Thursday 26 November 2009

23.0 / Brave wild fire / Stevie Gee

What: Illustrator and designer/art director
Where: London, United Kingdom
Websites: Dustywolf and Stem Agency

Stevie_Gee
Who is this man...

'Stevie has often been likened to a modern day Ernest Hemingway with his masculine, rugged appearance and manly hobbies coupled with his sensitive creativity. He is a big hit with both ladies and men alike.'

That’s a quote from the interweb I once read about myself and it’s pretty much all true. I have a lot of manly hobbies.
What's he all about...

I am working as a graphic designer/ art director by day doing all sorts of creative wonderment. I have been doing that for five years now. My design style is clean and colourful.

In my own time I pursue the type of illustration work I have a personal interest in doing. Mostly starting as hand drawn with my own style of bad humour and play on words - stuff like record covers, tee shirts, clothes, skate stuff, posters, flyers, zines, just any creative fun times - how I want it to be. In my spare time I especially like fancy dress parties and riding my fixie fast bike.

Stevie_Gee

Stevie_Gee
In the pipeline...
I have a few projects that are in the work in progress stage but a new music collaboration is on the cards and will be the raddest thing yet!

I will be continuing my collaboration with Death Spray Custom.

Stevie_Gee

Stevie_Gee

I have just had my debut solo show at Jaguar Shoes on the Kingsland Road called 'Vengeance is coming!' which a few of these pictures are from. That was pretty rad for me as I was able to collaborate with Tourdeville who provided and built two incredible bikes and Death Spray Custom who did the most amazing paint job of my designs on the bikes. It was a dream come true to do those bikes. The whole show was a concept around a long forgotten race from the 50s that only two riders finished, an old sea dog called El Capitane and a Native American Sioux shaman called Figo Vengeance. I designed the bikes for these two characters. Check more pics of it all here.

Road to now...
I went to Central St Martins to do a Graphic Design degree and specialised in illustration. I did well there but left not knowing what to do or how to get a job. I needed money quick so I got myself a job labouring for a landscape gardening company. It was an amazing hot summer and I loved it. Cutting down trees and digging holes like it was going out of style. After about a year and a half of doing that, I started thinking I should be doing something creative. My wife was just about to graduate from Camberwell Arts College and I'd got her pregnant so I was getting a bit worried about money.

We both ended up on the dole but through a college friend I was offered a three-day work placement to make an office look busy for an agency that had a big client coming in. I obviously did well at that, as I did during my first interview at Wood Green job centre. Anyway, the company called me back and offered me a freelance job.

Stevie_Gee
School of life...
When I started working as a designer/art director there was a lot of learning on the job I had to do. It wasn’t just illustration any more but working on concepts and having large group brainstorms, which was daunting at first.

When Jesse was born I had only just started the new job and then there were some complications with the pregnancy, meaning he came six weeks early. We had no cot or no nothing in our studio flat. Once we took him home we had to feed him through a tube in his nose that went directly to his stomach, it all seemed pretty gnarly at the time. We felt so young and had so little money but it was a really good learning curve.

When our daughter Rosa arrived the next year we were ready.

Stevie_Gee
As a kid...
I always loved drawing and it was always my dream to be a cartoonist like Rolf Harris when I was little. Either that or join the SAS. I think I made the right decision.

Skateboard riding took up most of my time from the around the age of 15. The Toy Machine video 'Welcome to Hell' came out when I was 16 and blew me away! The soundtrack on that film had Misfits, Sonic Youth, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. That video and so many others like 411 showed us bands that I still love today.

As a small child I went to a ballet class for a bit (not in a posh child way), personally I always wanted to do Karate. But I love dancing to this day and have won competitions for my erotic moves.
Stepping up...
I guess you never know till you try... opportunities came up, I took them and people liked what I did. Fear of trying stuff is the biggest enemy you can have.

It’s still a battle to be brave and step up. Having my first show recently was like that for me. Making yourself vulnerable and open to both praise and criticism is a good place to be. You learn a lot about how people are. Some truly lovely people come out and shake your hand and some not so much.

Stevie_Gee
Good days and bad...

Travelling with my job has been really good. I have been to lots of lovely places such as Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Austria, China and America. This has meant wild experiences with all sorts of amazing and different people.

I dislike negative chat about others in the creative world, that seems silly to me, surely we all know what a struggle it can be, so lets help a brother from another mother out!
Place of origin...
I was born in Essex but mainly grew up in Sunbury, a suburb outside London. I had a good group of local friends that I skated with a lot there and just spent as much time outside as possible. We used to skate on everything we could find and build a lot of obstacles of our own. The area had a few wastelands there, which was great for riding BMX and climbing trees.

I guess it taught me you can make your own fun out of what’s around you. Simple pleasures with the right people can just be wild! S.K.Z forever!

Stevie_Gee
A day in his life...
Jay-Z sums it up pretty well: 
'Money cash hoes money cash hoes (what)
Money cash hoes money cash hoes (uhh)
Money cash hoes money cash hoes (come on)
Money cash hoes (what) hoes (what) hoes (what)'

Then I put the kids to bed, wake up in the morning and ride to work. Then the cycle continues.
Helping hands...

My parents and lovely older sister encouraged me always, so I now want to do that with my children as much as I can. Both of them are very creative. Rosa loves princesses and dancing, though she is a real tough cookie, she reminds me of Little Miss Sunshine.

My son Jesse who is four was recently asked at school what he wants to do when he’s older. One of his teachers suggested 'an artist like your daddy' and he replied 'I already are one'. That’s a strong answer.

