The Women of Star Wars at Star Wars.com

It's been five years since I received an email from Lucasfilm licensing stating that my portfolio was approved and I became an 'official' Star Wars artist. It was my dream since I first saw Star Wars to work with Lucasfilm and I am so grateful to have been able to contribute my vision to the ever expanding Star Wars galaxy. This week Star Wars.com is highlighting women (authors, artists, editors, actors, and fans) who have been featured at Star Wars.com. It's hard to believe it's been five years since I did the interview, but I hope you enjoy it!

HERE'S THE LINK!

Women Who Rock- Interview with Collage Artist Claudine Hellmuth

Claudine Hellmuth rocks! She's an illustrator with an incredible blend of creativity AND business smarts. She has a line of trademarked hand-made crafts called Poppets™, has been seen on the Martha Stewart show, and has her own line of art materials. How incredible is that! I'm so honored that she agreed to chat with me so grab your coffee and enjoy the first in my new series of interviews with Women Who Rock!

Hi Claudine. You and I met through Twitter, and I’m so glad you said yes to a chat with me. Thank you so much! Can you tell us a little about yourself, such as where you grew up, where you went to school, and how you decided to become an artist?

Let’s see!! In a nutshell, I was born in Orlando and am a first generation American, my Mom is English and my Dad is German.

I have always been creative and have been making things all my life even from when I was a toddler! So it was pretty much a given that I would be an artist one day!

I went to college first in Columbus Ohio at the Columbus College of Art and Design and then transferred to Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington DC where I got my BFA with a concentration in painting.


You’re primarily known as a collage artist and you have a very unique use of mixed media. What was your inspiration behind using photographs of people in combination with other materials?

I have been creating using collage full time since my senior year in college in 1997. I always loved making collages but kept them mostly in my sketchbooks until I had finished my senior thesis in college. After I had done all the thesis work I felt I could “relax” and I started playing with the collages. My professors saw what I was working on and said to me “you have to include these in your thesis show too!!” After that I knew I was on a good track and have been working in collage ever since.

My collage work has grown and changed over the years. When I first left school I was working in a Victorian collage style and over time I just got burnt out on it. I went through a period of about a year and half of self discovery and finding where I wanted my work to grow and slowly developed the style that I work in now through lots of experimentation!

Can you tell us about Poppets®? They’re adorable! How did you develop this line? Have you ever gotten any unusual requests?

I began creating the Poppet® artworks in 2002 after a long dry spell in my art making. I was stuck and wanted to try something new. After about a year and a half of experimentation, and finally, a break through the creative block, I arrived at the Poppet® style of collage.

I decided that these new works needed a name and I wanted the name to be a little silly and unusual.

My English grandmother used to use the word "poppet" as a term of endearment saying to me "don't worry little poppet everything is going to be OK." And since these artworks make me feel happy, safe and young -- the name fit perfectly.

This new way of working, beckoned me back into the creative process and the thrill of creating simply for fun.

Since I liked the name Poppet so much I trademarked it!

With the Poppet® style of working, I started taking custom orders where I would create artworks for people using their photos. I really enjoy this work and working with the client to create something for them and their family!!

I think the most unusual request I have gotten was of a couple in a bathtub! They were a fun couple to create the artwork for!


You were on the Martha Stewart show recently demonstrating how you make Poppets®. How was that experience? Will you be doing any more television appearances?

Being on the Martha Show was an incredible experience. I still can’t believe that actually happened!! I have been hoping to get on again and we’ll have to see how the submission process goes!

As far as other TV, unfortunately almost all of the networks DIY and HGTV have completely cut their craft shows so there are now more show to appear on or watch! It’s really sad! It seems that the network execs think that the home improvement shows are more popular, but I have to disagree!


You also teach classes and workshops around the country. What’s it like to be a traveling artist? Will you be adding more classes to schedule?

Right now I am firming up my 2010 schedule. I have just a couple classes left in 2009 and I’ll soon have my whole list of 2010 classes on my web site!

I really enjoy teaching the workshops, the part I don’t like is the actual travel! I hate all the hauling around and plane travel, but once I am there it is fun fun fun!

I noticed on your site that you have your own product line of artist materials. How did that come to fruition for you? Will you be expanding that line?

I had been working with Ranger Industries at the CHA tradeshows and over time we started talking about adding me in as one of their artist product lines. There was a lot of product development, I got to work with their chemist to get the paints just how I wanted them, it was (and is) very exciting!!


You’ve turned your art into a successful business for yourself, which is very inspiring. What advice would you give to artists who want to create their own brand?

I would say to start by creating the work that you love to make! Then get on twitter, facebook, your blog, your web site and your Esty store. Keep your look cohesive throughout all these sites so that a person can easily identify the work and the style as yours.


Claudine, you’re truly an inspiration to artists everywhere! Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me.

Thank you for having me!!

If you want to see Claudine’s beautiful art, please visit her online at: www.collageartist.com
You can also follow her on Twitter: @collageartist

Thank you for this award, Carli!

Cut-paper artist and children's illustrator Carli Moua presented me with this award yesterday and I'm so grateful for it!

"These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.
They are not interested in self aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendship are propagated."

