Chromacon is an indie arts festival of based in in Auckland, New Zealand that celebrates coming together of creative innovation, artistic excellence, and community. Feel free to ask us any questions!
I first drew Chubbis in 2001. I started posting drawings on a blog in 2009.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
When I was a kid growing up in Hamilton I loved watching cartoons and reading comics. At the time they were all from USA and Japan. I found drawing fun and was always the drawer of the class. I loved reading and writing too and wrote short stories up until high school, where in my first year I made my own comic character for the first time. It was done very intentionally, but without thinking I was going to continue drawing it. I was ranting to my friend about how weird it was we only ever saw a handful of the same comics around (bear in mind this was pre-Google, in 2001, and I was 12), and that it couldn't be that hard to make another one. She insisted they weren’t easy to make, so to prove my point I went home and tried to come up with something. I remember using my maths grid paper and drawing using the square lines, making a blocky side-profile of a character. I reworked it over and over until it resonated with me and I had a moment when it "hit me"! Ever since then I have always wanted to draw and make things with them.
My comic entry "The Magic Bandana" - 3rd Place at Overload 2013.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I really like drawing freehand with pencil or rollerball pens. After I started a blog to post some of my drawings, I simply drew into a book whenever I had an idea. It would be something I find very funny, clever or cute. Or all of the above – that's a good combo. More recently I have been working on projects, which I do outside of a full-time job. My first product (a greeting card collection) came out for Valentine's Day last year. Cards for family and friends was one of the first things I drew Chubbis with, and it was something I always wanted to do. I'm working on a new project at the moment and it’s my favourite one yet!
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
My favourite achievement to date is winning 3rd Place at the Overload comic convention in 2013. Although I have drawn Chubbis for a long time, I have only very recently looked into the comics and illustration industry and community. It was the first comic-related event I had been to and my first comic competition. The comic I did for the competition was a pencil re-draw of a very random idea I had years ago and had not completed. It was a bit of a risk and I was just over the moon someone liked it and got where I was coming from.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Create your vision.
“The Winter Garden", which I drew at the venue for a one-day art competition last weekend in February.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
This will be my first ever public showing of Chubbis and I'm really looking forward to seeing what people think of them. I'll be showing my Chubbis comic drawings, first-time greeting cards, and unveil a very special project I’ve been working on!
I've been working as a freelance digital illustrator, both for profit and non-profit, since 2006. My first jobs were illustrating for children's game sites when I was 13 or 14. Even though the pay wasn't great (and neither was my art!), I loved having my work out there and being seen by hundreds of people every day. Now, 9 years later, I see the experience and connections I made then as invaluable.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I was quite shy and quiet in primary school, and generally kept to myself. But come Mother's Day, all the other kids needed hand-made cards, and there's only so many years you can give your mum macaroni. So I learned pretty young that art can buy you friends.
I'm kidding! Mostly! But that's not why I started drawing. The truth is, I focused and understood a lot better when I drew. I was a really good student (I had to be; B grades didn't fly in our house!), and I have all the character doodles in my school books to thank for that.
2014 Business Cards for my Computer Graphic Design graduating exhibition.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I keep books of inspiration on my desk. These are art books, Semi-Permanent feature books, typography books and (maybe less inspiring, and more nagging) programming books. I know a lot of people mindlessly browse the Internet in order to procrastinate, and I try my best to do this on sites that inspire me. I love Pinterest! I also find it important to set myself goals. Whether the goal is to finish work in time for an exhibition, or to teach myself how to draw a particular thing within a time frame – goal setting is a very important part of my creative process. It stops me from getting lazy.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
For my degree show at Waikato University, I drew, designed and wrote a book on character design. I called it On Character Beta, because I'd like to double the content before publishing it. It was available as an eBook and hard copy. I'm really proud of it! It's something I would definitely like to expand on.
On Character Beta eBook from Waikato University's 25° exhibition.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
A large part of drawing is learning the things you want to draw – not just how to draw them, but why they are the way they are. It's learning why something balances the way it does, why the shadow falls where it does, why muscles contort the way they do. Learn to understand the thing you're trying to draw. A lot of people will tell you "draw the shoe a hundred times, draw all the detail, then turn it around and draw it from a different angle," but won't explain why. I found learning to draw a lot faster and more rewarding when I started thinking more actively about the subject. And more fun!
I've been re-designing my illustration style. I'm proud of this piece because it was the piece I looked at and thought 'This is the direction I really want to go in!'
