Southern Soul Daily

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 bor...

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. 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 start...

By: Courtney Glover McElwee 5-22-2018 Today I interviewed the artist Tj. She’s known as TheFaeryKing on DeviantArt. Tj is a teenage artist from Memphis, Tennessee who has been drawing since she was a small child. When she was about 9 or 10 years old she noticed an improvement in her style and technique. Her style of art is cartoons and comics. “Most of my art seems to be focused on things that seem bright and colorful without context, though there’s odd undertones,” Tj remarked. Since 2013 she ‘s been actively trying to improve her technique. I asked her about the first piece of art she ever did, “My first proper ‘refined’ piece was an eye on fire floating through space. It wasn’t very good, but I still have it and it makes me happy to see how much I’ve improved.” When asked what inspired her to start creating art, she replied “A lot of things. Originally, I just wanted to draw since a lot of other kids were doing it, too. I used to write before, but I got too depressed...