Artist Interview — Michael Inman

Today I’m excited to interview an artist I have known and respected for a very long time—Michael Inman. Since the first time I saw Michael’s artwork, I was drawn to his creative imaginings and to his colorful  sketches. I’m honored that he agreed to stop by today and tell us more about himself and about his art.

What got you interested in Art? Can you remember the first things you drew/sculpted/painted and what made them memorable?

The earliest I can remember being interested in art was being exposed in some way to Picasso’s paintings. I loved the weird, cubist, almost cartoony style of some of his paintings and charcoals. My two all-time favorites of his are “The Three Musicians” and “Night Fishing at Antibes.” I tried to duplicate both of these pieces myself many times as a kid and the whimsical, cartoony, strange art seemed to be something I found myself appreciating more than say, Picasso’s more realistic portraits. After some time, I really came to appreciate album art in CD lyric books and came to love Beck Hansen, not only for his music but for his studio art. My father took me to a Beck art exhibit at Cheekwood [in Nashville, Tennessee], and I was just in awe at everything.

Have you taken any art classes?

I have taken many. Illustration courses, perspective drawing, painting, figure drawing, black and white analog photography, graphic design (I consider that art), etc.

What is your preferred medium and why?

My preferred “traditional” medium is acrylic paint, but my absolute preference is digital– a Wacom Tablet and a program such as Photoshop to paint digitally in at a high resolution. I can get the same effect with painting digitally as I can traditionally with a paint brush, and it is much more time efficient, hence I can produce more. Quantity is never better than quality to me, but with this medium, you get the best of both worlds. Same look, less time, more art.

Because I am an author, I have to ask: Have you ever designed any artwork for an author?

The closest I have come to producing any form of art for an author is just for a school project in which I laid out an outline of a story concept. My mother wrote the book, and I did all the illustrations. This was a children’s book called My Beloved Monster.