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Kirsi Salonen has probably become a familiar name to most of you digital art fans. The work of 26 year old Finnish artist has been featured, not only by IT’S ART in recent months, but in Ballistic Publishing's Exposè 6 and Exotiquè 3-editions, ImagineFX, Corel Painter, CG Chosen and 2D Artist. She’s also won several awards for her work in many various art forums.

In 2006 she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from South-Carelia Polytechnic Art School. But her career began long before graduation. Over the past 5 years Kirsi has been working as a freelance artist creating cover art, illustrations, comics, card art, concept art for games and movies, as well as commercial and graphic design. Currently she is working on her own novel series, “Ordera,” which she will both write and illustrate. And we look forward to its debut with great anticipation.

IT’S ART: For how long have you been doing digital art?

Kirsi Salonen: Well, I've always loved drawing, even from the age of 2. It's actually interesting that even before I turned 10 all of my drawings were fully illustrated stories and more like comics. The amount of paper consumed in our household was enormous! The digital brush came into my life just before I left for school to study fine arts and to earn a degree as a visual artist. I fell in love with it around 2002 when I took my first basic course in Photoshop and that’s the way it’s been ever since.

IA: How do you define your artistic style?

KS: Well, I enjoy making dark fantasy and mystique art the most. I would describe my style as dark and kind of poetic in a semi-realistic way. I'm not really keen learning to make photorealistic works, rather I want to stay authentic at all times and focus on the expression side.

IA: Can you tell us about your influences? Which other artists and what books and movies inspire you?

KS: I've read books and comics since…well, forever. I’m sure it's totally unsurprising to reveal that my first fantasy novels were the Dragon Lance Saga. These days there are so many new additions to that series, but I feel quite old to return to those anymore. There was also of course The Forgotten Realms Saga and I was a huge fan of Drizzt Do'Urden for most of my teenage years.

Now as a “grown-up,” I'm more into intellectual fantasy, like Neil Gaiman's productions; Stardust, Neverwhere and Good Omens are all amazing books, as well as his comic Sandman Saga, which is way above the common praises. At the moment I'm reading his book American Gods. Also I like Terry Pratchett's impeccable sense of humor and storytelling. I really like his Grim Reaper and Mort. All of these examples are just a tip of the iceberg; I could go on and on.

But there are also a number of books which are not fantasy, but more of the adventure-side which I love and really must mention. Great classics like Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Henry Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis, are just a few. Also one of my top favorites is Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho. Even though it's so unpleasant, there is an amazing layer of genius, humor and sarcasm in it that really hits me. Strangely, I didn't enjoy much reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, even though I read it before the movies came along. In comparison Michael Ende's Story Without an End, better known as The Neverending Story, is a thousand times better and appealing to me.

When it comes to movies, there are so many that keep on shaping my ideas and lift the level of inspiration that it is impossible to pick my all time favorite movie. I’ll just say I love those that have an original story and done so much with the heart that it shows in the film. Dark Crystal, Secret of NIMH, Fountain, Far and Away, Ladyhawke, Predator, the original Star Wars and dramas such as, House by the Lake, The Notebook, Stay and Magnolia are all great examples of amazing movies. When it comes to selecting my favorite artists, I'm quite picky. I like many individual pieces that have inspired me through the years, like some of John Collier's, Rembrandt's, Caspar David Friedrich's, Rubens's , just to name a few of the classical masters.

A handful of modern artists have also significantly inspired me over the years. Many of their works and remarkable visions have pushed me to do concept art and create creature illustrations of my own. For me the masters are Larry Elmore, H.R. Giger, Christophe Vacher, Dave McKean, Justin Sweet and Ashley Wood. Nowadays, I’m mainly searching on my own instead of looking at the ways of others, but I still love their unique and ground-breaking styles and far-sighted minds. Also, they all represent the kind of career and status I'm aiming for.