Leap Books is excited to present the work of two new artists (watch for another artist profile coming soon) on our upcoming book covers. First up is the work of Italian artist Gaetano Pezzillo.
1) Leap Books discovered your work via the site, DeviantArt.com, can you tell us a bit about how this artistic community functions?
DeviantArt is a great community. It features an incredible amount of amazing artists and every possible kind of art that you can imagine. Everyone can share his/her own creations and the feedback is just amazing. It's very rewarding and it's a great chance to socialize and to learn new things every day. And even if you are not an artist, it's still a beautiful community for everyone who loves the art, from traditional to digital, from artisan crafts to poetry and manga art... A must in my opinion.
2) What is photomanipulation?
Well, it’s basically the art of combining and editing different photos or photographic elements to create something new. It can be a simple photo retouch or a complex composition, you really have infinite possibilities. Sometimes it involves additional techniques, like digital painting for example. In every case it requires a photo-editing software, good quality pictures taken by others or by yourself and lots of patience J
3) How did you get your start with this unique form of photography?
In the last few years I saw many beautiful pictures on the Internet, they were so real yet so unreal, and most of them had such big emotion and stories to tell. I was stunned when I learnt how they were made. So one day I thought: “This is a thing I want to learn, I have something to say and this can be a beautiful way of doing it”. My first works were obviously kind of ugly, and I still believe I have much to learn, but this is what I love about photomanipulation: you always learn, every single time.
4) How would you describe your work? Gothic? Paranormal?
Most of my works can be described as Dark, in a good way, I hope. There’s always something to tell about our darkest emotions, and sometimes a picture can speak more than words. It gives me the chance to explore what’s in the deep of my soul and probably of all our souls. But of course other works I’ve made are more “good”.
Another of Gaetano's works
5) Any advice for burgeoning digital artists?
Digital art is often spotted by popularity. It’s becoming a global phenomenon, so you can experience many difficulties to get noticed, especially at the beginning. That’s ok, because the most important thing is to make something that you can be proud of. If you do, you’ll grow with the desire of making always better and that’s the best thing for an artist of every media. Remember to grow with your style but don’t let anything untried. And most of all, let everything be your inspiration.
About the Artist
I was born in Naples, Italy. I became interested in digital art in the last few years, learning everything from myself and finding inspiration in the world of music, literature, movies, fairytales, videogames and folklore. My works fall mainly into what is usually called dark-fantasy style and they share surreal atmospheres that recall dreamy world and universal feelings. I love to create, alter, distort and blend together apparently irreconcilable elements. But most of all I love to arouse intense emotions in people who see my works.
