Artist Proof: Milica Aćimović is a 25 years old philologist from Belgrade (Serbia). She is very passionate about the art of words, but visual and performing arts have been following her since she was a child. She started taking dance classes at a primary school folklore dance group at the age of 8. Fifteen years later and after countless performances around Morocco and Europe (France, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Greece, Ukraine), she had to finish her folklore dancer career. Nevertheless, she couldn’t give up just like that. Now she’s dancing again, as an Irish step dancer at Erin’s Fiddle troupe in Belgrade.

Considering visual art, she’s entirely self-taught - a true experiment in progress. She got interested in digital art for the first time in 2004 and hasn’t stopped ever sinnce. Her work consists of illustrations and matte works covering wide range of themes, focusing mostly on portraying emotions.

AP: What plays a bigger role in your artwork, where you live now? or where you were raised as a child?

Milica: Whole my life I’ve been living in Belgrade and that surely affected my work. But, during my childhood I’ve been fortunate… blessed to spend summers at the country side. People there live less stressfully and the energy they have is something I’ll be always carrying within me. Who knows, maybe one day I find myself having a cozy home at a country side.

AP: Describe your artistic style in 5 words or less.

Milica: Experimental, romantic, symbolic, reflecting

AP: What inspires your art?

Milica: It can be anything that makes a strong impression on me. For example a book, or a song, particular verses, or people I meet. There’s always certain something that finds a way to my subconscious mind that has to be reflected through my work, sooner or later.

AP: Do you remember your first experience of making art.

Milica: Wow, I do, and it was long time ago. I think I was three or so. I remember I drew man and a woman holding hands. Two stick-figures but we all have to start from somewhere. :D

AP:  What was your most recent experience of making art?

Milica: Recently, all I’ve been doing is sketching. It’s a perfect practice when you don’t have time to do complex, detailed works. That way, you don’t lose the “rhythm” so, when you get time for something more complex, it’s easier to apply what you learned while sketching.

AP: Whose art are you digging right now? Who do you want to give a shout out to?

Milica: I have to mention two artists because it would simply be a blasphemy if I mention only one of them. They are Jace Wallace and Lois van Baarle.

AP: What are some art related things that you can’t live without? Tools of the trade, events etc.

Milica: Art wise, I don’t know if there’s a thing I can’t live without. Even if all is taken from me (tools or whatever), nobody can take away my urge to create.

AP: What motivates you to get out of bed every day and create art?

Milica: Earth itself is exciting enough, all other motives come as a bonus.

AP:  Do you listen to music when you work? If so, name a few of the tunes you rock out to.

Milica Most of the time I do but I get so carried away that I actually don’t hear what I’m listening to. Yet, on my playlist there’s always something neo-classical, metal, Celtic, also there are movie/game soundtracks, cartoon tunes and some gems from 80s and 90s.

AP: When you aren’t making art, what do you like to do? What are some of your obsessions or hobbies?

Milica: Actually, arts are my hobbies (whether it’s painting or dancing). I live in a country where these forms of expression are highly underrated and/or underappreciated. So, that’s what I do in my free time. Or I go out and grab every possible moment to spend some time surrounded by nature.

AP: As an artist what are your thoughts on social media and the internet?

Milica: Both of them are tools so it all depends of how one uses them. I believe internet is, at the moment, the freest media of all, compared to newspapers, magazines, television etc, because we’re still able to see or hear what common (or less common) people do. Art wise or not. For me, it was like a window to the world, especially world of art.

AP: If you had the ability to time travel, what advice would you have for the artists of the future?

Milica: To never lose touch with their humanity.

AP: Tell us something about yourself that Google doesn’t know about (yet).

Milica: I’m 5’4” tall.

 You can check out Milica Aćimović’s Artsprojekt stre here

Artist Proof: In 1998 when Camilla d’Errico attended her first San Diego Comic-Con she realised that a 9–5 day job would kill her and this was what she wanted to do. She had an early addiction to Saturday morning cartoons, comics and manga when she was young. She was also that girl in class that was doodling sexy damsels & dragons on her textbooks rather than reading them.

Camilla’s unique style continues to be in demand and her client list includes Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Random House, Tokyopop, Hasbro, Disney, Sanrio, Neil Gaiman and she also works with video game and movie companies on character development. Her emotive and eloquent paintings have propelled her to the top of the ranks of the New Contemporary art movement, and she is represented by Opera Gallery of New York.

Camilla was kind enough to answer our questions even though she is super busy, as she preppares for this years Comic-Con which happens next week.

Artsprojekt: What’s your take on the life cycle of an idea from birth to growth and finally to death?

Camilla d’Errico: It’s such a natural part of the creative process, but a frustrating one. We have to understand our ideas and what will work and what won’t. I have a sketchbook full of ideas that are fun, but not perfect for the theme that I wanted to express. When an idea does move forward, it has to be nurtured and given its own room to grow. Anytime I’ve started a drawing or a painting, I let it dictate its own path and went with it as it took shape. I’ve never imposed on an idea as it was growing, because that would probably be the death of it!

AP: Your work often has a romantic, love and lost feel. You openly state that you are a hopeless romantic. What is the relationship between literature, painting and romance?

Camilla: There are many kinds of expressions in art, but I think that none strike us quite as much as romance. Literature is also riddled with story archetypes, but the most moving and memorable are all based on love. This I cannot help but to see as a red string that binds the fate of art and literature. We long for a love that would move the stars, and with this love we create romance in consequence. Its a tireless theme that we hunger for.

Manga is evidently an important part of your art. It is also a phenomenon that has a huge following and impact in art, publishing and culture. What art form today has the same kind of momentum?
The expression of characters and emotions is hard to see in many other forms of art, and what is so difficult to recreate for others comes so easily to Manga. They’ve truly captured the essence of humanity in their stories, regardless if they are transforming girls in tutus or basketball playing high schoolers. They can see the soul of the character and express that to the audience. To compare this to any other and find a second place is hard, but I would say that there are those within the art world that are also capturing the hearts of people with their works. The lowbrow, pop surrealist, new contemporary, new figurative, urban movement have some painters that seek out those emotions and capture them. It can be a tangled mess to find them but is a beauty there that might just catch your eye and also touch your emotional strings.

AP: Has it been difficult for you to ‘make it’, as a female artist? What was the greatest challenge?

