ERIN SUPINSKI
Interview with the US illustrator

Posted on 17/10/2011 by gael

Erin Supinski is a US illustrator I interviewed.

Erin is an illustrator living in Brooklyn.
In her free time, she likes out-of-the-city adventures, eating snacks, and trying to do pull-ups.
More about the US artist Erin Supinski.

Erin Supinski artwork based on Poland food

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF
My name is Erin Supinski. I am a recent graduate of the School of Visual Arts MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program. I currently live in Brooklyn with my boyfriend and our cats, Velcro and MurryPurry.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
Delicate. Subtle. Humorous. I work primarily in watercolor, though I do love drawing and would like to incorporate more.

Erin Supinski typography work for Bibliophile

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS
I love doing research! So when I start a major project, I start with doing a ton of research. Then I move on to the sketching phase. I make pretty rough sketches focusing mainly on composition. Then I very lightly draw a fairly detailed drawing onto my paper (usually arches 300lb hot press). Next I move in with watercolors. I start with the very lightest and most subtle washes, allowing the colors to bleed and run, and then I continue to build from there. When I think the painting is nearing completion, I’ll go in pull out the highlights, and I’ll take a dip pen or very fine brush to add fine details. I love the texture of the paint on the paper and the way watercolors bleed together, so I try to let that show through as much as possible.

Erin Supinski drawing of a girl waiting for the bus

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
Living in Brooklyn, I’m pretty spoiled by my proximity to really stunning art work. If I’m feeling uninspired I can be at any number of famous museums or world-class galleries to jump start the creative juices. But living in such a high-intensity city can take its toll, and lately I’ve been inclined to lock myself in my studio with a good audio book and work.

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
I’m a huge fan of naturalist painters like Maria Sibylla Merian, Mark Catesby or John James Audubon. I love their scientific approach and straightforward observations combined with an obvious appreciation for beauty and (I think) a sense of humor. On the more contemporary end of the spectrum I’m really inspired by the work of artists like Lauren Nassef, Leanne Shapton, Ruth Marten, and Lauren Redniss (to name a few).

Erin Supinski embroidery art

ANY LAST WORD?
Thanks for interviewing me! I’ve never done an interview before…

STEVEN BURKE
Interview with the French artist

Posted on 15/10/2011 by gael

Steven Burke is a French illustrator and artist I interviewed.

Steven Burke and I share the same french representative Lezilus.
Steven loves hand made typography, clean drawings, and always comes with fresh, simple but nice ideas. Some people are sick, his style is healthy.
More about the french illustrator Steven Burke.

Steven Burke illustration Paon Paon

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Steven Burke, 29 years old. I live in Hossegor, South West of France.
I’m a graphic designer specialized in illustration and hand made graphics, letters etc…

Steven Burke artwork for Element skateboards

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
My work consist in puting an idea under a very simple shape. I go strait to the point, and try to share something funny or sad to everyone. I love typography and drawings, particulary when they are done by someone who doesn’t know how to draw.

Steven Burke framed art

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS
i draw a lot on paper before starting a work and i write many words down, trying to get as much as directions possible. When i am ready, i start the job with a few guiding lines in my head but improvisation takes a big part in the process.

Steven Burke land art

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
The environnement i live in is very inspiring, between the ocean and the forest, very quiet, excepted in the summer. This makes me want to do simple and clear things.

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
I like many artist’s work like Saul Bass, Takashi Murakami, Steve Powers, Barry McGee, Gonzales and many more…

Steven Burke painting Connected To Myself

ANY LAST WORD?
Always classy, never ashamed!

AKO CASTUERA
Interview with the US artist

Posted on 10/10/2011 by gael

Ako Castuera is an artist based in Los Angeles.

Ako is a painter, sculptor, writer, and knitter.
You can’t go wrong with a work that involves nature, humans, and dinosaurs.
More about the LA artist Ako Castuera.

Ako Castuera watercolor

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF
My name is Ako Castuera. I like to paint and make things with my hands. I’m currently a storyboard artist on Adventure Time.

Ako Castuera typography art

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
My work is colorful and I like to have the freedom to improvise and change. Lately I have been painting landscapes in watercolor. They are often about the relationship between humans and our home planet.

