IT'S ART: Could you describe for us your creative world?

Kerem Beyit: I have a life wrapped around comics, books and movies and therefore, my fantasy world is continually being nourished with fresh ideas. I guess what's reflected on the paper is what I extract from all of these things. I guess you could say the accumulation of all of the ideas I get from all of the books and comics I read and movies I watch forms my creative world.

IA: Why do you so often create hybrid human/animal creatures?

KB: Since I was a kid I loved creature designs. I prefer to draw a monster rather than a gorgeous woman because in order to draw something “beautiful” you have to follow a thousand rules. Creating beauty is a fragile process which may be easily ruined by very simple mistakes, and that reduces the fun I get out of drawing. Designing creatures however, is a very forgiving task. You can do whatever you want, and since it's not a fragile process it can take any hatch, edge or any kind of texture. I find creatures, dragons, monsters much more interesting and fun than human figures.

IA: Could you tell us more about your creative process? About how long does it take for you to conceive an artwork from the first idea to the final stage?

KB: Well, sometimes I decide on the composition with the employer. When they have an exact scene they would very much like to see, all I have to do is visualize it. The same thing goes for concept designing. For instance, when a very specific character is requested expert editors always state a couple of their musts and leave the creative process to me, and this kind of agreement always results in better work. To get back to the question, an artwork in which creative process is left to me is pictured in my mind first, with all its colors, composition and mood. The rest is all about reflecting the image in your mind to the paper. The closer these reflections get to the first image in my mind, the more successful I feel I've been. Certainly that's the process with the book covers and the promotional illustrations. If we're talking about concept designing, the process becomes more technical. You have to do research for the desired character or unit, deciding on the pose, costumes, sketching, etc.



IA: You seem to really like "Cintiq." Tell us how has this hardware changed your way of painting?

KB: Cintiq was a tool I used when I was working for a former employer. I work with UC-Logic now, but I'm planning to get a Cintiq17 very soon. There's no need to tell about the advantages Cintiq has, it's a must for me since it doubles my speed and especially since I need to combine speed and quality for a project I'm starting soon. I can't say Cintiq has changed my coloring style, the processes and their sequence is still the same. I don't work differently with an ordinary tablet than I do with a Cintiq. The only thing that changes is the speed and the pleasure of actually seeing the pen make a scratch where it touches, rather than following a mouse cursor.