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
Even I'm not entirely sure! I have a lot of projects in the works, so it depends how crazy I'm feelings over the next few weeks. I'll definitely be bringing prints, tutorial zines, original drawings and paintings, and offering quick live sketch commissions. I'll also have my eBook, On Character, available for download. I'm really excited to meet the Auckland art scene!
If anyone is interested in seeing more of my work, you can find me on Tumblr, Facebook, and Deviantart. You're also more than welcome to contact me via email, at [email protected]. Thanks Chromacon for holding this wicked event! See you all there!
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I've always been involved in the arts and in particularly the numerous lowbrow subcultures. After completing a degree in Design and Art History and Theory I taught Communication design for around ten years. During this time I researched and wrote occasionally on everything within lowbrow art culture from street art to comics, tattooing to designer toys. I dip in and out of these various interests but Designer toys have been a continuing mainstay since I first came across them first around 2001. I'd always been in toys; Transformers, Gi Joe, Lego but these were something different. These were toys designed by artists I followed, in limited edition, for display rather than play and mostly geared to an adult audience. I started to get quite heavily into collecting them, spending all my disposable income on figures, which caught me, staying up late for online auctions and releases. It was getting a bit out of control. Around 2011 I moved on from my teaching job to start my own graphic design business. With being self employed my income dropped severely and wasn't able to spend as much on toys as I’d liked. I really wanted get to making my own toys but only dabbled in it to this point, but was always throughout doing extensive research on whose is involved, the making process, materials and really understanding how the designer toy industry works. Designer toys have never really been a big thing in New Zealand, as far as I know there has only been one shop in Wellington, which closed down a few years ago. But I wanted to get into it and do it anyway. In 2012, I went to Los Angles to one of the bigger Designer Toy conventions called Designercon, and Chicago and San Francisco to check out some of the more known toy stores. The trip was a turning point and motivation for me to snap out of it and just go for it and do my own thing. I started to turn my toy buying towards buying materials for making. At the beginning of 2014 I committed full steam to working towards selling my own. I signed up to be a vendor at Designercon later that year. During the year I made a range of toys and had a blast showing and selling at DCon. The Tiny Gallery project also came to fruition, which my wife Colleen and I also took to DCon and on to London as well. Now I’m creating my next line of toys and planning touring the Tiny Gallery around NZ and expanding it to engage more artists and create a bigger visible community.
Pulling out a cast of a Cookiepus toy.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I'm self employed so no two days are the same. I'm a terrible morning person and to be honest usually get up about 9-9.30 and walk the dogs. After breakfast I’ll start my day job as a graphic designer. I work from home and have my own office, which be in till about 6-6.30 with intermissions for lunch and a second dog walk.
Anything to do with designing toys I do in the evening and weekends. Often I’ll do a couple of hours each night and on others I’ll work all the way through. Everything always starts with research and a lot of drawing to work through my ideas. The concept is most important to me and I spend a lot of time thinking and talking it through with my wife. It has to be witty or something I feel passionate about either sentimentally or emotionally. Even if the execution stinks in the end I need to feel like its still a good idea I can improve on.
I like things, which are cute, but also things, which are horrible or darker, and I try and engage both these aspects in the things that I come up with. I have another small studio at home for model making but often I’ll end up doing any non messy stuff in front of the telly. For sculpting I use the drawings as a guide only. Things usually evolve beyond these as I work with the materials. Some sculpts end up being pretty quick; one or two nights, whiles others I’ll sit on for months if I’m not feeling it. I'm learning while I’m working, seeing what I can get away with the materials and trying to convince myself stuff doesn't always suck. I'm my worst self-critic with have horrible self doubt etc. etc.
Valentine's Day release of Catus, the 'Love' colourway.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
My biggest creative achievement is making the Tiny Gallery project and my first line of toys happen ready for Designercon in Los Angeles. My wife Colleen and I managed to fundraise $3.5k for Tiny Gallery (within a very short period) as well as engaging over 30 of New Zealand Lowbrow artists for it. All of this happened in a very challenging time with my lovely Mum passing away in October and us getting married during the trip in November.
Our table at Designercon 2014.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Don't jump into tertiary education if you are not sure what you want to do. At 17/18 I don't think most have the maturity to commit to something for life. Work for a few years after high school, save some money, travel if you are unsure. Get some 'life' experience first. I always found while I was teaching that the most focused student where ones which were a little older 22/23 and they actually wanted to be there. Pursue the arts while you are working. If you do it and are obsessed with it without the pressures of university / polytech then you probably want to do it.
