In this week’s interview, we sat down with Howard “Dyst” Winterson, a graphic designer from Virginia and Intrinsic Nature member.  With an interesting and colorful abstract style, Howard has been experimenting with digital art for around 8 years, and has developed unique techniques for his art.

Enjoy the interview!

• Your Name: Howard “Dyst” Winterson
• Your Age: 19
• Location (City or Country): USA, Virginia
• Your website or portfolio: www.strangeprogram.deviantart.com
• Software you use: Photoshop CS3

Thanks for taking the time to interview with us. First off, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Thanks for the interview! My name is Howard, some may know me as “Dyst”. I’m currently a student attending college and have a fairly fulfilling life.  I enjoy doing digital artwork and traditional artwork. I also enjoy teaching. I’d like to make a career out of combining the two, but I am still looking at other options.

Love

How did you get started with digital art?

I got started with digital art at least seven or eight years ago, when I first got a copy of photoshop. I was completely clueless when I first got it and didn’t have any idea how to use any of the tools and didn’t return to it for some time. It wasn’t till about four years ago that I returned to it and started trying to take a more serious approach to learning the program to make artwork.

What are your major influences? Any artists in particular who influenced you a lot, or other media such as music and movies?

My major influence is how I am feeling. I like to use certain textures and colors to represent how I am feeling when I’m making the work. It’s a very emotion-driven engine and also acts as my main source of inspiration. I think a lot and to draw from that cascade is to tap into who I am and express who I am. The people in my life also inspire me a lot based on who they are and how I look at them.  I’ve drawn inspiration from many different artists online and in the traditional world. M. C. Escher’s surreal work and warped perspectives are a great inspiration to me.

Natural

From a creative standpoint, is it easier to work on personal work or client work?

It’s definitely easier for me to work on personal work for the reasons I mentioned above. It feels much easier to explore boundaries and play off of what you’re feeling and experiment when you’re working on something personal to you. I enjoy making client work too and working on someone elses vision, but do find that you are forced to limit your creativity a bit and submit to what the person in charge of the work truly wants, which can be, but doesn’t have to be, a fairly suppressive task at times.

How would you describe your style, in a sentence or two?

Very reliant on the colors and the atmosphere of my work. It is easy to look at a lot of my work and just see colorful spheres, but the pieces are all my expressions. I try my best to introduce new elements in the same way new elements are introduced into my life. I always concern myself with the contrast of the shades and tints, and the colors of my work, because those are my greatest tools in expression. Lately I’ve been trying less abstract approaches to expression and been exploring technique in some of my upcoming pieces of work.

Gray Matter

Can you describe your typical workflow when you’re working on a project, whether it be personal or for a client?

When I’m drawing, or I’m opening photoshop, or whatever, I always have a certain mood in mind. I always have a sturdy emotion or thought that I’m clinging onto from the beginning of my project to the end. Sometimes the way I’m feeling can change and I’ll decide to take a new approach with what I’m working with. In any event as far as how it goes pragmatically, I like to have an idea of where my objects are going to be, and what else I’m going to include in the mix to make things more appealing to the viewer. I may generally draw out a very sketchy composition and work from there, or just have it in my mind where things are going to be from the start if the composition is simple enough to offer itself like that to me. If I feel like at a time during the work I am unable to express myself, and I am having poor luck exploring techniques, I’ll using just take a break from the work and resume at another time. My main objective in making artwork is to make the workflow come as naturally as possible and never try to apply force to my work, only glide it parralel to how I’m feeling – I think this kind of mindframe is the most healthy if you want a true representation of you.

Do you have a favorite work that you’ve done, or something you’re especially proud of? Why that work especially?

Afraid of the Dark

I’m particularly proud of this work because I think I really did get the surreal atmosphere I was aiming for while keeping it at the same time colorful. I had an idea with what this work was to me and I think of how I was feeling every time I look at it. The entire process of making it just felt very natural and most importantly, I just had a really good time making it and developing it.

What program do you do the majority of your work in, and why?

The vast vast majority of my work comes from Adobe Photoshop. I’ve played with 3d modelling programs and adobe illustrator, and enjoyed working in these programs, but of all the software I’ve tried I’ve found that Photoshop speaks with me the best as far as a piece of software allowing me to try whatever I want to try to get my idea across. Photoshop has a rather expansive set of tools and, in a simpler light, it’s just what I’ve been using for most of my graphics design life and so I have developed a few techniques using the photoshop tools.

Do you have any advice for beginning artists out there?

Yes. Being an artist and being a designer is a grand matter of principle and purpose. There is always a purpose behind what you’re making, and that purpose is going to always be the essence of your work. If your purpose for doing art is to express yourself and say something, you will find ways to say things depending on how compassionate you are about the things you’re saying. If you don’t have a purpose, you are more likely to be hurt by your own devices and restrict yourself from continuining to, naturally, develop as an artist. It is important to have some passion behind what you do if you are designing, even if your passion is just for designing in and of itself.

We are Forever

Using your analytical side is important too, which brings me to principle. It is important to have a purpose behind what you are doing, but it is also important to have an understanding of your tools and become accustomed to them. A comfort zone and a working brain can really help you resonate with your emotion and find the best ways to employ it. The understanding of these two forces together to me is a valuable possession for any
designer or artist of any variant.

Anything else you’d like to say? Any projects you’re working on that you want to draw attention to, or closing thoughts for the readers?

Just a thank you for the opportunity to give this interview. A thank you to any friends or family reading this. Thank you for your support. I encourage any reader who has any other questions to contact me personally, I love to talk about this.