Exclusive Interview with

Jesper Lund

by
Karin Eszterhás

http://www.jlgraficum.com/

Ocean Sunset

JL: Thank you…I'm glad to be here.

DA: Would you please tell the readers a little about yoursef and your life?

JL: Well I'm a 29 years old guy, and single at the moment. I live near the city of Aarhus on the peninsula of Jutland.
As some may already know, Denmark is the world's oldest monarchy, and some things one may connect with our country are the great writer of fairytales Hans Christian Andersen, our Capital "Wonderful Copenhagen", wind mills, Lego, The little Mermaid, the philosofer Soren Kierkegaard... and "hygge" :-) "Hygge" is not easy to translate precisely, but cosiness comes closest and it means something like feeling comfortable together with friends or family, eating and talking and having a real good time :-) You can also do it by yourself. I i.e. like listening to good music ...or playing my guitar, that's cosiness too. I mostly listen to rock, pop, electronica, ambient and alternative types of music. I am especially fond of instrumental guitar music.

DA: For how long have you been doing pictures? Did you draw or paint the good oldfashioned way before you began using your computer to make pictures?

JL: I always did freehand drawing, ever since I was a young boy. I preferred using ordinary pencils. I think I started painting in Photoshop about 4 years ago (late nineties). It all started when I saw some works done by a graphic artist….don't remember his name, but I was very impressed with what could actually be achieved with Photoshop. So of course I wanted to try it too, and slowly began learning and mastering Photoshop and all it's tools. And then…well, the rest is history.

DA: Are you exclusively working with images, or is it a hobby?

JL: I am trying, on a small scale, to start some freelance production from my homepage, but until now it has basically been a hobby. However, I am still trying to get something started on the web.... pictures and illustrations, but with this it's very much about getting established and building a customer base, and that takes time. Since it is a rather special field, I intend to go worldwide :-) There is a much bigger market for these things in the U.S. in particular. That's where I get most of my offers from.
Actually, I'm a professional gardener, but I never used my education. The graphic thing was always my main interest. In that field I'm almost self-taught. I don't have a graphic education, but I took a lot of courses in graphic design and layout.

DA: Now Jesper… we have to know which softwares you use?

JL: First and foremost it's Photoshop combined with Bryce. Sometimes I use 3ds MAX for modeling....i. e. interiors or sci/fi scenes or scenes where I'm improvising. I also used Poser, but I'm moving on from that. Since I'm working a lot with Bryce and post-production in Photoshop I don't share the opinion that pictures can only be considered "real professional 3D" if they are rendered in Max or other high-end programs with just a minimum or no postwork at all. I think Bryce is very underestimated. At least it is here in Denmark.

DA: Right …a brush and palette alone does not make an artist … your work clearly shows that. Please decribe in more detail how you achieve your very nice results. Personally I am very happy about the way you make light- and shadow effects.

JL: Yes, well…I set up a scene in Bryce or Max…most of the time Bryce…and as you just mentioned I love playing with light and shadow… so, I set up the scene and place the lights with suitable settings to create the optimal atmosphere and feeling. Then I render to BMP or TIFF to lose as little quality as possible. After rendering I import the picture into Photoshop, to do additonal work in layers with the light, and to paint more details. I can accentuate the original lighting by using Render/Lighting effects in the Filter menu. After this I adjust using Colour Balance to affect a specific colour I want to shine through the picture. Then maybe I paint with another colour on top of it with low pressure, and use Levels to emphasize the contrast between light and shadow. I go on like this until I'm satisfied with the result.
This working process have been used on my latest picture: http://www.jlgraficum.com/Pictures/meeting.jpg
And in some of the older ones: http://www.jlgraficum.com/Pictures/Keeper_of_the_Forest.jpg

http://www.jlgraficum.com/Pictures/DarkWanderer.jpg
"Ocean Sunset", as seen above the interview, is entirely made in Photoshop with airbrush and paintbrush, combined with other techniques.
This one called "Stratocaster" http://www.jlgraficum.com/Pictures/Stratocaster.jpg is pure 3D, modelled and rendered in MAX.

DA: How do you get your ideas? Do you have any artistic role models, either within CG or traditional painting?

JL: I view pictures made by many different artists. From the classic oilpainters to the modern 3D and 2D CG artists. I try to diversify as much as possible, both when it comes to techniques and genres. But mostly I make fantasy/sci fi and landscape-pictures. I work on a new picture almost all the time, at least inside my head. It can be both a good and a bad thing, because I think I could have made a few of my pictures even better, if I wasn't too busy.

DA: What is it that's keeping you so busy, anyway? :-)

JL: It has mostly been extensive courses, but I have also worked on a layout project for a youth magazine, as well as another one for the municipality. I've also worked some random temp-jobs. A possible alternative to making a living off the artwork I do now would be to work with desktop publishing and layout. This may be a more realistic steady job to go for in Denmark. I have tried, but not persistently enough. I'm not much of a climber of the corporal ladder, really :-)

DA: How long do you need to work on a picture...from the idea to the final image?

JL: It depends on whether I have a clear motif in my mind or if I just improvise….and also whether it's 3D or pure digital painting.
If I have the time I can sometimes do a picture in one day …others may take a week or so.

DA: I'm sure the readers would like to hear about your computer-system?

JL: I just upgraded to Pentium lV 1.9 GHz, 256 RAM, Geforce 3 grafic-card.

DA: I thank you on behalf of DA for taking the time to talk with me. It has been a pleasure and I wish you luck with your beautiful work in the future.

JL: You're welcome, and thank you too, to DA and the readers and viewers.

For Digital Artworks
Karin Eszterhás
January 2003

Please visit Jesper Lund's Gallery here: http://www.jlgraficum.com/Portfolio.htm