Camilla: The foremost challenge of being a female artist is that people might think our art is only for women. There are different challenges in the different genres, as a comic book/manga creator I was openly accepted by my peers. The industry hungered for more women, it reached out for the female sensibility. As a painter, it was not a matter of hurdles to jump, but rather the challenge of being seen as having my own voice. The world of art compares artist vs. artist, so the challenges were to never be compared  to another woman but to pioneer my style beyond gender.

AP: What has been the most important aspect in your artistic journey?

Camilla: To be unique and to be myself. There is an invisible pressure to create art that “everyone” will like. I create art that expresses who I am and my artistic individuality. Its no fun to want to be someone you aren’t, and so I strive to create art that pushes my creativity and themes.

AP: Your art has been classified by art movement, style, etc. Do you agree with these classifications and staying within their ‘lines’ or do you think they are unnecessary and that the most important thing is to paint, draw, and create art as Camilla d’Errico?

Camilla: This answer comes from someone caught in the middle of classifications. To me, genres help define the style and give people a place to search and categorize likes and dislikes. Having said that, to be placed in a category and subsequently dismissed for being in that imposed classification is difficult.
I often hear from people that they don’t normally like manga” but they like my art. So I can only hope that people will like my art because they simply like it, and disregard categories. Maybe that’s why people are often surprised when they like my work, because I’m trying to break out of the classification box!

AP: As an artist who has done a lot of merchandise and licensing, how would you answer the dreaded question of ‘selling-out’?

Camilla: The “selling out” question is a very fine line for an artist, but the difference in the answer is in the mindset, in the question of “why”. Why do I do licensing and why do I make merchandise? I absolutely adore merchandise, I find it hugely fun to see my art as a business card holder, or taken and transformed by an artisan into beautiful necklaces. Even when working with larger companies and creating a more mainstream product, I have to love it, and work with companies that share my philosophy. I enjoy sharing my art with many people, and merchandise is the best way to do that, the most varied and the most fun. When it’s not fun anymore then I’ll stop making products. As an artist also, it’s almost a must now to be your own brand. At the end of the day, everything I create has my signature style; it’s recognizable as being “me”, and I can take that across merchandise so that more and more people know that “me” and if they love it, they might be so inclined to visit my website, or my Faceboook or Deviantart and learn more about me and my art. It’s a way of reaching out to as many people as possible and sharing my vision and hopefully also inspiring others.

AP: You are a very outgoing person, which is unusual for an artist. How do you deal with the fans, the conventions, the panels, and the constant public interaction? How important is that for an artist?

Camilla: I really love interacting with fans and people at conventions, which is really contrary to who I am in my everyday life. I’m not as social as one might think, I have a core group of friends and I lead a quiet life with my boyfriend. But when I’m in a situation like a panel or an art show there is this energy that just buzzes from everyone sharing a common interest and passion. I really love talking to other artists and budding comickers, we share stories and they want to hear what I have to say, and we all learn from each other.

Secretly though, I get nervous every time I do a panel or at the beginning of convention, I’m not immune to the stomach butterflies ;)

AP: Please share with us what a day in the life of Camilla d’Errico is like.

Camilla: Everyday is different, but normally I wake up and have breakfast, then I’m on the computer checking my email and Facebook - you know, all those lovely web media related things.  Then my religious activity is to drink my cup of tea while watching an episode of an anime; sometimes it’s a series I follow, and sometimes just a random one that I find online. It’s always good to be inspired in the morning.

After this little eye candy, I start working on my comics. Right now I’m focusing on Tanpopo #3, though its never just one project I have on the go but a couple. Sometimes I miss lunch because I can get tunnel vision work where I forget to eat, other times my stomach rules me completely.

I’m very lucky because once the later afternoon rolls around I get to take another break and go for a jog on the seawall of Vancouver. It’s beautiful, when it’s not raining, and gives me a great reason to get out and enjoy the fresh air.

Then its back to drawing or painting until dinnertime comes around. My life is all about comics, painting and eating! I don’t live a very exciting life, but I do live a fun one.

You can check out Camilla d’errico’s Artsprojekt store here

Artist Proof: Albert Montoya is a 27 year old artist and web designer from Las Vegas, NV and is currently attending the Art Institute of Las Vegas. He prefers acrylic & ink as his weapons of choice and on his free time you can catch him on TheArtillerist.com updating interviews and links.

Artsprojekt: Please give us a brief intro about yourself, your art and where you are currently located.

Albert Montoya: Well, ever since I could lift a pencil, art has pretty much been a prominent part of my life. I grew up in Yuma, Arizona where I spent my childhood mostly solo, creating my own daily comic strip which I drew and distributed to my friends and family. After high school, I moved to Las Vegas to attend the Art Institute and have been here since where I paint from my home studio amongst my collection of skulls, birds, antique toys, and other miniature inspirations.

AP: What plays a bigger role in your artwork, where you live now? or where you were raised as a child?

Albert: Neither. I’m not a product of my environment.

AP: Describe your artistic style in 5 words or less.

Albert: Whimsical, seductive, charming and alluring.

AP: What inspires your art?

Albert: Everything and anything including alchemy, the nature of bees, robots, and politics, have all found their way into my previous pieces.

AP: Do you remember your first experience of making art.

Albert: Besides growing up with coloring books, my first real experience with art was in the 4^th grade. In class we had to lay on huge pieces of construction paper, have a classmate trace the outline of our bodies, and then finally draw a life sized self-portrait. I remember my piece was bright orange, and I drew myself as a cowboy. Thinking back, it was actually really fun and interesting to think about how we each perceived ourselves at such a young age.

AP: What was your most recent experience of making art.

Albert: My ritual goes as follows: come home after a long day of working in the Las Vegas summer temps of 110 degrees, wished my wife off to work as I proceed to tame two wild little monsters (also known as my 2 and 7 year old sons,) keep them busy as long as I can with movies and snacks as I unwind with a glass full of ice cold vodka and whatever mixable substance found in the fridge, then sat in front of a beautiful piece of hand cut and sanded wood awaiting to be painted on. This is my life, rewind, then repeat.

 AP: Who’s art are you digging right now? Who do you want to give a shout out to?

Albert: I’ve always dug film maker and animator Blu (blublu.org) and Las Vegas locals and friends of mine, Mike and Dasha Biggs. (www.causticimagery.com)

AP: What are some art related things that you cant live without? Tools of the trade, events etc.

Albert: The internet, India ink, music—I’m set.

AP: What motivates you to get out of bed every day and create art?

