Meet The Enchanted Visions Artist – Monica N. Galvan

Monica N. Galvan

Enchanted Visions Artist, Monica N. Galvan

Who is, Monica N. Galvan?  Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a teacher, fantasy writer and illustrator from Spain. I’m a versatile artist who uses traditional and digital media; inks and water colours are my favorite along with CG. I’m currently working in some comic projects and role-playing games, but I started seriously in this world… illustrating my own novels and fairytales.

Art is my passion in any form, I also enjoy reading historical, fantasy and mythology books, listening to classic and folk music…

How did you hear about Enchanted Visions and why did you want to become a member artist?

I was invited in 2010. I never heard about it before, but I considered it a lovely and inspiring project and instantly decided to join.

Each month, Enchanted Visions artists are challenged with creating a piece of art for that month’s theme.  Please share some of the art you have created for Enchanted Visions with us.  For each piece of art, please describe how it interprets that month’s theme, any story behind the art, and the theme’s meaning to you.

Each year I used to create a series of 13 pictures, each one with a very different style and technique. I wanted to do something new, like a collection. At the moment I have started my fifth series based in fairytales.

You can see all of my series and their works here: http://monicang.com/en/galleries/enchanted-visions-project/

These are my picks to share with you:

La Fata by Enchanted Visions artist, Monica N. Galvan

La Fata – “The Arrival of Spring” This was my first contribution to EV. It’s a sort of self portrait in faery form. I always wear that celtic necklace. Her counterpart is a witch “Darkness Falls”. This was something very special, and part of the first series I made for Enchanted visions. This series featured faery creatures with a very stylized comic style, red cheeks and heavy jewels, made with traditionally inked drawings and digital colours.

General of Riga by Enchanted Visions artist, Monica N. Galvan

General of Riga – “New Beginnings” This one is my personal favourite right now. She’s one of my most loved novel characters, part of the Third Series I did for EV. The theme suits a very tragic part of her story and her rise from ashes. It’s completely digital from scratch. Here is the process of this work:  http://monicang.com/portfolio/general-of-riga-ev-new-beginnings/

Frija Aretai by Enchanted Visions artist, Monica N. Galvan

Frija Aretai – “Wonder” This is one of my latest contributions to Enchanted Visions. She’s another of my novel characters, and probably the incarnation of one of my muses. Here we have a double wonder, Frija’s magic and the tower behind her. Here is the process of this work http://monicang.com/portfolio/frija-aretai-ev-wonder/

EV has a monthly auction of the work created. Do you sell your work there?

I tried to sell there some times, but I have no luck with it. You can buy my art in my stores or personally request a print of any EV art I posted, I have all my stores listed here: http://monicang.com/en/shop/

Are there challenges knowing you are one of many artists creating art for the same EV theme?  Does this knowledge hinder you or give you momentum when creating for the monthly theme?

Sharing a project with many artists has its good and bad parts. Sometimes you loose a lot of visibility when a project becomes ‘huge’ (many artists, many pieces), so you try to do your best in every illustration and shine. And then it turns into a competition (I hate that). I love to create my pieces with freedom, for fun.

The hard part is choosing the right idea for the theme. I like open themes because in these ones you can see the most original approaches. When I studied illustration one of my teachers showed us how with themed artwork most of us, without a previous study, ended up with the same cliché idea. I try now to avoid these clichés, trying new techniques, experimenting a lot. EV is not work and I’m pretty happy with that.

How did your personal art style evolve, that thing that makes people say, oh Monica N. Galvan painted this?  Was it identifiable right away?  What inspired you on your way to your own personal style?

When I began years ago in EV I created my first series with random characters and these pictures were very generic and sometimes many artist had the same ideas, colors, compositions… In the following series I started to have my very own interpretations, with my novel characters and the theme that suited them. These paintings were more unique, and I tried to find a balance between what I loved and what my public wanted to see.

I started to develop my own painting style, a very painterly one, some years ago. I was just experimenting with digital colouring, trying to get the same effect I got in oil paintings, using strong contrasts ‘chiaroscuro’, and textures. People started to identify my work thanks to its style, the face features… And then, even if I changed the media, my work had my fingerprint. I know that I have to evolve, to refine my skills. I learn a lot in every piece I create. But start to have your own personal style is awesome.

Describe (and provide a photograph if you like) of your studio/work space.   What would you change about it, if anything, for it to become your dream work space?

Enchanted Visions artist, Monica N. Galvan’s art studio

At the moment my studio is this room. Here I paint most of my work right now (I love to ink watching films on the sofa though). I create my digital work with a double screen PC and a Wacom tablet. The rest of the room is full of furniture, where I store part of my traditional media. I also have a wall full of fanart from my readers and friends, and shelves full of all kind of books.

I would like a bigger studio with lots of natural light (mine it’s so dark) and space for painting more traditional media. Or… maybe a little house hidden in the woods, or a castle with a courtyard full of flowers..

“Paint” a picture of yourself for us using 10 colorful words to describe you, the total picture.

Curious. Loyal. Passionate. Witch. Faery. Pre-Raphaelite. Bookworm. Bard. Warrior. Freak.

If you would like to see more of Monica’s art, you can find her at the following links:

Website: http://monicang.com/

FB: http://www.facebook.com/monicangalvan.art
Twitter: http://twitter.com/monicang
Tumblr: http://ltnnog.tumblr.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ltnnog