Southern Soul Daily

By: Courtney Glover McElwee  Today I interviewed the artist Connie. Connie is a 13 year old artist known as Cursed-Image-420 on DeviantArt . She’s been drawing since she was 10 years old and eventually moved on to digital art. The first thing she ever drew were stickmen and her technique has improved over the last three years. I asked her what inspired her to start drawing, “Just needed something to do with my free time, but eventually it became sort of an escape for me in general.” Her favorite thing to draw i s Anthro. Anthro, refers to the G reek word anthropos meaning human. Anthro art refers to humans, human-like, or humanoids, especially with regard to sentience. Anthro art can be an animal with human characteristics or a human with animal characteristics. She uses a Wacom Intuos Draw to create her anthro art. Connie has been on DeviantArt for only four months and if you visit her page you can’t help but notice her unique sense of humor. “I've alwa

By: Courtney Glover McElwee Today I interviewed the artist, Liz W. Izzy4Anime, as she is known on Deviant Art, is a 37 year old traditional and digital artist from Missouri . She grew up listening to classical music. Classical music is what inspired her to become an artist, “I was inspired by what I heard in the music itself.” The first thing she ever drew, ” It was of two hills coming together at the horizon with a river in  between them. The drawing also had a sunset with a few birds.” Liz has been drawing ever since she could hold a pencil. Her favorite type of art to create, “Anything environmental and fantasy design.” Liz loves to read and write, mostly poetry, fan fiction, and fantasy. Her tools of the trade include a graphite pencil, acrylic paints, and oil paints. Liz excels at her anime art and I really enjoyed her Yu-Gi-Oh artwork. Go check out Liz W. and her wonderful art @ https://izzy4anime.deviantart.com/ gallery

By: Courtney Glover McElwee 5-29-2018 Today I interviewed the artist, Lulu. Lulu is a 16 year old artist from Maryland and known as Pilulu on DeviantArt. Lulu is a cartoonist and has been drawing for 9 years now. The first thing she ever created, “It’s hard to say. Probably a crappy picture of me.” Personally, I find that difficult to believe seeing how wonderful her art is. I asked what inspired her to start drawing, “Watching anime. Dragon Ball Z was a huge influence since it was the first anime I ever watched.” Her favorite type of art is anything bright, colorful and cartoony. She also enjoys creepy, cute art. Her tools of the trade are markers. Lulu has been involved in several art shows and won a silver award for one. Lulu has been on DeviantArt for two years now and has over 450 pieces of art. You can’t help but smile as you browse her gallery. Lulu may be young, but she has a bright and colorful future ahead of her. Go check out Lulu’s colo

Rabbits are one of the best house pets a person can have. They’re easily litter boxed trained and get along well with other pets. Yes, they do shed but no worse than cats or dogs. I have been raising rabbits for several years now and firmly believe that they make wonderful house pets. When choosing a pet rabbit, it’s important to remember several things. One; make sure you choose a rabbit while it’s still young, about 6-8 weeks old. That way it can grow up with your family and have a chance to bond with them. Two; rabbits are very social animals and prefer to not be alone. That is why it is recommended to make sure you’ll be home often enough to spend time with it and care for it. Rabbits require lots of water and attention, and being neglected in any way can cause them to act out. Three; young children and rabbits do not normally mix well together. If you do have a pet rabbit in a home with small children, make sure they know how to properly hold and care for it. Be

By: Courtney Glover McElwee   Today I interviewed the artist, Taly. Taly is a 30 year old artist from parts unknown. Known as TrollGirl on DeviantArt, Taly is an amazingly and gifted young woman. I’ve been a fan of her work forever and she never disappoints with her beautifully creative and colorful artwork. She is so gifted as an artist, that many of her pieces have become tattoos, forever on the truest canvas of life, the human body. Let’s just say, I know who my next tattoo design will be from! Taly has been creating art for 27 years now. She may have only been three when she created her first masterpiece, but I have no doubt that this is her true calling. Taly has been a member of DeviantArt for 13 years now and her art never ceases to inspire and stir the imagination. She describes her style as fantasy and animal art, with the occasional touch of surrealism and horror. I asked her what inspired her to be an artist, she replied “The boredom that comes with being to

