Martina Pilcerova: Rising Slovak Art Star

Martina Pilcerova at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (photo and all images courtesy Martina Pilcerova)

When you start winning awards for your art at six and make your first professional sales at 15, you’d think it would be easy to get into art school. Not so for Slovak artist Martina Pilcerova. She waited five years, re-applying five times to enter the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The Academy’s resistance to the science fiction and fantasy art Pilcerova loved slowed her down, but only a little. She worked while waiting to enter the Academy, she worked in the Academy. Today she ranks among the most decorated and recognized artists in the Czech and Slovak Republics, and is expanding her horizons to the United States. Crescent Blues caught up with Pilcerova on her way to Con Jose, the 60th World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose.

Crescent Blues: You mentioned that you received your art education at Bratislava. What was your course of study, fine arts?

Martina Pilcerova: Yes, but I had some problems, because I always did science fiction and fantasy art, and at other universities, the pictures don’t tend in those directions. They want more abstract art or illustration. So, it was very hard for me. I wasn’t accepted [into art college] for five years. I had to try every year, and on the fifth try, I was accepted at last.

I studied graphics. I studied with Professor Popovich in the experimental studio that was called “KRESBA.” It’s a really funny word, because “KR” is short for “creative.” “E” is “experimental.” “S” is studio, and “BA” is for “Bratislava.”

Ah, it’s an acronym.

Yes, it’s like “Creative Experimental Studio, Bratislava.” It was really fun, because I could try many more techniques. I could try casting bronze. I could do short movies. I could do drawings, graphics, paintings — anything.

Persevering that long through the application process required a tremendous amount of dedication. Why were you so intent on pursuing science fiction and fantasy art? Did you read it when you were younger?

I’m not sure why. I don’t know if I saw a movie when I was very young. But ever since I can remember, I was drawing spaceships and astronauts. Much later, I started reading fantasy and science fiction. I also saw the Star Wars movies. I always liked mathematics and physics and astronomy, and I think that had something to do with it.

“*…And Sometimes it Shines Through, Somehow…*” – Inspired by The Lord of the Rings (Acrylics and oils, © Martina Pilcerova)

Which do you prefer, science fiction or fantasy?

I like to read science fiction more, but sometimes I also read fantasy. But it doesn’t matter when I paint; I also like to paint fantasy.

I wondered, because the new material on your site seems focused on The Lord of the Rings.

Yes, because I saw the movie, and I was so inspired. I never read it before, actually.

But you read the book after seeing the movie?

Yes.

But from your art, it looks like you read Dune a long time ago.

Yes, I am a really big fan of Dune. I wanted to get onto the set of the new TV series that was made in Prague, but I guess I don’t know the right people. I thought I could do some conceptuals, because I had already worked on one movie before.

*Shai-Hulud* – Inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune (Oils on board, © Martina Pilcerova)

Your bio on the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists site mentioned that you did work for something called When the Music’s Over. Could you tell our readers a little bit about that?

The story for When the Music’s Over was written by a German writer named Myra Cakan. She was asked to do the script by Red Beat Pictures. It’s a German production company. She wanted to write the script with John Shirley, who did the script for The Crow. The producer contacted me to do eight script illustrations. Two of them were designs for aliens and the alien ship. Others were the conceptuals for the location. So I had to go to the locations in Berlin and Hamburg. I had to use a real building and put futuristic elements on it that change the world into something more apocalyptic. But the movie hasn’t been made yet. I hope it will be.

But you also did your own short movie. Was that in school?

That was in the studio. I tried to do the short movie, because I’m really into movies. I took a few lessons at the Film Academy in Bratislava. I took animation, storyboarding, scriptwriting and camera operation, because I would like to work for science fiction movies.

Is that one of the reasons you came to the U.S.?

I have a few meetings with some producers and some people in movies in Los Angeles. This will be after the Worldcon in September.

So you’ll be in the U.S. for a couple of months. Will you be doing any painting while you’re here?

I have to do one painting for the Czech publisher who publishes [the Czech language version of] the Lois McMasters Bujold stories. I always do the covers for the series. Also, I’ve been working on this new collectible card game for George R.R. Martin related to the book A Game of Thrones. I have already done ten cards, and now I have to do an additional ten.

What do you think of Bujold’s novels?

*Weightless 1* (Acrylics and oils, © Martina Pilcerova)

I really like them. They are relaxing and funny.

Do you read them in English or in Slovak.

I usually read them in Czech, because the publisher sends me the translations. But for the cards I’m working on, I’m reading A Game of Thrones in English.

