Today we are going to feature Paul Henderson, the owner and head designer for Rise Design Studio. His background in philosophy, religious studies and psychology is evident in his work as he creates pieces with stunning details and imagery. Let this interview take you on a visual journey as we talk about Paul's inspirations and work process.

Interview with Paul Henderson

You have such an amazing array of digital artwork. Have you always been into the arts?

Oddly enough, no. Although I always had an appreciation for the arts, my own artistic expression did not begin until very late in my development. Age 25 to be exact. My main academic interest and point of strength had always been writing, but half way through my 20's I underwent some pretty heavy transformational experiences. These experiences were incredibly difficult and resulted in a lot of chaos in my life. Luckily looking back, I can see they had a silver lining as they really were the catalyst to my artistic passion and expression. The gravity of much of the material I encountered just simply couldn't be expressed with mere words, so the visual arts became somewhat of a saving grace for me.

What were your artistic influences growing up?

I grew up in Southern California, so many of my first encounters with art and design as an adolescent came through the extreme sports world, and the punk music scene. I remember really digging on all the crazy skate and surf style graphics, as well as so many of the band promos and album covers. That appreciation eventually developed into a fascination with underground art of all types from tattoos and hot rod graphics to a lot of the low brow and pop surreal gallery art that was coming out of LA in the mid to late 90's. I have quite a few friends that are tattoo artists and they were huge influence on me when the time came to actually try my hand at some creative work. Many of my first drawings and sketches were of tattoo flash books they gave me! As time went on though my artistic tastes and preferences evolved, transformed, and adapted to my social environments and circles. In college I was a philosophy and religious studies major, so naturally I got into ancient art and artifacts and non-western art. Eventually this would turn into a love and true academic passion for classical art and oil painting, which is where my main interests lie today.