Every art is a constant journey
I’ve always dabbled in drawing from the young age, but not so much in the “professional” way. I’ve graduated graphic design here in Belgrade, thus gaining additional experience in drawing and painting though classes in my course. Designing and creating artwork for metal bands came to me almost accidentally, when I offered my friend (in whose band I played at the time) to do the cover artwork and the rest of the design. And that’s how it all started.
I rely heavily on inking technique, and I generally love to experiment with it for the purpose of developing my own style. My technique varies from traditional inking with pen and ink or pencils, to use of digital software for overall design and layouts, digital painting, drawing etc. I also have some experience with the traditional painting, however I would definitely like to incorporate it more into my work, so I plan to dive into it a little bit more in the future. Also, almost every single piece is entirely hand-drawn on paper, and that fact is the most important to me.
Most of the time I use pigment ink liners from various brands. I also use traditional calligraphy ink pens, especially for white ink and highlights. For graphic design part and artwork in color, I use mostly Adobe Photoshop paired with Wacom graphic tablet, Adobe Illustrator (for vectors and vectorising logos), and occasionally Adobe InDesign for some bigger layouts. There are also few more programs that I use from time to time.
I believe that in order to truly represent vision of the band and convey their desired message, it is crucial that the other side is involved in the process of artwork creation and that we achieve a clear agreement before the work starts. Also, they are regularly updated along the way. That involves expression of ideas and as much info as possible about the band ideology, lyrics, idea, concept and anything else that would bring us closer to that perfect product.
Music and visual arts associated with it should be a mirror of each other, so one should always represent other and vice versa. I strongly believe that those two should form one complete package, putting a listener and/or viewer in a specific mindset. I am deeply interested and involved in the occult literature and practice. Mythology, religious iconography and similar topics also play a big part in my art. Most of the bands and clients that I work with are on the same path, and that makes it easier to come to a concrete and precise agreement. As for the influence from all of this, it is received through the darkest parts of the subconsciousness, various methods and other mysterious ways. This topic is too big and complex, and doesn’t deserves to be answered in a simple way.
My inspiration flows from wide spectrum of artists, ranging from the old masters such is Gustav Doré, Albrecht Dürer, Alfred Rethel to name a few, all the way to the newer and equally important artists – Nekronikon, David Glomba, David S. Herrerias, Jose Gabriel Alegría Sabogal and many others. Same goes for history, mythology and religion, movies, decadence of the modern world, my sinister Path… I try to find inspiration everywhere I can. Up until now, the example which represents my style the best would be cover artwork that I did for Kozeljnik’s ‘Death Gives Unto Life’, released on Possession Productions. I received some directions from the band itself but at the same time was given enough room and artistic freedom to put my own stamp on it. The result is quite satisfying.
I haven’t been part of any exhibitions or art events as Opposition Artworks yet, only as part of my university course and more commercial graphic design work. In near future though, my art is going to be featured in Darkadya, a book which celebrates esoteric art in all shapes and forms, along with some of the biggest names in this artistic industry, so check it out and keep an eye out for the annoucements on their www.facebook.com/Darkadya or my FB page.
www.facebook.com/OppositionArtworks
Interview by Alex Milazzo – Copyright 2016 © Heavy Music Artwork. All rights reserved.
