Sci-Fi Art Now Creator Interview: Oliver Wetter

Oliver Wetter, online often referred to as fantasio, is currently working as freelance artist & illustrator from his studio in Konz, Germany. His passion is to tell visual stories inspired by quickfire ideas.

Sci-Fi Art Now: What tools do you mainly use to create your art?


Oliver Wetter: Pencil, Paper and Photoshop CS5, occasionally clay and a camera.



Sci-Fi Art Now: Why?


Oliver: Pencil on paper is the very first and fastest way to get an idea out of my head, everything else is secondary.
 Some pieces scream for being rendered in high definition, others want to be roughly painted and some others are meant to be in between. With the mixed media, I have reliable options to fulfill these demands.



Sci-Fi Art Now: What inspired you to become an artist?


Oliver: I think it was a fascination with provoking reactions from a viewer, and the possibility to control those reactions to a certain degree. Early caricatures and comic strips from teachers and classmates are a proof for that.



Sci-Fi Art Now: What was the most useful piece of advice you were given when you began learning your craft?

Oliver: 
I was going the hard road, so advice was rare, the only advice that last until today and which I pray like a mantra is from artist Greg Spalenka, who once said to me: "Every kind of promotion is important." I had this quote in big letters over my desk for a long time, now I think it's ingrained.



Sci-Fi Art Now: Which artists most inspire you?


Oliver: More often than not, I´m inspired by an artists work rather than the artist himself. But if you want a comprehensive answer, my influence-map should give you a good overview.

Sci-Fi Art Now: What is the appeal to you of science fiction as an inspiration for some of your work?


Oliver: It gives some of my works a fitting frame and therefore eligibility to exist. OK, they could exist without, but that definition makes it easier for my works to be widely accepted.

Sci-Fi Art Now: 

Do you have a favourite piece of work or project you have worked on?

Oliver: 
It's always difficult to pick one favorite, but mine is 
The Disquisition, which was done throughout one week of work - non-stop. At first it might not look that  compelling, but the intention was to bring it upon a 70x170cm canvas. The photoshop file is around the 1.4 GB mark!

It's my favourite, because it's a tribute to many of my inspirations, like Michael Parkes, Pascal Blanche and Salvador Dali.

The Disquisition by Oliver Wetter

Sci-Fi Art Now: 

In your career, have you had any bizarre experiences while creating your art?

Oliver's 2005 still life...

Oliver: Creating my art is always a bizarre experience. To give you an example, I'd like to refer to a still life I did, back in 2005.

-- and the sculpture
'in amp' it started
out as. (Full Pic)

Originally, the headpiece was actually intended to be a sculpture that can be described as a torso that has three arms instead of a neck, that should hold the headpiece. For some odd reason I found an old guitar amp, but I had removed the speaker because I needed one for my car. It was so clear to me that this headpiece needed to be in the amp instead
!

Sci-Fi Art Now: What most frustrates you about being an artist?


Oliver: The most frustrating fact is probably, that I use to or need to have the knowledge of around 15 professionals (marketing expert, copywriter, web developer, clerk, etc) but getting paid for one only!

Sci-Fi Art Now: What keeps you going despite the hopefully occasional frustrations?


Oliver: The hope that one day I'll get paid the same kind of money I would for all those 15 professionals I have to be...

Sci-Fi Art Now: What advice would you offer to anyone starting out as an artist?


Oliver: "Get the fundamentals down, otherwise the fancy stuff isn't going to work." (The advice of the late Randy Pausch)



• Check out more of Oliver's work at http://fantasio.info

 or his blog or deviant art space. You can contact Oliver via  fantasioxATgmail.com or via Twitter: 
http://twitter.com/fantasiox