This interview was made by Cédric Benjamin Ricci in may 2004

Hello, could you present yourself and your work in a few words?

Hello. My name is Jarno Lahti, born in 1976. I live in Tampere, Finland. I am digital artist and I do mainly dark digital art, CD graphics and web design. I founded my art studio “Kaamos” in 1999 and since that I have done lots of artwork for various purposes. I could say that this thing started first as a hobby but has now grown quite big thing.

What was your first encounter with graphic arts?

Well, like most of artist I have also loved to do art all my life. When I was younger, I mainly draw comics and painted. In 1997 I started my studies with graphic design and there I first notice the possibilities that computers have and fell in love with digital art right away. Nowadays I don’t draw or paint much, about all my art is born from photos and are made with computers.

What are your mains sources of inspiration, artists or other?

I love all kind of art, but nowadays I enjoy most of digital art. I get lots of inspiration from other talented digital artists. Of course music is really essential for me, I always listen to music when I do art, it helps me to get into right mood. Making art is best way for me to relax, I enjoy so much just to sit in front of my computer, listen to music, let my mind wander and see what kind of image is born from that feeling. And feedback from other people is also great inspiration, it is always really nice to hear that some one loves what I have done. So I will take this opportunity to thank every one who have ever send me feedback. Thanks!

What advice would you give to a debuting graphic artist?

It will take time to learn. For me those long night time hours ware best way to learn. Even I have studied graphic design for years, I still would say that I am totally self-thought. Of course school gave me lots of possibilities to start this thing, but the studies itself wasn’t that useful. Night, no one around me, good music and time is all that I needed to get where I am today. So for all you who want to be an artist…it will take time and you need to practice a lot!

What are the main tools you’re using for your graphic art?

I use computers and photos. Photoshop is almost only software that I use.

Do you make use of said traditional techniques in your work?

Not that much. At the beginning of my career I used little bit of textures and pictures made by hand, but not much anymore, but I have been thinking that I would do in the future also by hand some stuff.

Do you listen to music? If yes, does a band or a music style influence your work?

Yes, like I said before music is really big part of the process when I do art. All my life I have loved heavy metal and rock and I guess that is one of the reasons why my art is quite dark. Not only metal music but also covers of metal albums have been really big influence for me. Iron Maiden albums covers made by Derek Riggs ware really important for me when I was just a child and still I love those ingenious paintings.

Thank you for answering to these questions. The last word is all yours!

Thank you for having me here. And all you readers, hope you like my work and remember visit my site to see more.