MICHAEL C HSIUNG
Interview with the LA artist

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Michael C Hsiung is a self taught artist/illustrator from Los Angeles, CA.
If you like centaurs, mermen, and obese hairy men drinking (and I’m not talking about Australians here), then you’ll love Michael C. Hsiung works. The artist currently lives in Los Angeles, CA, and has produced artworks for prestigious names like Enjoi Skateboards, Oxford American Magazine, Dr. Martens, among others. I exchanged a few words with this cool “facially hairy Asian”.
More about Michael C. Hsiung.
Twitter: @michaelchsiung

Hairy man on a bicycle

Hairy man on a bicycle

How would you describe your work?
I guess my work is illustrative mixed with humor, done in mostly pen or ink and usually black and white with little bit of color. The subjects of my work usually feature weird animals, creatures, and obese hairy men drinking, carousing and/or skating.

Father with a kid and a dead animal

Father with a kid and a dead animal

Please share with us your working process.
I usually grab a pencil and sketch, working out ideas as I am doing then. After, I usually outline the rest in pen or sometimes ink, adding shading, patterning and/or color. It doesn’t always happen so smoothly though.

Artwork by Michael C Hsiung

Artwork by Michael C Hsiung

How does your environment influence your art?
Sometimes my environment does influence my art, but I guess it’s not sometime that typically does. For instance, my apartment is always surrounded by artworks, books and/or decorations that influence a piece. I have swords, unicorns portraits, and weird stuff like that laying around which can find their way into my artworks. But then again some of my other works aren’t influenced by any of that. I think they are just weird subconscious things that surface.

Illustration of a kinky siren

Illustration of a kinky siren

Who are your influences?
Some many artists I think influence me from Classical, comic book to contemporaries! It’s really hard to pinpoint but stuff like Edward Gorey and Daniel Clowes to my own sister who is an awesome painter, Pearl Hsiung. There’s load of artists too but some folks who I can think of are Travis Millard, Jay Howell, Mel Kadel, Mike Stilkey, and Sieben who really have influenced me by their artwork and work ethic.

Artwork of a man jumping on imaginary creatures

Artwork of a man jumping on imaginary creatures

Any last word?
So far, so good, so what.

I Just Murdered The Alphabet
Character 1

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I did this artwork for my solo art exhibition called I Just Murdered The Alphabet

Starting from today, I’ll post a drawing a day for the next 5 months.
And I’m not talking about a quick doodle. I will post an inspiring drawing.
The kind of awesome art I prepared with my heart and soul.
You don’t believe me?
My name is Mega. Just watch.
◀ check the complete solo art exhibition.

Medium used: Hand-drawn with silver ink pens on 160g acid free art paper.

Hip-hop punchlines inspiration:
Does it pay to be deaf, dumb and blind? – KILLAH PRIEST – B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)
Yo yo yo yo yo yo – BUSTA RHYMES – Mythsysizer
I flash brilliance in the form of the naked truth – VAKILL – The Crown Don’t Move
Make this shit look easy – CURREN$Y – Real Estates
Damn it feels good – JUELZ SANTANA – Damn It Feels Good (to Be A Gangster)
I could never be a thug, they don’t dress this well – CLIPSE – Virginia

Original handmade drawing

Character 1 | Original handmade drawing for my solo art exhibition I Just Murdered The Alphabet

Does it pay to be deaf dumb and blind?
KILLAH PRIEST

Read books, create art, write books, stop watching TV, do more drawings: Be Mega.
As for the religious aspect of this statement, you have to understand that I live in Indonesia, which is the biggest muslim country in the world. I grew up a christian country, and to be more specific I’m based on a hindu island.
For me, religion is about tolerance, living together in mutual respect, and accepting one’s belief.

Hip-hop punchline inspiration:
Does it pay to be deaf dumb and blind? – KILLAH PRIEST – B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)

Yo yo yo yo yo
BUSTA RHYMES

This artwork is urban by nature.
This illustration is real.
This is the jungle and it grooves.
This is hip-hop and it doesn’t stop.
This is Mega and you know you love it.

