Kristin Tercek & Ed Mironiuk

Hello Readers! Today we are visited by the talented artists Kristin Tercek ( Cuddly Rigor Mortis) & Ed Mironiuk. Kristin & Ed have been a part of the PSP community for a long time. Both are known for their wonderful and unique art styles. You can visit their websites here and here. You can purchase their PSP tubes at CDO. Thank you both of you for talking with us today.

1) How did you both become a part of the psp tube community?
Ed- Anthony at CILM contacted me a lonnnnnnnng time ago. I had been getting a lot of requests to use my work so the timing was perfect.
Kris- Ed was doing very well with CILM and he suggested I contact them. How long ago that was, I honestly don't remember!

2) What does the artwork mean to each of you?
Ed- I try not to be too serious about it. I just want it to be fun, silly, sexy, sometimes dark but always tongue in cheek.

Kris- Just the other day a thought popped in my head, 'I want to make people happy.' Nothing means more to me than an email from someone saying that the print, painting or tube they just bought from me brings a smile to their face everytime they see it. I honestly wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for my amazing fans.

3) What inspires you in creating your artwork?
Ed- Oh boy, there's tons of stuff. For me it could be cosplay or a cheesy B-movie, William Adolphe Bouguereau or Patrick Nagel, lounge music or  heavy metal, you name it.

Kris- Food is a huge influence for me. And Ed's usually eating something odd, an Ugli fruit or lychees, and it just strikes me as a little character. I'll look at anything, really, and if there's great texture or interesting colors it makes me want to paint. Sometimes I'll just wake up at three in the morning and say, 'why haven't I painted a meatball yet?'.

4) How long have each of you been selling psp tubes?
Ed- Hmmmmm, pretty much since CILM had opened...what was that? 5 years maybe? Time just flies.
Kris- I don't think it was too long after Ed started.

5) How do you create your artwork? Is it by hand or digitally? What tools do you use in doing the artwork?
Both of you have such similar yet different styles, do you often influence each other in your artwork?
Ed- I sometimes start with a hand drawn sketch and scan it into the computer to be finished in photoshop but lately it's all done right in the computer.
Kris is always behind me (or vice versa) and we always help each other with concepts or design. I have a feeling you may be seeing girls with bigger eyes from me in the future via Kris' influence.

Kris- We are so lucky to work from our home and not having spent one night apart in 15 years, there's no doubt we influence each other. Although I think that Ed helps me far more than I help him. I rely on his advice and expertise constantly. I have two different ways of creating my artwork. For my paintings, I start with a very small sketch that goes into photoshop. I tighten it up, get the compostion set and lay in color for reference. I print the line drawing out and transfer it to a wood plaque. Then it's onto good old fashioned brushes and acrylic paints. I've also been doing all-photoshop images of late (cats and critter sets for tubes). I must admit I get confused. If I'm painting, I'll find myself trying to save or undo things. When I'm using photoshop, I catch myself reaching for my spray bottle to keep the screen wet.

6)Aside from psp tubes, what else do you create with the artwork?
Ed- I've been the illustrator for Tattoo magazine and Flash for the past 17 years. In fact last month was my 200th consecutive issue. I also do a lot of bookcovers and cd art.

Kris- I sell my original paintings as well as prints and mounted prints of my work. I'm also excited to announce (yup, you're getting the scoop) that several of my plush designs were licensed by Petco and will be released as pet toys for their Halloween season this year.

7) As you have developed your styles and artwork, which artists have influenced you?
Ed- I started with Frank Frazetta then went Alberto Vargas, Patrick Nagel, Maxfield Parrish, Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist. Now I'm really into the the aesthetic of Russ Meyer, Rinse Dream (Stephen Sayadian), George Petty and Mark Ryden. I've also really been digging kitschy old pinball machine art and 80's airbrush artwork.

Kris- I learned how to paint from watching Bob Ross and William Alexander (the fiery German equivalent of Bob Ross) on tv as a kid. I was drawn to great landscape artists early on (Hudson River School especially) but once the new wave of contemporary artists like Murakami, Friends With You and Tim Biskup appeared, I was hooked on color and character design.

8) Does the psp community help artists become more well known with getting their names and artwork more visible?
Ed- I sure hope so, but there is so much really great work out there I think it can be easy to get lost.
Kris- Wherever artists can find new outlets for their craft, it's a good thing.

9) What do you enjoy the most about being part of the psp community?
Ed- First off everyone I have met are the sweetest people ever and I'm not trying to kiss butt. I'm serious. I wish that I could be able to interact more because it's a really nice community. The other thing is seeing the amount of creativity that each person brings.It allows me to see my work growing through another person's fun. That's the best.

Kris- I second that! You also can't beat the fact that they are copyright compliant and continue to educate people on what that means.

10) What are some of your favorite art pieces which each of you have done and why?
Ed- Right now it's my newest work with the megatubes. Tons of different layers to change the girls into emo rockers, kitties, goth, devils, bunnies, etc.
I love being able to create all the various parts and then mix and match them together. I can't wait to see what the psp'ers do with them. In fact I'm really looking forward to starting on the next set.

Kris- I can't wait either - I absolutely LOVE what Ed's doing. OK, so I may be biased, but I just love to watch him work. All those layers are so fun to play around with. In fact I just had to copy him and did a set of kitten megatubes. I didn't think I'd like drawing cats, but I really am enjoying it.  I also have a soft spot for "Uni Yeti". His eyes are based on my little buddy, Ricky (my chihuahua who passed away in July) and he was shown at la Gaite Lyrique Museum in Paris in December.

11) Do you prefer tags with your art tubes animated or non animated? Or are both great to you?
Ed- I like the animated backgrounds and I also like the static. I wish facebook would allow animated gifs...curse you Zuckerberg (shakes fist in the air)
Kris- I saw a tag someone did with my winter animals and it had snow falling and another with a kitten of mine where the grass was blowing around him - they were so wonderful! Honestly, I've never seen anything that I didn't like with my art, animated or not. :D

12) Do either of you do commissions for taggers? How about ideas for art pieces which taggers may have?
Ed- I'm always available for commissions. In fact I just did one of the lead singer of the rock group Rammstein and another that was of the comic character
Shi. It's nice because I can work with images or characters that normally I couldn't because of copyright issues.

Kris- I had to stop taking commissions a couple years ago because it was too much pressure. The list kept getting longer and longer and I got more and more worried that I wasn't going to do a good job. I finally had to stop. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. However, lately I've been having a blast doing cats and critters just for tubes. Since it's geared especially towards taggers, I've started asking around in groups what breeds or colors people might like to see along with taking lots of deep breaths so I don't get overwhelmed that I won't live up to what people want. Everyone is so darn encouraging that I hope to get over my fear of commissions one day.

13) Is there anything which you don't allow to be done with your artwork? For example mirroring, animation, etc.
Ed- I don't think my license allows that but I've seen it when it was done subtly and I think it works well.

Kris- We were just talking about this. I had no idea that you could allow people to animate your work. My guess is that I don't allow it, because I've never seen anyone do it!

14) Would you like to receive tags which our readers may do featuring your artwork? We often love to send the artists tags by our readers.
Ed- Of course! What the readers make is actually the most important part.

Kris- I can't tell you what a kick it is to see what people make with my work. It goes right back to why I do this...if it's making people happy - I'm happy!