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Hello Formatbrain and thank you for doing this interview with Colovision Magazine.
1 – To Start, tell us a bit about yourself where you were born and where you live…
I was born in Mendoza, Argentina, i lived in Barcelona for about 2 years and returned to Mendoza in 2008. Now i´m living in Mendoza and starting a new design studio.
2 – How did you get started in the arts?
I always love to draw and make fonts since i was a child, but i started in the character design world in 2005.
3- Where do yo draw your inspiration from?
Everything inspires me, music, tv, magazines, life, friends.
4- Can you describe for us what a regular day is like for you?
mmm, i always have trouble to wake up, but i don´t have a boss, so i can arrive to work at the time i want, then i work all day in my studio, and try to find time to do some formatbrain works, and in the night i love to watch a movie, and sometimes go out with friends.
5- What is your most common approach for completing a project?
i use to think something and draw a quick sketch in a notebook, and if the result is a good idea, i draw a more detail sketch again and decide if i will vectorize it or paint it in photoshop, so i scan the image and continue working in the computer. The hard part is decide when the piece is finished!.
6- Out of all your work what is your favorite piece and why?
most of the time i don´t like any of them, but in the last days i found a style and i´m comfortable with it, i like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/formatbrain_/3916706102/
7- Is it easy to make a living in the work that you do?
It´s hard!, here in Mendoza, because its a small mountain town!, but i always try to make collabs and work for foreign countries, they are more open minded and have more years sucking graffiti and street art culture.
8- Who is your biggest influence?
i love the work of a lot of guys, if i pick 5 of them i think in Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, FWY, Malota, Catalina Estrada, and a lot of great new artist like ciah ciah, s_a_t, and a cool mendocinian artist and friend fede calandria, also member of Moytoy Community with me.
9- How important is technology for the work that you do? What tools could you not live with out?
i can´t live without a wacom tablet, adobe illustrator (any version, i loved 8.0 under MAC OS 9!!!), and a Mac, and don´t forget paper and pencils!
10- How important is color in your work and why?
Very, i use a lot of colors, they express a lot of emotions and i need that because my drawings are very simple so color helps me to make them express.
11- Whats your favorite color?
mmmm, cyan maybe, i don´t know, i like a lot of colors.
12- Where can people get in contact with you?
check my website: www.formatbrain.com.ar and my flickr: flickr.com/formatbrain_
and write me to hello@formatbrain.com.ar!!!
1 – To Start, tellus a bit about yourself where you were born and where you live…
I grew up in Ottawa, Canada, but moved to Toronto after university to work as a graphic designer. I currently live and work in Toronto with my girlfriend, artist Jessica Fortner.
2 – How did you get started in the arts?
I did editorial illustrations for the school paper at university. That’s probably the first time I did drawings for money. Otherwise, I started just over two years ago. I decided I wanted to have a go at illustration and did a few sample pieces, put up a website and sent out some postcards.
3- Where do yo draw your inspiration from?
I think movies tend to jog my imagination more than anything these days.
4- Can you describe for us what a regular day is like for you?
Most days I just go my job as a designer and spend time out and about in Toronto with my girlfriend.
5- What is your most common approach for completing a project?
Mostly I like to approach every project as though it were my first. I really try to work out a concept that will work with the subject, but also do something a bit unexpected. Most of the real work gets done as really rough little sketches, figuring out the concept/composition. Once I’ve got that settled, the rest goes really fast and easy.
6- Out of all your work what is your favorite piece and why?
I think my favorite is a piece called “Tailypo” which I did for Fantagraphic’s Beasts! Book2. It’s a picture of a beast from Apalachian ghost story chomping on the arm of a woodsman who cut off his tail. I just wanted to make a fun and creepy picture.
7- Is it easy to make a living in the work that you do?
I work as a graphic designer in a creative agency here in Toronto, so illustration isn’t my main source of income. I do illustration work as much as possible outside of my design job. I view the two as complimentary. I sometimes do illustration for my studio design projects, and my design knowledge always helps in my illustration work.
It can be challenging to manage two creative careers time-wise, but it keeps me involved and refreshed creatively.