Albert: The thought that artwork lives on, even when you’re long gone.

AP: Do you listen to music when you work? If so, name a few of the tunes you rock out to.

Albert: I can’t paint without my music. I have several playlists I’ve compiled just for painting. I listen to a lot of Radiohead, and as of lately Broken Bells.

AP: When you arent making art, what do you like to do? What are some of your obsessions or hobbies?

Albert: Besides creating art, I also have a passion for creating music and web design.. with an occasional dabble in tattooing.

AP: If you had the ability to time travel, what advice would you have for the artists of the future?

Albert: Don’t let technology ruin your imagination.

You can check out Albert’s Artsprojekt store here

Artist Proof: Kim Herbst is a freelance illustrator who relocated to San Francisco, CA from Brooklyn, NY. She’s half Chinese and grew up with a pair of stone fu-dogs in her living room. Kim attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and graduated with a BFA in illustration. As a game artist, she has created designs and flash animations for companies such as Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and Mtv. She currently works full-time creating designs and animations for applications used on social networks such as Facebook.

 

Artprojekt: Please give us a brief intro about yourself, your art and where you are currently located.

Kim Herbst: I’m an illustrator originally from the East coast. I went to school at the Maryland Institute College of Art for Illustration and then lived a bit in Brooklyn before coming out west to San Francisco for a new job.  I do artwork and Flash animations for games on Facebook as my full-time gig, then do illustrations and graphic design in any of my fleeting spare moments of time.

AP: What plays a bigger role in your artwork, where you live now? or where you were raised as a child?

Kim: Definitely where I was raised as a child. My mom’s Asian heritage really slips into my work stylistically.

AP: Describe your artistic style in 5 words or less.

Kim: Organic Graphic Novel.

AP: What inspires your art?

Kim: Human beings. We’re such complex, crazy things, affected by everything around us.

AP: Do you remember your first experience of making art.

Kim: I definitely remember drawing a lot, as early as age four. Arts and crafts in pre-school. My mom also doodled a lot and I wanted to draw like her.

AP: What was your most recent experience of making art.

Kim: I’m currently working on a show that will be in LA. It focuses on three films from the 1980s.  I also create artwork and Flash animations everyday for my full-time job in the web-games industry.

Artsprojekt: Who’s art are you digging right now? Who do you want to give a shout out to?

Kim: I love my former classmate’s work, Ray Jones. His brushwork always makes me shiver. Also Yoko Furusho, I had the pleasure of seeing her artwork in the same show as mine this past weekend!

AP: What are some art related things that you cant live without? Tools of the trade, events etc.

Kim: My 11”x6” wacom tablet, definitely. I use it every single day. I love checking peoples illustration blogs, sketches, artbooks, anything I can get my sights or hands on from people I’ve known in college, or my idols.

AP: What motivates you to get out of bed every day and create art?

Kim: My paycheck.  Ah, I kid, I kid. I create artwork because I feel I have to. If I don’t, my hands seem worthless or useless. They actually feel like they itch if I haven’t made anything. It’s sort of compulsive at this point, I guess. I’ve gotten to the point that if I don’t draw, I feel guilty for some reason.

AP: Do you listen to music when you work? If so, name a few of the tunes you rock out to.

Kim: I listen to really weird, various things. If I’m really in the zone, I listen to nothing at all which some find insane. Depending on my mood, I can go from the Beatles, or Zoe Keating, to anything popular at the moment(on the radio), or Japanese or Korean pop stars. Pandora and Grooveshark have become good friends of mine.

AP: When you arent making art, what do you like to do? What are some of your obsessions or hobbies?

Kim: I like writing but that ends up tying into creating artwork (for potential graphic novels etc), so I guess playing video games seems to be a hobby of mine now. I also enjoy cooking and baking to get my mind off of things!

AP: As an artist what are your thoughts on social media and the internet?

Kim: I think the majority of people have only stumbled across my work via only the internet. It’s a love-hate relationship between us. I love that people can find my work and enjoy it. I hate that people can potentially take my work and use it where ever they want, even with explicit warnings not to.

AP: If you had the ability to time travel, what advice would you have for the artists of the future?

Kim: Don’t forget how to draw with a pencil, if you do digital work. Dabble back into the traditional, old-tried-n-true artisan works. It makes you grow stronger as a person.

AP: Tell us something about yourself that Google doesn’t know about (yet).

Kim: I used to draw all over the backs of my math-tests in middle-school.  When done with the test, I’d flip the paper over and there was a blank sheet of paper in front of me, so what else could I do? I had one teacher who grabbed them if she felt I wasn’t paying attention, crumbled up the paper, and then tossed them in the wastepaper basket to ‘set an example.’ I started drawing inconspicuously on the backs of worksheets and tests after that.

You can check out Kim Herbst’s Artsprojekt store here!

Artist Proof: Roger Allen aka Crooked Walker is a graphic designer, wrter, and awesome photographer based in Vancouver. His work has appeared in numerous publications such as ADBUSTERS, Capital, Color, Ion, Style, Vorn and even my favorite VICE magazine! Recently he exhibited work in the touring exhibitions ‘A Rolling Perspective and Smile on Your Brothers as well as showing his work in exhibitions across North America.

Artsprojekt: What inspires your art?

Roger Allen: Crooked Walker designs are a reflection of over twenty years of skateboarding and the culture it defines and borrows from. In 1991, I started creating illustrations for West Beach. From that experience, I gained more confidence and continued to tackle larger goals, such as being part of a small team that created The Ladner Skatepark, achieving a Bachelor of Design degree from ECUAD, working as a lead artist at Electronic Arts, and launching my own photo and design sites. I currently work as a freelance illustrator/writer/graphic designer, as well as the in-house graphic designer for the Arts Club Theatre Company. Some of my interests include skateboarding and collecting books illustrated by Edward Gorey.

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

RA: I am open to all techniques as I have had exposure to everything from printmaking to creating normal maps for PS3 textures. I do enjoy combining traditional methods like actually drawing with paper and photography with film with computer applications.

AP: Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey

RA: When I was a kid there was no such thing as color copier so I would take my older brothers records photocopy the sleeves and then colour them in with pencil crayons. I then would wallpaper my room with the coloured copies, people would often comment on how cool they looked and this inspired me to start drawing on T-shirts; which I began wearing to school.

