Welcome to the first creative interview at Tessera. Each month we’ll be interviewing creative individuals following their passion in art, illustration, writing, comics and more. This month we have artist Angela R. Sasser. We’ve not met in person, but we were both in the Dragon Con 2014 Art Show. Thank you for joining us today, Angela!

Tell us about yourself, where you’re from and any training you’ve had in the visual arts.

I’m a military brat whose dad was in the Army, so I’m from everywhere! We moved every two years of my childhood, just about. If I had to pick a ‘home’, it’d be North Carolina where I spent the majority of my childhood. I currently reside in Atlanta, Georgia where I work out of the 2nd bedroom of an apartment which we’ve turned into a studio.

I’ve had formal training as a Studio Arts major at the University of West Georgia where I learned a lot about figure drawing and using traditional media. The rest where digital art is concerned is all self-taught. I’ve been extending my education with classes like Painting Drama from the Oatley Academy and Proko’s Figure Drawing Fundamentals course. Fun fact, I also was a double major in English and have a masters in Arts Administration. My training and interests are pretty varied!

What is the first thing you remember drawing or painting?

I was an avid colorist as a child. I colored anything and everything and had a massive coloring book collection (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, He-man, you name it!). I imagine a Lady Lovely Locks or She-Ra coloring book was the first thing that I colored! And if coloring doesn’t count, the first thing I ever drew was probably a unicorn. I had quite the intense unicorn/horse phase as a child and used to write and draw my own stories about them anywhere that I could!

Can you tell us a little about your process and your choice of medium?

I’m not picky as far as medium, I use whatever helps me best tell the story. Some of my favorite media combinations include watercolor with color pencil detailing, ink lines with watercolor coloration, and even digital, which I’m actually doing a lot more of these days. I’m planning to experiment with new ways to combine traditional and digital, perhaps by doing graphite images first with digital coloration on top to help me preserve the texture of traditional art which is so delicious.

Are there themes and/or subjects you find yourself drawn to again and again in your art?

My art has been in flux lately! I did quite a lot of angels and softer watercolor work for my Angelic Visions howto art book, but I’m currently moving towards more darker folklore and character-driven work. I find myself drawn to subjects that combine beauty with an edge of darkness. I want to create the kind of imagery that stays in the backs of your eyelids long after you’re done looking at it.

What are you working on now? Where can we go to view/purchase your work?

I’m currently working on images for a book cover portfolio to turn into some of my favorite fantasy publishers (ie. Tor, Wizards of the Coast, etc.) I’m also beginning to explore my own written worlds with illustrations of my characters and stories, which is something I have been wanting to do for years, but never felt I had the skill to do in the past. Oathbound emerged from this exploration of my own worlds.

You can find more of my fantasy work at www.angelasasser.com and more of my Art Nouveau work at www.angelicshades.com.

And if you like masks, I also create original leather crafted masks and accessories over at www.angelicartisan.com.

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