From my experiences with freelance illustration I can tell that though there’s lots of opportunity to make a living this way, it definitely takes a lot of work and tireless self-promotion and going after clients.
8- Who is your biggest influence?
Really I get most influenced by the works of my favorite illustrators/artists working today. To name only a few: Tomer Hanuka, Yuko Shimizu, David B., Max Beckmann, Paul Pope, Tara McPherson, Teetering Bulb, Sam Weber, Moira Hahn, and Jessica Fortner.
9- How important is technology for the work that you do? What tools could you not live with out?
I do the line drawings in pencil and colour everything in Photoshop. I could probably get by without Photoshop, but it would definitely complicate things. I really admire illustrators and artists who work completely in non-digital mediums. I’ve always wanted to get away from digital coloring, but the truth is that most illustrations I do are on such short deadlines that I rely on the flexibility that coloring digitally gives you. Also, I like to do texturing in Photoshop to add some subtle real world textures to otherwise cartoony drawings.
10- How important is color in your work and why?
I think color is so important in driving the emotional response people get from an image. I tend to work with really bright almost primary colors, probably out of some subconscious need for my illustration to hog all the attention on a page.
11- Whats your favorite color?
I really like underwater colors like coral reds and blue-grey.
12- Where can people get in contact with you?
My illustration portfolio is www.wandelmaier.com, also I have a collaborative blog with my girlfriend, artist Jessica Fortner, at www.suidfaceandmeddler.blogspot.com (called Squidface and the Meddler). We both post news, and work in progress there.
Hello Rob and thank you for doing this interview with Colovision Magazine.
1 – To Start, tell us a bit about yourself where you were born and where you live…
I grew up in the D.C. area, and I’ve lived in NYC for about 15 years, working as a web designer, illustrator, and animator. I am married with children, and I like tea.
2 – How did you get started in the arts?
Art was a big part of my life growing up—I was always drawing, taking art lessons, and I did cartoon illustrations for my high school newspaper. I went to Cornell University and majored in painting. After school, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I wasn’t interested in going for an MFA, and I had a hard time finding work in the fine art field. So, I started working as a junior designer for a New York book publisher, and within a few years I was familiar with graphics software. Then, the web started to take off, I got a job as a web designer, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I’ve been lucky to have had a lot of great opportunities over the years to use my illustration and animation skills, both at the places I’ve worked and for freelance projects.
3- Where do yo draw your inspiration from?
Lately, I’ve been sketching a lot of trees. It’s inherently more intuitive process than designing a web site or a logo. It’s not conceptual, it’s direct. Drawing more regularly in my sketchbook has influenced my cartoon and animation work, and even my web design work.
4- Can you describe for us what a regular day is like for you?
Oh jeez. Well, I wake up, tell my kids it’s only 5:45 and go back to sleep, then wake up for real at 6:30, make breakfast for the kids, eat my own breakfast, take the kids to school, or some days I hit the gym and my wife takes them… Get to work at about 9, make myself a cup of tea, do some web designing, go to a meeting, eat lunch, more web design, more tea, go home, read the kids a story and sing them a song, eat dinner with my wife, clean up the dishes, take out the trash, work on whatever project I have going on for an hour or two (longer if it’s a deadline), sometimes I watch a little TV, usually geeky PBS stuff, read, go to bed.
5- What is your most common approach for completing a project?
I try now to talk it through with the client, to understand completely what they actually want before I start. After this initial ‘discovery’ phase, I do a quick and dirty design, character sketch, or animation, and get it in front of the client, to confirm that we’re on the same page. Then, I will do a more finished version, and there will be a few rounds of tweaks. But it’s the up-front discussion and rough drafts that really are essential for making sure there are no surprises later on.
6- Out of all your work what is your favorite piece and why?
A quick sketch I did of a swimming pool out in Montauk NY is my favorite piece right now. It amazes me that I can look at a scene, drag a marker around my sketchbook, and the essence of that place somehow gets recorded onto the piece of paper.
7- Is it easy to make a living in the work that you do?
I am a web designer full-time, doing animation and illustration on the side. So, I wouldn’t say that it’s been easy, but probably easier than doing just illustration or animation. For me, I enjoy the mix.
