Featured Artist for the Week – Cris Ortega

please tell us a brief info about yourself.

My name is Cris Ortega, also known as Dark-Spider on the internet. I was born in Valladolid, a little city on the north-center of Spain, in 1980. I lived there almost all of my life, but right now I’m living in a near town called Villanubla (which means “the village of the mist”, and gives honor to its name ). I took interest in arts and literature since I was a child, with special love for the horror genre. Several members of my family had an artistic talent, between them my father and my uncle, but none of them has turned it into a profession. But their love for art encouraged me to take this way.

Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

Well, it was a rather spontaneous thing. I have always been interested in arts and literature and spent most of my time reading, writing and painting, but only as a hobby. I would never have regarded this as a career option, as I wanted to study aeronautics and astronomy at first. But at the age of 19 I decided to do a comic of one of the short stories that I wrote before, it was fun and it became a great passion. Some time later I began to publish my first comics and illustrations on fanzines, magazines and with some publishers.

What are your tools of the trade: mouse, tablet, brush or pen and ink or pencil? and why?

Right now most of my artworks are digital paintings, that means that I paint them with a computer program, though the way of paint is exactly the same as acrylic or oil. I started with traditional techniques, such as acrylics, pastels and watercolors, but later on I began to work with computers, since they were the tendency. Now it’s the best technique to work with publishers and clients, but whenever I can, I try to work also in traditional ways. To create my paintings I use a tablet, a Wacom Intuos 3, that’s far better than a mouse. As software, I mostly use Photoshop, and some times also Painter. I also work in comics now and then, and for that kind of works I use pencil and ink mostly.

Who or what gives you inspiration?

The inspiration comes to me when it wants; sometimes it’s something that I see, a landscape, a night, people… sometimes it comes from the books I read or the movies I see… but most of the time it just comes when I’m working or when I’m walking around. In that instant I feel something and then I have an idea. That’s the reason why I always bring with me a pen and a notebook.

Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?

Its more like a mixture of both. I began to work first by myself, trying techniques, learning from books and from looking at other’s art… later, when I was sure I wanted to do this for a living, I went to the Art School of Valladolid, where I learned a lot of things about illustration and design. When I finished my studies, I continued to learn by myself, and I’m always trying new ways to improve my work.

How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?

By trying everything that I can. Art is always growing up, developing in other forms, changing, … you just have to want to do that too. For me what I do it’s never enough, I always want to do more, to try new things. I think the best way to keep fresh is to open your mind and want to develop more.

What are some of your current projects?

My publisher, Norma Editorial, has just release my second artbook, Forgotten 2: The Gate of Destinies. It’s the second of a series of books that showcase several artworks and short stories, already available in several languages. Right now, I’m working on the third book. Also, I’m currently doing several collaborations with organizations and events, working on an upcoming exhibition and some commissioned art, and publishing my work on artbooks like Exotique, from Ballistic Publishing.

Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

It’s difficult to choose between them, since I feel a special love for all of them, but also because I’m very critic with my work, so I’m never proud enough . But if I have to choose, I think it will be “Spider’s Soul – Aracne”. Because when I first did that image I spent about a month working on it and then my computer crashed and I lost almost all the image. So I did it again. I spent almost two months for the new version, but I have a special love for it. It showed me that I can do better, that I can improve myself and overcome all the difficulties.

Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

Tons of them. There’s a lot of things that I want to try, and a lot of projects in my mind. What I don’t have is enough time. But I hope I will be able to do some of them in the future. For techniques, I will love to have more time to work more on traditional techniques, and also try some 3D and other digital programs. There’s also a lot of genres that I want to paint, out of my usual, like scifi, cartoon, or abstract. Also, whenever I can, I love to write, and in the future I would love too to work again in comics.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

I never found myself with that problem, really. I have so many projects and ideas that I just don’t have time to bore myself . And, when I’m bored with the themes I paint, I just try something new.

When you’re not in front of your canvas, how do you spend most of your free time?

I have a large amount of hobbies. Travel is one of my great passions, to be able to know other cultures and share experiences with them helps me to open my mind and to have new ideas.
I love to write, and sometimes I publish my stories too. I like photography, archaeology, and study history and astronomy. But I also love to spend my free time reading, playing video games or role games, going out with my friends to the cinema, the theater or to dance, and I like very much to play at basketball and tennis.

and finally, What advices/tips can you give to the novice designers/ illustrators out there?

First to work hard, when you work in this you need to have patience and practice all the time you can, because practice and experience is the most important thing in this profession.

Second, have a free mind, learn everything you can. Knowledge can help you to find new ways to express yourself. Also don’t be mad when someone criticizes your work, bad critiques can help you to find your mistakes and fix them.

And third, but not least important, don’t ever give up. If this is your passion, keep working on it.