Hip-hop punchline inspiration:
Yo yo yo yo yo – BUSTA RHYMES – Mythsysizer

I flash brilliance in the form of the naked truth
VAKILL

In the form of the naked truth.
I showed this artwork to @VAKILL on his twitter, and the man himself said “dope”.
I couldn’t have said it better 😉

Hip-hop punchline inspiration:
I flash brilliance in the form of the naked truth – VAKILL – The Crown Don’t Move

Make this shit look easy
CURREN$Y

Have you ever watch Messy playing soccer?
Have you ever heard Otis Redding singing soul?
Have you ever seen Mike Tyson boxing?
What’s the common point between all those great artists?
They make what they do look easy.
I am not a star and I don’t pretend anything. I just do my best.
Do you think what I do is easy?
Hum… Then try to do it.

Hip-hop punchline inspiration:
Make this shit look easy – CURREN$Y – Real Estates

Damn it feels good
JUELZ SANTANA

The Société Des Griffeurs is the name of the characters you can see in my artworks.
The masked people I draw are part of an imaginary gang.
They live in the jungle, far from the Western rules and societies.
They’re free.
It feels really good.

Hip-hop punchline inspiration:
Damn it feels good – JUELZ SANTANA – Damn It Feels Good (to Be A Gangster)

I could never be a thug, they don’t dress this well
CLIPSE

I’m not a thug but you can call me a warrior.
I fight everyday of my life to produce more artworks and to stay independent.
I could easily go back to art direction if I wanted to.
But for the moment I like to work freelance and I want to stay free.

Hip-hop punchline inspiration:
I could never be a thug, they don’t dress this well – CLIPSE – Virginia

MEGA loves chili interview

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MEGA loves chili

I recently exchanged a few words with Thumbtack Press, in which we went back and forth on chilis, Bali, and the focus on my art. Go on their website to read the whole interview.
Last week I was telling you about some of my artworks being sold on Thumbtack Press.
The guys asked me a couple of nice questions where you can learn more about me, my love for chilis, my mixtape art debut, and my upcoming project.

Drawing of a masked character

Drawing of a masked character for my new exhibition

What’s up with your obsession with chilis? How’d you get into it? What kind do you eat? How do you prepare them? Have you ever had a ghost pepper (Wiki says it’s also called “Bhut Jolokia” or “Naga King chili”) before?
I currently live in Indonesia where I learned to love chili. I eat a lot of it on a daily basis, and as a matter of fact those fruits (yes technically chilis are fruits) contain capsaicin, which helps the body to produce adrenaline and get kind of addictive. The more you eat, the more you need, and my relationship with chili is a lot like the one I have with illustration.
Back in the days, Japanese warriors would eat chili before going to battle, as a way to get stronger and not to fear what they were about to face. I eat chili before drawing, and as a matter of fact I feel invincible.
About the ghost pepper, here in Indonesia we call it “devil chili”, which gives a good idea about how spicy it is. Actually the chili get spicier according to the environment, because the more insects try to eat them, the spicier they get. Now I’m full of it, and nobody can mess with me.

mega save dropbear

Artwork for Save The Dropbear exhibition

UGO GATTONI
Interview with the French artist

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Ugo Gattoni tells us more about his artworks and his influences in an exclusive interview.

According to me, Ugo Gattoni is one of the most talented up-coming artist of the new generation.
I discovered Ugo’s work recently, through my french representative Lezilus, who decided to represent him too, and showed me his portfolio. I must say that I’m quite impressed by the talent and dedication (it takes a lot to produce such detailed images) of this new comer, and took the opportunity to exchange a few words with this future star of illustration. For me, Ugo is simply the most talented artist I’ve seen in a long long time.
More about Ugo.

Illustration of a tiger head

Illustration of a tiger head

Please introduce yourself
I’m a graphic designer and illustrator from Paris and I’m 23 years old. I finished my studies in 2010 at EPSAA and then I began to work as a freelance directly after.

