draw. Illustrators, by virtue of having to communicate an idea, are far better draughts men that many artists can hope to be. The question being do they really want to draw well? Look at the shit on the walls at any gallery today – show me the craftsmanship or the thrill in the materials or the mastering of the skill. Illustrators HAVE to do it. Artists sell their half-baked attempts with a 5000 word “statement”. Fuck it.
dead yet, just resting. You recently took part in the “DRAWING SHOW” exhibition, including Garth Walker and Peet Pienaar. How did that come about? Was a surprise and an honour really, those guys are heavy weights with outstanding credentials. I felt a bit dirty when I got the call out the blue.
Does illustration influence your design work or is it visa versa? I think it’s all part of the package. Your personal work informs your professional projects – skills are developed in one and applied in the other.
Not sure how I got involved, but I’ve had work in a few shows and zines all over the place. I suppose the lesson being that you have to be out there in as many ways as possible.
Does your mom like your drawings…? Ha – not the messy ink purging. I think it’s hard to see the dark stuff from a parent’s point of view. Luckily I do a few wholesome things for mainstream media that I show her. Also, graphic design for corporates is nice and safe for moms. Your style is very loose yet economical… does this question mean anything or is it just complete bollox? It means dick, old chap.
Are you paying enough attention to your personal work? No, don’t think I ever did, but I’m not an artist in that sense either. I am a working designer who happens to draw on the side. All designers have aspirations of being taken seriously by galleries – perhaps that’s why we’re all bitter and pissy and say horrible things about artists? Is there life after death…? Well, there are those little creatures that hatch in your eye socket and feed off your corpse. Does that count?
Everybody has their influences, from who do you steal and is not ashamed to admit it? Everyone steals from anyone - everything is force-fed and puked up and fiddled with, like a little kid playing in it’s own faeces (no kidding, I apparently smeared my own shit on my bedroom wall. Nothing’s changed!). True originals were the cave dwelling plebs depicting hunting trips, girl trouble and the daily drag on a young earth. That was real – all we have now is re-runs. Can I please have me some popcorn? Has one of your drawings ever made you emotional? Yeah – I’ve broken pen nibs and splashed ink a drawing frenzy – if your work doesn’t affect you why bother? I suppose the question is do you do it for yourself or for others? When it’s all pretend and you’re trying too hard it will seem more like “work”. Coming back the nature of your personal work, besides the dark undertone, does your own disability contribute to the theme of the amputee’s and the helpless distorted naked figures brought forward by your pen? It may or may not – it might also be that it’s easier to draw stumps than anatomically correct hands all the time! Ha! But yes, I do think my stuff is influenced by several things – current social/political climate, the planet that we’ve reduced to a chunk of orbital debris screaming around the sun, the fragile human body; I’ve broken bones and teeth and had dislocations and fractures and sprains. A few scars here and there. It’s how we move through the fog that is life and the number of things we bump into that make us who we are. Fuck you, Freud! Do you find yourself drawing your naked body’s reflection in the mirror by candle light sometimes…? Only when I’m feeling romantic… What happened to your zine “Back Issue” and will it ever see the light of day again? Yeah, been thinking about it more lately – it’s been on the back burner (aka the old shelf behind me) for a while and I’ve been trying to decide on the direction it should take. It used to be a collection of sketchbook stuff, but now that I blog often it’s pretty much pointless. I think a deluxe screen printed version with more than a few random doodles might swing it. We’ll see – she’s not
Thank you
“PANGRAM.