Interview with Emi Haze
Graduated from the Institute Design Palladio in Verona with a degree in Graphic Design and Advertising Design, Emi Haze is an italian independent digital artist and illustrator with a strongest…
Designer Interview
28 April 2016
I began with painting and drawing, when I was attending the art high school. Then I discovered the digital art and I connected this great passion of mine with technology, taking a degree in graphic design and commercial art at the Design Institute Palladio in Verona.
I always loved the gesture and the warmth of the sign in a sketch, in stroke with acrylic or oil color, in the splashes of watercoloor or ink.
All the art world is the fundamental source of inspiration in the creative process, and I’m referring not only to pictorial art but also to music, filmmaking, photography and fashion.
In my opinion everything in every moment has an artistic side, the aesthetics of things, people around me...
For me everything has its own importance, images, textures, sounds, fragrances, my creativity is constantly stimulated.
I always loved the gesture and the warmth of the sign in a sketch, in stroke with acrylic or oil color, in the splashes of watercoloor or ink.
All the art world is the fundamental source of inspiration in the creative process, and I’m referring not only to pictorial art but also to music, filmmaking, photography and fashion.
In my opinion everything in every moment has an artistic side, the aesthetics of things, people around me...
For me everything has its own importance, images, textures, sounds, fragrances, my creativity is constantly stimulated.
Portraits are the works that I enjoy creating the most.
“Cosmogony Reloaded” is one of my artworks that I think fully represents my style, my world, my sensitivity.
In this artwork I wanted to give my representation of the origin of the universe. A girl that comes out and materialize herself from the sky, through an heap of clouds and an explosion of colors.
Also it is the work that allowed me to make myself known to the general public because is on the Adobe Photoshop 25th anniversary "Dream On" Oscars Spot which was featured during the Academy Award Oscars 2015 ceremony and was also used in other media as part of an international bigger campaign.
In this artwork I wanted to give my representation of the origin of the universe. A girl that comes out and materialize herself from the sky, through an heap of clouds and an explosion of colors.
Also it is the work that allowed me to make myself known to the general public because is on the Adobe Photoshop 25th anniversary "Dream On" Oscars Spot which was featured during the Academy Award Oscars 2015 ceremony and was also used in other media as part of an international bigger campaign.
I have been approached by Safarà Editore to create an intriguing and visually appealing cover illustration for Vanishing Girls Italian edition book, the last young adult novel by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver.
My favorite medium is a mix of digital art, watercolors and photography.
Watercolor, acrylic paints and ink are some traditional tools that I always combine with my digital artworks.
I have a big collection of different brush strokes, ink marks, spray painting, acrylic paints, washes of watercolor created by hand on textured papers, which I have built up over time and scanned at a high dpi ready to be used during the digital process.
Watercolor, acrylic paints and ink are some traditional tools that I always combine with my digital artworks.
I have a big collection of different brush strokes, ink marks, spray painting, acrylic paints, washes of watercolor created by hand on textured papers, which I have built up over time and scanned at a high dpi ready to be used during the digital process.
The best moment to develop my works is at night…no sounds, no distractions…it is perfect time for my creative phase.
Digital art is nowadays becoming increasingly important and it will exponentially grow in the future. The potentials offered by technology are endless and they can perfectly fuse with our manual skills. The only limit is our imagination.
My first exhibition will be in October at the Mediolanum Art Gallery in Padova for NowArt’s exhibition circuit.
I love Impressionism for the use of color and Surrealism for the subjects.
I could name many artists, painters and digital artists that have influenced me, at first in my painting and later in my digital art. Mentioning only few of them would be reductive, because all the art world is the fundamental source of inspiration in the creative process, and I’m referring not only to pictorial art but also to music, filmmaking, photography and fashion.
In my opinion everything in every moment has an artistic side, the aesthetics of things, people around me...
For me everything has its own importance, images, textures, sounds, fragrances, my creativity is constantly stimulated.
Music is one of the key of my creative process. Listening to my favorite artists like Sigur Rós, Radiohead, Bjork, helps me to immerse myself in my creative world and to have a right inspiration mood to develop a new work.
I could name many artists, painters and digital artists that have influenced me, at first in my painting and later in my digital art. Mentioning only few of them would be reductive, because all the art world is the fundamental source of inspiration in the creative process, and I’m referring not only to pictorial art but also to music, filmmaking, photography and fashion.
In my opinion everything in every moment has an artistic side, the aesthetics of things, people around me...
For me everything has its own importance, images, textures, sounds, fragrances, my creativity is constantly stimulated.
Music is one of the key of my creative process. Listening to my favorite artists like Sigur Rós, Radiohead, Bjork, helps me to immerse myself in my creative world and to have a right inspiration mood to develop a new work.
Ethereal, imaginative, dreamy, colorful, eternal…
In my works the human being melts with nature and its four elements to give birth to my inner world, ethereal and imaginative, hanging in balance between reality, dream and fantasy, in which color and sensitivity have the predominant role. A harmony that binds man and nature in a perfect way and which unfortunately nowadays seems to be a utopia.