Donuppy toy. Pink, blue and pearl colourways.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
A few new toys (some resin multiples some original sculpts), some new colourways of older toys, and some surprise drawings.
Fatality Feuds Wrestlers.
Links:
Good Awful:
Website
Shop
Blog
Tiny Gallery:
Tiny Gallery Website
Tiny Gallery Blog
Any artists that wish to be part of Tiny Gallery please contact us via the Tiny Gallery website.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I'd always enjoyed pushing paint about and the different perspective you get when you're mining your surroundings for visual elements, so I went ahead and completed a bachelor of Fine Arts at Elam, but at the time the school was very 'Fine Art' focussed, illustration was listed as one of the careers you could pursue after your degree but there wasn't any illustration specific training or tutors. I really got into illustration through meeting other illustrators and realising it fit quite well with the direction I wanted to go in.
Taking my 'Oiseau' (French for bird) pseudonym literally here, gouache on paper.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
A typical day in my studio starts with checking emails and deadlines to see what is most urgent. With my imagery making I'll usually sketch out some ideas then flesh out the better ones. Sometime if I'm working on figurative work it might involve doing poses/making faces at myself in a mirror (…if I were a posh lady what would my face look like etc.…). Once I've done a sketch I usually trace it onto some nice thick paper then think about what colours I want to use. Sometimes the colours come before anything else, if I get stuck I might look at my colour palette Pinterest board for some inspiration. I'm very particular about my colours and can spend ages getting them right, then I make way more than I need cos it's such a pain to match colours using gouache. Generally I apply the light colours first and get the basics in before I start on the details. I normally listen to podcasts or national radio when I work, my particular favourite at the moment is No Such Thing As A Fish by the QI elves.
An autumn scene, gouache on paper.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
That's a bit of a tough question to answer, normally my favourites are ones where the work turned out better than I expected, don't look laboured over and I had fun doing them. One that comes to mind is my poster for Thee Oh Sees' last Auckland show in 2012, it was the first time I'd done a poster entirely in gouache, my previous posters were more Photoshop heavy, scanning in pencil or pen work then assembling them digitally. It's quite a different method of working, having to get it all right on paper and looking back on it now I'd say it was mostly successful, though I didn't know the low lighting at Whammy would make the blue writing very hard to read on the pick background, arg!
Thee Oh Sees, landed in Auckland, 2012, gouache on paper.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Hah I would be tempted to say 'choose another career!' But also that the best way to get better at something is by doing it a lot, so don't get disheartened when your drawings don't turn out well, just keep doing it and doing it and listen to Lynda Barry's excellent advice, draw for the sake of enjoying the action rather than the outcome. I'm aware that this is more than one piece of advice but I'm not great at single definitive statements.
Laika fails at fetch, pencil on paper, 2014.
You were an exhibitor at Chromacon 2013, how has your work evolved since then and what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
Since Chromacon 2013 I've developed a range of greeting cards which I will bring along for sale on the day, I should have a new design ready by then too. These days I'm doing less strictly gouache limited palette stuff, in one of my latest designs I combined gouache, watercolour and pencil, and in some other recent work I've been using sponges with ink to add nice texture. At Chromacon 2015 I'll have a big studio clear out and haul lots of cards, prints, zines and originals out for people to peruse or purchase. I'm currently finishing a book project, which has been on the back burner for a while so I may be harassing people into giving me some feedback on that too.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
My life is a tale of salt water and doodling. Endlessly doodling. Endlessly grovelling around in the ocean. There was never any questioning my career path. Upon the realisation that becoming a 'professional mermaid' was out of the question, I set off to become a professional doodler.
After I emerged, blinking, from a 4 year design degree at Massey University, I managed to make a successful living of doodling. Endlessly.
My work has spanned all areas of the creative industry from advertising to film, fashion to online media.
And, more recently, my comics have been published in New Zealand, Australia and France and held court in Saatchi Gallery for an extended stay in 2013.
Ralphi 4 Bunny 4 ever.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I work full time as a Graphic Designer, so I don't get to just make comics all day. YET.
When I am making comics, my process goes a little something like this:
Plan (look at dogs on the internet)
Roughs (deface expensive moleskin with scrawl)
Refine (eat, watch cartoons, fold washing)
Panic
Get audience feedback (show boyfriend, if he likes it I start tracing, if he doesn't I get grumpy and start tracing anyway)
Trace finals on light box
Ink finals. Tip ink everywhere
Scan finals whilst still slightly wet
Clean scanner
Colour finals in Photoshop
Walk around smug for 15 minutes until I look at what I've done again and hate it.
