|
|
| Copyright J. Corsentino |
Imagine a time, long ago, when creatures of the Nether walked the earth as you and I do now. These
beings, silenced for thousands of years by a war with the human race, are now seeking to tell their stories. No
longer to be kept in shadow, the three fragmented races of faerie, now hunt for the power they lost and seek to make their
presence known. Good, bad, indifferent, these faeries are not your cute little pixies from children’s
fairytales. Oh no…this is a new breed that artist/photographer Joseph Corsentino presents to us,
with a history as complex as our own.
The models he uses for his compositions carry the spark of the Fae. He finds
them, or so he believes, but perhaps they are the ones who seek him because they know he will
capture the flicker of faerie mischief in their eyes, and the extraordinary beauty only those of Fae can carry. The fierceness... the courage... the determination of these races is put before us and we
must make a choice. Will we believe there are fairies...angels... demons... and vampires in the world? Review
the evidence, before you decide.
Take a look at J. Corsentino’s work. With
every image, and every turn of the page...he dares you… he dares us all… to believe.
Join
us, as Joseph Corsentino, along with his wife, stylist/marketer Donny Ha Corsentino, answer a few questions for us and give
us an insight into Time of the Faeries.
Tell us a little about time of the faeries and how the idea came about.
Time of the Faeries is best described
as an epic re-imagining of the faerie mythology. Currently, it is in the form of a book, published by Imaginosis
in 2007, and lots and lots of beautiful artwork. As of right now, we are working on book 2 and some pretty
interesting projects that will take Time of the Faeries into new and exciting forms.
Time of the Faeries started as a fun photoshoot between friends in New York. Over
the years, it developed into a full blown 10,000 years story line and more. You never know what happens
when you shoot a faerie!
|
|
How do you create your compositions?
What a complicated question! The simple answer is that we find
a girl with a fae spark, we invite her to come do a photoshoot with us, dress her up, do the photoshoot, and then it’s
time for the real work where Joseph sits at a computer for hours and days and work his magick on the photos using Photoshop
as his artistic tool. It is, admittedly, an intense process.
|
| Copyright J.Corsentino |
Are you formally educated in art, or are you self taught?
Joseph took a photography class
in high school, mainly to graduate! After that, he retired his camera and didn’t touch it again for
years. Somewhere along the way, he met inspiring friends and started photographing them, as a way to capture
the moment. The more he photographs his friends, the better he got until one day, he turned professional
and made it a full time career. His only advice to aspiring artists is to keep at it. Formal
education or otherwise, the only way you can get good at your craft is to do it every day.
How would you say your artwork has evolved through the years?
“From bubblegum to complex
stories, from lightweight to depth.” When he first started, Joseph created beautiful artwork, but it didn’t have
the depth and intention that it does now. There is more satisfaction and less accidental beauty.
What remains consistent is his use of photography and Photoshop, combining both into one fluid piece.
|
| Copyright J. Corsentino |
Do you find your characters springing to life on their own now that you've
created such an incredible world for them?
We
find that the world comes to life once we find the right characters. J
To us, the character is always the most important element in the story so we spend much of our time developing the characters.
Once developed, we let the characters lose and just play!
Do you find your characters springing to life on their own now that you've
created such an incredible world for them?
We find that the world comes to life once we find the right characters. J
To us, the character is always the most important element in the story so we spend much of our time developing the characters.
Once developed, we let the characters lose and just play!
|
| Copyright J. Corsentino |
How much time do you find yourself dedicating to the marketing of your
work?
There
are two of us, Joseph Corsentino, the mysterious, hard-working talented artist, and Donny Ha Corsentino, the in-your-face,
chatty marketer/stylist. We are the dynamic duo that makes up Time of the Faeries.
Joseph devotes all his time to creating art, and I devote most of my time to marketing, making connection, and developing
the fan base. We often wonder how other artists do “it”, create art AND market by themselves.
Who are your coconspirators who make the magic happen?
Besides the two of us, we work with many talented and wonderful models, actresses,
singers, dancers, make-up artists, and designers. Over the years, we’ve developed a core group of
people who we can call on at a moment’s notice. If you come to Faerieworlds Festival this year, you
will get to meet Elizabeth Maxwell, one of our best friends and excellent models. She plays the main character
in the Time of the Faeries universe, Emily.
|
| Copyright J. Corsentino |
Who are your favorite artists and authors?
We have
many favorite artists and authors, a few of whom are Luis Royo, Brian Froud, Brom, Terry Pratchett, J. Michael Stracynski,
Joss Whedon and Neil Gaiman.
It's an extraordinary and complex magical world you've created.
What's next for Time of the Faeries and J. Corsentino?
Next, we are going to shut down all photographic production for the next year and
focus exclusively on writing and producing book 2 in the Time of the Faeries universe. We hope
to make it the most amazing urban fantasy graphic novel we possibly can. Then, who knows…
|
| Copyright J. Corsentino |
How did the dynamic duo decide to collaborate on Time of the
Faeries? Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
The
dynamic duo! LOL
Joseph and Donny met one evening in a bar and over conversations about Aliens
and Predators fell in love...years before the Aliens vs. Predators movie came out! After a short courtship, Joseph packed
his car with all his belongings and took a roadtrip out west to live with his future wife, Donny. Once in Los Angeles,
Joseph was free to explore his creative side and pretty quickly, Time of the Faeries came into being, with Joseph
as the artist and creator and Donny doing the styling and marketing behind the scenes.
|
| Copyright J. Corsentino |
And our last question to you; Do you believe in faeries?
LOL We do believe in faeries!
We believe in the faeries of today, the modern, urban faeries, the people we meet at important juncture in our lives
that sets us on a new path, the conversations at 3 a.m. that starts us reflecting, the serene girl out of the corner of our
eyes with that something special about her…Yes, yes we do believe in faeries. Come play in our universe
and you will too!
|
| Copyright J. Corsentino |
|
