BEST OF 2019 INTERVIEWS
the journal LevinLand’s
CHOR BOOGIE
Modern Hierogylphics
FRENCH
MIXED MEDIA ARTIST
Illustrators
INTERVIEW WITH:
ROLLI
WRITER, CARTOONIST, SATIRIST
BRUNO MALLART
A VERY FRESH ARTIST
JULIA SIDNEVA
COVER ART BY BRUNO MALLART
WENDY EDELSON MASTER KIDLIT ARTIST
JULIE MELLAN WARM & FUZZY ART
RHONDA VOO
ICE CREAM SHOE CREATOR
Front Cover Art : Andrea Aquino
Co-Publisher/Editor Gregg Masters
The Illustrators Journal/Winter
Editor/Writer Lori Hammond Publisher/Creative Director Lon Levin Contributing Writer Leslie Cober-Gentry "Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." — John Wooden
All the work depicted in this magazine are the property of the artists who created the work and cannot be used in any way without the expressed written permission of the publisher and artists.
JUST MY OPINION :BEST Publisher Lon Levin gives his explanation of "best" as in "What's best?" CHOR BOOGIE Graffiti master with heart of gold helps kids and others reach their goals while creating masterpieces BRUNO MALLART French artist extraordinaire whose work defies categories...he does it all. JULIA SIDNEVA Imaginative Russian artist Julia works in pencil, pen and water color to make her art come to life JOHN CUNEO We catch up with this energetic, always moving, incredibly talented artist whose work is seen and bought all over the world. ROLLI Born to think. Rolli is a poet, writer and artist who mixes insights, wit and delightful pen and ink art RHONDA VOO Visionary artist & accomplish designer, illustrator and sculptress "Voos" us with her brilliance JULIE MELLAN French illustrator Julie admits she's a Disney-lover. Her artwork reflects that influence and takes it a step further. WENDY EDELSON Wendy's kid lit artwork is traditional, warm and fuzzy and extremely appealing to children and adults alike
it's just
my opinion by Lon Levin
best /best/ of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality. I'm the best
I'm the best
I'm the best
they are financially set for life. But, not every one can be the best or succeed wildly. In fact most people don't. And a lot of those people who do succeed don't know how to manage all the success and ultimately lose it. So wait... why am I depressing you with this line of thought? Look, I've been there both as a rich man's son who saw his father die in debt and as a young man who couldn't manage success and money too well. When you are faced with challenges like losing all your money and/or losing your high paying job you discover what you are really made of and what is really important. So what does this have to do with being best at your choice of profession?
Illustration by Bruno Mallart
Is there a best? When we look to choose the best interviews of 2019 am I being fair? Is my judgement correct? Does it really matter? Well, yes it does and ultimately the interviews we choose to feature had something special and they embodied the mission of The Illustrators Journal. And it's our magazine and we get to choose so there you have it. Let's talk about this notion of being best. In the United States more than most countries being the best in your field of endeavor is the ultimate prize. After which, should come fame, fortune and happiness. There are people in all walks of life who chase the dream of being the best in their chosen field. The best doctor, the best lawyer, the best athlete and of course the best actor or actress. The notoriety that is generated from being crowned is substantial and if one plays their cards right
In sports there are measures of being the best, but that doesn't mean that the player with the most home runs in a season is the best player or it's possible that the MVP of the NBA is not necessarily the best player in basketball. What I mean is it is subjective. Want an endless argument? As any fan who the best basketball or baseball player of all time is. OK so you want to be the best illustrator, what does that mean? Highest paid? Most awards? How do you qualify that? For me it's not about being the best, but about setting goals and meeting them, if anything being the best you, you can be. And who decides that? Your boss, your client, Award shows, your nana.?.. No . You are the one who decides. If you've worked up to your potential and followed a well-designed plan you should be successful. You know if you've been your best, if you gave a project your all. That is all that matters. Everything else, while nice is just hardware.
r o h Coogie
B
like an artist,” she said. “So what do I do?” I asked. She replied “Paint anything you like. Paint yourself.” So I did and it was a big mash up of colors hence the colors I use today. She came back and asked how I liked it. I replied, “When I grow up I’m going to be an artist.” I was never really discouraged. I only received support from loved ones. The only discouragement is the state of the art world today. But I keep going because I love what I do, and nothing will dictate the flow of that except for me. What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I was a crazy kid. A daredevil, a very adventurous type. I still am. So I live “the kid within” at times. I grew up in Oceanside and Vista near San Diego. The place has its ups and downs as does any city. My influences back then up, until I started painting with spray paint, were comic book artists like Todd Mc Farlane, Rob Liefield, and Jim Lee; skateboard culture; and 80’s culture. Then, I explored the old masters like Salvador Dali, Michelangelo, and Gustave Klimt and contemporary masters of spray paint like Phase 2 ,Vulcan, and Riff 170.