My tiny red studio.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
My 'Bunny' figurines I made for my 'Girl Comics' exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in 2013.
One solid bronze and several plastic.
Bunny wears black plastic and bronze.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Don't worry about what others think. Draw like wild fire.
Doodle Cat, not caring what others think, doing what he loves, playing the drums like wild fire.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
Some anthropomorphic animals with bad habits.
Some tales of mischief and misadventure.
Some stuff for kids and some stuff not so much for kids.
COMICS, COMICS, COMICS!
Ricky & Lyle for the Radio As Paper Mini Series.
Links:
My website
Square Planet Comics
Shout out to Beatnik Publishing. These incredible ladies made Doodle Cat a reality.
Thank you to my Mum and Dad for being very supportive... even when I draw cat's dropping the C bomb.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I was into drawing since early childhood. However I had not got any formal art training until I went to AUT. After graduation in 2003 I begun to work as a graphic designer but never gave up drawing. In the following years I learned from some good artists and self taught traditional art skills. In 2010 I joined Watermark as started working as a freelance illustrator.
It's a self caricature.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I normally started working by doing few warming up sketches. I prefer to sketch using traditional materials like pencil and paper so I won't be depending 100% on digital tools.
Then I will get to work on my projects, taking a lunch break and keep working in the afternoon till late in the evening.
This is an Asaro Head. It helps me a lot when I\'m working on people's faces.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
One of my favorite projects was an illustration for Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra catalogue. The work was also printed on banner, tickets and big bill board hanging outside Auckland town hall. You always feel good when your work is printed big and showing to the public.
Illustration for Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Jon Toogood and Julia Deans.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
I would ask me to be patient, work harder on the basic art skills.
A piece I did for a American story book.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
I will be showcasing a lot of caricature work, which I didn't see many artist doing at Chromacon 2013. On top of that I will also do caricature drawings for people. I am also loving painting classical looking pirates, so I will show many my pirates’ paintings.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I started out drawing my family exactly how I saw them, as small round peanuts with stick legs and egg heads, then one day when I was about 6 I drew an amazing Simba and thought 'oh shit, I'm actually kind of awesome at this' so I kept drawing, all the time, like aaaaalll the time… I was a little weirdo with crayons. At some point I graduated from Disney to drawing Pokemon and then Goku with way too many muscles for a small girl child to understand. I flunked my way through a year or two of Uni and now I am lucky enough to still draw everyday and get paid for it.
Realistic portrait of professional artists being professional everyday.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I roll off the studio couch where I currently sleep, grab a coffee, check emails, scroll Facebook for several minutes and then get to work on whatever I am working on. Actually, I wish I were that productive. Generally I make sure to do a full days work, though this could start anywhere between 11am or 11pm till the early hours of the morning depending on my workload. I seem to be most productive at night when it's dark and quiet outside. My creative process is usually juggling priorities like clients and projects and hitting them as hard as I can when needed and working on my own stuff in-between. I try to be drawing everyday to stay fresh and start every project with a bunch of sketches and rough ideas before polishing it off with inks, paint or in Photoshop.
Starting a scribble on paper.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
I don't really have a favourite, some pieces turn out nicer than others and some are more fun to work on. The most enjoyable pieces are the mural projects I have worked on in collaboration with other artists. Its awesome to be able to go big and challenge yourself with getting something up on a wall in a short space of time. The most well known one would have to be a mural I created with Gwil and T-Wei at the Phil and Teds factory in Newtown. That was my first time painting a large-scale artwork on a wall and with our powers combined it turned out pretty sweet!
Monster Mosh.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Do art everyday and always look further for inspiration… and don't think you can't succeed because you are shit, only think you will succeed because you can only get better.
Korra WIP.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
Prints, stickers, sketchbooks, some originals and my weird face.
Goodbuzz Booch branding.
Links:
Shout out to my awesome and talented studio mates:
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I was always a keen drawer as a kid and loved to draw. I started painting in my early teens and enjoyed art throughout college (I attended Kuranui College in Greytown). I applied for and was excepted into the bachelor of design course studying Visual communication & Design run conjointly between Wellington Polytechnic & Victoria University.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I have been working predominantly after hours so generally most of my work was done in the late afternoon/evening. I enjoy skribbling ideas down (usually shapes and forms) in an A5 size book usually in pen. Each idea starts out as one of these.