Artwork of a detailed city typical of the artist slick style

Artwork of a detailed city typical of the artist slick style

How would you describe your work?
It’s quite difficult to say, my work depend of each command of course but in general I attach a great importance to the finition of the product,
I love working with details, always more and more! I want my work to be poetic but also fun; I try to work in both ways.

Ugo Gattoni artwork for Caravan Palace

Ugo Gattoni artwork for Caravan Palace

Please share with us your working process
In general, for illustrations, I process like that :
After having defined the concept, I do some quick roughs depending of the brief, more for the composition than for the design.
Secondly, when it looks good to the client, I do another rough, which show the design of the illustration, more detailed..
Most of the time I draw with rotring or graphite so I can’t have so much retakes, it’s why I insist on the validation of the rough before I begin the final step!

How does your environment influence your art?
I don’t know, I like simple things like food, tinker… I like the countryside, nature… I like kitsch things like old wallpapers… Love drawing with texture like wood, marble, so yes, I think that it’s influence my art, of course, it’s a part of me

The Folding Knife

The Folding Knife

Who are your influences?
I have several influences, it goes from classicals like Dali, Jerome Bosch… to contemporary graphic designers and illustrators like Micah Lidberg, Jonathan Zawada…
It’s important for me to have a look on websites like http://butdoesitfloat.com/ or http://www.septemberindustry.co.uk/…
Those are just some of my references, and You can see that I attach a great importance to graphic design, not just illustration

Portrait drawing by Ugo

Portrait drawing by Ugo

Any last word?
Have a look on Nobrow’s books, something quite cool is coming soon 🙂

Pagina Invalida
Interview in Brazil

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Mega interviewed in the Brazilian website Pagina Invalida.

A quite old interview with the great Brasilian website Pagina Invalida.

PAGINA INVALIDA

Mega is a French graphic. In the following interview he will tell us about the creative process behind his illustrations. He will also tell us about his future plans, including a potential trip to Brazil. Discover more about this creative figure.

screen print artwork for sergeant paper gallery

Screen-print for the Burning Ink exhibition.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR ARTISTIC BACKGROUND, WHERE DOES YOUR NAME COME FROM?
Hi Pagina Invalida, my name is Mega. That’s a joke about the megalomaniac, attitude of many artists. I left school earlier because I wasn’t really happy in my university. “My Education Got Aborted”. Throughout the years I have learn to find my own voice, step by step.

WHAT ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
From funk to “underground hip hop” music inspires me more a lot. I think that illustrators and music producers work in a similar way. Alone behind your computer, you have to spend hours and hours to establish a structure and polish the details with stunning effects. Years after years, productions after productions, you find your own style, a “color”, that makes you identifiable.
 
NBA babes
Drawing of two NBA babes for Complex magazine in the USA.

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS?
My favorite writer are Harry Crews, Will Self, Don Delillo, Celine and Chester Himes. As for the visual art, I don’t really pay attention to other illustrators or designers. All I can say is that I enjoy the art of people like Charles Burns, Dalek, Flying Fortress, or Dave Kinsey.
 
Bitchy black girl for Complex mag
Illustration of a bitchy black girl.

DO YOU THINK THAT GRAPHIC DESIGN INFLUENCES PEOPLE LIVES?
think that ordinary people do not care about graphic design. Good art probably reaby graphic design are the designers themselves.
 
TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR TYPICAL DAY AT WORK
Nothing is typical in my work, including the way I do it.
 

Original handmade drawing by mega

Original handmade drawing for my solo art exhibition I Just Murdered The Alphabet

PRINTS, FIGURES, CHARACTERS, WHAT DO YOU PREFER LIKE TO ILUSTRATE?
Anything that customers need and pay me for.
 
WHAT TOOLS DO YOU USE?
My main tool remains my brain. My brain helps me take decisions. My brain is a boss and no one can dispute. Then come my eyes, which are very useful as assistants, giving constant indications and warnings. Last but not least are my hands. They are the workers who do not take decisions and are turning the vision into a reality.
 
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST DIFFICULTY WITH CUSTOMERS?
I usually do not have problems with my clients. I am probably lucky but so far all my experiences have been good. I don’t see the customer has someone who bring problems. I’m here to help him and assist him. So far everything is going very well.
 
mega advertising illustration for volkswagen
Car drawing for the advertising of the new Volkswagen.

