Artist Statement
Artist Statement
Welcome, viewers, to the art of Krysta Morningstarr*. Thank you for taking the time to peruse my idea of beauty and life. I am a comic book writer and watercolor painter. I also identify as an AI collaborator. This means that I get an idea of something that would look interesting, feed a corresponding prompt into a generative AI, then draw inspiration from the resulting imagery. The idea is not to slavishly reproduce that image. If I wanted to do that, I would just print it out. No, I add that spark of human creativity and talent to the art that AI lacks. I also draw inspiration from photo references and real-life scenery. The primary reason that I produce most of this art is an exploration of my own idea of beauty and sensuality. I generally use watercolor, colored pencils, and ink in my pieces. But if it will make a mark on a piece of paper or have an effect on the finished image, I consider it fair game. For example, bleach, burnt petroleum jelly soot, and floor wax have all been used in my art before. Techniques employed. Wet into wet use of watercolor and wet glazing are the two most prominent techniques I use, followed by the use of a tortillon stump. This is a piece of rolled up paper that has been tightly wound and then brought to a point. This has been used to blend pencil marks on the underdrawing, also known as a value map. My comic art is heavily influenced by the Japanese manga style, and the art of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, Jessica Galbraith, and Jasmine Beckett-Griffith have all influenced my more realistic art. I consider those artists to be some of the best out there, and as for the use of the manga style, I like it because it's very easy to convey emotions with. If you look at the piece titled "Racism is Wrong," you'll find a blending of my two styles. It has touches of the influences of the artists I admire. The sexy figure drawing employed by Vallejo and Bell, the fairy art of Galbraith, and the big eye art of Beckett-Griffith. This piece also uses some of the non-conventional art supplies mentioned as well, both Vaseline soot and enamel wall paint, as well as latex wall paint. I hope you enjoy viewing these as much as I did making them, as I believe that making art is for the artist, but the art itself is for other people. Thank you.
- Krysta Morningstarr*