I find the hardest part of creating art is coordinating with people. In the past I used to create hundreds of images of people in specific places but as I get older I tend to be more solitary in my process. My latest project was based on my history in skateboarding and specifically baseplates. This project was used for the cover of Color Magazine issue 6.6 “My initial thought for this project was to find a way to show how skateboarding has made an impression on me. While exploring this idea, I discovered I have more to say about how I have literally left an impression on skateboarding. When skating, the board should feel like an extension of the body. With experience, the skater knows to try and land with his feet over the bolts that connect the trucks to the deck. By doing this, he will know instantly whether he is going to wipe out or keep on riding. The baseplates of the trucks take the full impact and leave an impression of the day’s skating. The impression I have made from the baseplates are a record of every bail and every victory that has been inflicted on that specific board. I have been skateboarding for over twenty years and the impressions left by my trucks display a history of my life. My age, travel, interests, and how I skateboard, have all been charted in these prints.

My first skateboard came with slalom trucks. What made the most sense back then was to roll down hills with them. The nearest incline to my parent’s house was a ramp that lead up to the courthouse. People in cuffs and others in suits would be forced to jump out of the way, as my friends and I spent hours doing coffins and catamarans down the ramp. Skateboarding was so far off the radar; the cops never kicked us out. The slightest shift in weight would cause the trucks to turn sharply making them unpredictable (wiping out was half the fun). We later graduated to bombing hills in a near by town. The crummy bolts I had holding my trucks had to cope with ridiculous amounts of strain, since the increased speed caused massive vibration and the need to slide out of every corner. The history recorded on those baseplates is one of power slides, speed wobbles, and nervous laughter

Trucks increased in size in the mid eighties to match the new board shapes. The larger hanger of the newer trucks was perfect for grinding. I wore through coppers, right down to the axles of a few pairs of Indys on the local unpainted curbs. Skating home from school at dusk, Zorlac graphics, pivots on curbs, high school sessions, going for the lip at the East Van bowls, and the distant calls of “skaters suck!” are gauged into those baseplates.

Wheels, boards and trucks became very small in the early nineties. It seemed like every week I was severely twisting my ankle. I was traveling to places like The Res, Ape Shit, Blood Banks, New Spot, Art Gallery, and the Ladner Skate Park (the park I later helped to create) constantly. Skating for me was all about banks, flipping and manuals. The strain of attempting fakie heel flip variels over and over caused the trucks holes to shatter. Focusing boards, broken arms, skating by myself, avoiding security guards, fitted khakis & white t-shirts, and learning to catch it clean are all stomped into those baseplates.

My history has continued to be written in the 2000’s on technically built trucks and boards. Rediscovering how much fun it is to just be on a skateboard, rolling around hitting everything and utilizing aspects of all my experiences on a board, is what it’s all about now. I know my history will continue to be imprinted on my baseplates because, just like when I was a kid, I still daydream about the streets and doing the grind, sticking the manual, clearing the channel and catching the flip.

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

RA: 1. Like most people, for me every day starts in the shower. Mornings can be tough as I usually stay up late. I like finding invigorating shampoos and soaps to wake me up.

2. I love all the product packaging found in grocery stores. I seem to be constantly ducking into corner shops searching for some new strange item and checking out the weird font treatments on cracker boxes. I never leave a store without buying some form of energy drink—often I don’t even know why. Am I addicted to them?

3. My first computer was a Commodore Vic 20. I was 11. By the next summer I was at a computer camp obsessively trying to learn how to create video games, and it was a dream come true to later work as a lead artist at Electronic Arts. How video games continue to push boundaries amazes me. There has never been a time when video games were not a big part of my everyday life. 

4. Every day I work on just about every form of print material, from logos to bridge banners. The heavy workload can be really chaotic so I try to keep my desk uncluttered and organized. It’s also important to me to have some references to things that make me happy.

5. I attended Emily Carr, on Granville Island BC Canada, for seven years—three for fine arts and four for communication design. And now the studio I work at is also on Granville Island. I love all the paths that cut through the surrounding condos toward it. Every day I try to take a different route and most of the time I stop at the island’s b-ball court, an often overlooked and non-touristy corner.

6. When I was a little kid I would make mix tapes from the records that my older brothers owned. While listening to the music, I loved looking at the covers and reading the liner notes. I recognized right away that records were important and I started collecting them as soon as I could. Recently, I’ve been digitizing the rare stuff on a vinyl-to-MP3 record player, and the memories have come back.

7. Ever since receiving my first set of Micronauts, when I was 10, I have been collecting pop culture toys. I can be found daily scanning collector sites for rare Frankenberry, Snoopy, and still-in-the-box Baron Karza figures. Over the last seven years, I have been buying a lot of Be@rbricks; it’s awesome how many different ways the same shape can be presented.

8. Last summer I decided to face my fear of deep water and I enrolled in beginners’ swimming classes at Vancouver’s Kits outdoor pool. At the end of the three-week program, I still couldn’t swim, so this year I was really determined to learn. Three more weeks in the pool and now I can swim…kinda.

9. My wife and I love to cook, late night dinners and then reading in bed is how we prepare for the next day

AP: Where can we find you work?

RA: My work has appeared in Adbusters Magazine, Artsprojkt, Color Magazine, Capital Magazine, CBC Radio 3 website, Ion Magazine, Playstation Magazine, Vice Magazine and photo book, and Vorn Magazine. Recently, I exhibited work in the touring exhibitions A Rolling Perspective, and Smile On Your Brother, Stoked Mentoring, and soon to be One Way or Another

Check out Roger Allens Artsprojekt Store!!

Artist Proof: Inaki Gonzalez aka Kakolak is an awesome French artist/designer based in Anglet - Land of The Bask. He works currently as an art curator & graphic designer with a French agency for the last 7 years. He studied for 5 years at the Fine Arts School in Rennes (France) during 5 years.

1)What inspires your art?

My creations are inspired by all I’ve seen during my studies in fine art school. And I think my pasion for comics and anime adds another perspective and another way of thinking in relation to my work So everything inspire me, the things I see, the things I smell, the things I hear, the people i meet, the project I’m working on. For sure, fine arts and contempory art inspire me a lot, but graffic design also. I love to analyze artwork in photoshop magazines, love to see post-prod effects, animations.

2)What is the relationship between technique and content in your work?

An instinctive relationship I think. Sometimes the content doesn’t need a complicated technique, or the complicated technique ruin the content.
The fact is to always step back to make the good the technique choice compared to the project.

