I asked Elisa to answer a few questions for everyone:
1) The obvious question first: When did you start getting into art?
"I started to get into art as a young child. I remember sitting in my grandmother's house, a large sheet of butcher paper ripped in front of me and a box of crayons. Nothing like being 5 and creative. At the age of 14, I was introduced to online role-playing games, and from there it kick started and I became more serious about trying to do something better."
2) Tell us a little about your life.
"Well, I am from Afton, NY. My husband, however, is now an active duty crew chief in the United States military. Right now we live at the McGuire Air Force base in Wrightstown, NJ. My son Lukas is 6, and my daughter will be 3 at the end of March. I am currently playing house wife, but once my daughter starts school I am going to begin to try my hand at writing and "arting up" a children's book."
3) Why anime style?
"Anime style just simply.... INSPIRES me! The bright colors, the simple movement, and just the style appeals to me. My style is slowly evolving, but it stays the same. My love for video games and mangas probably help that style along nicely."
4) What’s with the obsession with bright colors?
"The bright colors, oh they mean LOVE to me. I'm not really obsessed. Well maybe just a little.... Alright you got me. There are so many bright colors, dark colors, just color in general in the world. The colors are bold, and makes a statement. Everywhere you look you see greens, blues, browns. I get excited to see lime green and bright peacock blue. Colors invoke happiness, and happiness is always a good thing."
5) What is your ultimate goal with your art? What would you like to achieve most?
"My ultimate goal with my art is to keep it coming. As long as I create art, I know I have some sort of purpose. If it can cause just one smile, I am set for life. I would love to be able to create more freely, appeal to the masses for larger smiles. This is why I want to focus on creating a children's book. Bright colors create smiles as I stated before, and everyone knows children's smiles give kisses to fairies."
6) Why is yaoi so awesome?*
"Why isn't yaoi awesome? I know it sickens some people, but to me I am happy to see love between two people. I don't care if that love is man to man, woman to man, or woman to woman. We all bleed the same, love to the fullest, and interact bravely with one another each day. Besides, it's every girls dream to see man on man action. People can deny it all they want, but ceiling cat is watching you. Remember that."
7) Who are your favorite artists? What is your inspiration?
"I know it sounds corny, but most of my favorite artists are indeed my friends. I get so extremely excited to get fan art of my characters, and the fact that so much love pours into them makes me melt. This also inspires me, and causes me to go out and re-create that feeling. If we are going for "real artists," I love Tim Burton's style, and Degas is one of my favorite painters."
8) What kind of music do you listen to while you work?
"When I say "I listen to everything," I really mean I listen to everything. My favorite station on my Pandora has everything from Katy Perry, to Broadway soundtracks, As I Lay Dying, so on and so forth. The bands that inspire me the most are Bullet for my Valentine, Slipknot, The Ink Spots (Yes, you read that right, that old 50's band!), Katy Perry, Otep, and a bunch of Broadway musicals. My kids watch me sing to them as a I work, but they don't seem to mind."
9) Who’s your favorite author and why? (*wink wink*) OK, you can list more than one favorite.
"Well, of course the top on my list is INDEED Marilla Mulwane. When it comes down to it, when you can see the mind of the author it makes all the reading worthwhile. We feed off of one another, and it makes me smile reading about the adventures of Ariana in "A Story About Heroes", and all of the random things her articles are on. She even has a meme now you know. On the other side of things, I also adore Edward Lee. That man writes horror like no one's business."
Check out more Elisa's art at her Deviantart page: Beibaku-mae
* There is no yaoi in "Halos & Brimstone." However, yaoi fan fiction would make me extremely happy.