Drawing and painting her way through an imaginative landscape of intricate and visual entanglements is one of our favorite Austin based artists–Sophie Roach. Sophie’s newest mural is filled with her fun and creative visual details, colors, and patterns that will be turning heads at its location at the Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle, WA.
Find out more about Sophie Roach in our Art School Interview.
Photographs courtesy of the artist.
While you were sleeping, the 6th Annual Prime 8 Art League event popped off at the House of Vans in Chicago! Folks came for food & beverage, to check out local vendors, and visit the pop up gallery, featuring works by some Art School interviewees such as Adrian Landon Brooks and Sophie Roach! There was also live art by artists such as Lauren Asta, Jesse Hora, and Erik LundQuist, which were later raffled off. All proceeds from Prime 8 benefit Marwen and help provide cutting edge art programming for under privileged youth in the Chicago area.
Drawing and painting her way through an imaginative landscape of intricate and visual entanglements is Austin native, Sophie Roach. Her artwork has endlessly covered surfaces from– guitars, beer cans, Vans, to entire rooms. And if that isn’t already insanely rad, her organic approach and laid back attitude make her not only incredibly humble, but also a super awesome collaborator. While finishing up one mural and starting up new projects, we had the chance to ask Sophie a few questions about her art, her career, and her approach – from finding her voice, attacking a mural, to digging the quietude one might find as a mail person hah!
Photographs courtesy of the artist.
Introduce yourself.
My name is Sophie Roach and I'm an artist/illustrator/muralist based in Austin, TX! I grew up in Austin, went to college in Seattle, then I scooted back to my hometown as quickly as I could after graduating in 2011.
As a self taught artist, how did drawing take shape and become what you do- did it start as a hobby or random habit?
I was a total jock growing up, not an artsy kid at all. I started drawing when I was 20. At first it was in the margins of my lecture notes, eventually I gave up on the note-taking part. I’m only a good student when I feel like whatever I’m learning will be applicable to life outside the classroom. For me, since I didn’t have a career in mind, that was around 5% of my in-class experience so I wound up drawing a whole lot. By the time I graduated I was interested in doing something creative, possibly graphic design, but I didn’t think that those doodles would be a part of my career until about a year later.
What did your early drawings look like and / or did they evolve into what they are now? How did you find your particular voice in your art?
They looked like anyone’s notebook doodles. I’ve had depression and anxiety issues since I was a kid and I found that the meditative, time-intensive work helped me deal with that. I became obsessed with drawing and my skills evolved quickly as a result. I didn’t know I was looking for my voice until I stumbled upon it in early 2012. Making art was always fun, but once I hit upon a style that felt like my own, I knew I was totally screwed. I had to make it work full-time.
In terms of influences, artistically and in general, what are they and how do they influence the work you make now?
I love the utility of Milton Glaser’s decorative design work, Keith Haring’s visual language, and Sol LeWitt’s ability to make minimalism totally overwhelming with his installations. I love the sincerity in Keith Shore and Nathaniel Russel’s work. I love the bold abstract nature in the work of Blexbolex and in old polish posters and book covers. I’m sure that these things that I love make their way into my work but I don’t spend much time thinking about where my inspiration comes from. I focus more on positioning myself to receive it by taking long walks, traveling to new places, reading books, and simply paying close attention to my surroundings.
You’ve worked with various mediums and from small to super large. Take us through the preparation and thought process when you work in large scale? What is your planning like and do you find yourself drawn to creating more large scale works?
Step 1: Develop a loose concept (vague organization and goals for the piece)
Step 2: Determine appropriate materials for scale and location
Step 3: Pencil out boundaries for linework based on loose concept
Step 4: Start drawing. Sometimes sticking to the initial pencil marks, more often making up new stuff as I go.
Step 5: Have imposter moment. “Oh my god why did I agree to do this, this looks dumb, the result is going to look dumb, I don’t have the skills to make this look good and everyone can tell.” With murals, you have to complete the ugly parts of the process in front of people. It’s a little nerve-wracking.
Step 6: Stop whining, get back to work
Step 7: Once the linework is complete it’s time to color
Step 8: Go back through and re-draw lines near the color sections
Step 9: Usually jalapeño, pepperoni, pineapple pizza
To be honest, I found little joy in the mural process when I first started. Now that I have a few murals under my belt I find it hard to work on small scale pieces. It's very satisfying to work large scale. I feel like each office/commercial/public mural is practice for the immersive installations that I'm dreaming up for the future.