I usually transfer these to larger size paper and work on the form until I'm happy with it. Once happy with a basic outline I retrace it using indian ink and a brush, deliberately applying variations in pressure to help accentuate the messy aspect of each line.
The painted outlines are then scanned into digital form and the Illustration is then coloured and worked on in adobe Illustrator until finished.
Fictional character based Illustration of a skater nicknamed 'redd’.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
My first Illustration in the floaty series is a bit of a favourite as it took me a while to get it 'right'. I guess to finally get it to the stage where I was happy with it was a long process but gave me the belief and will to do more.
Fictional character based illustration of a skater.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
To believe in yourself & never give up.
Fictional character based Illustration of a freestyle bmx rider mid jump.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
You can expect to see a number of character based digital Illustrations, predominantly alternate sports based in theme. These will be available as prints and possibly also cards & stickers. I'm also hoping to bring a finished pencil version or 2 to show the progression and also to provide a bit of variety to the digital versions.
Fictional character based illustration of a snowboarder.
Comments:
Thanks to all my family and friends for their support. Special thanks to Charlie. Thanks also to all the street artists, tattoo artists, comic book artists and Illustrators out there doing their thing. Thanks to those riding skateboards, surfboards, snowboards, bmx's etc. and showcasing their skills. Thanks also to all the musicians making music, the people who stand up for causes and the people involved in promoting creative communities and organizing creative events.
Almost exclusively digital and blue lead mechanical pencils.
Years active:
3
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I think a lot of the artists are of the same mindset that the only thing that separates us from anyone else is that we never stopped drawing since we were kids. From then on, it's really just a matter of what kind of stuff you consume and internalise. In my case, it began with an unhealthy obsession my brother and I shared for old Korean and Japanese comics from the 60s-90s. Then in high school, as the Internet started to become a real and tangible thing, my friends and I started worshiping artists on DeviantArt in dimly lit rooms littered with art books.
I never had any formal education as far as experience goes. Mostly my skills come from a lifetime of never paying attention in class and saving up money to buy a tablet. However, I feel an equal amount of regret and relief for not studying Art at a University. On one hand, it would have been nice developing within a community of other artists 'cause friendly rivalry is a great motivator. But on the other, my experience studying something mostly unrelated (Architecture) gave me a lot of insight on Art History and how it relates to contemporary illustrators and the ever-dreaded concept of "Style" and generally just makes the whole process of drawing in the context of a larger history so much more exciting.
Here we have the artist clearing his nasal cavities, hungover at a burger joint, spotted in his hometown; Seoul, South Korea.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
Conceptualising, I think, is the most difficult part of any piece. Effectively communicating via images without being heavy handed is difficult task. In all honesty, I'm still not very good at it, but for the most part I follow a process taught by Jillian Tamaki, which essentially boils down to exploring and studying whatever subject you're illustrating and digging deep and collecting information you can use to inform your image.
Or if I'm just doing a personal piece, I'll just mindlessly doodle things.
Either way, in the end I do a lot of sketching in my sketchbook, find a piece I don't hate, take a photo with my phone, upload it to my computer and ink it digitally.
The way I work, I think, is quite traditional in spirit. There's nothing fancy about it besides that I use digital brushes. I just got into the habit of inking things digitally because I couldn't afford brushes, ink or paint while I was still at university. Even with a steady income I'm still very hesitant to buy any…
A typical not-so-awful page from my sketchbook.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
Being told by Kim Jung Gi that he likes my work while sitting in his studio drinking awful instant coffee he made at 2 in the morning (I think I peed a little when he came in the door).
But actually though, I think it would be working with and contributing to Pecan, a travelling magazine my friends started during my time in South Korea. I wouldn't say that it was hugely fulfilling, creatively, but It's an amazing feeling to be part of the genesis of a creative project and it really helped me discover more about myself and what motivates me to draw.
L VE M TEL, by Pecan.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Copy other artists. Rip them off. Don't hesitate to be like the people who's work you love, even if your brother hates that you steal his sketchbook when he's asleep. So long as you don't try to take credit for the derivative trash that comes out of it, it's OK to trace. There's so much to be learnt by doing it; not just about the art, but also about yourself. Over time you'll pick out the things you like and hate and you'll keep refining your work until you develop your own voice. But most importantly, expand your horizons. There's so much more out there to copy besides photorealistic renderings of generic pretty women and concept art; there are entire countries with their own visual vocabularies and over 2 millennia worth of archived art to get through.
