• Author Interviews

    Angelique Interview: Cherif Fortin, Lynn Sanders

    Angelique.

    Welcome to Romance Lives Forever! Your artwork has been an
    inspiration to us at RLF for a long time, and we’re thrilled to have you here.
    Let’s get started on a few questions about you as individuals, then as
    partners, and spend the rest of the time talking about Angelique.

    Questions For Lynn

    You pioneered a
    technique using oil-glazing and photography to create rich new images. How did
    you adapt this technique to digital media?
    I’ve been working in the image business since the 60’s. In
    the early 90’s I never thought I would be so tied to this thing called a
    computer. I guess I was dragged kicking and screaming to the digital illustrating
    process. We still hand glaze a lot for our portrait work but for illustrations
    we can simulate the look in the computer so much faster. When we want to do
    display pieces we do a lot more hand work on the image. It gives a nice texture
    to the piece.
    What are the
    drawbacks of working with a partner who is not located near you? How hard is it
    to collaborate long distance?
    We travel back and forth quite a bit but the computer
    and the telephone make looking and discussing projects very easy. When I was
    younger I wouldn’t think twice in jumping into a car and going to the Chicago
    studio. Cherif would come out three to four days a week to the Rockford studio.
    We hear that a
    certain Cirneco dell Etna is part of your life. Will you tell us more about
    this special relationship?
    She was my dear little rescue dog Che Che. She just passed
    recently. I had her for 11 years. She was around 4 when I got her from Helen
    Rosburg who had originally rescued her. Che Che was a one woman dog from the beginning.
    She could run like a deer and practically would turn herself inside out with
    glee when I came home from a trip. Bless her little heart, like all of us she
    got old and was having seizures and the vet said we had to put her to sleep. I
    now have two hungry, ornery cats named Boo and Dusty.
    Do you think keeping
    secrets is good or bad?
    I try to keep my wild, crazy sex life a secret. Seriously, I
    always found anytime you think you can keep a secret, invariably it gets out.
    What song would best
    describe your life?
     If I Can Dream. Elvis Presley and My Way.
    If you were a tool,
    what would people use you to do?
    I would be an artist brush. People would use me to paint the
    world happy, caring and romantic.
    If you could give the
    younger version of yourself advice what would it be?
    Be true to yourself. Take some chances and create something
    beautiful.
    What is the most
    important thing you do for your career?
    I work at it almost every day. I take images and play with
    them. I try to keep my radar up for new avenues of exposure, i.e. blogs!
    How are the
    children’s books coming, Lynn?
    Well, thank you for asking. They are ready for a publisher
    to give them a home. I have 9 of them. Che Che modeled in one along with
    Cherif’s son Kai. There’s another featuring a dragon with Cherif and his
    daughter Kira. Little Lara, Cherif’s youngest daughter, is my model for one
    called Pickles and Peas. I just love them.

    Questions For Cherif

    Is it true that at
    one time, you were a fireman, a stuntman, and worked in a medieval-based theme
    park?
    Yes. Currently I enjoy two careers: I am a full-time
    firefighter for a busy suburban department near Chicago and also a freelance
    illustrator/photographer. I’ve been a fireman for 9 years and an artist since,
    well, forever. Prior to working as a firefighter, I worked as a stunt performer
    for a medieval-themed dinner show company called Medieval Times. This lasted 12
    years and my duties included sword fighting, horseback riding, and training of
    both horses and stuntmen. In 1993, Lynn Sanders and I started a commercial art
    and photography studio which has been in business ever since. We’re known as
    Fortin and Sanders and we provide a variety of services including book cover
    illustration, design, high end portraiture and event photography.
    In what way did these
    jobs prepare you for creating artwork using photography and illustrations?
    I think having a variety of experiences broadens your
    horizons, which is always helpful. I’ve met many talented professionals across
    various fields, and I always try to learn something from them. A big part of
    being a freelance artist is developing your entrepreneurial skills and small
    business acumen. I meet people all the time that might be doing something
    totally different from me but in a way that makes me think, “hey, this
    could really help me be better”. I try to emulate those people. Working at
    Medieval Times certainly helped refine my eye for medieval subjects, period
    costumes, horses, etc.
    Illustrator Tour via Innovative Online Book Tours
    What do you enjoy
    most about life?
    Spending time with my friends and family. I am lucky to have
    very kind, loving and interesting people in my life.
    How do you balance
    life with deadlines and work?
    One thing that is increasingly difficult as I add
    commitments to my life is finding time. I have two full-time careers, three
    growing kids, a wife, a book in the works, several artistic projects, friends,
    hobbies and a new Doberman puppy to manage. It can get pretty crazy and
    sometimes overwhelming. My touchstone is making time with my family on a daily
    basis. Regardless of what’s going on with work, having fun with the wife and
    kids is my antidote for stress.
    What is the craziest
    thing you did as a kid?
    This one time, at band camp… ;)
    How do you respond to
    negative people?
    I try not to! Negativity attracts negativity, so I just
    steer clear.
    If you could give the
    younger version of yourself advice what would it be?
    There is no point in wasting time worrying. What will be,
    will be. The key to life is not in finding happiness, but making it.
    What is the most
    important thing you do for your career?
    You know, I’m still trying to figure that out! If I had to
    pick one single thing, I would have to say networking. Meeting others and
    interacting with them has opened many unexpected doors for me and led me in
    directions I couldn’t have come up with on my own.
    What is the answer to
    the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?
    The answer is 42, of course (for the Douglas Adams fans out
    there).

