phoenixleo

phoenixleo has requested that random works from his favorites be featured instead of his works.

How did you first discover deviantART?

I was moderator for a few music community forums (disregard the fact that I wasn't interested in music a lot) but the fact that I loved the community aspect of seeing people from my own culture and country from around the world in one platform. During that time, I was for some obscured reason interested in mythology and the Christian Seven Deadly Sins. I searched it in google and voila, dahlig's ultimate Deadly Sins series shows up. I click on them, and find out more about them and was simply amazed stunned by the works which looked like actual photographs to me back then As I browsed more, (in the All Time favourites) I saw zemotion's Forgotten Fairytales, . That was it. I liked the site, and was excited to see these deviations which were more reinforced when I saw these images cropping up as signature/avatar pictures in forums as well as in facebook! I thought I would keep an eye on this site. But then that thought was burrowed deep in my mind while I had other things to do and take care of. And then I remember seeing larafairie's Cut Off Lips, , and Jaded not to mention her other another work Delicate thoughts! I was from the moment I saw it, in love with "Jaded" ( My parents used to buy me peacock feathers for me when I was a kid from the fairs ) and her "Cut off lips" were like the final stroke into deciding to join deviantART.com just to see the amazing works! So I joined 4 years ago on December 5, 2006!

What was it about dA that made you want to stay?

I was somehow moderator for three top music forums of my country (I got to learn of their popularity from people who talked about where they found recent artists music or concert info from) and tackling those while studying was like toying with 3 heads of hydra at a time with continuously looking towards the threads, the members and banning people when they were out of line (I was the nice moderator )! After I joined dA and did the registration with the confirmation and everything, that was it! I barely came to dA and when I did it was because I would get those email notifications from dA, some of which were of contests. I would log in, see those weird messages, think of them as spam and close them and log out. And this was my first submission in dA, nearly eight months after I registered! I didn't know all these things about pageviews, comments or anything and a random deviant showed up  in my page with a comment, it freaked me out as how he/she got it Slowly I tried to browse the different galleries and saw the fractal galleries which I completely fell in love with and trying to submit randomly generated apophysis works by playing with the triangles for no reasons at all

OMG, I just realized this December 5, I was a deviant for 4 years o_O I just realized it now as I was spell checking this now

But given it was an in-active account for nearly 2 and a half years, so I have been around dA for quite a short period of time

What is the story behind your username?

When I wanted to register in this website, I wanted to have the username blue_phoenix ( My favourite colour and favourite mythological creature, not to mention the username I used in those three forums and the others I signed up in where people would know my name instantly >_> ) but we couldn't register with "_" and so decided to use bluephoenix. But then that was taken too My zodiac is leo so I decided to use phoenixleo for my username as this also is my preferable username after that

What do you remember of your childhood in regards to art?

My parents wouldn't stop about the bad things I did before >_> When I first started school in kindergarten, the students were already supposed to know the alphabets from before which my mom didn't teach me at all. So when the quiz came in the kindergarten school with a question along the line of "Write down all the alphabets and letters from A to Z" but in my language which is Bengali/Bangla (It's different letter system and I am using A and Z just for making it easier to grasp), I didn't write the answer like all the bright students did. I exactly copied down the whole question word to word, like a perfect eye tracing And that's what my mom told me about that case. But my parents did tell me and I remember vaguely that I used pencil to draw all over the walls (my favourite were tiny fishes to draw ). My parents encouraged me by buying me watercolours and large posterpapers for drawing dolphins and villages there (I think I still remember one village scene till now ) Having cousins who were also interested in art as well as aunts from both side who were creative made it a very good time for me to sit on the floor and draw to my heart's desire. So my mother decided to send a kid to the art children's art school for art and music. While I could draw a very good swan or a duck compared to my age, other kids either tried to copy me or were sitting around me and my cousin to see what we were doing And there were a lot of mosquitoes! So I had a huge tantrum (crying my eyes out) to get out of there for both music and drawing lessons and that was the end of my 3 or 4 days real art school. But drawing wasn't the only thing I did. Having a talented aunt (mom's brother's wife) when I visited my grandmother's house meant I could see her painting or painting in potteries which had a huge impact on me in room decoration and pottery painting sense. Also, I had my dad's sister who had a parlor, which meant I got to see how henna/mehndi was done on hand and I got awesome lessons (free) from my lovely aunt, my cousin and the friendly employees in her beauty parlor. Unfortunately for them, this meant that I would be there 9 in the evening waiting to do my hands with my cousin while they were struggling to finish their work for makeup and henna the night before Eid celebration! _{(Just because I knew how to do henna doesn't mean I would ruin my own hand with my work even if it was great would I? )} This also resulted in me staring at them doing henna on other girls hands and criticizing their design and whether the lines were thin or thick, or whether the bride had one eye brow done higher or a weirdly done lipstick that makes one side twitch up They all were caring and went through all of these. Also as a side note, doing henna on one's own hand is a great test for one's patience and stillness (try keeping your arm straight without moving for 30 minutes and then 2 or three hours without moving the wrists while it dries). All these influence from this adorable family members and people meant I was able to do wax works, making wax flowers and figurines as decoration pieces for selling in my school fairs, (did you know touching raw molten was/candle on your hand while you are molding it and it burns you is a weird sensation? o_O ) as well as do designs for set decorations! It was one of those blissful times when me and my cousin used to make like 20 posters with Happy New Year and Eid Mubarak for decorating each floors in the building and an extra one for my maternal grandmother's house!