By: Courtney Glover McElwee Today I had the great pleasure of interviewing one of the best photographers around, Mike Benson. Mike is known as IMikeMedia on DeviantArt. Mike is a 57 year old artist from Oxford, Alabama and has been creating beautiful art on dA for six years now. Mike is a digital photographer and creates photographic manipulations. When asked what got him started in digital photography, he replied “ A couple of years ago I took a phone pic of a trout that I just caught. I've since then found an online program in which I can manipulate that same photograph in hundreds of ways and colors.” He first became interested in art in the first grade. His first piece was a drawing of a sea otter in the ocean. “I spent most of my childhood and teen years in drawing/sketching. That eventually evolved into 35 mm photography.” His favorite types of art to create is photographic manipulation and illustration. “I love to see creative, colorful photographic mani

The name “pit bull” is in all actuality a very generic term that is applied to several different breeds that include the American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier and hundreds of mixed breed canines of similar physical appearance. The term “pit bull” is often based on how a dog looks and not based on an actual breed. This more than often leads to misplaced blame on the actual pit bull breed. Despite most news reports, pit bulls are not (inherently) dangerous. Any dog, any breed, can become aggressive or violent due to abuse, lack of proper training, or simply a bad owner. Pit bulls, just like any dog, with proper training and respect can be a loving and kind pet, with very little to no (negative traits). According to the American Temperament Test Society , even dogs normally seen as kind and gentle like Chihuahuas have a lower rate of temperament than pit bulls. Pit Bull Terriers passed with a rate of 82.6% for high temperament. Just because a dog breed i

By: Courtney Glover McElwee 5-25-2018 Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Teresa. Teresa, also known as Unrealistic-Dreamer, is a digital artist from Los Angeles. She also goes by the pseudonym Alex and has been creating her wonderful art for three years now on DeviantArt. Teresa is a n American artist whose parents immigrated from China before she was born. She’s also bilingual, speaking both english and cantonese. Teresa originally lived in San Francisco until she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a higher education. Currently she’s a freshman at Southern California University. Teresa enrolled in SoCal University about a year ago when she decided to pursue digital art as a career. When asked about her art, she replied, “I usually do character designs to sell and occasionally fan art. I’m a self-taught digital artist, but I know how to use traditional mediums such as painting and ceramics. I also know how to sew; courtesy of my mother, who is a tailor. Two t

By: Courtney Glover McElwee    5-24-2018 Today I interviewed the artist Eleanor. Eleanor is a creator of “cute and creepy” art. She’s known by the name MsCreeptales on DeviantArt. She started out as a traditional artist who’s been creating for as long as she can remember. The very first thing she remembers drawing was an “OC” drawing, an original character. She’s always been the creative type and has been creating on DeviantArt for three months now. Now  she does digital art, stories, and poetry. Her unique and assorted creative gifts have collected her quite a few watchers, friends, and fans. Go check out Eleanor’s art @  https://mscreeptales.deviantart.com/gallery/

By: Courtney Glover McElwee 5-23-2018 Today I interviewed the artist named Kage also known as HonouNoKage on DeviantArt. Kage is in her early twenties and lives in a suburban area in Texas. She focuses on manga-styled illustration of the “flowery” sort. Flowery meaning big, expressive eyes, and flowing hair, etc. Her art also has a bit of “guro” influence. Guru is a term for genres that deal in more grotesque subject matter. When asked how long she’s been drawing she said, “Truthfully, I recall it as being something I always just sort of did. The dates in my sketchbooks go back about eleven years, so that’s about how long I’ve been more or less serious about it.” The first thing she remembers drawing, when she was a small child, was a purple butterfly with wings that curved around like swirls. She remembers it being a sort of mindless doodle, but it’s one of the few early memories she has. She was about 12 years old when she actively actually starting drawing an