And for god's sake, sign up for life drawing classes, you dingleberry.
You were an exhibitor at Chromacon 2013, how has your work evolved since then and what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
I've actually started learning more about colour theory, so expect to see things that aren't exclusively painted in nonsensical, muddy, garish or monochromatic colours! Otherwise, I've expanded my visual vocabulary, experimented with a lot of shapes and patterns and landed somewhere I can comfortably call my own.
Expect to see confident work and a giddy Korean boy excited to meet some rad artists from all around NZ.
Comments:
You can find more of my work and my incessant rants about art on my blog
Or if you want to contact me for a job, commission, general artspeaks or even to plan a treasonous plot against the current standing political powers that be, email me at [email protected] .
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
As with most people, we all draw and scribble at a very young age. Whether it be on the wall or during art class etc., we all did it. But at some stage in our lives we let go of that pastime and focus more on academic studies or other things. It seems that I had never fully let go of that and found time to create sketches during my downtime.
Fast-forward a little through high school and university and here I am. Still making scribbles.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
The typical weekday:
16:00: Wake
-Breakfast
23:00: Exercise
-Lunch
1:00: Work
-Dinner
8:00: Sleep
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
I don't have a favourite piece of work, it is very easy to pick out flaws once you think that you are "done" and already begin to dislike what you have just created. I think most creatives think critically of their own works and find it hard to favour their own creations.
Though I am particularly pleased with the outcome of an old piece I submitted on a whim to Spectrum 21 (annual publication of artworks) that was accepted and published. It was not a big achievement or anything to get too excited about, but to me it was a confirmation that I can create work of a good enough standard to be published along side with my superiors, a milestone.
I still need to improve a lot, alotalot, alotalotalot, but this is a beginning.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Enjoy~
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
You can expect to see a collection of mostly personal works created digitally.
I've been drawing since forever, but I started making comics about six years ago!
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I've always loved drawing, but I only started drawing comics recently. After I graduated from university I had a lot of spare time so I decided to make a comic, which has now become Extra Ordinary Comics (exocomics.com). The comic is vaguely based on me, my partner Jordan, and my cat Shoelace. In 2012 I quit my day job and now I spend my time working on exocomics as well as freelance illustration projects.
I really enjoy making artwork and comics that are fun, cosy, and a bit whimsical.
Li and Shoelace!
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
Wake up, go for a walk, have breakfast, draw stuff, have lunch, draw stuff, have dinner, sometimes draw more stuff or answer emails. I like having a routine! I find that going on walks really helps me to think creatively. There's so much to be inspired by if you take the time to look around.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
Hmm I think my biggest creative achievement to date is doing my first Kickstarter project in 2012 to publish the first two volumes of exocomics. I had absolutely no idea if it would work, and no experience whatsoever with designing or publishing a book (let alone two). It was a very stressful but rewarding experience and I learnt a lot from it. I didn't think I could do it so it's cool to look back and think, yeah, I did it! I made books!
All the exocomics books so far.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Draw what you love, and keep practicing.
How majestic.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
Some of my exocomics books. Also, some drawings of cats.
Since I was a little girl – but have been doing it and getting them published for about 8 years now.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I've always been interested in drawing, and all forms of media really. I grew up trying to find depictions of folk like me on screen – but most of the depictions of queer and trans people showed us as Bad, Mad, Sad or someone to be laughed at, which is stink. So I started doing Rooster Tails, to help me figure out what was going on with my gender and sexuality – and finding ways to talk about it that celebrated difference, rather than seeing it as something bad.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I work part time as an EA for Philip Patston at DiversityNZ – which is an organisation that works to promote accessibility and inclusion. It's a really amazing job, and I've learnt a bunch. I also try and pay the bills by picking up freelance work as a designer and illustrator – doing everything from posters for safe sex for women in prison, to designing annual reports, and small illustrations.
When I'm not doing those things you can usually find me in my garage working on comics about sexuality and gender for Rooster Tails or Family Portraits.
Superlove - batman and superman snuggling.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
Getting the 1st three issues of Family Portraits fully funded via Kickstarter.
and being able to do a USA tour.
Link to family Portraits.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Just do it! We need more queer and trans stories out in the world!