YOU KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT BRAZILIAN DESIGN?
I like Brazilian street art like Os Gemeos or Speto. I want definitely to learn more about the culture. In a near future I plan to visit and discover what life is like in your region. Are the Brazilian girls really so beautiful?

WHAT IS THE POLITICAL MESSAGE BEHIND YOUR WORK?
The main political or social message behind my work is: “Follow your own path”. This is not as easy as it sounds.Not matter how hard it is, don’t give up on your your dreams. Your are the only one that will take you to your destination.
 
logo graffiti mega

WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT POLITICS?
For me it’s all about money. You can vote for whoever you want, but the most effective way to change the world around you is to watch the way you will earn and spend your money. I do not want to hurt people to earn my money, so I want to remain independent.

HOW IS THE GRAPHIC DESIGN SCENE IN FRANCE?
In France we do not have a great history of graphic design. Compared to countries like Germany or Switzerland, people here don’t really care about the graphic culture. Most of the time, when I tell people that I am a graphic designer, they think that I’m talking about graffiti! I love graffiti but graphic design is a different field. As for the future, I would say that everything is possible and that it is up to the new generation to change the mentalities. Thank you Pagina Invalida.

Illustration Rally
MEGA interviewed

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Illustration Rally shows Mega’s artworks some love in a great review and article.

Really nice Mega interview for Illustration Rally. You can find all the questions and answer on their website, but here is the intro.
It’s quite a feature we have for you now, the unstoppable force that is Mega, bags of attitude and a slogan straight from the street art revolution. Mega is instantly likeable, the street style and attitude infectious, his globe trotting lifestyle creates a unification of global counter-culture in his work which overflows with a panoply of colour, slick well chosen lines and a hawks eye for a good angle, I guess composition is something you master quickly at 2am in the arrondissement with a bag of spray cans and penchant for climbing. Mega is one of those that simultaneously breaks the mould but acts as a distillation of his genre, his work trades in alternative culture kudos, which like a precious currency, corporates try to co-opt to put some dents in their cold calculating exteriors and inject some life into their atrophied veins of style by committee, all the while they fund Mega, laughing from his tropical paradise knocking out work he couldn’t help but do whether he was paid or not. He controls his style in this way creating slick and justified work that is skilled not only mechanically but works as an illustrator should by selling the message hard. This can be down to his street roots or more likely honed by editorial experience, either way he can put a point across with a tropical sense of glee and a palette rich with street colour. A true talent, it’s Mega.
More about the art website and my interview in Illustration Rally.

Painting by Mega in Illustration Rally

Concrete jungle part. 1

Motorsport Playground racing car by Mega

Motorsport Playground racing car by Mega

NOVUM article in the best design magazine from Germany

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Novum is the number one Graphic Design magazine in Germany.

The German design mag published a 4 pages article on my artworks and my background. Here is a translation of the original text from German to English.
Thank you Novum magazine for the nice article about me and my work as an artist.

Novum magazine

Especially when it comes to designers, it is important to stand out and to develop an individual style.
Easier said than done. Mega is an autodidact illustrator who stands out from the french design scene in his individual way.

drift racing car

Follow your own line is the political and social message you can sense in Mega’s work. The artist has this a certain rebellious and individual attitude. Mega grew up in a boring town in the southwest of France. At the time he spent most of his time with graffiti friends. Under the name of Middle Classes, the kids rebelled against existing norms and stereotypes, but their criticism was not about politic. They challenged the graffiti movement itself, despising B-Boy characters and Wild Style letters. I think I hated graffiti more than I loved it, Mega says today. Mega was influenced by the 3-D scene from Germany and Switzerland. He found more inspiration in graphic design rather than in traditional graffiti magazines. After a couple of years the illustrator moved forward and taught himself how to computer softwares and graphic programs. Eventually he moved to Paris and launched his own fanzines and became an art direction for various design publications.