3)Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey

The First experiences in making something with a pen, were with my dad. During that period I was totally  immersed in the dinosaure frenzy. I make drawing of all the dino that I’ve seen in the books. I clearly remember this time !

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4)Describe your most recent experience of making art.

I begin by choosing a theme. Then I fed me with different approach allready made. Make some questions about it. After,I take my pencil and I throw these things out of my head on the paper. I collect ideas, I shape them, enough to drive me crazy, Then, I start drawing shapes and paterns for my new work, and convert them in vectored or pixelated images.
 

5)Take us on a guided tour through a day in your life as an artist

Have a cup of coffe, switch on this computer, lost my mind in the muddled conscience of the web, go back to earth, take my pencil and try to create something new, something that I want to show to others.
Visit my portfolio to see that things that I want to show : http://visualkakophonie.blogspot.com

> Check out Kakolak’s Artsprojekt store here <

 

TvBoy x Artsprojekt Interview!

Artsprojekt: Who in the world is TV Boy?

Tvboy: Tvboy is both my artistic nickname and the name of my main character. I was born in Palermo on 1980 and moved to Milan where he was very young.  My father was a painter so I started drawing as a child.  I studied illustration at the Fine Arts Faculty of Bilbao (Basque Region) and graduated in Industrial Design at the Milan Polytechnic. Since 4 years  I’m living in Barcelona Spain where I settled my own studio which works mostly on art and design projects. In 1996 i started painting graffiti motly in the streets of Milan and Italy first with the classic wildstyle pieces then since 2003 with the image of the “tv headed character” both with sprays, wheat pasted posters and landslide of stickers. The idea behind character born  while I started working as designer: as I used to spend several hours in front of a computer screen  I started naturally to figure out and doodle this small child with his head trapped in a screen.  Tvboy sounded good and it almost reminds me of our generation, grown-up watching cartoons. Tvboy also conveys a message: “switch off the tv, you’re the protagonist!”

AP: How does your creation of graphic imagery and visual communications cross over with the fine art world?

T: “TV Boy” is the pseudonym of the Italian artist Salvatore Benintende. His visual style is inherited from Pop Art, Surrealism and the world of Comics, with breezily expressive characters and his own imaginative reworking of past icons. The baby with the face inside the Tv set, his alter-ego and hallmark, carries the message: “Switch it off,you’re the one on stage!”.  Born in Palermo, Italy, in 1979. He grew up in Milan, where he broke into the art world via graffiti since 1996. After studying painting and illustration at the University of Bilbao in Spain, he graduated in Milan in Industrial Design, specializing in graphic art. His fresh ideas for images have already landed him prestigious commissions including: Hp, Smart, FIAT, Mini, Inoxcrom, Nescafè. He has put together shows in several galleries and been involved in street events worldwide, he also has collaborated as designer with famous international brands. He currently works in Barcelona where he runs his own navy-studio. 



AP: Does this make TV Boy an artist, a brand or both?

T:  Actually I feel more an artist then a brand…  Street art leads me to improve skills and also produce artworks in the studio so in a natural way my art carrer started in 2004  with the firsts exhibitions. Since three years I had the opportunity of exhibiting my works in different countries such as Switzerland, Denmark, Lebanon, Spain, Italy and also Cuba (and next year i’mm planning a 4 months stay in N.Y. crossed fingers ^:*) Traveling is very important for an artist and I had good feedbacks from those exhibitions. even though my representing galery is settled in Rome, Italy  it is called “Co2 Contemporanery Art” www.co2gallery.com
I started realizing i could make a career out of my art in 2006 when I had two lucky exhibitions one In the Pabillon of Contemporary Art of Milan and the other in Verona at Byblos Art Gallery.

Anyhow as I started to work as an artist and exhibiting regulary in galleries, I felt like I was losing something by the way. The art system is based on the concept of elitysm, only one rich person can own an original piece, and for the art system  is  better the artist to be unknown by common people. So I decided to open TVBOY®STUDIO:  a company based in Barcelona, Spain and Milan, Italy that operate in the field of graphic design, illustration and product licensing of art related merchandise. It was founded on the belief that art should communicate with a wider range of people than the elite who use to visit art galleries and museums and can afford buying expensive pieces. That was the main reason of my design & licensing activity: to have  products available at a lower price for anyone.  TVBOY®STUDIO also  landed me prestigious commissions including: Hp, Smart, FIAT, Mini, Inoxcrom, Nescafè. This lead to the opening of the brand TVBOY®CLOTHING 2 years ago, some of the designs of our first 2 collections are already available on my Artprojekt page check it at http://shop.thetvboy.com

AP:  Who are the up and coming talents as well as your peers that are emerging at the moment?

T: In the street art field  definitely Blu (www.blublu.org) a guy from Bologna, Italy  that is conquering both the streets and the art world with his huge  wallpaintings and his animation project Muto.
Also My friend of Jacopo Perfetti and the street artis “Ivan” of “Art Kitchen” http://www.artkitchen.it an art agency based in Milan are doing a great work and are supporting my art and helping me with the exhibitions’ managment.



AP: . Please make a short video of a day in the life and art of TV Boy…

T: Luckily I have the opportunity of traveling very often so it’s rare to have a normal day but generally when I am in Barcelona: I wake up around 8 am, shower, have breakfast in the bar beside home,  go to the studio an old industrial navy in the “Poble Nou” neighbourhood converted in my studio,  check mails, then start to paint or organize the work both make and answer to calls, deal with clients. Stop around 2 pm to have lunch and a walk  near the sea and the follow working till 8 pm. Have dinner with my girlfiend and watch a movie or have a beer and hang around a while with friends fall in bed to rise again the day after ^:*

Artist Proof: We sat down with Bunny Kitty creator Dave Ross a.k.a. Persue  to discuss where he got started, how he got involved with Artsprojekt, and what else he’s been up to.

Artsprojekt: How in the heck did Bunny Kitty find her way to us?

BunnyKitty: I think it was a hot summer day about 6 years ago. Tilt and Fafi were visiting San Diego. Andy Howell invited me over to paint with them. I painted Bunny Kitty, I think it was the second time that I attempted this. I told Andy about my character and the world I was creating. I first met Andy 10 years prior working with mutual friends in skateboarding. Andy knowing my history in skateboarding and graffiti felt I had what it takes to give this project legs. When he started the Artsprojekt he hit me up to be apart of the group. So here I am and I am excited to apart of this.

