In this artist interview, Pieter Haasbroek shares with us his artistic process, ideas and inspiration. To see more of Pieter’s work, please visit his online gallery.
Editor’s note: This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Being an artist
Please give us a few words of introduction about yourself
When I lost my work a while ago, I decided to try my hand at online businesses and mainly in the art genre. I started off creating all kinds of art for POD (print on demand) platforms.
When did you decide to pursue art as a career?
At this stage it is not a full-time career of mine, more one of my many hobbies, although I do spent a lot of time with my art.
What training did you have?
I taught myself by watching a lot of YouTube videos and trying out everything until I succeeded. My mum is quite good with painting and I guess some of her talent rubbed off on me.
What has been the high point of your career so far?
Well, there are so many to name. Where do I begin? One of the high points is definitely the different designs I am creating and the enjoyment I get every time I see the finished work.
General questions
What’s your favourite quote?
Use every second of every day and make the most of it.
Who is your favourite artist?
Hmm, there are so many, but Leonardo da Vinci must be my favorite.
What are you aiming for?
To do the best I can with everything I do and just enjoy it.
How will you get there?
Hard work, persistence and dedication always pays off.
Is anything holding you back?
Nothing that I can think of, although starting off with a limited budget does make it more difficult. However, the sky’s the limit, and nothing should ever hold anyone back from achieving their dreams.
You and art
What feelings or reactions do you hope to arouse in people who view your work? Are you ever surprised by reactions that you get?
Art for me is like watching a movie. You must enjoy what you see and try to experience it with one or more of your senses. Live yourself into the picture as if you are there and you can see, touch, smell, hear it, etc. One always gets reactions on both sides where some like your art, while others don’t like it at all, but that is art. When someone likes my art, I feel great!
From start to finish, how long does it take for you to create your work?
Depending on the type of art, anywhere from 30 minutes up to 8 hours or more for one digital art creation.
What music do you like to listen to when you work?
The eighties pop (romance) music will always be my favorite music to listen to.
What are you working on next? Any future plans or projects in the pipeline that we should look out for?
I have pages of ideas and only so much time. Once I finish a certain genre, I then go through all my ideas and decide what to tackle next, thus I do not have a specific art/genre lined up where I am doing one after the other.
Being inspired by art
Who (living or dead) inspires you, and why?
For me, it is nature itself. So complex, yet so fragile and wonderful at the same time. I can stare at nature for hours on end without getting bored, whether it is animals or outdoor scenery. It calms me and gives me inspiration and new ideas.
What feelings, subjects or concepts inspire you as an artist?
I always come back to nature to get inspired for my next project.
What is your favourite work that you’ve produced so far and why?
I created a 3D Rubik’s cube with the necessary software. It took me quite a while to first learn from videos how the software works, and then to do it. Took me many days until I got it all sorted out.
An artist’s advice
For those thinking about turning a passion for art into a career, could you give any advice?
First of all, you must love what you do, or rather you must have a deep passion for what you do. Together with hard work, persistence and determination, you can’t go wrong but succeed in what you are doing.
Any tips on how to get your work seen and get the commissions coming in?
At the moment I am only doing the free social route to market my work, on many well-known platforms. It is way slower to get traffic than the paid route, but it is a good start if money is an issue.