"I was never really discouraged. I only received support from loved ones."
"Street Artists" are valuable to todays art culture. Most street artists operate in the dark...literally. One that does not is Chor Boogie. He is a master artist who wields an aerosol can like Michelangleo used his chisel or Van Gogh his brushes. His works appears in museums and galleries from San Diego to Switzerland. He is an American national treasure. - editor When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? When I was around 5 years old in Kindergarten my teacher said, “Do you want to play duck duck goose or do this activity over here…” I was interested in the activity. “So what is this activity?” I asked. “Painting
Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you? It was a little bit of both actually. It takes both nature and nurture in order to find out who you really are when it comes to originality, and then taking that creativity to new heights every time you create something. You do a lot of “street art” that seems to now have gone mainstream, How did that happen? Depends on what you consider mainstream.That actually could be a bad word within the genre. Even though I paint on the streets and on canvas, I’m even creative with my terminology when it comes to the genre of my artwork. Instead of “graffiti” or “street art,” I call it Modern Hieroglyphics, which is basically what this culture really is based off of.
"You are asking how did it go mainstream, and I’m just going to have to respond, “VERY CAREFULLY." We create stories, symbols, and images with meaning and context on any surface. Nothing wrong with the other terminologies, but as far as my work goes, that's where I push it. You are asking how did it go mainstream, and I’m just going to have to respond, “VERY CAREFULLY, it’s like playing a game of chess on this roller coaster ride called LIFE.”
What do you do to promote yourself and get work? Social media plays a role. Media plays a role in general, but usually when I’m painting on the street that's enough promotion to get the job done. Going out networking and schmoozing is alright and helps to get involved in things, but I think I put my name out their enough to where the promotion comes to me. So it’s basically a two way street and we have to meet in the middle. What’s the future hold for you? Any ultimate goal? I live for today, my friends. I’m not a psychic. I know it’s bright though... Always has been, always will be. Your sculpture seems to be more charged with satire than your paintings. i.e. the spray nozzles for nipples and the skull covered with what looks like lacquered money, etc. does the medium influence the message with you? It’s fun, and I always look for new avenues to create from. I make music as well and entertain the possibility of being a renaissance man like my ancestors.
"A true master never gives up all his weapons in his arsenal."
Bruno
MALLART Every now and then I come cross an artist who blows my mind. I literally feel like I'm an art archaeologist who has unearth a great talent whom I had no idea existed. Bruno Mallart is that artist. His vision and execution are superior and it makes me feel honored to have his interview in our magazine. During the process of asking Bruno questions I realized a translation may not capture the full meaning of his answers and because we are read by artists around the globe I decided to print his answers in English and French - editor When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? L’école ça n’était pas mon truc, mais le dessin me réussissait bien. Dans ma famille tout le monde est scientifique, de mes grand parents jusqu’à mes frères. Pourtant mes parents m’ont encouragé et j’ai toujours senti de l’admiration de leur part. Ils étaient vraiment sympas avec cette « petite brebis galeuse qui ne deviendra pas Docteur comme tout le monde ». Je m’imaginais devenir prof de dessin. Il faut dire que de mes yeux d’enfant, vivre du dessin, c’était l’enseigner ou crever la dalle (traduction: mourir de faim). Puis, à sà
l’école d’art j’ai découvert l’ampleur infinie des métiers artistiques. School was not my thing, but the drawing worked well. In my family everyone is a scientist, from my grandparents to my brothers. Yet, my parents encouraged me and I have always felt the admiration of them. They were really nice with this "little black sheep who will not become a doctor like everyone else".I imagined myself becoming a drawing teacher. It must be said that with my child's eyes, you teach or "you burst the slab" a French expression that means "starving to death". Then at art school I discovered the infinite scope of artistic crafts.
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? Je suis né à Paris. J’étais un enfant rêveur, du genre qui ne veut pas grandir. J’ai toujours gardé ce côté là, pas trop sérieux, aimant la facétie.Ma première vrai influence fut un peintre Allemand, Pierre Schmmidiger, qui habitait à côté de chez moi et chez qui je prenais des cours de dessin, je devais avoir 11
JULIA SIDNEVA WITH STYLE
"It was because of the big influence of the Polish illustration school that I finally found the way I want to develop my style. "
When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers? It is difficult to answer this question precisely, it seems that this idea was with me from birth. My most favorite children's entertainment is to be alone with papers and pencils. My Parents immediately appreciated this state of affairs, because I could entertain myself for hours on my own (laughs). And then everything is simple: every year I grew and changed, but my love for drawing remained unchanged, so neither I nor my family had any options. And it's silly not +to do your favorite thing and do something else.
