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Richard R Snyder

Artist's Interview

How long have you been creating?: Ever since I can remember... all through every grade of school, art has been my favorite. Being a Pisces - it's no surprise - but I've gone from being a straight on illustrator, to a painter, to mixed media - you name it, I've done it at some time in my life.

What is your medium of choice?: Digital. After going to school at AIP, Photoshop opened a whole new world to me. At one time I only did mixed media paintings using anything and everything I could get my hands on to make my point. Using photoshop lets me do all of this, but I don't make a huge mess doing so. After finding a couple of free image sites on the internet and using personal digital photos, I have a wide array of choices. I start every piece at the size I want the final piece to be - but I do it at 72 dpi. After the image is done, I blow it up to 300 dpi - I love the pixel result at a large size... so much texture and depth. I also love playing with type, size, font or blocks of type, etc.

What are your motivations for creating?: The pictures themselves. While browsing for pictures, every once in a while one or two pictures will just grab my heart strings and I MUST USE IT. It is very much an unconscious / feeling type approach. I believe the pictures tell me what to do to them, tell me what story to tell, tell me what colors to use...

What other artists and movements inform your work?: Armin Hofmann, Mark Rothko, Kandinsky + many things I just see daily - whether it be the way a house is painted to a certain tree I see somewhere.

What do you find stimulating right now? How does this influence your creative process?: Most definitely BATTERIE. It's a german quarterly e-zine with issues available for free download at ladestation.net. Always inspiring, always fabulous.

Read anything good lately?: Well..... It's called TAXI DRIVER WISDOM by Risa Mickenberg. It is funny, but it definitely makes you think differently about things.

In what ways does Cary influence your personal work?: She is fantastic with color. Just the other day I was in the basement and saw this painting she did over the summer of our neighbors grapevines, and was amazed at the color usage. Why is it sitting in our basement???.

And does it help or hinder having another artist in the house?: Both. I tend to be a bit more arrogant/confident about my work, where Cary is more sensitive about what she's doing. I have stepped on her toes more than a few times by saying smart aleck things I shouldn't have said. On the other hand, she's a non stop creative idea machine - which motivates me to do more... and more.

What would you like your fellow EBSQ artists and collectors to know about you and or your work?: That all of my works has a point, a message, whether negative or positive. It is meant to make you think.