Today we again feature another amazing artist taking part in heART and X-Philanthropy's Scully's 50th Anniversary Celebrations.
If you've been following along with The X-Files:Season 10, you probably recognize the name. Our guest today is Elena Casagrande. You might also know her by her alter-ego, Lara West. Here at XFN, we know her as the skilled hand behind The X-Files Season 10: issue numbers 6 & 7. Elena is the artist behind bringing Flukey back to life and we think she did a pretty fantastic job. Elena has previously worked on comic books series such as Star Trek, Spider-Man, Angel, True Blood, Doctor Who and many more.
Elena has kindly agreed to participate in Scully's 50th Anniversary Celebration and charity drive and we are so pleased to be able to sit down with her and ask her a few questions.
The auction featuring Elena's artwork begins on March 6th and runs through the 9th. Make sure you head on over to heART and X-Philanthropy's auction pages to check out all the incredible items up for sale in the fourth and final round.
Read on after the jump.
XFN: In a nutshell - tell us what inspires you as an artist. Who are your favorite artists?
Elena: Well, to do so in a nutshell is very hard work, heheh! My favorite artists are so many that we could talk for hours, I think, but I'll tell you some names: I grew up reading Adam Hughes, Mike Mignola, Eduardo Risso. Then, I artistically knew people like Stuart Immonen, Marcelo Frusin, Tommy Lee Edwards, Bryan Hitch, Frank Quitely, Dave Johnson, Yanick Paquette and so on; between the Italians there are names like Massimo Carnevale, Stefano Andreucci, Werther Dell'Edera, etc, etc.
Man, they're so, so many! :)
XFN: What type of materials/means and styles are your favorites? Watercolors? Pencils? Photoshop? Tell us a little about your creation process.
Elena: I work using different techniques: I start drawing digital layout in Photoshop, with Cintiq, and then I print a blue copy of the page or the illustration. I do some details with the blue pencil, and finally I ink, with brush-pens, pens and sometimes with acrylic ink and a normal brush. Sometimes I do everything digitally, because I'm very very slow during the ink process, while except for the Comic-Con days, only a few times will I do everything on paper, because it's easier to erase and change ideas on a digital sheet.
XFN: What motivated you to create these particular works of art?
Elena: You mean be a comic-book artist? Well, I have always loved to tell stories, and always with drawings, since I was a kid, so comic books seemed to me the best way to be happy with my work, and luckily I was able to realize my dream. :)
XFN: As a fan of Gillian Anderson's work and most likely an X-Files fan, what part of their work has been life changing to you?
Elena: I loved The X-Files because of its atmosphere, its stories were so dark and full of mysteries that when I was a teenager it blew my mind. I could find everything in this show: adventure, sci-fi, horror, comedy, love, friendship, heroes... it was so complete that it stayed in my heart until now.
XFN: What strikes you as the most important thing that SA-Yes does for their people?
Elena: I think it's to bring hope for a better life and to be an example of the best in humanity.
XFN: Scully turns fifty this year; she was a female character that many follow as an example, mainly because in one way or another she is a beacon that questioned the world around her. How do you think that you as an individual can help change and improve the world around you?
Elena: I think the best way that I can do that is to do my best with my work and my family and friends. I create stories trying to improve fans' lives, to let them have fun.
Sometimes this kind of life in the world of entertainment could bring you a kind of fame, but I think that as much as you enjoy it, you should always be modest and remember that the most important thing is respect, for everyone and everything.
Our thanks go out to Elena for taking the time to speak with us. Don't forget to check out her pages: Blogger, DeviantArt and Tumblr. You can follow Elena on Twitter here.