I had the great pleasure to interview Italian surrealist artist Luca Rossi (*LucaRossiMartini). He tells about his passion for art, the fun of collaborative work and gives some tipps for people who like to draw.

Tanja: Luca, would you please tell something about yourself and your interests?
Luca: Hello Tanja, I am happy and very grateful to you for being here for this interview. Well,  my name is Luca, I am 40 years old and I'm a self-taught artist trapped in a body of a clerk. I have many passions: art in all its forms, and music, literature, cinema and everything appears to my senses fascinating or bizarre. I also love playing the drums, but my neighbors are happier if I draw...

We know each other from deviantArt. In which other art-related communities are you active and do you use them for different purposes?
Besides deviantArt, I am active on Shadowness. These sites are useful to promote my work, but most are a source of inspiration and they bring me in touch with many great artists, from who I'm learning a lot. I like to exchange opinions and viewpoints with them and maybe "snatch" some secrets of their technique.

Which kind of art do you like, which not, and why?
II love everything that speaks to me, any kind of art that has something to say. Today I am very attentive to drawing and painting, strictly surreal.

Since when do you create art and can you remember how and why you started it?
I started drawing before speaking! As a child I drew futuristic cities and landscapes of distant worlds...
I was fascinated by the illustrations of NASA of the 70th, those related to space colonies, and also I loved the first Japanese cartoons that landed in Italy, especially the first mecha from Go Nagai. But the most vivid passion and the introduction to the surrealism I owe to Karel Thole, a Dutch illustrator who has worked a lot in Italy. His fanta-surreal covers are, in my opinion, insuperable!!!


Do you remember your very first drawing and do you still have it?
I do not remember, but quite possibly a city of the distant future, in the first 70th. I only have a few sketches of those years... what a shame!

What are your favourite materials and why?
In this regard I am very conservative: pencils, oil, ink, acrylic. Each of these media has its own charm. I like to develop and test new ways of using these media, sometimes with disastrous results! But all is experience.
Today I am very focused on the use of graphite. I had always relegated pencils to a secondary role in the creative process, terrible mistake! Everything starts from them!

I especially like your surrealist drawings. They all seem to tell their own story. When you start a drawing, do you already have a detailed idea of the result or do you just start and see where it ends?
I work both ways: sometimes with no idea of what I do and this happens for most of the drawings. In paintings, on the contrary, I am planning the entire sequence of the work creation, starting from a very specific idea displayed in my mind, usually inspired by current events or personal experiences or, often, by the dreams of my wife and myself.

You do a lot of collaborative work, which means you draw one part of the artwork and someone else draws the rest. Why and how did you start this?
Doing collaborations is very funny, instructive and allows you to get in touch with other artists who share this passion. Oh...is addictive!
I have begun collaborations and Exquisite Corpse thanks to Immy (*Immy-is-Thinking) in 2011, and since then I have not stopped. I was fascinated by this way of doing and sharing art and all the many artists from around the world who participated in this game, an army of incredible talents! I thought it would be nice to try...

How does this usually work?
I usually contact a partner and make agreements on technique and format of the work we do together, the rest is pure imagination! For the Exquisite Corpse there is a rule to follow, they are hidden collaborations: in practice, you draw on one half of the paper covers the drawing except for a small strip visible and sends it to your partner, he will finish the remaining half not knowing what is hidden.

Does someone who wants to collaborate with you have to have certain skills or a certain style?
  naaa... I'm just an amateur who wants to learn! About the style I like to work on something unusual and extravagant, surreal!

As you just explained: you draw one half of the paper, hide it except for a small stripe, and the other one draws the second half. Did you ever try other forms, for example spare round parts? If so: how did it work out? If not: do you think this would work? Why/why not?
I never tried other forms of work on the Exquisite Corpse apart from those "classical",  but you can work in any way you described, what matters is that your part of the drawing is hidden except for a small portion visible.
The result is always surprising!

Which tips do you have for artist who also want to do collaborative work with someone?
Just ask to collaborate, and engage strongly in what you will make.  I try to always give the best of myself, I would be infinitely sorry to disappoint anyone who asks to work with me.

Which tips do you have for people who want to start drawing in general?
Practicing every day, try many different techniques and materials, after not too much time everyone will find its way and the medium more congenial to achieve his own style.
I'm still working on this, and it's really fun.

Related to your art: what are you the most proud of?
The one I will make in my deathbed, hopefully when I have one hundred years.

Related to your art: What are your goals for the future?
Drawing and painting until the age of one hundred years!