I noticed in your illustration for Bujold’s The Warrior’s Apprentice, you dressed the characters in what almost looked like Renaissance costumes. What prompted your decision to evoke that period?

I was trying to come up with some new kind of costumes, and that was my feeling when I read the book. The Warrior’s Apprentice was first book by Bujold published in the Czech Republic, and I had the feeling that I should show something related to the aristocracy of the planet. Maybe, after reading more of her books, I would have done it differently.

Well, Barayarran politics do have a decidedly Machiavellian spin to them. Getting back to something you said earlier — you said you waited five years before you could enter the university at Bratislava. Were you working as an artist at that time or did you need to take another job?

I’ve been published since I was 15. So I also did some covers while I was studying. I was at the university for six years, and I wanted to go to science fiction conventions while I was there. So I had to work to be able to pay for the trips. And it is not good to stop when you are working in a profession, because they will forget you, and you will need to work harder to get back into the business.

What’s your favorite medium for painting?

I started to paint with oils a few years ago, but I changed to acrylics, because acrylics dry much more quickly. Acrylics allowed me to work better with color, because before, with oils, I used to blur them too much. Now I realize which color works for what, and I have a feeling I understand those pigments. So I came back to oils, because I feel much more comfortable with them.

So you were working with oils even before you went to the university?

Yes, but now I usually do about 40 percent of the painting in acrylics, and on top of that I work with oils. Because with acrylics I can get a really glossy surface that really shines through. Then, when I want to have something more matte or opaque, I work with oils. It gives me the feeling that I want.

Weightless 2 (Acrylics and oils, © Martina Pilcerova)

Do you feel stronger in your drawing skills or your coloring skills?

In my coloring skills.

What do you like particularly about working with color?

If I should compare it somehow, it’s like, when I work in pencil, in black and white, it’s like two dimensions. But when I put the color on it, it’s the third dimension. It’s like more space, more possibilities to express something, because colors tell much more about feelings.

You’ve done so many different kinds of things, even postcards. There are a couple on view at Paper Tiger, one called Kremnica. What’s the story behind the postcards?

They should have been postcards, but in the end they were not published as postcards. The one called Kremnica was done in the university. It was a trip to this place that the university owned. We lived in this old castle, and I was really inspired by the rooms. So I started to draw it from reality, using the room as a model, and I put these monks into the drawing. At that time I didn’t know, but some friends told me that in the past, monks lived in that place. But I didn’t know about it. They also told me it was a kind of haunted place.

Do you like haunted castles?

Yes, I do. But the funny thing about this drawing was, at the time I was working on it, I didn’t know about it. It was just coincidence

And now you’re doing the cards for George R.R. Martin’s Thrones series. Did you read the books before you started doing the cards?

I always try to read the story, because then I can get the right feeling from the story. There are always some details that tell me a lot, even if they’re not important.

When you were drawing the castles, did you use any Czech or Slovakian castles as references?

Yes. I usually take a lot of photos of everyplace that I visit. I used a lot of existing castles — and not even in Slovakia. They were from all over Europe. I tried to use very different places for every description.

*Dusk* (Acrylics on board, © Martina Pilcerova)

For every card in every land, you tried to have something different. That makes a lot of sense. What do you enjoy more: book covers or interior illustrations?

That’s a hard question. It’s the same for me. If I do a book cover, I have to be careful about the composition so that there is no problem with where they put the title. That’s the only difference, but I don’t feel any difference.

I notice on your Web site you’ve got a couple of bronze heads. Do you like working with bronze?

I did it only once, because I wanted to try how it feels to work with this material. I feel pretty comfortable with sculpting. It’s not something I want to press myself into, but I wanted to try it.

The heads were inspired by the cover art I made at that time. I think it was for Nancy Kress, her story, “The Flowers of Aulit Prison.” There was this character who looked half like a cat and half like a human. I did take photos of one girl who started in our school. She was really strange looking. I did more paintings and drawings about this character, and then I was inspired to do these bronze heads. In the end they were different than the character.

What is your particular favorite type of work to do — painting, sculpture, animation…?

My particular favorite is science fiction. I also like to do fantasy sometimes, but it depends. I like mostly science fiction and environmental things — these huge cities and structures in space where I can do rusting walls, complicated structures.

Intricate architecture.

Many textures — I love to do the textures on streets, walls or bridges. The painting Downtown Blues and the new one, Wasteland, are ones that I really like. Downtown Blues was the cover for a German book, but it was also chosen for Spectrum [the annual compendium of the best in contemporary fantasy art] last year.