8- Who is your biggest influence?
For the last few years, my drawing has been hugely influenced by Gary Panter.
9- How important is technology for the work that you do? What tools could you not live with out?
I use Flash to animate, usually drawing right in Flash. For illustration, I like to work on paper with pencil, colored pencil, ink, markers… so technology doesn’t really come into play (though I do sometimes make minor photoshop adjustments if it is going to be used for digital media).
10- How important is color in your work and why?
It really depends on the project. A lot of times I keep my illustrations black and white, or with very minimal color. I like keeping things pared down to the essentials, and maintaining a loose, rough feel. But when color is called for, I like to use a limited number of bright colors. So, it is important, but you might say that I sometimes use the lack of color for effect.
11- Whats your favorite color?
blue
12- Where can people get in contact with you?
1 – To Start, tell us a bit about yourself where you were born and where you live…
I grew up in Brooklyn and also lived in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC for many years. Did some stints in Jersey as well. In the ‘90s, I attended The School of Visual Arts in NYC on scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I studied mostly illustration and cartooning. Straight out of college, my band Life of Agony, got signed to Roadrunner Records and we hit the road touring with bands like Ozzy Osbourne, Korn and System of a Down. We built a cult following over the years. I focused on my music career for a long time and we ended up releasing 4 studio albums, a bunch of live records, several music videos and DVDs.
In addition to LOA, I started a punk band called, Spoiler NYC, in 2007 and we put out a record called “Grease Fire in Hell’s Kitchen” (SOS Records/I Scream Records). We’re working on a follow-up album right now with Grammy-Award winning producer, Ken Lewis (Lenny Kravitz, Beastie Boys).
Recently, I signed a comic book deal with IDW Publishing to release my creator-owned “Wire Hangers” series. It’s a pretty dark, horror/conspiracy type story. I’m handling all the art and script. It’s a ton of work, but I love every minute of it. Check out the trailer for the book here: http://www.wirehangerscomic.com
2 – How did you get started in the arts?
I’ve always been drawing, ever since I was a kid. I can remember back in grade school, during lunch hour I would doodle away to pass the time and my friends would gather around the table and really enjoy it. I would always draw violent scenes or characters I made up off the top of my head, so I’m sure that was more interesting for the kids than playing dodge ball or something. Since I was into metal, in high school, I would paint the backs of denim jackets with album art for friends. I actually made a pretty good business out of it back then, and it was a lot of fun painting my favorite covers, as well. One that stands out was Iron Maiden “Killers.” Maiden always had great album art. That’s probably what drew me into the music in the first place. It’s funny, being able to share the same stage with a lot of the bands I grew up with. Kinda surreal.
3- Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I’m inspired by so many different types of art and artists. I’m a fan of everything from street art to photo-realistic style painting to illustration, toy design and sculptures. I have a deep passion for comics, too, especially for the darker, less-traditional style comics. I enjoy works from Ben Templesmith, Dave Mckean, Bill Sienkiewicz and Ash Wood, mostly. There’s an artist from the UK named Paul Insect that does some really amazing work. I actually got one of his pieces tattooed on my arm. It’s a tribute to legendary punk icon, Sid Vicious. Paul Insect was nice enough to send me a giant print of the Sid design, once he heard I got inked with his artwork. Pretty cool. http://www.twitpic.com/f9dy4
4- Can you describe for us what a regular day is like for you?
Well, when I’m touring with the band, believe it or not, I get a ton of comic art done. You’d be very surprised just how much time there is to kill on the road. You arrive at the venue in the morning and basically sit around and wait until to sound-check in the afternoon and then wait some more until show-time, which can be around 11pm. So, it gives me a lot of time to work on the artwork and to be productive. I usually draw right up until the show and then maybe even color some pages after the gig if my adrenaline’s still pumping.
5- What is your most common approach for completing a project?
With the comic art, I draw every panel by hand using black, white and gray ink on gray tonal paper. Then, I scan in that artwork and color everything in Photoshop. I tend to use a lot of photographic textures to give the work a lot of grit, as well. Sometimes I’ll even add actual photos for background and treat them with filters so they blend in nicely with the painted imagery. I play around with layer modes for coloring. I find that it brings out a lot of the natural textures of the watercolors when you play with it just right. I use a ton of layers. I rarely flatten the artwork. I always like the ability to go back and edit, if a shadow or specific color isn’t just right. Extra hard drives are the way to go!
