September Update: Artist Spotlight and Interview - Miriam Moritz (A Fool's Death)
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Sep 10, 2024 at 06:32:49 PM
Hey there Planes Hoppers!
We're back for another quick update and something a bit special for you this month, an interview with Miriam Moritz (aka: A Fool's Death) so that you can get to know her brilliance like we have had the pleasure to do.
Project Update:
By way of a quick project update first; writing is almost complete, we are neck deep into editing, and the art is coming along nicely! We are now nearing the end of the development phase, and the next phase (production) begins with getting everything into layout and making the book look pretty (not hard when you have amazing artists like we do!).
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An Interview with primary artist Miriam Moritz (aka: A Fool's Death)
Hi Miriam, thanks for sitting with us. It's been amazing having you as part of our little project and the book is so much better for it. So, thank you for your amazing art and for being an absolute joy to work with.
To kick things off, we'd like to ask you if you can share a little about when you decide you wanted to be an artist? Are you self-taught or had formal training?
- Miriam: I am self-taught to an extent; I learned a lot of the fundamentals and technical skills on my own before I eventually attended art school. Even after graduating I'm still learning new things every now and then and developing my style, so that's always an ongoing process.
Can you share a little about your inspirations as an artist? What styles and subjects do you enjoy most?
- M: I love anything really dramatic, theatrical and just extra. I kind of draw inspiration from all sorts of different media but the main thing that really makes me want to draw is listening to that kind of music. Of course, I also love anything fantasy related. I really want to make art that falls somewhere between a Baroque painting and a Magic the Gathering card if that makes sense.
You enjoy getting involved in Art Fights on Tumblr! What about these amazing Art Offs do you
enjoy so much?
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M: I do! I think there is something so special about other people's original characters. I know how much they love them because I know how much I love my own characters, but you can't talk about them like you can talk about your favorite characters from a game or tv show, because no one really knows them.
There is also no fan art or any sort of content of them, so it's something really special to have another artist's take on them. Unfortunately I didn't really have much time to participate in any artfights or trades this year.
Your website has so many colorful pieces. How has working in black and white been for you?
- M: I love using color in my paintings, there are so many subtle details that just add so much and you can really set the mood for the painting. Working in black and white is of course quicker, it's very straight forward. Sometimes I do have to stop and think because it takes away one way to add contrast and details and I kind of have to work around that.
The way you use white spaces and white elements to create depth and texture in your pieces
immediately caught our eye(s). Can you talk a little about that technique? When do you like to use it?
- M: In my regular paintings I usually tend to stay away from using a "true white", whenever you see white in my artworks it's mostly some weird greyish color, but it is perceived as white. I really only started using it in this project. The first character I made was the Frozen Heart Monk, so I had to somehow work out how to paint white snow on a white background and still make it stand out. I'm really glad I did that one first, because it allowed me to bring in more contrast into all the other characters I made after, which I think is very important if you only work in black and white.
How has working with P.B. Publishing been? (feel free to really unload on us!). Has anything been especially odd, difficult, or enjoyable about the process? How was adapting to the style and preferences of P.B. Publishing?
- M: Honestly, it's just been great. A lot of the characters are really up my alley, and even those that I typically wouldn't draw for myself ended up being really fun. Most of my sketches got approved with pretty much no notes, it's going almost suspiciously smoothly.
Can you walk us through your approach and thoughts while you worked on The Hive Warlock?
- M: The process is mostly the same for all the characters, there's honestly not much to it. I read the brief which conveniently also has a bunch of references already gathered, so I don't really need to go out of my way to do any research of my own. I do however make my own reference for the exact pose and lighting that I want with a 3D figure, which is basically just the digital version of those little wooden artist dolls and then I just get started on drawing. I keep everything pretty rough, I don't really do line-art, so everything is pretty sketchy at that stage and then I just start with a rough paint. The most important thing at this point is that you can make out the overall composition and that everything that's mentioned in the brief is at least somewhat recognizable. I'll then send over my sketch and once that gets approved it's just a matter of cleaning everything up and then adding some finishing details. If there are bigger changes, I'll send over a new version of the sketch. Once I'm done with a character, I'll send over the finished version for approval one more time and if there are no further notes, which is usually the case, I'll send over all the files they need.
Is there any advice you would like to share with any aspiring artists in our community?
- M: Try to find your niche and draw what you enjoy. You don’t have to fit a specific mold to find success. Also find your community. I think that last one is so important. Of course, you need to build your platform and all that, but I feel like not many people talk about how important it is to actually engage with other people as well, talking to other artists and making friends, hyping each other up, that's always when I'm the most excited about making art.
Are there any other notes or topics you would like to share with the community?
- M: I think now more than ever it's really important to support genuine creators in this community if you're at all able to do so, even if it's just in small ways like leaving a comment or a like. I know it's really tough for a lot of us, myself included, whenever there is another controversy by an industry giant or massive changes to the platforms that we use and especially the threat of losing not only your livelihood, but also your biggest passion to AI generated slop, so seeing that people out there still care and that our work is still valued is really so meaningful. I know the people reading this are already out here supporting an indie publisher, so I just want to say thank you so all much, I literally would not even be here writing all this without your massive support for this project. You all are truly the best.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Miriam, and we can't wait to show everyone all the other amazing pieces you've been working for this project!
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Thanks for reading folks, you can also check out Miriam's work and socials at any of the following places:
A Fool's Death:
Website: afoolsdeath.com
Tumblr: a-fools-death-art.tumblr.com
Instagram: Miriam@afoolsdeath
Twitter/X: @afoolsdeath_
That's all we have for this month, thanks again, and we'll be back soon with another update for you all!
Until next time, Adventure On!
Cody, Chris, and Phil
The Planar Codex Team
P.B. Publishing