Sergeant Paper gallery for Novum magazine

I tend to be really focussed when I work on my artworks. For this one I was at Sergeant Paper gallery in Paris.

After various jobs as a graphic designer and art director, Mega decided to work as a freelance illustrator. He worked mainly for record labels, magazines and fashion labels. He kept the name Mega, a name with different levels of interpretation. I have a weird sense of humor, says the artist, and find the name Mega to be funny, because it sounds so pretentious. Mega fly effortlessly from drawings to graffiti to vector graphics or typography. The multi-talented artist may be the product of a generation exposed to visual cultures from a very young age. Punk and hip hop influences are mixed with pixel visuals visual and glitter advertising. Mega mixes and resample his influences like a music producer. Urban culture meets mainstream and is interpreted in a unique way, a way that allow him to reach the audience of all the design scenes.

illustration of a philippine girl

LANGO
Interview with the tattoo artist

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Lango is a legendary tattoo and street artist I interviewed when I was working for Acclaim magazine.

With a constant increasing quantity of new faces showing up every morning, it is currently essential to find new perspectives for whom who hope to unite personal creations and commercial success in the trendy landscape of tattooing.
With nearly twenty years of practice, the Brazilian artist Lango today masters various tools like Guns, brushes, or even spraycans, with a highly recognizable and tasteful style. Without any art school background to orientate his technique, this multi-faceted creative artist now develops his original approach in his San Diego studio, from where he gives acclaim’s readers the opportunity to know a little bit more about his life and views.

Lango interview published in Acclaim

Lango interview published in Acclaim

COULD YOU TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT LANGO?
I grew up in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, where I started tagging at a very young age and was exposed to the skateboarding culture, punk rock, metal (Sarcofago), and was always hanging around older crowds. I had a few friends that were tattooers and they encouraged me to start tattooing, in spite of my hesitation. I started working at a tattoo shop as a counter person during the day and tattooed people at home.

Nice ink on neck by Lango

Nice ink on neck by Lango

WHAT IS THE CREATIVE PROCESS BEHIND YOUR WORK AS A TATTOO ARTIST, A PAINTER, OR A GRAFFITI ARTIST?
I use a different approach for each medium, but a lot of times it all clashes together. When I paint with oils or acrylics, I try to stay away from tattoo imagery. When I use water color, I work more with graphic tattoo related themes. My approach to tattooing is either graphic/traditional or very painterly, depending on the subject matter. With graffiti, I prefer letters over characters, but I also stay away from tattoo imagery when painting characters and look for a medieval or experimental character. My style focuses on old traditional and medieval imagery (skulls, dragons, snakes, witches, heraldic lurkers, etc.), and good old bio-mech.

Big graffiti mural by the artist

Big graffiti mural by the artist

AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS IN THE BUSINESS, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE WORLD OF TATTOO TODAY?
When I started tattooing, it was so hard to find information. It was like a secret world so whenever you learned something like making needles you knew that you learned something fundamental and that you had to master that also. I was lucky that I was accidentally around some of the best tattooers in Rio of that time. Nowadays, you can buy everything from home, and there are numerous TV shows related to tattooing. Thanks to those shows, every middle aged person that works into a tattoo shop brings some kind of wack reference, or sad story that has nothing to do with tattooing and expects to get a sleeve in two hours. What was so fascinating about tattoo was the fact that it was underground. Whoever was heavily tattooed was like a rebel, an outlaw. Now every poser has neck and hand tattoos before getting anything else.

Lango arm tattoo

Lango arm tattoo

MIKE GIANT
Interview with the US artist

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Mike Giant is a wonderful artist

Acclaimed worldwide for his prolific work in graffiti, illustration, design and tattoo, Mike Giant is one of the most complete artists of his generation.
After four years studying architecture, Mike Giant started drawing graphics for Think Skateboard in San Francisco, where he spent ten years securing his place in the world of art. It wasn’t until 1998 that he began his inking career, quickly spreading his unique and recognizable style through some of the most reputable shops in USA. Who said Mike “Giant”?
More about Mike.