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS
Improvisation is a big part of the way I work, and the materials I choose are an important part of that. I try to go for tools and paints that seem to have their own life, which is sort of a willy nilly description, but it’s like a gut reaction that demands to be followed. I have to find materials that I get along with, because we will be working together, I’m not going to control everything. I try to let their characteristics influence my choices while I am working. Lately I’ve been starting with loose, abstracted layers of watercolor on paper. I work wet, and then apply glazes. Sometimes I have a very clear idea of what I’m going for, other times I am looking into the paint to find a way to an image, and either way I start loose, and work towards bringing out detail.

Ako Castuera fox drawing

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
My environment is absurd. life in a developed country is an ecological disaster, and life in Southern California presents extreme examples of man made living gone wrong. The patterns made by tract housing developments seen from overhead are beautiful, but also starkly terrifying. I just think they look like death. I paint a lot of roads and houses because they represent a conflict between the dream of a cozy, stable middle class life, and the reality of being part of a food chain that on the successful end includes rapacious consumption of the riches of the earth, and on the losing end includes defaulting on home mortgages, debt slavery, and a lot of human misery.
The houses I paint are often built on dinosaurs, and I like to put them together because, number one, it is fun, and I used to think the hills by my house were dino bodies covered in earth. Dinosaurs are a reminder of extinction, and illustrate a childlike understanding of the prehistoric past, which I connect to our present times, and uncertain future. It sounds rather doomsday, but I have a lot of love for my home of Southern California. I have hopes that life here will adapt and flourish.

Ako Castuera artwork Barker

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
Like most artists, I have a lot of influences. To name one or two here would leave out a hundred or more. I think people are interested in artists who are couples, so I’ll mention Rob Sato, who is an artist I admire, and have been living with and working around for 13 years.

Ako Castuera painting Another Day

ANY LAST WORD?
I wish more drivers would use their turn signal.

DETH P SUN
Interview with the US artist

Posted on 08/10/2011 by gael

Interview with the US artist Deth P Sun

Deth P. Sun is a painter and illustrator who lives and works in California.
He exhibits his work about 10-12 times a year, usually in group shows, but sometimes takes up a solo exhibition.
More about the US artist Deth P. Sun.

Inside Deth P Sun working art studio

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF
I’m an artist who resides in Berkeley, California. I do illustrations every so often, and I make funny paintings.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
I prefer to just show people what I do.

Various artworks by Deth P Sun

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS
I usually write down little things to remind me what I’m thinking about, and then I sketch stuff out. And then I paint.

Deth P Sun drawing of his favorite superhero cat

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
I don’t know if does, other than when it gets pretty cold, I don’t particularly like painting. It takes forever for things to dry and most If the weather is warm I feel more like painting. And if the Giants are losing I’m also more incline to work.

Deth P Sun NY Riots artwork

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?

Tove Jannson
Richard Scarry
Edward Gorey
My girlfriend Marci Washington

Deth P Sun illustration

ANY LAST WORD?
No.

JESS WORBY
Interview with the US artist

Posted on 08/10/2011 by gael

Jess Worby tells us more about his various art activities in a cool interview.

As you know, I do a lot of stuffs, so I had to like Jess Worby.
Jess does everything. Fine art, comics, illustrations, installations, and he also writes stories and essays and does print and web design. He is the author/artist of a short graphic novel called A Walk in the Park and a children’s book, Things I Like: A Kid’s Book.
More about the US artist Jess Worby.

Jess Worby soldiers painting

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Hi, I am Jess Worby. I am an artist who makes fine art, illustration and comics. I live in New York. We just got hit by a hurricane. It’s ok though.

Jess Worby Oh Boy artwork exhibited

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
I make pictures and stories about the absurd, dream-like parts of reality. I think a lot about how different people’s perceptions of the world can be and how weird and great that is, which is why I like to experiment with new methods and ways of looking at things. I’ve been drawing a lot of creatures and people in costumes lately.

Jess Worby Koukeri painting

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS
Most of the time, it starts in my sketchbook — either drawing from observation or something more iconic and imagined. Some things mutate and become abstract almost to the point of incomprehensibility, which I like just as much as stuff that pokes you in the face with its content. From there, some drawings are the seed of new themes for work or characters for a new story, but most of the time they are just little experiments that help me learn more about what I can do.

Jess Worby installation for an exhibition

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
Living in New York probably lends an edge to my work. There is so much tension everywhere. That is not to say that I would just be doing watercolor landscapes or plein air stuff if I were elsewhere, just that the stuff I do make has that kind of energy to it. Or maybe I am just more anxious and paranoid here and my work is suffering. Who knows.