Was there anything or anyone in particular that prompted your choice of art form?

I jump from one form of art to another depending on my mood o_O I am still a complete noob and doing art is sort of a secret hobby of mine. Staring at a microscope for three hours counting flies can be tiresome and drawing some Koi fishes in a paper towel can do wonders to one's mood! My childhood experience was sort of a nudge to draw or do henna but it didn't define my preference of choosing one medium over the other. Currently I do both traditional and digital, with the latter getting more priority, however I do wish I could learn move about oil painting and water colouring as well as rough sketching.

Who or what motivates you to continue creating?

Again, it also depends on my mood. Music influences quite a lot as well as books I read. I have one wish which is to draw and/or paint my nightmares and I hope I am on that level of skill to do that one day! But now that I am in dA, it is quite a microcosm of inspiration flowing from the different mediums, as well as the nudge I get from my friends and deviants who have helped me a lot in improving as well as my cousin who helped me first to get started with Photoshop!

Of your own work, which has the most meaning to you and why?

Each were done in different stages of time and emotion which I was in and only selecting one because one work was done with a lot of time and dedication would mean deciding which piece of heart I would like to nom on first! .__. But I am grateful of the tiny fishes I used to draw as a kid

Do you have any personal goals in relation to deviantART?

I think I do. I don't want to be a senior and be seen with a tick I have some colourful bug memories and having a tick would be like I am getting old and full of tickss. I mean my mom looks younger than me I did twice want to be a Gallery Moderator/GM for a certain gallery but realized I am not a good enough candidate for the job to take care of a community and a gallery which also includes a tiny part of the fact that getting more than one note makes me scared. That doesn't mean I am late with the notes, as I almost see them instantly even if they "look" unread to the sender I have 12,000+ messages to take care of... Also thanks to a certain friendly and awesome purple blob called PurpelBlur I was introduced to the world of suggesting Daily Deviations! Yes I don't suggest a lot like the awesome deviants I see around me do, but that doesn't mean I don't have a bad day when I lost 10 of my suggestions due to computer trouble that I was going to send to the GMs. I take creepily long amount of time to check whether I should suggest a deviant's work before suggesting the work to a GM.  There are other ways to feature a great deviation and/or an artist. This means I will whisper in the winds so that every one can see it and one day or another it gets a DD or enough faves worth a DD! I will in the meantime continue to suggest DDs I love collecting deviations for various reasons and love featuring them  

Are you working on any projects or wish to promote some projects?

As of right now my brain is completely fuddled with exam things and listening to my mom listen Lady Gaga songs But I would recommend deviants to watch _{(<=this is my log in page o_O )}:icondevbug::iconpremiummembers:, and that will keep you all up to date with the current going on and projects and contests, changes in staff/volunteer information, gallery information etc. I also am doing a news article with features called "The F Works" where apart from some dA related news, I favourite deviations/works of mine with reasons behind them (the latest edition took one 12 hour sitting and another 6 hour for finishing it) If you see the communityrelations group like I have mentioned above, it will also help you know about recent gallery changes and information about galleries from the different GMs (projecteducate also does this quite fascinatingly) as well as awesome CR contests! Oh and when I get donations from awesome deviants in dA, I like holding sudden small trivia and contests in the #communityrelations chatroom or else where.

Which movies did you enjoy most?

