There are a ton of really talented Artists out there. The crew here at PixelatedGeek would like to help highlight them. Frequently I will be posting a Artist of the Week Column here on the site. This week’s artist is Mike Henry. I was lucky enough to have stumbled onto his Art Gallery on Deviant Art and got in contact with him for a little Q&A.

Artist of the Week: Mike Henry

Portfolio Site |  DeviantArt

What’s been your inspiration for art?

My inspiration has been many different things depending on where I am in my life. When I started drawing it was Ninja Turtles. When I was a teenager it was anime, Batman the Animated Series, ExoSquad, Gargoyles. Now it has expanded to just about anything I see from movies, animation, television to music, other artists, and daily life. It’s hard for me to see something that is cool and not get fired up about it. That makes me want to put something down on paper.

What supplies do you use for your art?

For drawing I used Blue and/or Carmine Red Col-erase pencils. I do final pencils with any number two pencil lying around or an HB. When I am sketching I use a black ballpoint pen. For a while I had these Batman ballpoint pens I really liked. But they were cheap and all eventually broke in one way or another. Now I am really liking the generic ones from Staples. Once I have my line work scanned I use an 6×8 Intuos 4 and Photoshop CS4 to do my color work.

Any advice for a beginners?

That’s always a hard one. Only because I feel that people are sick of the most obvious advice. That doesn’t stop me from saying it, though! Practice is the most important element of Art over and above all others. If you aren’t putting pencil to paper every day you are doing yourself a disservice. All your favorite artists got where they are because they didn’t stop working their ass off.

Oh, one other thing. Be open to as many different possibilities as you can. No competent art style is better than another. You have something to learn from everything. Follow you natural progression and don’t try to fight it. Just go with the flow and let everything around you be a part of what you are drawing.

If you or someone you know would like to have art featured on PixelatedGeek please send me an email andrew@pixelatedgeek.com. Please include a link your Art Gallery.