Artist Proof Interview with Artist: Josh Taylor

Global Location: US

URL: 
http://www.joshtaylorart.net

Shop: 
http://www.zazzle.com/joshtaylorart

Josh Taylor was born in New Jersey and continued his downward trajectory in hellish locales in up-state New York and North Carolina before honing his art skills at Pratt Institute. Upon earning his degree, he traversed the country, from California to Vermont, pursuing his art career. His fine art has appeared in galleries in LA, NY, Europe, and the Philippines, and has also been featured in various publications worldwide. Taylor’s current body of work focuses on the history, myths and legends of his “Gastonian Multiverse”, an odd ancient doppleganger reality where the very fabric of time and space is falling apart at the seams. He currently resides in Baltimore where he paints, pays for parking, and works on a series of graphic novels and web comic Bird & Girl.

AP: How long have you been making art for and what lead you to start?

JT: I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember. The oldest piece I have is a lovely finger-painting from 1982 that I did while learning to ski at Killington titled “Swoosh down the Mountain”. Comic books are what lead me to start getting serious about a career in Illustration though.

AP: Where do you currently  live and work ? And how does this influence your work?

JT: Good question… In the past 2 years I’ve lived and worked in California, Vermont, New Jersey, and Baltimore and will be living and working in Florida in about 2 weeks. I move around a lot… I suppose this keeps things fresh and gives me different influences that I weave into my work one way or another. 

AP: Did you have formal training if so what? If your self taught can you tell us what you prefer about being a self taught artist vs having formal training?

JT: Yes I had formal training. My art teacher in high School was superb and basically let me explore for my last 2 years and I went to Pratt institute for Illustration.

AP: Can you tell us about where you make your work is it in your house, a studio, etc… and how it effects your work?

JT:  I work alone in my room on a table in front of a computer while I watch Star Trek. 

AP: What are some of you favorite design projects/exhibitions you have worked on to date?

JT: My favorite show was my solo The Horrific Tale of the Tremendous Journey of Dingle Doppleganger in 2007 at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ. The paintings were all based on a story my friend wrote about characters I created. Sort of a creation myth for the world of Gastonia. I also really enjoy any shows I do with Distinction Gallery, especially if I can make it out there for the openings. They are good folks. 

AP: What is your medium of choice?

JT: Ink and acrylic. Lately i’ve been getting away from the acrylics and trying to get back to focusing on drawing and ink work.

AP: What is the relationship between technique and content in your work?

JT:  For my personal and gallery work the technique is the focus. The content is basically set as all this work pertains to the Gastonian Multiverse. This lets me focus on the technique and try to progress As far as other projects go, content determines the technique. If I’m illustrating a story about killer nazi samurais from the 11th dimension the technique is going to be vastly different from say, a story about a sad bunny rabbit learning life lessons from an anthropomorphic garden shears. 

AP: In what direction would you like to see your work going over the next five years?

JT: Comics, Comics, Comics. 

AP: What forth coming projects and or exhibitions do you have scheduled for 2011?

JT: I’m taking a little break from gallery shows in 2011 (or at least not doing every single one I’m offered), to focus on my comic and commercial work. I’ll be pitching a graphic novel version of my web comic Bird and Girl (birdandgirl.com) to publishers, I’m working on a children’s book, various other comic projects, and hopefully a few designer toys/resin casts of some of my more recognizable characters. 

AP: Take us on a guided tour through a day in your life as an artist.

JT: Ok. I will guide you with a numbered list.

 1. Wake up

 2. check emails

 3. Coffee

 4. Cigarettes 

 5. Coffee

 6. Cigarettes

 7. Coffee

 8. Cigarettes

 9.Procrastinate

 10. Eat

 11. Watch Star Trek or Old Wrestling and draw or paint till my eyes hurt 

 12. Eat

 13. Cigarettes

 14. Have trouble falling asleep

 15. Draw some more or stumble through pictures on the internet looking for things that are neat  so i can draw them

 16. Sleep

AP: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions.