Welcome to Impart, an art gallery showcasing sketch and digital artwork by acclaimed artist Deslea R. Judd. Deslea is a self-taught artist with an interest in the entertainment industry. Her artwork has appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, on many websites including the X Files Official Site, and has also been used in several fundraising campaigns.

frequently asked questions

What programs do you use for digital artwork?

I use Paint Shop Pro v.5. It's very old and out of date, but it's the full version I have, and it does the job. I haven't felt any pressing need to upgrade, and the cost is considerable.

What about sketching?

I don't use any programs for that. ;-)

Actually, that's not quite true. I scan my rough-outs and overlay them onto the source photo to check for placement errors before I start filling in. So in that sense, you could say I use PSP for that, too. This is a mixed blessing - it aids accuracy, but it means that my work tends to be less interpretive and impressionistic than some. In that sense it's limiting.

What's your favourite medium?

To sketch, leads on paper. But I love to look at oils on canvas. Unfortunately, my own efforts in this line are pitiful. I also love glass painting, to which I was introduced by Lindy Clarkson as a child.

Who's your favourite artist?

Lindy Clarkson. Lindy was previously Lindy Judd and married to my late father, and her work entranced me growing up. She's best known for her middle-of-the-road popular folk art - the kind you buy at handicraft stores - but she has amazing range. She does the most exquisite intricate Latvian art. She's got a wonderful eye for detail and perspective and texture. She's just fantastic.

In the entertainment and pop culture art world, my favourite artist would have to be Linzee. Linzee does wonderful interpretive work and transcends the cliche of digital art as mere collage. For her, digital art is expression and concept and meaning, and a lot of it is visually cutting-edge. She's always breaking the rules, and her work is like a breath of fresh air in a frankly staid corner of the online art world.

You're self-taught. Did you learn anything about art at school?

Hell no. I was taught by a series of art nazis who opposed rules and form as restrictive. I once submitted a lovely picture of a fairly realistic horse. Nothing fantastic, but perfectly respectable. I lost ten marks for it being realistic and another ten for it being centered, and more deductions for other "sins". I got 30% for it. For the end of year artwork, I learned my lesson. I sat in front of my canvas, closed my eyes, and scribbled. Then I painted shadows and accents on each scribble. And I got 90% for it.

For my part, I believe in rules. I don't think you have to keep them, but I think you have to know them and have reasons for breaking them. Sure, you can accentuate a politician's nose to suggest he looks down on his constituents, but how to you do that when you don't know how to make his nose reflect its actual state to begin with? Interpretive artwork is only interpretive insofar as it reflects or contrasts with visual reality.