Mike Giant sexy girls with punk tattoos

Mike Giant sexy girls with punk tattoos

YOU HAVE AN IMPRESSIVE BACKGROUND IN THE GRAPHIC DESIGN INDUSTRY, SO WHY DID YOU WAIT THAT LONG BEFORE STARTING YOUR TATTOO CAREER?
I was just waiting for the right teacher. I had seen the ugly side of tattooing early on, so I knew it would have to be just the right situation for me to get involved. I had been getting tattooed by Nalla in San Francisco in the mid 90s. He was working at Tattoo City then. We got to be friends, and then he bought East Side in NYC, and offered to teach me how to tattoo so I could go to NY and work for him there. At the time I was doing Photoshop and web work for an animation company in SF. I was looking for a new direction in my life, and it seemed like a reasonable next step.

Mike Giant graffiti

Mike Giant graffiti

HOW DOES THE PERMANENT ESSENCE OF TATTOO AFFECT YOUR APPROACH TO DRAWING, COMPARED TO ILLUSTRATION AND (EVEN MORE) GRAFFITI, WHICH ARE REALLY TRANSIENT BY NATURE?
I approach illustration and tattoo design from basically the same point. There are more limitations in skin, but the way I execute the idea to fruition feels the same. To me, the tattoo will last the life of the wearer, maybe 90 years? I’ve seen illustrations that are a few hundred years old. So what’s more “permanent” really? Graffiti is something I just do on the spot these days. I do it when it feels right. I don’t draw much graffiti at all anymore.

Mike Giant Scissors sexy girl

Scissors sexy girl

AS AN ILLUSTRATOR, YOU ARE FAMOUS FOR WORKING ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN BLACK AND WHITE, SO IS YOUR REALLY COLORFUL TATTOO STYLE A MATTER OF MEDIUM?
Yes, I’d be quite happy to only do black and grey tattoos. I’ve got nothing against color though. I have tons of color on my own body. But, I’m red and green color-blind, so I don’t see subtlety in tone and hue. Somehow that has worked to my advantage in the modern commercial art market. Tattoos need high contrast color schemes to hold up over time. Luckily, that works well with my simplistic sense of color.

mike giant skateboard girl

Skateboard girl

AFTER MORE THAN TEN YEARS LIVING AROUND THE WORLD, YOU FINALLY CAME BACK TO YOUR NATIVE CITY ALBUQUERQUE WHERE YOU OPENED A TATTOO SHOP (STAY GOLD). WAS THIS NEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENT AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR GROWING IDENTITY AS AN ARTIST?
Well, since I’ve been back here for a few years, I can see just how much of my identity is from this place. I feel comfortable here.
I love the sky, the clean air, the seasons, the food, the women, and the cheap living. It’s a good life. It feels good to make art that pays homage to this wonderful place in the world. And at times, I still feel a real bond with the Bay Area. I spent 10 formative years there. It really set the stage for what’s happening right now. I also see my time in London and New York as really important times in developing my identity as an artist.

Mike Giant eagle and snake

Eagle and snake fighting

FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS, YOU DID ALL THE ARTWORK FOR A CLOTHING COMPANY CALLED REBEL8. DO YOU CONSIDER THIS WORK LIKE ANOTHER WAY TO GET YOUR ART ON PEOPLE’S BODIES?
I’ve been drawing graphics for t-shirts for many years. I love graphic t-shirts. Always have. A few years ago, I was approached by my friend Josh to start an exclusive label. I had been doing a lot of illustrations for various companies, and he thought I had enough of a fan base to go solo. So we got the ball rolling and it’s been great ever since. We’re growing fast, and having a lot of fun. We’ve got some ill shit lined up for 2007.

DID YOUR SUCCESS AS A WORLDWIDE COMMISSIONED ILLUSTRATOR CHANGE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TATTOOING, AS YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT FOR ECONOMIC REASONS ANYMORE?
Yes, things have changed. I never thought I could earn more money doing freelance illustrations than tattooing, but that’s the current state. And frankly, I enjoy the time alone in my studio more than the time I spend at the shop now. It’s something I’ll continue to do for the rest of my life, but only on a select group of old friends, almost as a favor. I have a lot of love for tattooing. I respect it. It kicked my ass. I’m almost suited, and I still get excited to feel the sting. It’s just something I don’t need to do for a job anymore.