AP: You’re a certified veteran of the graff world. Give us a brief history…

BK: I started writing graffiti in 1988. In the early 90’s I had established myself in the scene as a talented character painter. Also during this time I was traveling with skaters through Europe. Without realizing it I was bridging the gap between Graffiti and Skateboarding. This was pre-internet and e-mail.  In the late 90’s I joined up with Can 2 (Stick up Kids) and Wane (Clean or Dirty). I started to develop my letters and pushed myself to get better. People recognized what I was bringing to the table and they started to look at me as an innovator. When I started to do Bunny Kitty in the 2000’s my history in graffiti legitimized it almost immediately. I thank my peers and culture for this. I have been traveling to Asia lately.

AP: Has the birth of your daughter inspired you with Bunny Kitty?

BK: Uh, yes and no. Sometimes I find myself wanting to hang out with her more than wanting to paint. She is turning 1 in November so the first year is out of the way. It is a lot of work being a daddy and trying to bring home the bread.

We dressed her up as Bunny Kitten for Halloween. I don’t think she knows what she is in for, hahaha. I am more motivated to illustrate the children’s book I have been sitting on and to also further develop the Slugganauts.

AP: Tell us about the real world of the Slugganauts…

BK: The Slugganauts are Bunny Kitty’s favorite band. She has a crush on Dee Dee Meow the lead guitarist. They are loud, rude and crude. I developed them to work with music. My brother is a musician and plays in a legit rock n’ roll band.

Myself along with some help from close friends we dressed them up as the Slugganauts. They performed live on Halloween. The show blew the crowd away. I am now working on recording a Slugganauts record. All the art I developed for them was a lot of fun because I was able to use some of my favorite bands when I was a kid as inspiration. Bands like Sex Gang Children, Christian Death, Alien Sex Fiend, Joy Division and Specimen were some of my favorites. This was before Rap/Gangsta existed.

So back in the early 80’s I was a Death Rocker. I say Death Rocker because that’s what it was before they labeled it Goth. These days I go back and forth between Rock, Rap and everything in-between. I really like what Stones Throw is putting out.

Official Bunny Kitty Website Check out more of Bunny Kitty’s work in his product gallery! 

Artist Proof: Nikolai Larin aka Maruto is a Russian graphic designer who grew up in Leningrad, USSR. Attending the St-Petersburg Mukhina Art Academy, he developed and enhanced his diverse range of illustrative skills. He then moved to the US to attend the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC). After he graduated, he returned to Saint Petersburg where he now works as a freelance artist.

Artsprojekt: Without Sharing your techique, how would you describe your work?

Nikolai Larin: Today, I work in several styles, but most recently I have become interested in so-called pixel choreography. Оbjects I`m developing already have details of form, so by restructuring elements I don’t lose details, I develop it.

AP: What is your art education background?

NL: I graduated Mukhina Art Academy with a diploma from the faculty of Design in 1998.

AP: Have you travelled the world? or have you always lived in St. Petersburd?

NL: At the moment I haven’t been doing much traveling but it is one of my favorite pastimes.

AP: Please describe the creative community in Russis, especiallyy in St. Petersburd

NL: Saint Petersburg is considered the cultural capital of Russia. There are quite a few colleges, so interesting young people from all over the country come here to study.

AP: How has your environment informed your style?

NL: Constructive elements of the program visualization have influenced my style, if you can call it a style. However that is base environment of mine and its curiosity overwhelms me everyday and I`m grateful to be living in the 21st century and especially for the Internet.

AP: How would you say this style has evolved?

NL: Best way I think is to stop using the computer as a main instrument and give back it to those for whom it was created – the programmers. Artists who have the courage today to use brushes are wise. People who use the computer for art look ridiculous, like blondes who drive big jeeps. The computer deserves attention as an instrument for art and no one better can work with it but programmers.

AP: Do you credit any artist or genre as infuential in your work?

NL: I was greatly influenced by Yugo Nakamura and Eric Natzke. I think these two people created the interactive aesthetic of the late 90’s, doubtless it was they who outlined the founding principles for all such creative work.

Make sure to check out Nikolai’s Artsprojekt store by clicking here!

Artist Proof: Tilt is an internationally recognized traditional graffiti artist, originating from Toulouse, France.  A self declared “graffiti fetishist”, he learned his trade in the streets and on trains as a youngster. In the time since he did his first tags on a skateboard ramp back in ‘88, his ensuing career has been nourished and influenced by extensive travel.  Inspirational journeys have seen Tilt exhibit and leave his mark as far and wide as the U.S.A, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Canada, and in excess of 10 countries throughout Europe.  TILT is currently chilling in the Philippines.

Artsprojekt: What inspires your art?

TILT: The streets of the world, Graffiti, travelling a lot, sex, people I meet on my trips but I think everything can be insparing even lonelyness. It s just a matter of time. Those days in the Philippines and they have here those kind of public buses called Jeepneys that are customized by their owners. They are beautiful and really special because its a mix of crazy typography and incredible colors on them. I think they will influence my next paintings.

Also cause I m into photography a lot now, I have to say that travelling the world with my obsessions is part of my work today. I always try to stay close to the street because that s where I m from but most of all cause that s where I feel confortable.

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

TILT: I try to get rid of the technique as much as possible cause starting as a graffiti artist I think I had to follow too many rules. When you do graffiti like I did and started in 1988 means that you have to go through a classic way to work, being clean with your outlines, have your letters complicated and perfects, work with a certain idea of continuing the  classic way of doing graffiti. Its hard to escape from all those rules. I think thats why I decided to go closer to something dirty, primitive in my paintings. I also choose to do something new like photography to be more free in my art.

AP: Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey

TILT: The first time I did a graffiti, that was probably an ugly peace in my project in France in 1988. I remember roughly how the piece looked like but I will never forget the what I felt seing those colors going on the wall and those smelings… Even if it was really stressful cause I wanted to do something nice and I couldn t the sensations were undescriptible, that was like knowing that it will be something I will do the rest of my lofe, even stronger as love…
 Now 21 years later i know that this feeling was true…

AP: Describe your most recent experience of making art.

TILT: This morning I woke up in a in a small bungalow in from of the beah in a very small place in Philipinnes called Anilao cause I traveling the country trying to do paintings and do pictures. When I open the window the view was beautiful and i tried to have a nice photography of that moment. I hope I succeded!