6- Out of all your work what is your favorite piece and why?
Hmmm. There are a few panels in issue #1 of Wire Hangers that I really dig. I treat each panel like it is its own piece of art. Some of the double-page spreads stand out, especially. But, other than the comic stuff, I once painted a mural in L’Amours (the famous rock club) in Brooklyn where I used all black-light paint. I painted the entire lobby of the club with giant faces on each wall. These were like 12ft ceilings so it was really something to see. I hung black-light bulbs above it and the artwork really popped. I’m pretty proud of that. I took the idea to another level when I designed Life of Agony’s stage scrims in the ‘90s, on the Ugly tour. I used the same black-light theme with the faces. I’ll try to dig up a photo if I can…
7- Is it easy to make a living in the work that you do?
I’ve worked in the design field for many years doing all types of roles. I’ve worked full-time as an illustrator and animator and even as a Creative Director. What I’ve learned is that working full-time doing interactive and commercial advertising design suits me best. Freelancing is great and fun when you need flexibility on your schedule but you’re always chasing down the next gig and trying to get paid from the last one. Everything else that I do outside of that is strictly out of passion. Music has always been my bread and butter, though.
8- Who is your biggest influence?
With comics, I’d have to say Mike Zeck. Without his Punisher limited-series (Marvel Comics: 1986) I would have never been inspired to create my own comic series. I used to get all of my books signed by him at the conventions when I was a kid and I even have some original art from him. I hope that I wasn’t too much of a pain in the ass! But, he definitely was my hero back then. Also, I’d have to say Dave McKean who illustrated the acclaimed Arkham Asylum graphic novel, is right up there for me. I remember seeing that book and being completely blown away by it. There was so much texture and emotion in the art, I couldn’t comprehend how it was created back then. It really made me interested in the computer aspect of creating artwork.
These days, I’m a big fan of Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night) and he’s the reason I was so excited about putting Wire Hangers out through IDW Publishing. Templesmith has several creator-owned properties through them and never ceases to amaze me.
9- How important is technology for the work that you do? What tools could you not live with out?
I rely on it tremendously. I love the fact that you can go back an edit something digitally and it’s seamless, you just can’t do that organically. But, the human element cannot be looked down upon. Hand-drawn art is undeniable, so, I enjoy mixing the two. That’s the best scenario for me.
10- How important is color in your work and why?
For me, color really sets the mood in comics. In the issue I just finished, each scene has its own atmosphere and its own palette. It creates a visual language without using any dialog at all. The color adds that emotional element to the art that really draws me in. I enjoy black and white art as well, so that translates into different moods, as well.
11- Whats your favorite color?
Probably blood red..heh..heh.
12- Where can people get in contact with you?
I have a personal site http://www.alanrobert.com which has links to my Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking sites. Links to all three main projects I’m working on right now are ther, too: http://www.lifeofagony.com, http://www.spoilernyc.com, and http://www.wirehangerscomic.com
Thanks for the interview and best of luck with Colorvision!
Doroteo Arango Arámbula (June 5, 1878 – July 23, 1923), better known as Francisco or "Pancho" Villa, a Mexican Revolutionary general.
More info: www.ph7labs.com
1 – To Start, tell us a bit about yourself where you were born and where you live…
I was born in Roca Sales, a small town in southern Brazil where I lived till 1999 with my parents. In 2000 I came to Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state, where I studied and where I live and work till now. I am graduated in Communication – Advertising and I work with graphic design at DCS Communications. I also work as illustrator, which is my biggest passion, and this is the way I fell free to express my thoughts and feelings better. I am passionate by art and illustration.
2 – How did you get started in the arts?
I always loved drawing. Since I was a child, my big passions were crayons, paint, colored pencils and paper, a lot of paper. I could start in the arts when I entered the university and where I studied colors and graphic design. As long as I studied I did an internship at advertising agencies working as art director. Now, I am graphic designer and I draw for living.
