Dude she's a girl...

Here is the fourth installment in the
rapidly increasing 5 QUESTION
Q&A. This time I'll be interviewing
COVER ARTIST CAT STAGG who
will be producing the cover art for
YOU'LL NEVER BE A PUBLISHED
HARDBOILED WRITER!! TM.......

1) So is Cat your actual given name
or is it short for something else?

It's short for something else....my
high school art teacher started it
and it has stuck.

2) So how is it you ended up
becoming an airbrush artist?

It was between my last two
semesters in college.......that
summer I went to work at a
theme park. I was to paint
temporary tattoos on the
many folks that passed by.
A classmate of mine was the
t-shirt artist. He took me
under his wing, and showed
me how to paint with an
airbrush.......I have never put
it down....sometimes it gets in
the way, but ...I have never
put it down.

3) Who have been your greatest
influences? Who have you met?
and who are you dying to meet?

I have met one of my most
recent influences, Alex Ross.
He was very pleasent and
encouraging (you are going to
spell check me right? and
you better cut this out). I have
corresponded with Drew
Struzan a few times. He was
probably my biggest influence.
Then there is Frazzetta. I also
follow Dave Dorman, the
classics like Michealgelo, and
Carravagio. I find influence in
different places not just art.
There are movies, music, and
people, but art wise it is all
about the painters with me. I
would love to sit and talk shop
with Struzan ....he is really my
biggest influence.

4) What is your most
embarassing art related story?

hhmmmm....it is not really
embarassing for me as it is for
the person who asks the question.
I am often mistaken for a guy,
because of the airbrush work.
"Where is the guy who does the
airbrushing?" is usually how it
starts. When I use to work in a
record store, they (customers)
would ask one of the clerks,
"Can I talk to the guy who does
the airbrush work?" Then I
would come out of the back
room, and the looks on their
faces were priceless...the
clerks got a kick out of it.
They looked forward to it.
Guess I am good for a laugh
afterall.

5) Finally, If you had a shot
at one dream cover assignment,
besides YOU'LL NEVER BE A
PUBLISHED HARDBOILED
WRITER!! TM what would it
be? and why?

Star Wars, I would have loved
to have worked on the movie
adaptations, but that is gone
now, So I will gladly wait for
any new tv series, or any other
Star Wars comics. Batman, I
absolutely love paintng Batman
......movie adaptation is still
available right? LOL.

Thanks Cat!! For those of you
who may have been concerned,
Cat did put down the airbrush
for the duration of the interview.
If you'd like to see some more
of Cat's art feel free to check out
her website:
http://www.airbrushcat.com/