Jess Worby heads drawing

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
This is always a hard one for me… For one, I look at a lot of contemporary comics. There seem to be a lot more cartoonists making great work right now despite lack of funds or time than any other kind of artist. The indie comics community is a serious force. I like really contemplative stuff like Anders Nielsen or Kevin Huizenga, but I am also really into more raw, spontaneous stuff like Brian Chippendale. Also, Moebius. For pure craft and imagination there’s no one who comes even close.
Other than that, let’s see… Jim Henson, Saul Steinberg, Ralph Steadman, Egon Schiele, Brad Neely, Taiyo Matsumoto, Edward Gorey, Eiichiro Oda, Haruki Murakami…

ANY LAST WORD?
Mercy?

Jess Worby Phanatic character

DANIEL FISHEL
Interview with the US artist

Posted on 03/10/2011 by gael

Daniel Fishel is a talented US artist.

More precisely, Daniel Fishel is an illustrator and a hand letterer/designer.
Living is New York, his work has been featured in countless medias and galleries. No, he is not related to Danielle Fishel.
More about the multi-talented artist Daniel Fishel.
Buy his artworks.

Winners And Losers painting by Daniel Fishel

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF
My name is Daniel Fishel and I am an illustrator/designer living in Queens, NY. After attending undergrad at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, I moved to New York to pursue a graduate studies degree at School of Visual Arts and a career in illustration. Clients I’ve work for include the Los Angeles Times, Nylon Guys Magazine and No Sleep Records. When I am not working I am usually biking around my neighborhood, listening to records, looking up youtube videos of Boston Terriers or occasionally answering emails by people who think I am “Danielle Fishel”. You know the actress that played Topanga in Boy Meets World.

Daniel Fishel draws an empty street beautifully

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
The work that I create, I consider to be conceptual illustration. Not so much in the purest form where I am drawing puzzle pieces and rubix cubes all day for business magazines, but its more on an emotional level. Typically the work I create is about a character that is being confronted by another character or it’s interacting with something in the space. I use metaphor, color, the placement of the figures on the page and sometimes lighting to better tell the story being told.

Lifeguard Observations by Daniel Fishel

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS
It doesn’t matter if the piece I am working on is for a magazine or for the gallery wall. Often times the process for me is the same. If I am working with a magazine, I am taking the content they provide and distilling the content into a sentence. From that sentence I try to take the subject matter and a personal frame of reference that I can bring into the piece. The same thing goes with a painting I would do for a gallery. Instead of taking the content from a magazine, I have to build my own conceptual narrative to build an image. The difference here though is for a gallery piece I am making a physical painting, where as for an illustration, I am compositing linework overtop of swatches of paint, lino block/silk screen textures, and ink washes in photoshop. The difference is six to eight hours for an illustration versus twenty to thirty hours for a painting. I guess it takes longer to make a painting for me because I am more conservative about how I lay down colors because theres no command + Z in real life.

Daniel Fishel artwork

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
Living in New York is some what of a wanderlust. I am constantly engaging with a large variety of people, eating lots of different foods, and hearing tons of different music from all over the world. It all adds to my visual vocabulary that I wouldn’t have if I had continued living in a small town in Pennsylvania.

Daniel Fishel drawing for Allison Weiss

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
Cy Twombly, Raymond Pettibon, Mia Christopher, Cristy Road, Rene Magritte, Cuban Poster Art, 80’s/90’s Skate Decks, and hundreds of gig posters I’ve seen over the years.

ANY LAST WORD?
Unguard, I will let you try my Wu Tang Style.

EAMO
Interview with the Australian artist

Posted on 02/10/2011 by gael

Eamo is an inspiring Australian artist.

Coming from an industrial city down south of Oz called Geelong (or ‘Geebanger’ as the local’s call it), Eamo grew up down there and drew his way through school, got out and studied design in Melbourne in 2000.
He then worked at various fashion houses around Melbourne until leaving the game early on and giving illustration and art a crack. It has been for four years now that Eamo start killing it, developing a personal and shinny style with this je ne sais quoi of aussie flavor.
Interview originally published in Acclaim magazine.
More about the Australian artist Eamo.

WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND YOUR APPROACH OF A NEW PROJECT?
Often my first thoughts are “how can I add some Australian flavor into this piece?” These days I get approached by clients or collectives for the fact that my work has this style to it; clients are really receptive to it, which is a bonus. But it’s purely a coincidence that aussie stuff is in vogue right now. I’ve always had this weird obsession with it since my childhood. Fingers crossed when the trend dies I’ll still be able to get away with chucking a gum leaf or a prawn into an artwork. And Hopefully my work won’t end up in the same bracket as Yahoo Serious, Koala Blue or Crocodile Dundee, all of which I respect but they where unfortunately casualties of the international ‘Australiana’ fad of the 80s. Good times.

Artwork by Eamo

DO YOU RECKON THAT THE RECOGNITION OVERSEAS OF PEOPLE LIKE JEREMYVILLE OR BEN FROST IS OPENING SOME DOORS FOR A WHOLE GENERATION OF AUSSIES ARTIST?
No doubt about it. Those two are killing it around the globe; I agree with picking Jeremyville and Ben Frost as examples of aussie’s getting recognition overseas – can’t get any better than those blokes. Ben has been a huge supporter of young up and coming aussie artists, you just have to look at stupidkrap.com – being next to guys like him, Jeremyville, Lister (etc.) on the site is a huge boost for other guys like myself in getting seen by the same international audience as they are.

My interview of Eamo published in Acclaim magazine

TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THE ART SCENE IN MELBOURNE… HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER AUSTRALIAN CITIES?
The Melbourne scene is a tough nut to crack, in the four years I’ve been doing this caper, the last two I’ve managed to notch up six or so shows in Sydney as opposed to one in Melbourne. It’s a classic, when I meet people from Melbourne they always think I’m from Sydney, they look at my art and instantly think “yep, he’s a Bondi bloke” I’ve been told those exact words. And the Sydney folk thought I was a local up until recently. It stems back to my up bringing, I didn’t grow up in the city, I’m practically from the south coast so my art has a distinct aussie feel which is stereotypically more Sydney, whereas Melbourne has a very European culture without that tradition of an outdoor lifestyle.

Fair Suck Of The Pineapple is a detailed artwork by Eamo

WHAT DO YOU USUALLY DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT WORKING?
Chill at the beach, go to movies, a pub beer and a parma, go for a cruise in the 74 XB Fairmont, barbies.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
I just finished three new prints for the SemiPermanent exhibition ‘Kids Today’ and a black and white wall installation at the Annadale Hotel in Sydney. Soon I’ll be starting a custom wallet for a new Poketo Australiana series, painting three decks for the No Comply show later this year and another deck, where the artwork is laser burned into the wood, for a group show at China Heights gallery in Sydney. Hooroo!

ANGELIQUE HOUTKAMP
Interview with the Dutch tattoo artist

Posted on 01/10/2011 by gael

Angelique Houtkamp is a Dutch tattoo artist I interviewed.

From swallows to knives, from pin-ups to broken hearts, all the traditional tattoo flash imagery finds a new breath in the romantic and feminine style of Dutch artist Angelique Houtkamp.
Angelique’s work has expanded to an international audience using media like canvas, clothing and sculpture. She has a real love for Australia and she plans to return before the end of the year. Anticipating the pleasure to welcome her, we exchanged some words about her journey and vision of art.
Published in Acclaim magazine.

Georgette print by the Duch tattoo artist Angelique Houtkamp

HOW DOES A DUTCH GIRL IN HER 30s COME TO TATTOO?
When I turned 19, I figured out there were two career options for me, tattoo or music. I was a musician for about 10 years but wasn’t any good. Around that time, we had maybe three tattoo shops in Amsterdam, so I tried to get an apprenticeship but couldn’t get in. I was pretty shy and didn’t really like the people involved, so I got kind of discouraged. However, I always had local and global tattooist friends, and I went to nearly every big European tattoo convention. So throughout the years, I got a better understanding about the way things worked. At one point, I left my job and didn’t know what to do next. I asked a really good friend to teach me, and he did. By this time I was 30, and I wouldn’t want it any different though. I got a lot more wise and confident in those 11 years, and when I started tattooing I was more my own person and knew what I wanted.

