? I suppose it takes a lot of time to be so creative and innovative?
Being creative is my favorite part of the job, I’m getting used to it but it’s a full-time commitment with many sacrifices and many satisfactions too. Anything that’s more technical, mechanical and repetitive tends to annoy me very much and I always try to avoid it. Being imaginative and finding original ideas take a lot of time and energy, yes.
Can you describe how you are creating portraits in digital circlism and where did you get idea for that? How many of these portraits did you make?
“Digital Circlism” is a mix of Pop Art and Pointillism. It is created with digital tools usually featuring celebrities. It is made of thousands of flat circles on a black background. Each circle has a different color, a different size and a different tone. I often make a photomontage first using a bunch of references, then a digital painting and I finally apply my "digital circlist" technique. When making a portrait with circles, it is important to focus on the dynamic movement of someone's face. I place each circle one by one, there is no automatic process, it's a time consuming method). Several softwares can be used to achieve “digital circlist” images.
I’ve only made 13 portraits so far as it is very time consuming. It takes between 100 and 180 hours for a single portrait. I started my first image with digital circles in February 2010. It's still a new technique, evolving all the time. I started it with flat circles, I might be creating other patterns soon.
Finally, I've been making all kinds of portraits since more than 15 years. I wanted to develop a very original technique. As I've been working with digital tools recently, this came quite naturally.
Your project Pencil vs Camera got a lot of attention in media. How about that, are you still involved in that project and how much time you needed to have a collection of those photos? How do you make them?
Yes, I’m still working on it, definitely. I started the series in April 2010. I’ve made some 70 “Pencil Vs Camera” images so far and I intend to make 100 at least. It will be finished in a few months. So the full series will have required some 2 years of work. It’s quite long in a lifetime.
I was humbly pleased to see the huge impact of “Pencil Vs Camera”. If I die today, this is certainly the only thing people will remember of me. But there is always a way to do better and keep it going…
Which tools do you use for digital circlism and which ones for Pencil vs Camera?
“Digital Circlism” is 100% digital so I mainly use digital tools… A computer (MAC OS X), a digital graphic tablet (Wacom Intuos 4) and softwares like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.
“Pencil Vs Camera” is half digital (photography) and half traditional (hand made drawing) so I use cameras (Nikon, Samsung and Sony) paper and pencils (different brands).
Where are you looking for inspiration?
Nature: Nature is a god for me. I could spend days walking in empty fields, forests, deserts or mountains. I would never be tired of admiring all the beauties and landscapes Earth can offer. I find comfort and balance in natural places when I feel sad or depressed.
Human intelligence: All the accomplishments of Mankind… There are a lot of things to include in this category: Knowledge, Culture, Sciences, Arts, Music, Architecture, Engineering, Computers, Technology… When I see a skyscraper for instance, I see it like a huge sculpture and I’m really impressed by the quantity of work, genius and human mastership involved. There are so many examples and sub-categories.
Human societies: Interactions between people and the way humans find amazing solutions to complex problems have always intrigued and inspired me.
Personal stuff: I’m also inspired by many small events in my life, my family, my friends, the people I love.
Can you live from your art, are you working somewhere or are you one of those privileged artists who can make a living from their art work?
It has taken several years before I could eventually manage to make a living out of my creative work. I have made in the past plenty of little jobs that didn’t satisfy me at all. I’m now a full-time artist, I have no direct boss, which is awesome. I feel lucky for that. My only boss is the public I'm making art for. But as I said, it took many years to get there, and it's not the end.
What do you think about using new and trendy technology in art? There are some "old school" artist who feel that art isn't really art if you are using super-modern gadgets to create some piece of art? Do you think that they are exaggerating?
I think artists need to be a mirror of the society they live in. So, if it's for the better, why not using all the technological tools available to make new kinds of artworks?
Will your future art career be as innovative as it is today, do you think you will have enough ideas in the coming years to work in the way you are working now?
That’s an excellent question. I know that I’ll have to find new and fresh resources to fill my creative well because I don’t want to lack of ideas. This means I might do a 1-year break and live some new experiences.
Are you afraid that one day you will run out of ideas?
As mentioned above, this is a fear I have sometimes. I don’t want to be redundant in my creative works. So I’ll have to find a solution if I ever run out of ideas in the future.
(*) Jutarnji list is a daily newspaper in Croatia.