Do you have any painting rituals, or do you just stand up and paint?

I’m really connected with music. When I do something, I always have to listen to some kind of music. I usually listen to soundtracks, and I choose two or three CDs for one painting, and I listen to them again and again while I’m painting. I especially enjoy the soundtracks to The Lord of the Rings or Matrix or Bladerunner or what else?

Fantasy or sci-fi!

*Mars* – Cover for *Luke Harrison, Begegnung in der High Sierra* by Myra Cakan (Acrylics on board, © Martina Pilcerova)

And I love to listen to Michael Oldfield’s music. If you go to my site, you can see the paintings that are inspired by Dune and others that are inspired by Michael Oldfield’s music. I did about five of them. One of them is called Secrets, which was used by Sci-fi Chronicles this spring, and one of them was also published in Michael Oldfield’s official magazine in London. It was inspired by Tubular Bells 3.

You said you sold your first art when you were 15. How long have you been working professionally?

Fifteen years — OK, fourteen and a half. I started with comics, and I was doing comics for five years, then I slowly started to make covers and illustrations.

Do you still do comics?

No.

How did you get your first break? Did you know somebody in the business or did you submit stuff? How did it happen?

Since I was a small child, I was always painting, always drawing. When I was six there was a competition, and I won the first award in Czechoslovakia. Later, I was doing some comics for myself, and I showed them to a few people. They told me to show it to the editor of the comics magazine that was just published in Slovakia. He really liked it, and he published it.

When I started to covers for books, it was very hard to begin with, because I was living in a small town. I was not at the university. I was far away from all the publishers and everybody. So it was very hard and took a lot of time.

It’s the same here in the United States. A lot of publishers are afraid to work with me, because I am far away. But it is not a problem, because I can be connected with them through the Internet, and we have U.P.S. or FedEx.

Speaking of the Internet, do you work exclusively in “physical media” or do you do any digital art?

I like to work in physical media, but when I scan it, I like to change some small things in the painting. Not really too much, but sometimes I’ll add some airbrush, or I’ll adjust colors in the way I like them — just small, finishing stuff.

Enhancements to make it print better.

Yes. I’ve also started to use more digital [tools] for sketches, when I have to rework something. I do much more stuff in the computer today.

You’ve got quite a list of awards. Is there one, in particular, that means the most to you?

I am really happy that I won those Czechoslovakian awards. They are called the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Academy Awards for the Best in the Czech and Slovak Republics. There is a committee that looks at all the books that were published and they give awards for the best artwork. I’ve won it three times now, and some artists really hate me, because they want to win it too.

*Kremnica* (Pencil on paper, © Martina Pilcerova)

I’d like to add that fandom is still together in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Fandom is not divided. We have conventions that are for both Slovaks and Czechs. We didn’t divide it like the states did.

How has the division of the republics affected you as an artist?

I think it didn’t have any effect, because it happened just when I was starting to break in. I think it would be the same, regardless. I work Czech publishers, because most of the books are published in Czech Republic.

Prague’s a bigger city than Bratislava.

Yes, and Slovak’s read Czech books, but Czechs don’t read Slovak books. The market in Slovakia is so small, the publishers just get back money for the printing. So they don’t really print a lot of science fiction books.

What would you say are the major differences between the Czech and Slovak science fiction/fantasy scenes and the U.S. science fiction/fantasy scene?

I don’t see that much difference in working with them…except that Czech’s don’t like to pay.

*Self-portrait* – Diploma work for the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (Acrylics, © Martina Pilcerova)

Nobody likes to pay.

And the price in Czech Republic is very small compared to American prices. For me this is a problem, because I need this money to spend in the U.S. for work, to make contacts and meet people.

I think it’s the same, because I always do the sketch first, and the publisher tells me if I should rework something a different way. Then I do the painting.

What do you think will be your next steps?

I’ve made some really good contacts in the movie industry, and I really hope to get my dream job working for the movies.

Jean Marie Ward

In addition to editing Crescent Blues, Jean Marie Ward writes for a number of Web-based and print magazines, including Science Fiction Weekly. She is the author of Illumina: the Art of Jean Pierre Targete (Paper Tiger) and several short stories, including “Most Dead Bodies in a Confined Space” in Strange Pleasures 2 (Prime Books). Her first novel, With Nine You Get Vanyr, written with Teri Smith, is scheduled to be released by Samhain Publishing in late 2006.