THE ARTIST

My name is Ryan Ford, aka Liquisoft. I run a website called Liquisoft.com, and am a very active member in many popular online communities such as Deviantart, Deskmod, and Customize. I am 19 years old and am currently a student at Cypress College. I also am employed as a Graphic and Web Designer for that very same college. My goal is to finish my General Education, get my AA, and go on to an art college in the area so I may get a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Arts.

THE PSEUDONYME

The story behind by pseudoname is kind of a simple one. When I was first introduced to the whole art/skinning community, I realized that everybody had some sort of handle. The first site I came in contact with was the original Deskmod, and I obviously needed an account there. At the time, I couldn't really think of anything good, so I tried the name "liquid", but it was taken. Being that I was going to be working with software, I added the suffix "soft" to the word liquid, and came up with "liquisoft." The name was so unique that I had no trouble opening accounts with it, and nobody had yet registered any domain names with the word Liquisoft in them. It all worked out.

THE WEBSITE

Liquisoft.com, my website, is a relatively simple idea. Ive always enjoyed making images (painting, drawing, digital art, etc.) and I wanted a place to house my work. I originally had an angelfire account, many years ago, but became frustrated by all of their advertising and limited space. I switched around with free hosts for a while, and then finally registered by .com address. I had to forward it to a free host at the time, though. After a while, I began making more money and could afford to pay for my own hosting. This is when Liquisoft.com really took off in terms of content and design. I was no longer limited by space and could do anything I wanted. My first designs were relatively simple and almost always involved lots of blue. I slowly drifted from straight blue use, though, as it seemed like EVERYBODY was obsessed with blue. I wanted to be unique and interesting, so I began experimenting more with greens and yellows. After a while of experimentation came the current design of Liquisoft.com.    

While building this new design, I was contemplating how I could make this more interactive and more appealing. So, I added new sections like skins, tutorials, photography, and even added a color theory section for those people who know nothing about color coordination. It took me a while to fill all of the sections with content, but overall everything turned out beautifully.

I am oftentimes asked when I'll be changing the site's design again. My response is always the same: I'll change it when I get tired of it.

THE INFLUENCE

I was drawn to digital art after I came in contact with Deskmod and also with Misery In Motion (now known as Deaddreamer). I was in awe of the types of work and imagery I saw, and knew I wanted to do work like that, and also knew that I could. I have an extensive background in art, stemming from my love of the craft. My education in drawing and painting played a major role in my success with the digital art medium.

SECOND NATURE

I used to be influenced a lot by other artists and by what other people were doing. If you look at some of my older work, you'd notice it followed a lot of trends set by other popular (and talented) artists. Nowadays, though, I tend to follow my own style. If anything, I am influenced by nature and sometimes by work I see in popular design magazines. I try to be original as often as I can.

DREAMSCAPES

I think my particular style is one focused on color and involving dream-like atmospheres. Most of my work, of recent times anyway, retains a dream-like quality. Everything is light, and I try to use great color to illustrate my ideas. I occasionally stray and do weird stuff sometimes, but overall I like bright and colorful imagery. I think those people who follow my work can tell my images from somebody else's just by the sheer amount of color and joy represented throughout.

Nothing "Skintilating" about it

The Graphics and Skinning Community seems fine to me. I notice a lot of people complaining about the whole situation that everything is in, right now. Frankly, though, I don't see anything to complaing about. The community may not be what it was a few years ago, during the whole internet boom, but it still is a great place to learn and interact with other interesting people from around the world.

THE MUSIC

I tend to listen mostly to popular rock. My favorite radio station is KROQ, but I sometimes stray and listen to classic rock, and sometimes even classical music, when I'm in the mood. I also enjoy good electronic music, like The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and The Crystal Method.

THE MOVIES

My favorite movies include: Anything with Leslie Neilson (Naked Gun, etc), Office Space, Being John Malkovich, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Star Wars trilogy, most James Bond movies (but not Moonraker. eck), and Amelie. Of course, there are more that I can't recall right now.

If you've got it, flaunt it

I always create for myself. If I am not happy with something I do, I usually start over or continue working on it. I enjoy what I do, and take pride in my work. I'm probably one of the more cocky artists you'll find out there, being that I think my work is greater than a lot of work I see... but of course there are many artists whom I admire.

FAVORITE WEBSITES

Top three, other than my own, would have to be:
   [1] Deviantart
   [2] 2advanced
   [3] Dj-Designs

SOFTWARES/TOOLS

I use mainly Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 for my work. I also use Adobe Illustrator sometimes. For other things I use Flash, Bryce, Poser, and 3dStudio Max.

IS THERE REALLY SUCH A THING AS PORNOGRAPHY?

Yes there is. Pornography is meant to arouse. Sometimes artists use nudes in compromising poses, but oftentimes it is done to represent something like filth, society, lust, etc. Pornography is usually blatant sex or nudity meant to get people off.

FAVORITE ARTISTS

I don't think I can name any particular favorites. I do like Monet, DaVinci, Picasso, and many other masters, but I don't stick to one individual in any category. Digital Artists are the same.

Moral issues which constrain your creativity

I don't have any issues that constrain my creativity. I've never been one to do controversial work, so I really can't think of anything that would restrain me from expressing myself.

One favorite work and an in-depth explanation or thoughts behind that work

An old favorite of mine is Mystery Book. I created this image about one year ago, and I'm still very proud of how it turned out. I created this entire image from scratch, not including the photos of the old man, the church, and the woman in the jewel, and hand-drew nearly every detail. I am still amazed by how well it turned out, which is why I keep it on my website as an available wallpaper, even though I know most people won't download it.

In the image, I tried to portray a kind of diary found by somebody investigating his past. There are old photos, and even an old jewel of some sort with his grandmother's picture in it. He is taking notes and reading old passages, trying to figure out where he came from. It all came out rather well, in my opinion.

If you weren't 'photoshopping' what would you be doing?

If I wasn't doing digital artwork, I'd probably be working with traditional drawing and painting. If it wasn't one thing, it would be the other.

Your top three sexiest women, ryan?

My three top beautiful/sexy women would be 1) My lovely girlfriend, Erin 2)Shakira 3) Christina Aguilera before she got into whore makeup.

WRAP UP WORDS

My advice to any younger or beginning digital artists would be to be yourself. Don't be obsessed with following the trends, make the trends follow you. If you make work that you are proud of, then you don't need to worry about what everybody else thinks, and everything else will fall into place from there.

[ FEATURES SECTION / PIXELCATALYST.HOME ]