Welcome to Stock Provider, Stock User!

This is a series of articles where we interview a deviant who is both a stock provider and a stock user.

Our third interview is with HermitCrabStock/annewipf!

You have been on your art account, annewipf, for 4 years. Did you have any accounts before that one?

Yes. At first, I mostly did traditional artwork and I did a series of watercolour and acrylic paintings about « The Lord of the Rings ». So, I opened an account on a French site dedicated to Tolkien, called « Tolkiendil » www.tolkiendil.com/ ; (I'm no more in it : not enough time, and others of interest) ; then, I did a series of fairies, an opened an account on Elfwood  wipf.elfwood.com/ ; Then, navigating on the web, I discovered dA, but, at the time, we had to answer to a big questionnaire and my English was not very fluent (I did some progress since I'm here!), so it took some time til I joined dA. I didn't make manipulations at the beginning, only traditional artwork (I deleted the main part of them) : I discovered them recently (my first one was done in march 2011), thanks to dA.

Your works tend to have a fantasy theme to them. Where does your inspiration for those works come from?

Essentially from books : « The Lord of the Rings » is by far my favourite (I read it perhaps 30 times!). And I've always loved fairytales. And I loved some movies too.

What stocker do you always go to for good stock to use in your manipulations?

I always use the stock I find on dA : I fear to find unauthorized stock outside (I'm very fussy about that). I made (on my stock account) a personal collection of faves, and I usually pick my stock from it. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I use the dA search engine. Or I use my own stock.

Please show us a work (or works) that you are most proud of!

Of course, this one :   It is not perfect, I did it at the beginning (in August 2011), but I'm always astonished about the result : I was probably very lucky, or inspired... I did it when I was bad, due to personal domestic troubles. It was the way I found to escape from reality. I did some changes on it, but very few : it is the single picture I have succeed to send to prints !
Among my photos, I'm especially proud of this one :   I had an incredible chance to be at the right place at the right moment, and I immediately knew it will be good. It is a rough photo, I didn't do anything on it, except ordinary adjustments (hue, saturation...).
Of course, the 2 pictures I'm the proudest of were stolen on the web !

What kind of art do you wish you could try?

I don't know, I already used many techniques : traditional (oil, acrylics, watercolours, pastels, charcoal, pencils, collage, etc. and china, earthenware) and digital (photo, photomanipulation, painting and airbrushing - I'm not very good - vector and I played a bit with fractals). And writing of course : I'll publish soon an old French text I'm quite proud of. I don't know what I could try anymore : movie, music ? I'm not so young, it's a bit late to experiment something very new now. I already get a lot of work on perfecting my techniques in photomanipulation and photography.

You've been on your stock account, HermitCrabStock, for 2 years. What made you start doing stock?

It is due to my second passion : photography. I'm not a professional, and my equipment is quite basic (reflex are too expensive for me, I use a bridge and, sometimes, a tripod). And I don't often get the time to do real work on my photographs, they are often rough. Not so good for opening a photo account. So, I decided to share them in a stock account. It is the way I found thanks to dA for all the free stock I use.

How has your stock transitioned over time? What are you doing differently now that you didn't do at the beginning?

At the beginning, I mostly put pictures of landscapes and of the beautiful villages and towns of my area and the places I go at holidays. Now, I think more to «stock material » : I did some photos of various objects , some compositions, and sometimes I have another look to the subjects I take a photo of. I'm currently doing a collection of skies (I'm always looking for skies for my manipulations). And, of course, I added premade BG montvalentstock.deviantart.com… and an exclusive stock folder for contest winners in which I'm a prize donator.

You have some beautiful landscape/architecture stock. Tell us about your favorite location (or locations) that you've done stock of!

At this time, I think it is Collonges-la-Rouge : a beautiful proximate medieval village entirely built with red stones, listed among the most beautiful villages of France. It was hard to take photos avoiding people, stands and shelves of postcard and various « made in China » objects, etc., it is the reason why I took these photos in October, on a rainy day!

What is your favorite type of stock to shoot? Also, please show us your favorite stock(s) you've done!

Landscapes. I love landscapes. I'm always marveled at nature.
River in flood
Fall
fog
sea :thumb323770522:
mountain and , etc.

What is your favorite type of art to see your stock turned into? Show us your favorite art(s) that have used your stock!

With a great pleasure, I'm very proud to see my stock used in an amazing manipulation, but it is hard to choose ! Here are my 3 favourites :
  which got a DD the same day as the stock picture she used


But don't forget to get a look to all my favourite arts that have used my stock : montvalentstock.deviantart.com… , you'll find marvels.

Do you have any art pieces on dA that you've used your own stock for?

Of course! Here are the last ones :
:thumb334943927:  I used this sky :
:thumb334543844:  I used this cart :
  I used this sky :
I often use my own skies, and I began a collection of sky stocks, because it's hard to find a photo of sky of a good quality, which is really free of use. I had some bad experiences with some of those I found on dA.

What are you working on for both stock and art?

Premade montvalentstock.deviantart.com… , of course.

And lastly, if I was going to France for a vacation, what is the #1 place I should visit?

The first, I don't know! There are very very numerous beautiful places to visit. And I never visited many of them myself alas. If you like medieval places, the SW, South and West of France are full of medieval villages and castles. If you like beautiful castles, you must visit the castles of the Loire river (I didn't, but I want to go there). Avoid the castle of Versailles, except if you like the crowd, but the gardens are beautiful. If you like beautiful landscapes, they are so various that I can't advise you : mostly the coasts (Atlantic and Mediterranean) and the mountains (Alps, Pyrenees and Massif Central...), and the beautiful Corsica island (I'll go there next summer, I'll take some photos). Of course, if you get the desire to visit my beautiful area : Rocamadour, Sarlat, Collonges-la-Rouge, St-Cirq-Lapopie, Figeac, etc., many beautiful towns and villages and the beautiful Dordogne and Lot rivers.