Angelique Houtkamp interview published in Acclaim magazine

YOUR ART IS REALLY OLD SCHOOL INFLUENCED, HOW WAS TATTOOING DIFFERENT BACK IN DAYS?
I like to think it was way more romantic, more about basic feelings, like love, pride, fear and death. Especially for men, it was a way to show you were tough and not to be messed with. In England and Germany, around the ‘40s, a lot of guys got their neck and hands tattooed… and that was it! They’d be wearing their jacket, and everybody would think they were covered in tattoos. If they had more cash, they’ll do their forearms, so they could roll up their sleeves. Nowadays, it’s more about conveying that you have a good taste. People spend a lot of time and thought on their tattoos and what they want them to mean. I like working in street shops because some guy comes in and wants his girlfriend’s name tattooed on his arm, just because he walked past the shop and thought it would be a good idea. Somehow for me impulsiveness is the essence of tattooing.

Angelique Houtkamp various tattoo artworks

HOW DOES WORKING ON YOUR OWN CANVAS DIFFER FROM INKING SOMEBODY’S SKIN?
A couple of years ago, after an article in Juxtapoz magazine, Outré gallery asked me if they could sell my prints. So when I participated in a group show at their gallery last September, I came in Melbourne for three weeks. It’s the best city ever. Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, they got nothing on Melbourne. Great people, loads of bars and restaurants, good shopping, and cockatoos galore, like we have pigeons. Since then, we’ve been working on a book about my work, which will be published next October on top of a solo show at the gallery. So I’ll have to come over again. I also just designed the new poster for the Perth independent film festival Revelation. Otherwise, Kate at Chapel Tattoo in Melbourne tattooed me a Koala on my leg. Australians were making fun of me, while I tried to explain that back home I really would be crazy cool. And I am! I have gotten laid over this koala tattoo… No, that’s a lie, but that is how cool it is. I think me and Australia like each other.

ALEX TROCHUT
Interview with the Spanish artist

Posted on 29/09/2011 by gael

Alex Trochut is an inspiring Spanish illustrator and type designer I interviewed.

Alex Trochut was in Bali recently.
Unfortunately I wasn’t there when the artist came on the island where I am currently based.
Too bad.
Alex is a designer who lives in Barcelona.
Yes for those who learned geography by watching Eat, Pray , Love, Barcelona is in Spain… 😉
The artist combines amazing self-made types and sharp illustration in an experimental and superb way.
His artwork has been featured in international art magazines, and he has work for many big clients around the world.
In this exclusive interview, Alex tells us more about his artworks, his working process, and his design influences.
See you next time when you come back on my island bro.
Learn more about the Spanish artist Alex Trochut and visit his portfolio.

New York artwork by Alex Trochut

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
Geometric and fluid.

Alex is a master of new school type design

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS
Trying to get lost in the process and try to get something good and new out of it.

Artwork for the cover of Creative Review, a compilation of the 20 best logos of all time

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
If your envoirment makes your head see things differently, and that always something good.

Design In Spain artwork

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
So many, on the top of my list, Joan Trochut, Herb Lubalin, Milton Glasser, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Vasarely, M.C. Escher, Jim Phillips, Rick Griffin, and more.

Alex Trochut type design Aniversari

ANY LAST WORD?
Word!

DAVID ZACHARIAS
Interview with the French photographer

Posted on 26/09/2011 by gael

David Zacharias is not an artist.

David Zacharias is more like two, three, or four talented artists trapped in a human body at the same time.
He is an awesome photographer, drawer, furniture and product designer, and painter. Somehow he manages to infuse the same creative and poetic vibe in all his works, making them easy to identify and love. He is also a great person with an heart as big as his soul, humble and clever. He is a friend.
More about the artist, photographer, and furniture designer David Zacharias.

The artist’s signature on a furniture design

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF
I am David Zacharias, born in France in 1973.

David Zacharias photography

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK?
Touching a bit of everything, trying to make the “bit” look like something, or anything else.

Photography for an album cover by David

PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR WORKING PROCESS

Sometimes, I do drawings which remain drawings.
Sometimes I do drawings of objects, and then make the objects of my drawings.
Sometimes I kiss trees.
And someday I will be a very famous painter.

Jean-Carotte is a plush art project by David Zacharias

HOW DOES YOUR ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE YOUR ART?
I’ve been living and working in Italy for a year now and I feel ok with my Italian environment.

Furniture design by the French artist

WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
Jean Tinguely, Jean Prouvé, Jean Carotte, some Jean Doe and Le facteur Cheval.
I’m also influenced by the weather, the time, and my way through this time.

Handmade drawing by David Zacharias

ANY LAST WORD?
Why not…

Mega art

Artist Mega awesome artworks

Category Archives: Artists interviews