I love movies Animated or otherwise Some of my favourites include from my own country: Aguner Poroshmoni, Monpura and Dipu Number 2 and others such as The Jurassic Park Trilogy, Harry Potter series, Disney/Pixar movies, Despicable Me, Pan's Labyrinth, LOTR trilogy, Sister Act 1 & 2 and the list goes on and on I would also like to mention here I love animated or otherwise series like Class of the Titans, the old cartoons, Mind Your Language, and and a lot more o_O

What type of music do you listen to? (Specific groups/artists?)

I wasn't a music person from kid and was never up to date with who the latest bands were or popular songs were (Ironic I was a moderator for 3 music forums >_> ). But even since my memory goes back, I remember listening to ABBA, Kenny G, Demis Roussos. I am not too familiar with who plays what songs most of the time, but I can recognize a song when I listen to it. From classical music to classical instrumental to any soundtracks to any type of music, I listen to all of them as long as I like them. So, I am not too inclined with a certain group or artist or genre, as sometimes I like only one song from all the ones from an artist while I like the flute rendition of another. And I get unfocused when I am on the bus listening to music and letting my mind go where ever it wants to take me. Which occasionally results missing bus or train stops
Seeing in my iTunes library, there is 3959 songs that I can listen 11.5 days straight doesn't mean all of these songs are mine. They are my dad's collection. As of right now, I think I listen to English, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Panjabi, Eastern languages (like Mandarin, Japanese), Spanish with one or two Russian songs. You don't have to know all the languages to love the rhythm, the music or the voice

Which books could you just not put down?

I would just like to add that when I came to Canada, a part of my heart was ripped out of me, because I had to give away all my books

What foods can you just never seem to resist? Drinks?

Oh well let's say you wouldn't want me to say I didn't like one of your food I easily guessed when in my sister's friends birthday, the girl's mom put forth Chicken Tandoori that she didn't cook herself And talking about my favourite food would mean writing novel with no beginning nor an end, just like a circle or a phoenix And I can only eat halal food (no pork or its derivatives) or alcoholic drinks. Water and orange juice works fine for me almost always I like desserts a lot, but I also like spicy food. And I mean South Asian style spicy that would make you not leave the bathroom
And I like to cook also! And just for the record, my mom and sister loved my cooking today. They were at school and couldn't cook lunch today, so I came home after exam and cooked lunch

Something random about yourself you wish to share?

I learned swimming in one day, i.e in two/three hours. It was swimming the width of the swimming pool, which was 70 feet in width. Oh and in the shallowest part of the pool, I could easily drown two times back then. I wasn't tall that time >_> The next day was the  length of the pool (120 feet). The pool was in a building to itself being on the second floor with the first floor for changing room and machines. It was part of a community center that my dad's brother was a member of but we used the facilities as perks We also had an awesome big pond in front of our house back in my country. The scariest part was, my dad was standing in the middle section of the width of the pool, and told me to swim to him and I would be done on the half way of the width. But as I swam towards him, I couldn't reach him and he would seem farther away (like those surreal dreams). And as I kept moving forward to get to him, he seemed to not come near me And then suddenly I was at the other end of the pool He walked backwards slowly while I was freaking out why wasn't I reaching him Yes, I am scared of jumping on water as well as looking underwater. I was supposed to one day jump through those floating circular buoys but I was freaked out. Lo behold, my dad pushed me from behind and one leg and hand was above the water over the buoys while me and the rest of the body was tangled underwater on the swimming pool >_> I will never forget that humiliation. This type of things happen a lot to me    

Also, for some reason, I like writing narrative poetry

What tips can you offer to better oneself in his or her art?

From a noob, just keep on doing what you like regardless of whether someone likes it or not, but do make sure to learn the basic techniques even if you are into works that defy them. As this would help you focus more and how you can perfect breaking a certain rule. Also "just keep swimming, swimming!" - Dory, Finding Nemo.

What does Art mean to you?

I haven't found the definition yet and I am not too eager to take it out from mist and set it in stone!

Is there anything else you wish to say?

Thank you Blurple for interviewing me! It was quite unexpected for me! Also I am sorry for making you wait for this .__.

And to all of you whom I consider my friends, I am really glad to have met you in dA and am grateful for being able to call you a friend or someone I can look up to. If you think I have done something wrong with you, I am really sorry and I really didn't want to make you feel that way. Sometimes it might make you feel that I am ultra quiet or I am not talking to you as you wanted me to but it's never your fault. You can cut the thread, but I will still keep my part of the thread should you ever wish to tie it again! Thank you for being there with me when I needed it (even if you weren't aware of it) and for helping me improve my work along the way, and for some truly memorable experiences!

Thank you all of you!

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