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

TILT: My perfect day would be waking up with a giant fresh fruit salad and finish a painting in my studio cause that was what I was thinking about the whole night then meet a beautiful girl that I just met a couple of days before to go in a dirty hotel room to have a photo shoot and have her becoming my new BubbleGirl and then go with my partner Mist to do an illegal painting on some roof tops in that city that we just try to make ours…

Check out TILT’s Artsprojekt Store here

Artist Proof: Chris Parks aka Pale Horse is a bad ass designer / illustrator from Florida. Since opening the doors in 2006, Pale Horse has had the opportunity to create artwork for companies, like Iron Fist, Nike, Vans, Etnies, Globe, Red Bull, Hurley, Sullen, Mattel, The Cartoon Network and many others. Pale Horse focuses on apparel, action sports market  and entertainment industry graphics, logos and typography. Chris has also shown his illustrations in various galleries throughout Florida and across the US.

Artsprojekt: What inspires your art?

Chris Parks: Lately, I’ve been really inspired by old religious / mythological artwork, including paintings, carved wooden masks, sculpture and written stories from across various cultures and beliefs. The characters, iconography and stories are incredibly rich with potential concepts for illustrations.  I’ve got a ton pieces in mind right now that I can’t wait to get started on.

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

Chris: Not much. I like to switch up the content and type of work I create on a regular basis.

 

AP: Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey.

Chris: I always loved to draw as a kid. I’d compete with my older brother for bragging rights that my monster truck drawing was way better than his. I never imagined doing anything for a living except become an artist in some form. So far, so good.

AP: Describe your most recent experience of making art.

Chris: Right now I’m neck deep in new illustrations for various clients and a bunch of upcoming exhibits. A fun project that I’m in the middle of creating now is an illustration for a custom guitar art piece for Dean Guitars’ “Six String Masterpieces” exhibit. (http://www.deanguitars.com/sixstringmp) The show pays tribute to the late Dime Bag Darell Abbot and has generated over $250,00 for organizations such as Little Kids Rock and the Wounded Warriors Project.  I also just finished a couple pieces for a show called ‘Dark Art 3’ where I’m honored to show my work alongside world renown artists like: HR Giger, Clive Barker, Sean Barber, Marilyn Manson, Bob Tyrrell and many others. (http://www.zombicon.com/darkart.html) I’m now, just beginning a new collection of work for a two man exhibit here at Pale Horse Gallery, along with fellow artist and friend Allen Hampton. (http://allenhampton.net/) The show will be called ‘Gods & Monsters’ and I am creating 10 new solo pieces, 2 collabs and planning to launch a new series of Pale Horse t-shirts at the opening.

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

Chris: I thought it might be entertaining to shoot a quick guided tour on steroids and crack of me and my studio, so you can check out the space and kinda get and idea of what I do all day. Please check out http://palehorsedesign.com/ to see more.

Check out Chris Parks aka Pale Horse Design’s Artsprojekt Store

Artist Proof: Adil ‘The Scumbag’ Muschelewicz is an illustrator who loves neon colors and the 80s. He is currently operating out of Greenville, South Carolina and he currently has a line of shirts at Hot Topic.

AP: What inspires your art?

Adil Muschelewicz: It really depends on whats going on around me. I can be watching an old 80s movie and see a poster or something within the film that inspires me. I could also just be sitting down thinking about things and I’ll sketch some ideas up, the world is at my fingertips for inspiration.

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

The Scumbag: Technique is pretty much where my guns are at. I draw with a fine point sharpie and nothing else. Content is determined by the plan in my head. I like to draw things separately and then use photoshop or something to piece together the finished product. sometimes it works out and other times i just redraw it after i got a more defined idea as to what i’m going for.

AP: Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey

The Scumbag: I was about 4 years old at pre-school. Some kid drew Michelangelo from the Ninja Turtles, and I was blown away. I tried so hard to draw a ninja turtle, but soon realized I couldn’t draw for shit. I played around with a pencil and paper just trying to draw things i had seen at school, and i drew this girl. I remember her because she was older than me by quite some age difference, but I didn’t care. I was so suprised that the girl actually looked like who i intended to draw, then i wanted to change something, and I accidentally screwed up the entire picture… i was pissed and never gave that girl that picture becuase no matter how hard I tried, I never got it quite right….   in a way my art is like me trying to impress that girl, but kicking myself because i never was able to… so I guess this is how I make up for it. haha.

AP: Describe your most recent experience of making art.

The Scumbag: Just finished up a piece for a local band, just the usual slime, zombies, gore etc.

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

The Scumbag: Some days when I dont have anything to do, I play around with ideas I wanted to explore and post the image on Emptees or somewhere to see if other people dig the ideas. Other days I’ll get commissioned to draw something specific for someone which puts me into beast mode where I don’t stop till I’m finished. After that its wait and wait and wait for the client to pay up. I usually finish before a client expects it to be completed which is good because I can make last minute changes if need be. The worst times are when a client doesn’t pay after wasting my time.

AP: What is the best way to go about commissioning you for a project?

The Scumbag: Best thing to do is email me amideis@gmail.com

Just pitch the idea whatever you have in mind, or let me know if i need to take full creative control. Come up with a budget pricerange beforehand and dont expect too much when there is a low budget. Most prices go anywhere from 250 usd to 2000 depending on detail, colors, etc. or what i’m being commissioned to DO… (myspace pages, tshirts, cd booklets, etc.) just really varies. once the project is set, we jump from there, discuss printers if its a shirt design, discuss what all your going to need, pop out the ideas and you get me on the same page as you, from there i start working up ideas, and just go with what i feel you’ll like. most of the time a payment of half is given up front, but sometimes i can work around that… but you just wont get anything useful till something is going through. example of a LOW resolution image or sketch is all you’ll see to know that I’m on board, but don’t expect a high res pdf of the image if you didn’t pay the up front half. Once all the kinks are wired out, it can take anywhere from a few hours to a week for an image to be processed (sometimes more depending on my workload.)

Check out Adil ‘The Scumbag’ Muschelewicz’s Artsprojekt Store here

Artist Proof: Erik Abel is heavily influenced by and involved in the surf/skate/snow sports industry and working as a freelance graphic designer and art director for over 10 years, Abel‘s method of bold, graphical imagery fused with his loose brush and pen work seems to find a growing niche of it’s own in the fast rising “Urban Contemporary” art movement.