Piles of tree branches, clouds forming hair, faces that melt with air and sky, human silhouettes that arise from expanses of earth and roots... this is my visionary world.
In my works the human being melts with nature and its four elements to give birth to my inner world, ethereal and imaginative, hanging in balance between reality, dream and fantasy, in which color and sensitivity have the predominant role. A harmony that binds man and nature in a perfect way and which unfortunately nowadays seems to be a utopia.
Piles of tree branches, clouds forming hair, faces that melt with air and sky, human silhouettes that arise from expanses of earth and roots... this is my visionary world.
Most of my clients leaves me free to develop the work, others give me detailed guidelines.
My artwork starts from a photo and the first phase is its retouching. Afterwards I digitally import various hand-made elements such as scratches, ink marks, acrylic or watercolor stains. All the Blending Modes, layer masks, Adjustments layers I use make the starting image less digital and more similar to a painting or a drawing.
This phase of manual elaboration is then merged with the strictly digital one.
Selecting parts of different photo images (like trees, plants, leaves, clouds, etc.) I try to blend with the double exposure technique the human body with nature and its four elements, fire, air, water and earth.
Many among Photoshop tools are capital in my artworks. I very often use Blending Modes - Multiply, Overlay, Soft Light - to obtain peculiar effects in the combination of different layers and textures, for instance the double exposures.
Adjustments layers are another essential tool. Color is an element of primary importance for the final perception of the artwork. I can have in any time the complete control of the color throughout every phase of my work.
This phase of manual elaboration is then merged with the strictly digital one.
Selecting parts of different photo images (like trees, plants, leaves, clouds, etc.) I try to blend with the double exposure technique the human body with nature and its four elements, fire, air, water and earth.
Many among Photoshop tools are capital in my artworks. I very often use Blending Modes - Multiply, Overlay, Soft Light - to obtain peculiar effects in the combination of different layers and textures, for instance the double exposures.
Adjustments layers are another essential tool. Color is an element of primary importance for the final perception of the artwork. I can have in any time the complete control of the color throughout every phase of my work.
The advices I would give is to have patience but be persistent, have an open mind and try to always inspire your creativity.
Photoshop is my main working software. If it had’t exist my works wouldn’t have probably been real and would have existed only in my mind or, at least, they couldn’t have been as they appear today.
I use an iMac with an external display in my studio but my favorite and best tool is Wacom Cintiq. It’s my digital canvas, the place where my ideas come true, drawing directly on a display makes a more natural and speedier workflow.
I use an iMac with an external display in my studio but my favorite and best tool is Wacom Cintiq. It’s my digital canvas, the place where my ideas come true, drawing directly on a display makes a more natural and speedier workflow.
Sometimes it is not easy but I try to keep a balance between my job and my private life.
For the entire workflow I usually spend some days maybe one week.
One of the most frequently question is: How do you realize your artworks?
I collaborated with the agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners of San Francisco to be part of the Photoshop 25th Anniversary special advertising campaign commissioned by Adobe. They licensed two of my artworks and one of them “Cosmogony Reloaded” is on the Adobe Photoshop 25th anniversary "Dream On" Oscars Spot which was featured during the Academy Award Oscars 2015 ceremony and was also used in other media as part of an international bigger campaign.
Today it has been watched over 2 million times on YouTube and recently has achieved three awards at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2015, a Graphite Pencil D&AD Award, two AICP Awards and a nomination for Outstanding Commercial at Emmy Awards 2015.
Taking part to this big event is a huge honour and representing my main working tool is a great personal satisfaction. It makes me proud to see my work on all promotional content Adobe is creating for this special 25th anniversary.
Today it has been watched over 2 million times on YouTube and recently has achieved three awards at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2015, a Graphite Pencil D&AD Award, two AICP Awards and a nomination for Outstanding Commercial at Emmy Awards 2015.
Taking part to this big event is a huge honour and representing my main working tool is a great personal satisfaction. It makes me proud to see my work on all promotional content Adobe is creating for this special 25th anniversary.
Adobe, Wacom, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Penguin Random House, Getty Images and many other big and small agencies and studios.
Planning and designing the cover of a book is always a big challenge and responsibility as you tend to represent with one image the content and the soul of the book. At the same time it must be intriguing and attractive in order to catch the attention of readers who usually read other genres.
I have many ideas to be tested in the future. My style is in constant evolution.
I hope to work and collaborate with new and important clients and agencies.
I hope to work and collaborate with new and important clients and agencies.
All of my works are developed by myself.
I just finished to draw for Penguin Random House of New York the cover jacket of “Glitter” the new novel by New York Times bestselling author Aprilynne Pike. The book will be released in October.
You can send me an email at hello@emihaze.com or a message through my socials: Behance (www.behance.net/endalaust) Facebook (www.facebook.com/EmiHazeOfficialPage) Twitter (www.twitter.com/emihaze) Instagram (www.instagram.com/emi.haze)