We caught up with the brilliant and insightful ZACH MURRAY a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi ZACH, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

It was a happy accident, born from failure.

I started out (circa. 2017) opening an online sweatshirt shop selling science fiction themed garments. At this point I had ideas but not the capability to design the graphics that went onto them. I used to hire illustrators to bring to life my really poor sketches, using crowdsourcing sites to list jobs.

About a year after launching the business, and not many sales later, I found that I enjoyed creating the artwork more than the fashion side to my business, I was a lot better at it too,

I found that there were many free Youtube tutorials on using Photoshop, and also saw what was possible in a digital discipline called ‘photo manipulation’. It was interesting, and excited me because there was a whole world of creation to discover. It was free too:

– Using creative commons stock photo sites, I learned that you can create science fantasy scenes just from photos online, such as landscapes, people and various random objects. The issue was that my artwork looked a lot like the result of the tutorials I was watching, so I had to find my own aesthetic.

I did all this over and above my day job as a supply chain manager. But it was manageable as self learning could be done in the evenings and on weekends, at your own pace.

Eventually I lost interest in sweaters and became fully obsessed with creating these fictional scenes.

I had to really explore the vast variety of tools available to me on photoshop to discover workflows that enabled me to create a look that was unique to me. The trial and error resulted in 100s of pieces, exponential learning and the introduction to exhibitions local to me.

The learning process is similar to anything else in life, and any other analogue or traditional discipline. People misunderstand digitized art to have a few buttons that do all the work. This is far from the truth (***try it yourself!***). You need to spend the time learning the techniques.

A few years into my 2D experience, I entered the 3D realm.

Using 3D modelling software, I am able to create anything I want to compose on a digital canvas.

A mountain? Build it.

A person? Create them.

Architecture? Model it.

Starting from square one (or cube one, as we are in the 3d space now!), just like with Photoshop, I spent evenings and weekends practicing, and really getting my head around working in a 3d space. All by using free Youtube tutorials.

A few years go by and I am able to mix 3D elements with 2D photo assets to create science fantasy scenes and portraits that are powerful, strange, surreal and vibrant.

Today I’ve entered the physical space, learning from trial and error, and fewer tutorials, how to modify deep pictures frames and customize various materials such as canvas and silk to construct 3D framed 1 off pieces which include my digitally created artwork.

All from the Internet University.

The only thing I’d do differently is start this journey sooner. All the rest of this experience is necessary.

ZACH, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a science fantasy inspired digital artist who creates artwork for the wall.

This means using a computer and software to design science fantasy scenery and print the artwork on to a medium such as paper.

This DOESN’T mean using artificial intelligence – all my pieces are ‘designed by hand’ using design software a keyboard, mouse and pen pad.

Today I create ‘3d framed’ pieces and the odd single medium art print.

The typical 3D framed piece includes layers of artwork housed in a box frame. To achieve this I have to print my own designs onto various mediums (paper, to canvas to silk for example) and house it in a frame which I have to modify to fit. Because of this, all these 3d pieces are 1 of 1.

I also use laser cutting technology to make 3d collages from thicker medium such as wood or PVC.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I joined the space in 2019

My experience of it was positive in the first year or so where I saw it as a place for digital artists to connect with each other, have a place where they were appreciated and also earn an honest living.

Then people saw there was money to be made and around 2020 an influx of people and businesses saturated the scene and market.

The focus from people and the media was on the amount of money people were making, the scams and the like.

The next few years were about a mixture of hype, opportunism and finding new ways to make money. I couldn’t really see the focus on the art side of things as the money that was being made was brighter and louder.

Nonetheless, there were (and are today) still some interesting and pleasant events to attend and people to connect with.

I feel that there will always a need to ‘feel’, see or touch something you own. I don’t get the same excitement of owning something digitally to owning something physically, so I always offer a physical version of an NFT to those who want it.

Despite all this, I’m interested to see what NFT technology will be used for in the future and what it will look like. I’m glad I was involved and can talk about it in the future.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I graduated in 2016 with an international business degree and went onto a supply chain graduate scheme.

I did this for about half a decade whilst ‘secretly’ yearning for something creative and self-managed.

Selling art prints from my home took up my evenings and weekends and I exponentially became more interested in this (even though it made less money than my job) and less interested in my day job.

The urge or at time frustration became so strong that I felt like I needed to make a decision soon as I was sure I would eventually have no time or energy to pursue this – it was like the chance to try this out ‘properly’ was slipping away.

So I decided to quit my job and create full time in 2021.

Early 2023 presented a random art-related job opportunity I decided to take so I now still create along side the job which is quite fitting as I’m always around and involved in the arts!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cosmozach.art
• Instagram: 1cosmozach
• Facebook: cosmozach1
• Twitter: cosmozach1