My goal is to promote and empower other artists who are passionate about what they do, and it feels so nice to be recognized for that.
Thank you Carli!

June Art Give-Away Winner!

Coming Soon, WOMEN WHO ROCK!!

If you know me personally, you know the phrase I like to use - “You rock!” It’s quite a fitting phrase. It feels good to be told you rock, and it feels good telling someone they rock. In my years attending pop culture conventions like San Diego Comic Con and Wizard World, and conferences for organizations like the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators, I’ve met a lot of exceptionally talented women who in my opinion ROCK! These creative gals are breaking new ground in their profession and most importantly, following their hearts and dreams in their chosen career path. All of these women share this amazing quality: they’re devoted to their art and their craft. I think you should know these women who have inspired me and so many others so I’m going to be bringing a series of interviews to introduce you to these fabulously creative, go-getting ladies! I hope to post bi-monthly interviews. That may be quite an undertaking, so it may end up being monthly, but it'll be awesome, and I can't wait to share it with all of you! Oh, and I know countless guys in the arts who rock and will interview them as well! Ladies first;) And to everyone, keep rockin'!

JUNE GIVE-AWAY: What's Your Passion?

I'm on a quest to live a life filled with the things I'm passionate about. And I hope I can inspire others to do the same. So to celebrate this on-going, and re-fueled journey, I want to give you a chance to win this cute piece of artwork that I painted today, "Find Your Passion". It's watercolor and colored pencil and comes in the black frame shown in the picture. It measures 2.5"x3.5".

To qualify to win this original work of art from yours truly, I ask you to answer this single question. What are YOU passionate about? I just want to know what gets you out of bed in the morning with a smile. What energizes you? Is it your job, your significant other, your weekend hobby (or full-time hobby)? Leave your comments and you're entered. Pretty easy!

I'm passionate about drawing and creating new characters and painting scenes that suddenly appear in my imagination. And I'm also very passionate about inspiring other people to make art. So I hope you draw, or sing, or dance, or do whatever you love to do, and do it with intention. Every day!

A winner will be picked from a name I pull out of a hat on June 17th. I'll contact the winner for shipping info. Good luck!

She's Done!

Please enjoy my latest illustration! I'm very grateful to picture book illustrator Kelly Light who took time to correct some perspective issues I was having with the figure. You can see the difference in the previous sketch and the final painted version. She took time to red-line a few minor things like the shoulders (which I knew were wonky but couldn't quite figure out how to un-wonkify it), and the skirt. Those minor changes ended up making a very big difference in the overall image. Some times it's hard to 'see' what's not working in something you've drawn, so it's always very helpful to have another artist take a look at your work for you, and offer some honest advice. Thank you Kelly!

June Recommended Reading

Yesterday I made a mad dash to the theater to catch the 1:15pm showing of Up. Lo and behold, that showing was sold out. So I had a couple of hours to kill before the next showing and decided to head over to Borders to pass the time. Since I've been trying to push my drawing skills further by learning about character design, I searched for books on the topic and found a very good one called "Creating Characters With Personality" by Tom Bancroft. Well, ok, I thought, this looks intriguing. After two hours, I'd read it cover to cover! The book starts out with a some excellent explanations about character design, what is is, how it's done and by who. There's even an assignment to develop a cast of 6 or 7 characters in a Western. There's background information about each character, physical descriptions, and personality traits. Your assignment is to come up with a cohesive look to this colorful bunch. What makes the book very interesting is that Mr. Bancroft asked several notable Disney, comic book artists, and cartoonists such as J. Scott Campbell, Peter De Seve, Rob Corley, and Mark Henn to contribute depictions of the heroic lead character. Very interesting to see all the interpretations as well as learn the approach each artist took and why.

Mr. Bancroft put together an insightful, entertaining book that I think artists of all levels can benefit from. I know I learned quite a lot and I'm excited to apply some of the tips I picked up. Even if you're a new artist, I recommend you add this book to your library.

Here's a link to where you can purchase it on Amazon.com.{LINK}

Showing a Little Character

I'm a firm, FIRM believer in doing whatever I can to better my skills, my craft, my talent. I've always felt a sort of responsibility to that, as well as to never take it for granted, which I'm guilty of (who isn't). Amidst the chaos of a busy week, I managed to get some practice time in today. I recently found the web site of the incredibly talented Stephen Silver, who teaches online courses at Schoolism.com. I WILL be taking his class, oh yes. But in the meantime, after watching some of his demo's, I decided to try some similar exercises in developing characters. Some of the advice he gives is to work on shape variation, negative space, to push shapes and exaggerate, to be mindful of weight distribution in your characters. Also, be aware of how clothing and accessories wrap around the figure. If you're not sure, get reference!!! Don't guess. You'll only short-change yourself in the long run and have to figure it out eventually anyway. Draw through your shapes, create curves, angles, and watch out for tangents and too many parallel lines. Make sure your features feel connected to the face (easier said than done), and use clean shapes with lots of variety.

So here's what I came up with today. I feel the goofy guy on the bottom right has loads of potential but needs further work and exploration. I HIGHLY recommend you watch the lessons that Stephen so graciously shares on his web site, then go sign up for his Character Design class at www.schoolism.com. I know I will! Thank you Stephen!

www.silvertoons.com