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
Collection of stuff from Family Portraits and my queer and trans fandom prints.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
Like many artists, I am also inspired by comic and manga artists. I have grown up wanting to create my own graphic novel. Because of that goal, I learned a lot about how to tell a good story, how to frame and I learned about film etc. After I graduated from University, I was not quite sure how my life would be. I had a chance to work as storyboard and concept artist for many studios around New Zealand. It was great, but somehow I was not sure this is what I want. Until I started illustrating my first children's book. To be honest, it was not great art, but I kind of enjoyed the lifestyle and I really enjoyed making art too. Somehow children's book illustration has found me, and I am pretty good at it. So here I am, I am a full time children's book illustrator. Also I enjoy working with different studios and agencies on character design for animation or games.
A photo from my agency web site, I think it represents me well.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I always start with sketching to start my day. By looking at different people, either from photo or video or anything. I start taking a person as an inspiration and create a character from there. Also it makes my brain start thinking about shape, value and color, it is not about creating good work at this stage, but the attitude of "Just do it" you never know what is coming up until you try. It is okay to make mistake. But I remind my self keep going, because then I might find the answer in the drawing.
A wip image from one of my favorite piece.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
It will be the Auckland City Mission, winter appeal.
It’s not something I expected, but in terms of exposure, it was the largest I have got.
From Billboard to Magazine and Newspaper. Also I won an award for that - who would have thought :)
The one piece made it to billboard last year.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Just relax, let it come to you. Keep doing your practice, keep making art, don't feel the pressure of competing with other people. The person you only compete with is yourself. Also don't forget to leave sometime for family and friends. It is important not to forget simple pleasures in life.
A speed painting I have done the other day. A simple pleasure in life is family.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
I am a great children's book illustrator, a great character designer and storyboard artist. You will see range of awesome drawing, character design. You will not get bored with my drawings.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
I've always been into drawing, cartoons, and tripping out.
As I grew up I was always dreaming up characters, and thinking about them as my friends. Eventually the time came to decide a career path, and for me the answer couldn't have been easier. I decided to get into design rather than art because I found the art world too networking oriented. I made my way through Uni passing my illustrations as graphic design, and eventually got pretty good at both.
I've worked in magazines, games and web design, and drawing has always been my greatest skill. Now I’m trying to give my independent illustrator career a push, just because I love it.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I work incredibly hard at Gladeye, a digital agency unlike any other. We specialise in the highest quality work and we're pretty offbeat, as far as agencies go. I guess it stands as proof that they have an illustrator working full time, but the results speak for themselves.
I sketch a lot, and all my work starts with my brain my hand and my pencil. Eventually the pencil gets replaced by my trusty Wacom (it's been with me half of my career).
I spend my time after work polishing my own illustrations. Agency work is cool and exciting, but really, I just want to draw crazy comic books and intergalactic animals.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
Probably the series of illustrations I developed to complement my partners craft project, iyari. I drew inspiration from her and from my homeland, and I really loved the results. I gave a print to a colleagues baby boy and he totally loved it, so I must have done something right.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
Draw much, much more. Draw all the time pretty much. Make yourself a giant collection of images and gaze at them often. Never stop enjoying it.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
Born and raised in the surrealistic landscapes of Mexico City, I've always had a fascination with maximalistic artwork. Through colour, heat and flash, I strive to create images that delight as much as they assault the senses. I believe that dissonant concepts can coexist with minimal degrees of separation. What's cute and colourful can also be scary and dark, what's menacing can be inviting, what's old is new.
Cover artwork for NZ hip-hop crew Red Eye Society.
I'm very excited to be part of this event, thanks to all the organizers. I’m truly honoured to be among such admirable artists :)
Pen, ink & water, acrylic over any off-white paper, or up-cycled wood if it crosses our path. And clay, who has forgiven our mistakes and obscure non-sculptural past.
Years active:
Amane & Me was formally born in 2012, but this is the first year we are stepping out into the world.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
Illustration has always been like a refuge, a place to visit when needed most. During my childhood I almost never left this place, constantly painting, sculpting, creating… drawing.
However, a few years back I forgot the path and got a bit lost, and I couldn't find the way back. And for a moment I was afraid I'd never see this place again. Today we know its always been right in front of us, every time we studied these creatures that use to chase us in our sleep, and we take notes, like pieces of a map of the path to follow.
We're home.
Transformations – A portrait of 'Me', 2015.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
Run. We wake up and we run.
