AH: I went to school at the Columbus College of Art and Design where I got my BFA in Illustration. What I learned there was definitely valuable, but is hard to quantify. I think what I learned most was how to work and a good work ethic. The work load was tough if you weren't disciplined enough or were a procrastinator. Since I work almost exclusively in the computer (except my sculptures), the material techniques I learned are not as valuable as the art concepts( for example: use of color, anatomy, perspective, spatial design).
SR: Is design/illustration a job or hobby or a whole lot of both?
AH: Definitely both. I get paid to do illustration, concepting, and web design. Some days it feels more like work than others. At home, my art hobbies are illustration and sculpture. There are days when I will put in 8 or 9 hours of art at work and come home and work for another 4 for fun. If I didn't love art, that wouldn't be possible.
SR: What is the first illustration/comic/cartoon you remember imitating growing up? What was your first original creation/character?
AH: I have a scrap piece of wood on which I drew 3 comic book heroes (I think they were all Marvel). I don't know when I did it but by the looks of it I was probably about 5.
SR: What type of art inspires you (and it doesn't have to be fine art...)/Who are your influences?
AH: I actually don't like art museums that much. Most "fine art" is pretty bad in my eyes. I appreciate the fact that many of these artists were the first to do a particular style, but for me that doesn't make a painting look good; it's got to be quality. A big red dot on a white canvas is a joke to me. I don't care if the artist was backlashing against years of oppression by the establishment, it's just a dot! Let's see that guy draw superman lifting up a 747 in 3-point perspective. Now that impresses me.
Right now the artist that most impresses me is Alex Ross. It's as if an old master from 200 years ago decided he wanted to do comic books. Alex puts amazing technical skill into a genre that most people view as being "for kids."
SR: What are some of your favorite cartoons/comics?
AH: Samurai Jack, Justice league, Beast Machines.
SR: What art style are you most comfortable using/which is most difficult?
AH: Comic book style is easiest.
SR: Is there any piece of your work you are the most proud of or satisfied with and if yes, which one and why?
AH: I am usually pleased with my most current piece ( at least for a week or so), which would mean I like my Skeletor sculpture right now.
SR: Do you have any other creative pursuits besides art and design?
AH: I did Cello when I was 10, but that's about it.
SR: What is your favorite web site (besides your own!)?
AH: I go to figures.com daily to see what new action figures are coming out.
AH: By the middle of season 1 I started messing around with Farscape art.
SR: Which Farscape character do you most like to portray in your work and why?
AH: Scorpious seems to be able to convey the most emotion of the non-humans. The design of his suit is also very intricate.
SR: You obviously have a great sense of humor--what about the Simpsons and Farscape connected to inspire you to create The Farsons? Was it a particular character, situation...?
AH: I think it happened when I was telling my wife about FarPark. We were talking about other shows that could work and Simpsons came up. At first I was going to call it Simpscape, but quickly changed it. I started with Barton and just worked my way through the characters. It was quite surprising how easily some fell into place.
SR: I am particularly fond of the Furlow/Comic Book guy character (I laughed for about 10 minutes...) Which of the Farsons makes you laugh and why?
AH: That may be my favorite too. Every time I look at him I hear him say "This is the worst parody, EVER!" My second favorite is Flark.
SR: Which Farsons character was the easiest and which one was the hardest to come up with (or did they all just fall into place) and why?
AH: I would guess Burnious was the easiest since they are so similar. Jewl and Chikkie were the hardest since there aren't many female characters on the Simpsons.
SR: Could you please walk us through the process you use to create a Farsons character from concept to finished piece? How long does it take to complete?
AH: It takes about an hour, sometimes less. I pull reference off the web for the Simpsons character and the Farscape one, put them next to each other and draw. I build the art in Adobe Illustrator and import it into Macromedia Flash.
SR: If we can ask, why did you give up working on the animated Farscape piece--your character sketches looked great! Do you think you might get back to it at any time?
AH: At the time, I stopped because I got a bit burned out and then came up with something that held my attention more, Farsons. Now as I consider putting more time into the animated versions, I feel it wouldn't be worth it. First of all, they are more difficult to draw. It is a delicate balance between photo-realism and caricature. Either extreme is easy, but in between is difficult. Once the comic book came out, that pretty much killed any lingering enthusiasm. When I first started drawing the animated versions, there was nothing else like them. Now, I would be just competing with the book.
SR: Your bust of Scorpius (the non-Marty Feldman version, that is! LOL!) is wonderful! Why him and do you plan to sculpt any other characters?
AH: He just seemed to be the best. No hair (hard to do in clay) and not a lot of thin parts. If time permits, I will do a bust of Aeryn. Women's ' faces are about the hardest thing in the world to do.
SR: Any plans for a Farscape Coloring book like the one you do on the kid section of your web site? I think my daughter could be interested...
AH: Its a good Idea. We'll see.
AH: Lots and lots of quiet.
SR: How do you approach a project? For example, do you need to do research, do you generally do sketches first, jump right on the computer, or does it vary from piece to piece?
AH: For Farsons, see above description. For drawings and sculptures, there is a lot of sketching involved, especially for the animated style when I was working out just what level to draw them at.
SR: Peeking into your room on coolercreations.com, you have a hell of a lot of action figures. Do you just collect or do you find them useful to you when it comes to your art?
AH: I just love looking at them. For me, a toy on a blister card is the ultimate in art. It incorporates sculpture, illustration, industrial design, and storytelling.
SR: What is your current favorite application to use (be it for illustration or web design)? Which applications or tools do you think are a must for an artist in today's computer driven world?
AH: Photoshop and Illustrator. With these to tools you can do about anything imaginable.
SR: What tips/tricks of the trade can you give a newly starting artist?
AH: I think I'll save that for later. There's a lot to cover, some of which I don't know if I can put down in words.
SR: One of my favorite features of your web site is the animation. How is it done--frame by frame like in TV or movies, or something else? Which programs do you use to make the animations?
AH: Flash allows you to do simple animation without a ton of work. You can fade in and out, slide across the screen, change color and scale with only a few clicks. Making a character get out of chair and do a dance takes a frame-by-frame approach and usually isn't time justified in my case.
SR: I have to say that your web site (coolercreations.com) is a piece of art in and of itself. How long have you been working on it and how different is it from its first incarnation?
AH: I started in 97 I think. It was just simple HTML. I'm now on the 5th version. I don't think I will ever stop changing it.
AH: Well, If anyone reading this owns a toy company or special effects house, my email is ahastings@coolercreations.com (Hint Hint)
ScapeRoute would like to thank Adam for taking the time out from his schedule to answer our questions. We hope you enjoyed reading this and learned a little something new. We've put some of his work up in our gallery for your pleasure. Please be sure to let Adam know how much you like--or love!--his work. We suggest you check out his website Coolercreations for even more amazing artwork. You won't be sorry.
