We recently connected with Erin Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Erin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Among the most meaningful creative endeavors I have been a part of, are not necessarily the ones that are already tidily completed and in the past, but are the projects which I am currently on the journey towards fulfilling. It is often the projects we are in the midst of – in the present – which reflect the most compelling creative leaps, expansion and ambitions for an artist.

One project that is meaningful to me is one that I have been putting effort into for some years now, which combines both my visual art and musical abilities I have cultivated across time from a young age. My rock n’ roll band Spaceship Donuts has been offered a recording and development contract from a multiplatinum music producer with 18 Grammys. The producer has worked with notable artists such as U2, Phil Collins, The Cardigans, Pet Shop Boys, Dido, Sinead O’Connor and many others. My songwriting partner and I have been writing new material for several albums worth of original songs. It is a big opportunity!

Amidst this, I have been developing concept art, screenwriting and pitch decks for film and TV (both live-action and animated projects). It is ironic and also challenging in terms of visibility that these projects, being some of my very best work, have been entirely under wraps, therefore not yet revealed publicly in my portfolio.

I work towards manifesting the next steps and network connections to move the story forward on these most meaningful and in depth projects I am committed to.

Erin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a painter, muralist, fantasy artist, graphic designer, writer, music video director, video editor & postproducer, animator, script consultant, screenwriter and hard-rock keyboardist. I work in traditional and digital mediums.

As a seasoned postproducer and video editor, I offer video editing, animation and post production in a wide variety of formats, from television advertisements, sizzles, short films and conceptual music videos, video installations, plus documentary style editing services. In the role of video producer and director, I am also well versed in camera techniques, equipment and directing actors, models and musicians to develop productions in an organic and harmonious way, focused to best benefit the overall final project outcome. As a background actor for TV and film with experiene working most major studio lots in Los Angeles, a voice talent, and model, my experiences in front of the camera synchronistically inform my ability to direct and produce a host of creative media projects, from the ideation stages through final cut.

In the realms of illustration and fantasy, I provide compelling photorealistic and surrealist fantasy paintings, portraits and murals on virtually any surface (vehicles, etc), book illustrations and graphic novel pencils and inking. From acrylics to graphite, pen and ink, and digital graphics for all sorts of display formats, my skill sets and areas of expertise are broad, and based in a DIY work ethic of creating imaginative visual worlds from scratch. I am trained in concept art and pre-vis art for film and game characters, environments, as well as digital film.

Like many, I started drawing from a young age, and kept going, developing mutiple art styles maintained across mediums. Realizing very early on the infinitude of the blank page as the basis for creating entire creative universes, I am constantly inspired. I grew up adventuring in the green forests of New England and was exposed to fine literature, music, history, anthropology, science and art very early in life. In my teenage years, I penciled and inked independent graphic novels in traditional techniques, further honing and developing my pen & ink work and layout skills, had a local fantasy and eco-apparel line, and was hired for various designs of tattoos, and other works.

My art portfolio eventually landed an offer to attend the prestigious Ringling College of Art & Design, where I was awarded several scholarships and grants, enabling me to earn the first Bachelor’s Degree in my family, at the “ivy league of art colleges”. My four years at RCAD with its intensive and grueling course-work, was a crucible of cross-disciplinary creative explorations, which further emboldened my passion for the arts and professional ambitions as I expanded a creative executive mindset. I engaged in diverse electives, and would sit in on as many conferences and talks outside my major as possible.

Perenially championing fellow artists and a vocal supporter of the arts in many forms, as well as being a member of press-worthy indie bands in the South Florida independent music scene as a rock-keyboards improvisationalist and rhythm player on piano, organ, and synthesizers, I was fortunate to appear in various regional media, from weekly’s to newspapers to TV, radio and luxury magazines for my various contributions in music, animation, film and the arts.

After graduation, I created murals for charities, consciously designed with empowering and environmental themes, and spearheaded video production for clients like The Dali (Salvador Dali Museum), Sarasota schools, corporate and private parties, etc.