    The Public Can Find Cherif Here

    Questions For Lynn and Cherif Together

    What new project are
    you working on now?
    Lynn: We are
    always working on stories and illustrations. We also do fine art portraiture
    for private clients, painting everything from pets, to children, brides and
    corporate execs. We are still illustrating book covers for a variety of clients
    and we hope to keep doing that for many more years to come.
    On a personal level, I just finished a series of paintings
    for a group of silk-flyer acrobats. I’m also working on illustrating some kids
    books which I’d like to see published one day, and I’m doing a lot of portraits
    of Elvis, which I sometimes put up for sale on eBay.
    Cherif: We’re
    spending a lot of time promoting Passion’s Blood and Angelique these days,
    doing signings and appearances. We’re also finishing production on some artwork
    for the Gordie Brown Live! Show at the Golden Nugget Casino, which you can see
    on 8 billboards throughout Las Vegas.
    My personal projects lately include doing family portraits
    as well as some paintings exploring fantastic and mythological themes. I’m
    putting the finishing touches on a new book which features art techniques for
    professional photographers; I’m hoping to have that ready by the end of the
    year.
    How do you come up
    with ideas?
    Cherif: Ideas
    have never been a problem, it’s the execution that can be tricky! For me, ideas come from everywhere: literature, art,
    movies, comics, video games, magazines, conversations with friends, etc. I try
    to stay inspired by keeping in touch with other artists online, visiting art
    blogs and forums, and I keep an “inspiration” folder on my pc in
    which I put works that for one reason or another catch my eye. It’s at well
    over 2 gigs in size currently, and I add to it nearly every day. If I find I’m
    blocked for new ideas I just rummage through that folder a little and in no
    time my juices start flowing.
    Where do you see your
    partnership going in the next ten years?
    Cherif: I’m
    really excited by the interactive apps we’ve been working on for the iPad
    available through iTunes. I hope we can grow in this area and do projects that
    take advantage of technology in cool new ways. I’d also like to take on a role
    mentoring other photographers and artists, perhaps through seminars or tours.
    What advice do you
    have for cover models today?
    Don’t go into book cover modeling expecting it to be your
    main thing: it’s a niche opportunity at best. Diversify your portfolio and work
    where you can get it.
    What advice do you
    have for photographers in the book cover industry?
    Same as above.

    Questions about Angelique

    Angelique is “at the intersection of movies and
    traditional printed books” (Cherif to Kathleen Pickering at Romantic Times
    Convention). It’s an eBook as well as an interactive app for iPad. It’s also a
    form of multimedia which can be used as an audio book read by the author, and
    allows the reader to interact with the illustrations. The information we’ve
    seen at RLF shows us that readers can touch areas of the illustrations to bring
    them to life.
    Please tell us more
    about this amazing product.
    It’s an illustrated book for the new century! The story is a
    gothic horror-romance set in turn of the century Paris. I dont want to reveal
    too much about it to readers, other than to say I am very proud of the work
    authors Helen Rosburg and Ali DeGray did: it’s at turns touching and
    horrifying, inspiring and chilling, and the end is truly bittersweet and
    memorable. We couldnt have asked for a better story to illustrate. The app
    takes advantage of today’s technology by augmenting the reading experience with
    multimedia: sound, movement, etc. All the illustrations are animated to bring
    the scenes to life, and there’s (optional) voiceover narration by the author,
    for those who want the audio book experience. We think it is at the ground
    floor of what books will become in the digital age.
    What gave you the
    idea for creating Angelique?
    Helen Rosburg wrote Angelique. We were inspired by her words
    and she asked us to illustrate it.
    How hard was it to
    find someone who could make your ideas a reality?
    We were lucky to be working with Medallion Press on this
    project. We have a long history of working with them, doing cover art and other
    illustrated books, and we know the people there and have developed great
    relationships. They are pioneering a lot of digital publishing strategies and
    are fully behind the idea of interactive books. There’s really no one better we
    could be partnering with for a project like this.
    In what way is this a
    step forward from your previous, similar app, Passion’s Blood?
    Every time you do a new project you refine your old
    techniques and discover new ones. Passion’s Blood was sort of a proof-of-concept
    project, to see if the idea of an interactive book was even possible for us. Angelique
    was an opportunity to refine our work, and we really got into painting
    specifically for multimedia, sometimes doing multiple versions of each
    illustration to make the animations come together.
    Do you plan
    additional apps of this type? Will there be a sequel to either of the current
    books?
    We have beautiful images for a sequel to Passion’s Blood. Patrick
    Lambke (“The Black Knight” from a recent Nat Geo documentary series) and
    Cherif will model for the main characters again. The female lead is modeled by
    Stacy Walker. We’re waiting to see how all this comes together.
    Cherif Fortin, Lynn Sanders
    The illustrations
    were all done digitally. How different was that from using photography as your
    medium?
    We used photography mainly as reference in Angelique, to
    help us keep the likenesses consistent and make sure our figures and lighting
    were correct. The approach is different, but we can work effectively using
    either digital or traditional techniques.
    What do unique
    products like Angelique and Passion’s Blood cost?
    There’s a great special going on right now. You can download
    the apps from iTunes for only 99 cents.
    Where can readers
    pick up copies of these apps?
    Angelique: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/angelique/id524692340?mt=8
    Passion’s Blood: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/passions-blood/id435952988?mt=8
    Both are available through the iPad or on iTunes.