Originally from Ventura County, CA, Abel has drifted back and forth to Portland, Oregon professionally pursuing his passion for art. He currently shows in galleries throughout the U.S. and plans to travel the world surfing and making art in 2009.

Artsprojekt: What inspires your art?

Erik Abel: Inspiration is a funny thing to pin down, it’s always changing. Of course, and I think everybody that makes art can agree, there is always a constant flow of inspiration from other artists, dead or alive. And it’s not just their artwork but also the way they are marketing themselves and the vibe they are creating around their work. It’s inspiring to see others striving to do well and actually pulling it off, that’s the business side of things. My inspiration for actually making work comes from a slightly different place. It comes from a compilation of my life’s interests… the ocean and surfing, ancient cultures/art, science, biology, visual balance etc… and the need to fine tune the images and ideas I see in my head. That’s why I like to make art… it’s a rewarding challenge to work through the fog and hazy visions and arrive at a final product. The act of creating stuff is inspiring in itself.

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

Erik: My technique is mostly just a means to an end. Once I work out the content in my head or in a rough sketch, I need to see it materialize pretty quickly or I lose interest and move on to some other idea, so the technique is adjusted to suit that timeframe. I can’t work on a piece for more that a day or two… I’ll lose the initial spark and I think it shows in my work through the the energetic sketchyness, the simple overall compositions and the separated colors, it’s just how I work, I don’t get caught up in detail. So I guess “content” wears the pants in the relationship. Even though I work fairly quickly, I still enjoy the process, it’s challenging to explore new techniques that can fit the way that I work.

AP: Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey.

Erik: My first art experience of making art was documented but the photo has gone missing, I blame my parents for that (Mom, Dad you better find that picture!) I can remember the photo, I was about 1.5 years old, in diapers with a shirt on, curly blond fro, I was looking at the camera with a giant smile and showcasing a life size blue balloon I drew with chalk on my little wooden table in my room, it even had the little knot on the bottom of it with a long white string. I’m sure that moment had something to do with where I am today.

AP: Describe your most recent experience of making art.

Erik: I’m currently traveling for a while and haven’t been painting all that much. My form of art making has shifted from the gallery work to working on more commercial and illustration-based projects. I’ve been focusing on work I can do on the road from my laptop. Just take a look at most of my products on ARTSPROJEKT, all done with a pen, a camera and a computer from New Zealand. So I guess it’s been a pretty cool experience of being able to make art for sale while half way around the world. I’ve also been enjoying just sketching and drawing without the pressure of an upcoming show or event. Just being able to slow down and enjoy the process without having a purpose or a plan has been a breath of fresh air. It’s good to take a few steps back once in a while and ask yourself some questions about why you do what you do.

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

Erik: A few months ago I would have woken up in my Portland Oregon home/ studio(or been driving to the beach if there was swell, or the mountain if it was deep, which would pretty much ruin any chance of being productive on the work front), made a giant pot of coffee, cooked a mean breakfast scramble with a side of bacon(crisped to absolute perfection in my cast iron pan, it’s one of my specialties) and check emails while the coffee kicked in. Then I’d either be working on design work or art for an upcoming show all day. Beer or wine usually made an appearance around 4 or 5pm, although earlier in most cases and then it was all the more easy for friends to get me out of the house and be bad influences on me… the fun kind of bad influences though. But I’ve always pretty good at holding my ground when there is some serious work to be done and I need to go into dungeon mode and just slam out work day and night. Sometimes I gotta be Mr. Boring to my friends and fam, ignore phone calls and parties and have some discipline or I end up getting frustrated that nothing is being created, I’m not where I want to be and the bank account is on empty.

But then the travel bug gave me a good sting in the ass and I decided to go into dungeon mode for months straight, save up all my pennies and go surf the world for a few years. I realized life’s waaaaay too short to not be doing exactly what I want to do or at least be actively working towards it. So now my days are filled with surfing, exploring, drawing, naps, planning world domination and lining up design/illustration work that I can do on the road so I can pay the bills and continue on. As long as I have some form of creative outlet… life is all good! And the more I look, the more I find different outlets to be creative and that offer another stream of income… add ARTSPROJEKT to that list. Technology is amazing! Cheers!

Check out Erik Abel’s Artsprojekt Store here

Artist Proof: Craig Watkins aka Wotto76 is a 10 year verteran illustrator and character designer from Stirlingshire, Scotland currently working in Southern California who received his art degree from De Montfort University. His style incorporates traditional as well as digital methods and if you are familiar with the t-shirt design scene online, you are probably very familar with his body of work… this guy is a hard work and keeps it comin! You may aslo know Wotto as the Art Director for Teefury as well as TeeInvaders.

AP: What inspires your art?

Wotto: Having been an illustrator for some time it’s hard to say, I draw inspiration from everyday life and the things around me. I am a bit like a sponge in that I suck up everything visually and obviously that includes other peoples artwork. I like many, many artists, too many to list but they range from Street Artists to the classic masters.

Having grown up in the 80’s I am very inspired by the skateboard graphics and the awesome cartoons of that era. I have also been active in some street art so I also get a lot of inspiration from there. I like how inspiration can strike at any given moment.

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

Wotto: Drawing is key. I draw constantly, I doodle on everything. Nothing is safe. I think being able to draw well is the ultimate tool in this trade. I use both digital and traditional ways of working. As a T-shirt designer content is always important, people like a T-shirt to carry a message. Luckily most of my work has a narrative or idea behind it. My characters usually have whole life stories and environments, it’s just the way my mind works.

All shirts designed by Wotto in ‘08 & ‘09

AP: Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey

Wotto: I have been drawing and creating from a very early age. The first thing I ever got printed was for a local dance school, a T-shirt. I was very proud at the grand old age of 12. I got the bug then, I never got paid for it and it is still for sale in their shop now, swines! My first paid piece of work was a local student magazine cover, which was a lot of fun. I have been at it ever since.

AP: Describe your most recent experience of making art.

Wotto: T-shirts. I design a lot of T-shirts and it seems to suit my style very well. I am currently branching out and doing other projects but my ‘bread and butter’ work is tees.

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

Wotto: This is a strange question because for me no two days are the same. Some days I paint for an entire day other days I got sit outside and doodle away. I usually add something to my blogs, check emails and look at who’s been visiting my website (www.wottoart.com) In a day I basically do what clients request me to do. That’s my job. I am very appreciative of the job I have and I hope to do it for many years ahead.

Check out Craig Watkins aka Wotto76’s Artsprojekt Store here