Interview With The Artist: Chase Baumann
By: Courtney Glover McElwee 5-19-2018
I recently had the opportunity to interview a good friend of mine, Chase (C.D.) Baumann. He’s a traditional artist and regular on DeviantArt. Chase is thirty years old and currently lives in Sioux City, Iowa with his family. His prefered subjects of art are kemonomimis and anthropomorphic, along with model aircrafts and tanks. He’s been drawing his entire life and first started out with drawing aircrafts. “I made an attempt to draw a Valkyrie warrior when I was a sophomore in high school. I remember it being decent, but it was probably really crude and simplistic.”
He first started drawing people in 2008, but didn’t start doing traditional art full time until 2012. Those four years were pretty busy with him working part-time and going to college full time. When asked what the first thing he ever drew was, he responded “I have no idea, It was probably an airplane when I was three. I do recall trying to draw a Hawker Typhoon back in kindergarten.”
I asked Chase what inspired him to start drawing, “It was Soul Calibur IV character concept art and the Bleach mangas, but it was the Spice and Wolf manga’s that really influenced me in the beginning. I doubt you can see the influence though. My early drawings are so crude and now everything is changed so much that you just can’t see it.”
Chase joined DeviantArt in late 2012, where an artist known as Deadkittens3 really inspired him. “I recall trying to imitate her style, but only managed to tear my hair out because it just couldn’t be done. I just wasn’t there yet. I later learned it’s better to find your own way of doing things. But yeah, I kinda blame Deadkittens3 for getting me into pinups. One of the best days I had on dA was when she favorited not one, but two of my drawings.” Late in 2014, early 2015, he was further inspired by classic pinup artists such as Alberto Vargas and Edward Runci. You can really see their influence with his drawing below.
Recently however, he’s found some stranger sources of inspiration. One was a man named Robert S. Johnson with his biography, Thunderbolt. Johnson was the second highest scoring American fighter pilot in Europe during WWII. Chase said, “Basically Johnson says that a person needs to rely on what his own learned skills are and not let others intimidate them no matter how big and spooky they look because that may be all it is, looks.” Johnson’s book helped boost Chase’s confidence in art. Before, he was intimidated by other artists who seemed to be more popular or better than him.
The other source was stranger still, especially when one considers what Chase draws. He had read the book “Surprised by Hope” by author NT Wright. The book re-examines basically what Christians believe and how it’s been misinterpreted over the centuries. Wright spoke about how Christians bring about God’s Kingdom on Earth and to that end each Christian is given a vocation. Whether that vocation is music, teaching, writing, or art. It freaked Chase out for a bit once again because of the type of art he drew. Wright explained that, like doubting Thomas, Christ will meet you halfway and work with you from there. Chase felt that since reading Wright’s book, drawing had become a lot more fun and more fulfilling. He also felt that it had become easier to think of ideas to draw.
I’ve been a long time fan of Chase’s art and have noticed an improvement in his style over the years. Chase’s favorite subject to draw is women. I asked why and he replied, “Trying to capture the subtle-ness of a woman’s body is challenging but immensely rewarding.” His favorite means of creating art is the drafting pencil and pastel pencils. Personally, he always manages to satisfy my craving for good art. I also believe he is one of the most neglected and underrated artists around, especially on DeviantArt.
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