Benita depicts eye catching female creatures who don’t seem to have lost their animal and natural side. Benita and her creatures are perhaps looking toward a lost world, looking for their real identities.

Benita Winckler is a freelance illustrator from Berlin, Germany. She started drawing and painting at a very early age and her obsession with comic books like Wendi Piny’s “Elfquest” or the biweekly comic collection called “Gespenster Geschichten"(Ghost Stories) significantly influenced her decision to become a professional artist. “3D Animation” and “Special Effects” were the words that lead her to study Media Computer Science. Simultaneously, she started to explore the world of computer games by working as a concept artist on a few semiprofessional games, designing characters and creatures. While she’s gotten increasingly involved in the entertainment industry, she’s kept working on her graphic novel, Eeane.

Benita Winckler : The human body is a topic you could spend a whole lifetime studying; although, 20 years ago I would have said the same thing about horses.

I.A. : What can digital art bring to figure art that traditional one can’t and vice-versa?

BW : The computer is an interesting new tool. But it will not save you the hours that it takes to learn and really understand the structure of the human body. In my case, I am happy with a pen and a sketchbook, especially one that is small enough to fit in my pocket and be carried about.

I.A. : In your opinion, what makes your art different from that of other digital artists?

B.W. : It is a difficult to compare “art”. One could compare technique, but what is it that defines you as a person? A unique collection of experiences, the sum of what you have learned and hence what you are capable of expressing. Seen from this point of view there is not much difference between my work and that of any other artist.

I.A. : Do you feel like you belong to the digital art community?

B.W. : If one spends some time on the internet, visiting the boards regularly and chatting with the people, it can lead to a certain feeling of community. But it is a bit like going to my favourite coffee shop. Am I part of that local coffee shop community just because I recognize some of the people? What is a community anyway? If it’s about using the same software package, or appreciating good coffee, then, yes, I think that makes me part of it.

I.A. : There is something very animalistic in your art. Could you speak about your relationship with animals?

There are so many fascinating things on this planet: sunlight, water, rocks, plants, animals… I remember sitting at the beach with a friend one day watching those little sea snails clinging to the rocks waiting for the turn of the tide, their whole life consisting of salty water and sunlight. And we were sitting there, our feet carefully placed at a safe distance so as not to crush them, getting drunk and wondering what life was all about.