What’s something you don’t think folks might not know about an artist or being a “working artist”?
I used to think that I wasn’t a real artist because I rarely show work in galleries and I don’t like sitting in my studio all day. I make art full time but at the moment my work is more appropriate for commercial design-y projects and murals. I don’t feel restricted in the commercial art realm because I’m strict about retaining my voice and most clients are cool with that due to it’s abstract nature. Because I pay my rent with commercial work, I get to have a lot of fun with the works on paper. I don’t think you can feel totally free when making things for the “fine art” world unless you don’t care whether you get a financial return for your energy.
Your work is filled with details and patterns – how do you decide which pattern goes where? Do you have a running sheet of various patterns and shapes constantly running through your mind?
I just go with my gut. There are rules for organization that I'm constantly making and breaking throughout my process. I don't think I could put the rules into words but I can feel them when I'm working. I do have shapes and shape combos that are vaguely representational of real life things, but its not always obvious. I want it to be apparent that a method exists within the madness but I don’t care how decipherable it is.
Top 3 bands while you’re drawing?
These days:
-Alex Cameron
-Lucy Dacus
-King Krule
Albums get old fast because I have headphones on for most of my waking life. I always have something playing because I find that I can control my fatigue with different types of music/audiobooks/podcasts. I've developed a self-regulating listening process when I'm working. If I'm having trouble concentrating on the work, I turn on an audiobook or podcast and focus on that. If I'm having trouble keeping up with the talky stuff, I turn on music and focus on the work. Then there are more ways that I decide what kind of music makes sense for what I'm working on or how I'm feeling.
What is the most asked question you get on social media? Shall we lay it to rest once and for all? ha
Anytime I post a process video I get tons of comments, DMs, and emails asking about my materials. I think materials are important and I’ve spent a lot of time and money finding the right tools to achieve the aesthetic that I want. I know people don’t mean any harm when they ask, but I can’t help but cringe when I get the pen question for the 10000th time.
That said, here are my favorite tools:
Rotring Rapidograph Pens
Copic Markers
Smooth bristol paper
Molotow empty paint markers
Golden High Flow Acrylic in Carbon Black
What do you think you would have been doing if not for art?
My alternate reality fantasy job is to be a mail woman oddly enough. The concept of putting things in their appropriate boxes is really soothing to my Virgo/OCD brain. Plus, I love that I'd be able to work alone, walk a lot, and constantly have my headphones in. It's basically what I do now but without all the challenges and angst, ha.
What’s your big dream? What kind of work do you want to be making in fifteen years?
Over the next few years I’d like to expand my style into 3D form and eventually design a compound of buildings a la Antoni Gaudi, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Niki de Saint Phalle, and St. EOM. I’d love for it to have a function as well. Maybe a hotel or event space. Maybe a waterpark.
What are your favorite Vans? and why?
I was able to keep one of the 50 pairs of shoes that I hand customized for a Vans/iamsound event in Austin in 2013. It was one of my first collaborations with a brand that I actually cared about and it showed me what kind of projects were available for artists in the commercial realm. I used to wear them all the time but now I keep the pair on a shelf in my studio as a memento.
What’s the best and worse advice you’ve gotten in regards to art? (if any)
I try to put all of the good and bad advice in the same pile in my head. Then I generally ignore that pile. People are always telling what I "should" do. I used to make an effort to do all of those things because it's a lot easier and less scary compared to coming up with ideas on my own. Turns out there are plenty of great ideas that just don't light my fire. I'm learning to trust my gut.
However there is one bit of helpful advice that I heard in a documentary a long time ago. I don't remember what it was called or who the artist was but he said that his best advice for young people who want to make art for a living is to QUIT NOW. When things get hard I tell myself to quit, then I remember that I can't. I need to make stuff! Then I get back to work.
What do you have coming up for 2017? What’s your next project or show people should know about?
I'm continuing to focus on murals this year. So far almost all of my installations have been in Austin so I’m stoked to have projects scheduled around the country in 2017. Best way to keep up with what I'm doing is to follow me on Instagram.
