Lum: Hello Kaioshen, to start this off, give us a bit of info about yourself and why you are interested in art.

Bobby: My name is Bobby Myers, i'm 20 and am currently living in North Carolina, US. I first got involved in art back in '03 or '04 when I first got Photoshop. My very first piece was space art because I have always been into space for some reason, and ever since then I have been addicted to art.

Lum: Great! So your featured piece in our exhibit is a space piece aswell. Can you tell about this piece and where you got your inspiration for it?

Bobby: Well, this piece actually started out as nothing special. I was just messing around in Photoshop drawing stuff and after awhile it started to look pretty decent, so I went with it. It went through about 30 different concepts and look changes before it got to the point that you see, and I think most of the time that I was making it for Luminarium, I was thinking about the movie 'Event Horizon' and how it would be cool to make something like that.

Lum: Thats a great form of inspiration, movies. Where do you get other inspiration from and how does it effect your work?

Bobby: Everywhere, I get it from everything and anything. I don't think anybody should really be limited to how or where they get their inspiration from, so I let everything influence my work and how I create every piece, whether it's music, movies, other art, anything really is good for me.

Lum: I think its a great ability to not limit yourself in such a way. So, you are not only a Luminarium artist but also a member of the staff. Tell us a bit about collaborating on such a project as The Luminarium with so many people, how does it work for you? And what do you get out of the experience?

Bobby: This is the first real artgroup I've been in, so it's still sort of new for me with some things, but it's tons of fun. I like working with other artists and having them look at my work and critique it is just one of the few things that really help me to create something good that everybody will enjoy. Being here and learning from the other artists is whats driving me and also helping me a lot in trying to become better and better.

Lum: Awesome! You are doing a great job so far and you are gaining skill with every piece you create! Do you have a goal you want to achieve with art? Do you want to make a living through your art or is it just a hobby?

Bobby: It's definitely what I want to do the rest of my life, whether it's for film, video games, or anything else, this is definitely what I want to do for a long time. My goal is to either land a job in film or video games, those have been the most inspiring to me. Everytime I play a game or watch a movie I just watch in awe the kinds of evironments people create. What drives me most in life though is to inspire other people to become artists or to become a better artist, to let them know to not give up on the things that aren't easy at first, it will come to you in time, just stick with it and don't give up on it.

Lum: That is one of our main goals at The Luminarium, and are glad you wish to support that. Now something completely else, I always wondered what your nickname ment, how did you get it?

Bobby: Haha, I get that all the time. But back in '02 I think it was I was hanging out with some friends, we we're playing Halo and it came to the screen where you had to enter your nickname, and this was the time when I was really into Dragonball Z (don't ask me why, I don't know either). That's when I came up with 'Kaio', and for some reason I just added the 'shen' part to the end and there ya go.

Lum: hahaha some story! It is always fun to trace back to the origin of someones nick. Anyways, for your 2nd piece in the exhibit: Infectious, you came up with a pretty original concept for a space piece! Did this concept just popped up in your mind one day?

Bobby: Actually I had a little help coming up with that awhile back. I don't know what his name is, but some guy on DeviantArt commented on one of my pieces and what he said sparked an idea in to my head about space and the human body. And ever since then, I have always had this idea but never really tried to create it, and when I heard about the dimensions theme for the new pack, I thought it would be a good fit for the pack, and it was.



Lum: There you go, inspiration lies in the smallest corners! One last question before we wrap this up, can you tell us a bit about the tools you use. Do you only use photoshop or do you use more to create your work?

Bobby: Sure, my main tools are of course, Photoshop and my wacom. I have some 3D programs, but the main one i'm trying to get used to is 3D Studio Max. It's a very powerful program, but pretty hard to master let alone even begin to use. I use Terragen for whenever I have landscapes in my pieces, and I also use ZBrush on occasion, but I haven't messed with that in awhile, so I know I forgot almost everything I learned from it. But that's pretty much the extent to what I use.

Lum: It is always a good thing to master more packages! You never know what kind of job the future brings! Well it has been a pleasure to interview you Kaioshen, you have anything to add before we call this a wrap?

Bobby: Yeah, cake rules and pie sucks. Lum: Haha! Awesome! Thanks kaioshen and good luck to you!