IAMAG is pleased to present you an interview of Dinara Butasheva, Finalist for the 2D Speed Painting IAMAG Master League, sponsored by Wacom. He participates to the competition live during IAMAG Master Classes, that happened in March 2016 in Paris and she’s won a Cintiq 22 HD
IAMAG : Can you tell us a little bit more about you ?
Dinara Butasheva :My name is Dinara Butasheva, I’m from Kazakhstan. I work as a freelance illustrator. On my spare time I draw fan art, mostly based on anime and manga.
Only a few days left to enter the Competition
IAMAG: How did you heard about IAMAG Master Classes ?
D.B.I am subscribed on IAMAG newsletter. I was looking for news and articles once and there was an announcement about Master League and Master Classes. It was interesting to learn more about Master Classes, and I was also curious about the competition.
IAMAG: What pushed you to participate to this first edition of IAMAG Master League ?
D.B.I wanted to test my skills. One way to improve your art is to practice every day, but another way is to compete. I wanted to see what I can do, and of course I was curious about other participants’ artworks.
IAMAG: About the online competition, how did you feel about it ?
D.B.It was unusual experience for me; I’ve never joined such competitions before. I was looking forward to seeing the next topic every week. The next day after receiving the topic I was busy thinking about the concept. It was so important to put everything I want to express in one composition, and I also have learned to find balance between things I want to draw and things I can draw within 30 minutes. I was practicing every day to speed paint, and in the end I could actually feel when 30 minutes are running out at a session. Speed painting is a good exercise, it helps to generate idea and make it real within such a short time. It exercises the mind
IAMAG: The Master League Finale was live in front of 300 people during IAMAG Master Classes, how did you prepare & lived this experience ?
D.B.I had Wacom Intuos Pro and I had never used Cintiq before. But during the first days of Master Classes there was enough time to use it at Wacom stand and I liked it immediately. Thanks to Wacom team for help! It was exciting to be onstage in front of so many people. If I told you I wasn’t nervous, I’d lie. When you have to show your skills after so many amazing speakers have been on that same stage, you really don’t want to fail. But when the finale began, to my surprise I was concentrated only on speedpaint. Time flew fast but I painted everything like I hoped to. People were counting down last ten seconds of the round aloud, it was amazing. All those three months we’ve been competing without seeing each other, and we could see results and points scored only online. We could record our speedpaint in our studios or rooms with headphones on and favorite music playing. But there’s something so much cooler when there were hundreds of people watching every our action on a big screen. It was exciting.
IAMAG: About the IAMAG Master Classes, what did you thought of the event & the people that you met, was it a good experience for you as an artist ?
D.B.I used to watch a lot of video tutorials, live stream sessions, read articles about art and etc. but I must say that nothing of these can be better than actual meeting. I met amazing people at Master Classes, not only the speakers but also other participants and visitors. We shared our opinions with each other, I could ask questions to the more experienced artists, show them my sketches, and listen to their speeches from the stage. There was a lot more than just talking and listening. I accumulated so much knowledge while being there; if I stayed at home, it would take a lot more time to understand and learn things that I know now. Master Classes boosted my eager to work harder and to learn more. I am really happy that I’ve been there.
https://vimeo.com/172099316
IAMAG: What did the competition brought you for you work today as an artist ?
D.B.After Master Classes and Master League I feel like I leveled up. I’ve seen new techniques of using different software, there was a lot of time to discuss artistic approaches and technical part of drawing and painting. I had time to compare my skills with others’ and I’ve learned from very talented persons. Everything of the above had influence on my way of working.
IAMAG: Who & Why should artists join the competition next year ?
D.B.When I joined the competition I wasn’t sure in my skills, but I wanted to try and learn as much as possible. And now I am so happy to see how much it helped. Every weekly result of Master League was interesting, you can’t find two similar works. I was impressed how many absolutely different paintings can one simple topic give. And it was fun, like playing a long-term quest. I think that everyone who thinks of testing their skills should try, even if they’re afraid or unsure in their abilities.
IAMAG: Will you be there next year ?
D.B.I will try my best to visit Master Classes next year. Even if I can’t go there physically, I will purchase online ticket and watch speeches from my home. Master Classes is event that I don’t want to miss.
IAMAG: Final Words ?
D.B.I want to thank IAMAG for Master Classes and Master League, thank speakers for being an inspiration and bright example, thank Adobe and Wacom teams for our talks (you told me so much interesting stuff and gave me advices). I met amazing people, saw beautiful works and listened to inspiring speeches; and I also had opportunity to be onstage and won the prize! It was an unforgettable experience, thank you very much!