We run, past the boats and the seagulls, and we go even faster when we're biking. We cross the sea, we walk up-hill. We smile, we design for a living, and then we go back to running, to sleep, where we meet with these birds, hares, coyotes, and the rest of the animals that surround us.
We take notes, we count them. See where they live, what they like to look at, and what colour is their pijamas tonight. Translate them into various mediums, following just one single line. Not a lot of sketching around here, only planning. Mistakes are part of how we feel. The weaker the lines, the more it makes sense.
And its starts all over again. Music is essential, the sun, the night, the noise of cicadas and crickets, and my two cats who always follow me into these woods.
Moulding on a bright, clear day.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
Getting ourselves out there is definitely it. We've been hiding for too long, and its enormously rewarding to feel free. Plus we didn't expect people to be so happy to see us too.
I guess right now the biggest achievement creatively has been making amends with tridimensionality thanks to ceramics. We definitely didn't see this one coming. Last time we believed in our sculpture skills was like 10 years or more. To be able to talk this language again has been really exciting and unexpected.
Being a first time exhibitor at Chromacon, what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
The beginning of hopefully many exhibitions, we're launching two series at Chromacon: 'Home' (Locations) and 'Nighttime' (in grey). Plus a range of our usual and well-known collection of different one-eyed friends.
Our artwork will come in form of wood and ceramics, prints in various sizes, t-shirts by The Paper Rain Project, and tote bags made in collaboration with Taller Nu. Oh and badges, we love badges.
The lines are simple and we usually replace colour with a little bit of nostalgia or watery ink. There will be cats, of course.
Observations in badges. I told you we loved badges.
Comments:
Thank you all who have supported this journey, you've been such an essential part of it! Yes we're talking to you.
Thanks to team Chromacon for pulling this together. To be part of this community is a surreal experience. So humbled to be surrounded of such talent.
Digital Art, Watercolour paints, ink,graphite pencil.
Years active:
Since 2010.
Can you give us a bit of insight into your background and how you got into the arts?
An avid drawer from a young age, I started focusing on my drawing studies properly in my mid teens, finding great advice and kinship on the conceptart.org forums. I then studied at Freelance Animation School (now Animation Collage NZ) and upon graduation starting teaching with McLeay Cartoon Workshops, teaching kids to draw all across Auckland and working freelance doing illustration and concept art design.
What does a typical day look like for you? Can you give us a quick intro to your creative practice/ process?
I tend to split my work day into thirds: freelance client work, teaching my afterschool and holiday drawing workshops, and then investing time into getting more clients, promoting my classes or working on person work/self promotion.
So I'll spend my mornings working on Client work, (whether that be illustration, graphic design or concept/development work) this could also include meeting with the client or gathering reference. My afternoons will be travelling to , setting up and teaching at my drawing classes, I teach these all across Auckland and teach artists from ages 8 and up! The later part of the afternoon/evening is for looking for more clients, promoting my classes as well as my person art, and any admin/accounting I have to do.
If I have no pressing client work to finish, my favourite thing to do is paint portraits, and I've probably drawn Audrey Hepburn more than anyone else.
What's your favourite piece of art/ project/ biggest creative achievement to date?
Wow big question! That's almost impossible to answer and I know whatever I paint next will be my best/favourite piece, and the biggest projects I've done I'd have to get the clients permission to post. So I'll be true to myself and just offer up my latest finished personal piece, which is a mock up cover for a book series I'll be doing. It's a nice throw back to the sort of story I adored as a kid, so there's a lot of Goonies/Pirates/Zombie/Treasure Hunters things going on, and I also wanted to make it vaguely kid-friendly.
First in a new mock book cover series I’m working on.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself on day 1 of pursuing the arts, what would it be?
To be patient and be kind to yourself, your not going to get to where you want to be overnight, so set obtainable goals.
Some concept work for another personal project that\'s on the go!
You were an exhibitor at Chromacon 2013, how has your work evolved since then and what can we expect to see from you at Chromacon 2015?
My new artbook! As well as 20+ new poster prints to buy, I will have the last run of my limited edition artbook Waste Of Paint which I put together last year and after these last books sell that's it for this volume, so make sure you get one! For prints I have a mixture of original brand new characters and illustrations, fan art, and some pin ups for sale. As well the prints. I have some original, traditional painting and sketches all nicely framed and packaged and ready for either a gift or to be put straight on the wall.
A recent example of some fan art of one of my favourite movies from 2014!
Links:
My site/blog
My Workshops' info
Thanks and looking forward to seeing everyone again at Chromacon 2015!!