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I grew up in Soviet Moscow in a normal quiet apartment area. I dreamed a lot, I thought that someone was living under the bed, I was bored at school. And for the whole summer I was sent to my grandmother in the village and there my favorite place was a huge pile of building sand in front of the house. It was possible to build entire cities and highways. I painted all the time, I made up small plots, ironic scenes, for a long time I wanted to become a multiplier. When it became clear that being a professional artist was inevitable, my parents sent me to art school. Most of all I was interested in the image of any living beings, their characters, dynamics. I remember well a still life with a stuffed crow, which almost no one could do, but I was delighted. My classmates asked me to help when the teacher left the classroom. I could not refuse them, and instead of drawing one crow, I drew a 5 or 6! But a really big influence on me was the education at Moscow University of Press. It was a time of real discovery! Elena Nenastina has become my main teacher, with whom I was already a wonderful friend.
John Cuneo Interview with
by Leslie Cober-Gentry WHO WERE YOUR GREATEST INFLUENCES IN ARRIVING TO YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS? In the course of a lifetime of looking around, the drawing influences just continue to accumulate don't they? So much so in fact that I sometimes lose sight of my own course while I"m being buffeted around by whoever's work I've recently become helplessly enamored of. I mean I get crushes. It's embarrassing. As a kid, I always drew, and I always preferred drawings to paintings in the books and and newspapers and magazines I was exposed to ( the only museum I ever visited as as child was in Central Park and had stuffed animals and a giant whale hanging in it). So, it was those artists who drew black and white pictures on a page, surrounded by type - that's all I knew, and that's what got me off; E H Shepard's Wind in the Willows and Pooh stuff, Garth William's Stuart Little ,John Tenniel's Alice pictures.
YOUR SHAKY LINE WORK IS EXTRAORDINARY. PLEASE ELABORATE ON HOW YOU DEVELOPED IT Someone will occasionally mention that "shaky" thing, and honestly I'm not all that aware of it. I try and hold my pen rather loosely , I suppose that's partly to blame.I went through a long stretch making heavily cross hatched advertising illustrations in a style that owed a lot to the mostly European pen and ink guys I saw in the Times and certain magazines. They were doing gorgeous, ponderously metaphor-heavy drawings to represent big, serious concepts like war, famine and dictatorship. I was doing dumb drawings for bank ads. My imitative efforts were almost robotically mechanical in their lifelessness , as if drawn by an angrily clenched fist in a very cold room. Maybe my slightly "wandering" line today is in rebellion to those efforts. Maybe it's an apology. Btw, I'm not sure at what age I first saw your father's art ( the great Alan Cober); but his work , his loose, eccentric line, how he made his marks and decisions in progress on paper- it was profoundly important to me.A kind of permission to think about drawing in an entirely different way.
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 As a kid,  I always drew, and I always preferred drawings to paintings
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ROLLI by Lon Levin
I grew up on the Canadian prairies. Roughly in the middle of nowhere. On a little farm, a grain farm. Wheat fields, flax fields. I was asthmatic, not much help to anyone, and left mostly to my own devices. As children will, I made my own fun. Drawing, reading, daydreaming… I lapsed into imagination.
I’m not sure what influenced me and what didn’t, but I’ve always enjoyed old school cartoonists like Chaz Addams and James Thurber. Cartoonists are a dime a dozen, but stylists are rare birds. Dodos, almost. The first poet I loved was Poe. He’s still a favorite. I like Shakespeare quite a bit. And Agatha Christie.
Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you? It reminds me a lot of John Lennon’s work. Any connection there? When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?
I don't know. Somehow it turns out that such images arise in my head. It will be necessary to go to the doctor.
I didn’t begin to draw in earnest, or write, until my mid-twenties. This was during a long convalescence. I was a scribbler before that, a practiced doodler - - - and many other things, besides. I don’t remember ever receiving a word of encouragement. As I’ve always written (and drawn) to please myself, that didn’t dissuade me. If teachers saw potential in me - - - perhaps they did - - they kept it to themselves.
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I was a solitary child. A daydreamer. A manufacturer of mischief. I haven’t changed much, I don’t think.
I’m not deliberate. Not about anything. Intuitive. I’m an intuitive person. For better or worse, my style is a natural one, and my own. I like Mr. Lennon’s music very much. The Beatles, very much. The White Album - - - that’s a good one. I don’t know much about his artwork, I’m afraid. I’ll look into it.
I