I also founded Art Case Pianos .com, and initiative to give new life to pianos for distinguished collectors, keeping a time-honored tradition of custom painting instruments alive. In 2023, I was interviewed by The Economic Times ( India Times ) as one among the top experts on art-case pianos globally. I look forward to painting more for piano enthusiasts coming up.

I soon headed to Los Angeles, upon the recommendation of talent agents, Emmy-winning industry veterans and top producers, who each independently expressed that potent original intellectual properties I had developed should be brought to the heart of the entertainment industry for proper subsequent development befitting the concepts.

While advancing these projects, I maintain time for qualified clients’ private and commercial commissions for:

• Video post production, editing and motion graphics
• Hand-painted Canvases for interiors
• Traditional and Digital Illustration
• Portrait commissions – Classical, Fantasy and Sci-Fi
• Vehicle Art
• Concept art for film, television, games, etc.
• Murals
• Art Case Pianos ( visit artcasepianos.com )
• Script-Reading Coverage
• Music Video Direction and Art Direction
• Graphic Novel and Cartooning
• Magazine Layouts and Production
• Book Illustration
• Book Cover Design

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist embues one with the ability to become a cultural creative, to create outside the restrictive boundaries of social norms, to lead by example and to ultimately heal society and the world, beyond societal conditioning and pretense.

The artists speaks to the unspoken across language barriers and can contribute to the broad collective or very granular dialogues in ways which other mediums are less suited to.

Regardless of an artist’s chosen medium at any given time, the artist can cultivate whatever they chose, responsibility and ownership of their work being their own. It is completely open. What you put into your art is clear to behold.

The term artist is a ‘loaded’ word, interpreted in numerous ways throughout time. Yet, the artist, no matter their style of output is capable of assembling base elements and forging something through intention, flow and skill, something which did not exist quite the same way before. Artists are therefore ambassadors of positive change, molders of the new, innovators of the future.

When placing pencil to blank paper, brush to canvas, choosing a font, color or in the moment the pen is dipped in the ink, within that space of time, sheer potentiality exists. It is up to each individual artist to hold the discipline to determine what will arise when the tool connects with the medium. And we can always change our mind and start over, refresh the page.

Within the maleability of the mediums lay the power to communicate to the world – but more importantly… the power of love and compassion. To understand this, reflect on the presence and essences of the great artworks in your environment.

All these and more are both the rewards and the work.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Authenticity and intensity are primary factors to success and knowledgability of who you are in a market. Honesty and integrity are a given. Being authentic to the mediums one selects to work in is essential – insofar as the pure genuineness shines through. Intensity relates to what we put into something – if you’re going for something specific – go all in – go full-on and don’t hold back in execution within the medium and defining your unique perspective towards and through the work. No matter how many hats one tries on in their creative work, no matter how many experiments are embarked upon in different output modes, one’s connection to and love of a given medium will shine through – whether attempted for the first time, or the hundredth. Don’t forget to put in the effort to improve and refine. Your audience will appreciate your knowledgability, even if a piece is a one-off experiment. Whether something has been done before, or done in a different way in the genre you work in – make what you do your own and take full ownership.

The more intensity you put into something – even if that intensity is in executing “softness” the more the audience will experience the essence of elements within your work. If you hold back, you’re holding back.

Not everything is for everyone, and that is fine. Between creators and collectors, a resonance or attraction to the art should build naturally and not be created through false pretense. Be genuine in the work, and also in the business aspects. It’s best to cut through the crap and be straightforward, without all the fluff.

Stand up for what you believe in and try different approaches. When you strike gold, it will be evident.

Part of the reputation I have built is based on my willingness to experiment. I am grateful for the process itself and the beautiful individuals who help make it all possible through their patronage.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artcasepianos.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moondragonstudios/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moondragonstudios/
• Twitter: https://x.com/ArtCasePianos
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoonDragon82
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/spaceshipdonuts
• Other: https://linktr.ee/moondragonstudios https://www.spaceshipdonuts.com