JAMES JIRAT PATRADOON
Interview with the Australian artist

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James Jirat Patradoon interview

Born in Thailand and raised in Sydney since the age of one, James Patradoon grew up exposed to the richness of both Asian and Aussie cultures.
Spending most of his childhood reading and drawing cartoons, he woke up one day as a teenager facing this terrible truth about his future: no matter the intensity of his passion for superheroes, he won’t ever become one of them. So what? Should he renounce without even trying? That’s not what a superhero would have done anyway, so James took his super pen, and decided to go further into his dream, helped along by his superpowers to create fantastic images.
More about James Jirat.

Double spread page interview

Double spread page interview of James Jirat Patradoon published in Acclaim magazine

SO, COMIC BOOKS LOOK LIKE AN OBVIOUS INSPIRATION FOR YOUR WORK…
I like to expose myself to a lot of imagery and stories. On top of reading a lot of comic books, I used to watch four movies a night. I would have insane dreams and my head would always be a swirl of lingering images that would inspire me to work. It is the way stories look and the way people interpret stories into images that interest me. I don’t know where I found the time to watch so many movies, screenprint, and write a thesis. I think I was tapping into some unknown dimension. I also read a lot of random books and so I’m always writing down quotes from movies and books to turn into artworks. I often come up with titles before I come up with images. I write a lot more than I draw.

James Jirat Patradoon photo portrait

James Jirat Patradoon photo portrait

WHERE DOES YOUR MASKED CHARACTER COME FROME?
It is an idea that snowballed that I haven’t really been able to articulate in a definitive way. The teenage vigilante you see in my work is a self-portrait. My work explores the idea of masculinity being made up of two halves: a normal, level-headed, nice side, and a violent, aggressive, dark side. Most of us are either one or the other, but a ‘real man’ can apparently balance both. I created this aggressive alter ego in my work that fights and bleeds so that together we can become a ‘real man’. I’m presenting the dark side of masculinity as a cartoon, because that is where young boys get most their ideas about definitions of masculinity. I’ve always been interested in how the fictional world can affect the real world, and in these works I look at how masculine identities we learn at a young age from fiction eventually get incorporated into our adult lives.

Mural huge painting

Mural huge painting by James Jirat Patradoon

NOW YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR ART DEGREE, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR YOUR FUTURE?
I get waves upon waves of people telling me I’m destined for a future of unemployment and financial ruin now that I have a fine arts degree, but I wouldn’t have done things any other way. When you think about an era in time you think about the art/music/photography of that time – I want to be a part of that cultural timeline and carve my own niche into it – I want to contribute to our grand narrative, even if it is a very small part. I’m not sure what to expect for the future, but I’ve always hoped that I could work from anywhere in the world, like a park bench in New York of a café in Barcelona and just upload artwork to clients. That’s the freedom that internet gives us, we should exploit it by working outside of the home or office, not being hostage to a cubicle.

Drawing by the Thai and Australian artist

Drawing by the Thai and Australian artist James Jirat Patradoon

WHAT DO YOU USUALLY DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT WORKING?
I have a part time job at DVD Store, so I’m usually there trying to save up money for a ticket back to Japan or to go to New York. When I’m not there I’m either hanging out in bookstores flicking through art/design books for inspiration or spending my nights staying up wasting my time one way or another, I have a sleeping disorder, I’m awake at the strangest hours.

Street art by James Jirat Patradoon

Street art by James Jirat Patradoon

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
At the moment I’m working on a series of gang inspired drawings, which I will turn into screenprints. The work is based on the aesthetic of movies like The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, Clockwork Orange, Young Guns and The Warriors. I’m really interested in the group identity that gangs present through their members and the way they look. I’m taking the idea of a superhero team and trying to find a point where fiction and reality crossover, it is about being part of something and defining yourself through a group rather than as an individual.

James Jirat Patradoon black and white artwork

James Jirat Patradoon black and white artwork