3- Where do yo draw your inspiration from?
I think my work is based in my beliefs, the turbulence of reason and emotion and a lot of misticism, which I believe that are hidden in nature and the details, which is something I love. The valley of Taquari, where I have grown up, one of the most fertile in the world, made me to prefer certain colors and animals and my childhood curiosity is always present because I am a meticulous observer, passionate by intrincate and chaotic forms of life.
4- Can you describe for us what a regular day is like for you?
I wake up around 8, take a shower and eat something. I take my bus and walk 10 blocks listening to music on the way to the office. I pass my day creating layouts and checking emails and occasionally I check my twitter account. I always have lunch and drink a coffee talking to my friends. I work till night and when I live the office I make some exercise, go walking downtown or meet some friends at a bar or something, where I draw with nankin and a moleskine. When I go home, I watch tv or draw my illustrations on the computer. Oh I always go to the bed so late… I need to change this..
5- What is your most common approach for completing a project?
II always draw my ideas mentally and then I sketch up them with pencil on a moleskine or on a lot of A3 size sheets spread on the desk. Then I use a scanner, but sometimes I draw the simple shapes directly on the computer. I always start with black and simple forms, and then I fill them with geommetrical shapes and intrincate patterns or shapes. I make some structure and sometimes I ask for someone´s opinion to check if I am on the right way. But a lot depends on intuition and tests, lots of them. Finally I put some colors, and test them. I prefer to color my drawings just in the end, and I use to combine a few intense colors with a dark one to have bigger contrast and impact.
6- Out of all your work what is your favorite piece and why?
Every piece is single and means something to me, but one of my favorites is a poster that I have done to Omega Code´s fant art poster contest. I liked the final result because I wanted to symbolize some misticism hidden in the music in which I was envolved, and the illustration came out exactly the way I was feeling that moment. This is the most important, to produce something feeling it truly.
7- Is it easy to make a living in the work that you do?
I think it´s not that easy, because it demands to be focused in your own style and beliefs. Sometimes it is a lot frustrating. The design, illustration and advertising worlds are full of hard work and people have to do their best to be a highlight. But I believe that there´s always a place to every style of work and special need.
8- Who is your biggest influence?
There´s a lot os people who I admire. I am passionate by the intense artists as Picasso and Dalí. I love the illustrations of Jasper Goodall, Sanna Annukka, Catalina Estrada, Genevieve Gauckler, Parra, Pietari Posti, Andrew Holder, Bruno 9li and so many others. I appreciate Stefan Sagmeister, David Carson, great revolutionary graphic designers.
9- How important is technology for the work that you do? What tools could you not live with out?
So important, because my illustrations are made by vectors, which are pure mathematics. I couldn´t live without Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, Corel Draw or any vectorial software and a computer with good capacity.
10- How important is color in your work and why?
Colors are my biggest passion in life. Since I was a child and I read a book called Flicts, about a color that couldn´t find its place in the world. Colors make my drawings gain life. I have som phases using more black, which is my predominant base color, but I can´t live without three or four intense and basic colors, to bring movement and contrast to my static images.
11- Whats your favorite color?
The green jade. Green is contraditory.
12- Where can people get in contact with you?
They can talk to me through my facebook.com/nandovt, my twitter @nandovt, my cargocollective.com/nandovt or they can feel free to drop me lines through nandovt@gmail.com. I´d love to keep in touch.
The very first Blood Sweat Vector exhibition consists of over 24 Amazing Artist and will contain 40+ artworks printed on either 40×40cm or 80×80cm canvas.
The show will be held on November 12th at West Berlin Gallery in Berlin (Brunnenstr. 56, 13359). And will run from November 12th – December 12th. Bacardi is the show’s official sponsor.
Artists include: 123Klan Paulo Arraino, Sheena Aw, Rubens Cantuni, Stephen Chan, Charuca, Chris Leavens, Cuypi, J3Concepts, Keuj, Konstantin Shalev, Losfokos, Loungekat, Maria Vittoria Benatti, Meka, Niark1, Bruno Mota, San, Short, Smatik, Sublevel, Tougui, Zutto and More.
