Vignette Obscura Magazine Issue 1 | Page 5

“Jack of all trades, master of none, would be the best way to describe me,” he said. We asked Elliot what other projects he’s working on. Elliot has gone to caves in California, taken pantless train rides, and possesses knowledge of almost anything and everything a person would never think of knowing. “I made these vampire killing kits. That was fun,” he said. The kits had letters from other vampire killers and other tools necessary to vanquish the undead. The letters were written by him as well as the tools in the kit. While he may be eccentric, what is more eccentric is the tool he uses for his art. While most artists use a brush or a pencil, Elliot Frantz uses an X-acto knife. “Something I have really gotten to do well is deconstructing images into two tones,” Elliot said. “During a college exercise, I accidentally peeled back some cardboard and went ‘Oh that looks kind of neat’.” Since then Frantz’s concentration has been on two toned artwork with cardboard. Due to constant movement as a child, Frantz was encouraged at an early age to explore his artistic side. For more of Elliot’s artwork visit his website at www.professorelliot.com. Using only an X-acto knife he carves out the image and slowly peels back the cardboard to create the image. According to Frantz each cardboard portrait takes up to 6-8 hours. He was encouraged in the arts and displayed talent. Elliot began dabbling in everything once he reached college. “I would love to sell art for a living,” he said. “But we’ll find out.” “I’ve been able to develop a good eye for it,” Frantz said. “I’ve kind of fallen into the cardboard thing because it is a sort of meditation and calming for me.” “My mom introduced me to art. She home schooled me,” Frantz said. “We would do field trips to museums all the time and that sparked my interest.” Elliot’s creativity knows no bounds and is truly one of a kind. “The cardboard images start on the computer. I do graphic design before carving the image into the cardboard.” he said. 5