Stevie_Gee

I do a lot of drawing with my kids, but recently we started to draw where Jesse copies what I do line by line, most of the images are his suggestion of drawing people with 'springy eyes'. He is only young but can already use fine liners, brush pens and paint pens. Truly rad!

That’s the biggest encouragement for me.

Stevie_Gee
The familia...
I got to tell you first things first that my great grandad on my mum's side was the Pearly King of Dalston. So although I’m not a cockney I reckon I should be the honorary Fresh Prince of Shoreditch or something. My grandma was chuffed I had my first solo show on the Kingsland Road as she was born on that road.

My dad's father was number 17 of 21 children in a half Irish family. He was an incredible carpenter and knew all sorts of amazing tricks like playing the saw, throwing his voice, playing the piano by ear with his feet. He even sparred with the North London wrestling champion. My dad grew up on the same street as the Krays in Chingford.

I remember my mum telling me how, as a little girl, she used to shout abuse at the Teddy boys on the corner of her street and they would chase her and her mates down the road. She said they were quite scared as the Teddy boys had razor blades under their collars.

Stevie_Gee

My parents have so many good stories behind them - it inspires me. They showed me you can work super hard to better your situation but its not worth shit if you aren’t with the people you love. My family are good people. They have always put family before earning big money or success. That’s meant I’ve always wanted a good woman in my life and kids of my own more than I’ve strived for commercial success.

Marrying into a large Greek Cypriot family was a good move too. They're the most welcoming and supportive people I have ever met. It’s the best feeling knowing such people have got your back. It gives you a lot of confidence and security. The Greek food at family get-togethers is better than restaurant standard too!
Hoops and hurdles...

Serious voice: Having a wife and kids fairly young has been the best thing I have ever done for sure but in terms of selfish ambition for success, it’s always a case of doing what’s best for them first.

I remember in Boyz n the Hood, Furious Styles says to his son 'Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children.' I think Furious Styles is one of the best names I have ever heard of.

Stevie_Gee

Stevie_Gee
Lesson in motion...
At the end of to my third year at St Martins in 2004 I made a comic fanzine 'Hired Hands' with my cousin, the incredible Paul Griffith. We made a few issues and put them in the end of year show. A young lady called Rach Robinson saw it and liked it. To cut a long story short, she introduced me to her brother Will who had set up an agency called Stem and was interested in new illustrators. And it ends up he becomes like a father/brother/coach to me and I’m still with Stem now.

The moral of that tale is to be as pro-active as you can be, always creating new stuff and getting it out there yourself, you never know what could happen.
Powerful words...
The best advice anyone has ever given me was given to me by myself and it changed my life forever, I said to myself one day:
'Dance like you don’t need money, work like you never been hurt, make love like no-ones watching. Live free.'

But being serious, Uncle Leon who has the best tattoos in London, recently said to me while sitting up in bed with a black eye and fractured skull:

'Words without action hold no value.' That piece of advice helped me a lot at the time.

Stevie_Gee

Obsessions and collections...

I am trying to be less of a consumer these days as we four live in a small flat so I had to edit things down a bit. But I have a lot of mini collections around on the shelves - records, books, comic books, native American stuff, Wolfman stuff, smoking pipes, Cyprus stuff, vintage skate stuff. It's bad. I need throw stuff away more.

I support Tottenham Hotspurs too. It’s been a good season so far. It's early days but I’m hoping for a top 4th maybe 5th/6th. Realistically top half of the table finish? You can live in hope.

Inspiration...

I love 1950s comic books. I have a small collection of erotic comics I bought in the Dominican Republic. They are so sleazy and violent and the men in the stories are complete misogynists. That type of stuff influences my style. They are all muscles and sexual power but I always imagine they are actually scared shitless and insecure about everything. I love it.

Stevie_Gee

Stevie_Gee

Ernest Hemmingway, Elmore Leonard, Kurt Vonnegut, John Steinbeck and SE Hinton who wrote most famously Rumblefish and The Outsiders, two of my favourite books. They are all American writers that write the kind of words my eyes likes to look at. And Raymond Pettibon for art and Mark Gonzales for art and skate innovation.
People...
Popeye is one of my all time heroes. The type of man I want to be. No nonsense with massive forearms.

My wife, first of all, well second after Popeye... She’s like my creative director and way better at drawing than me anyway. I rely on her for ideas when I get a new brief. It's good to work with someone you can be completely honest with and then meet in the bedroom later for a debriefing. Ha ha.

My agent Will at Stem Agency is like my boxing coach, always encouraging me to carry on even when I think I’ve got nothing left to give. Stem is rad because it's grass roots, not corporate, it’s built from the bottom up through hard work.

My friend Matt'sive Help' Tomkins aka The Silent Knight is inspiring for his loyalty, creativity, bravery and incredible unselfishness.

Stevie_Gee
Interweb love...
But does it float has seemingly endless creative inspiration. Toy Machine for amazing stuff in the dream life of Ed Templeton. RVCA always has good stuff on bikes, skating, art, music, fashion and whatnot. Way Out ! for hot motorbikes and wild women (not for kids). Death Spray Custom has cool shit and some stuff I did too. Just watched season two of Epicly Later’d on VBS TV. The Max Schaaf ones were so rad. Best man Ken Bitchen recommended these to me. Thanks Ken.
Relaxation...

Drinking deep and dressing up, dancing wild and sleazy. My dancing name is 'Sleazy Gee'. Not sure why?

I really like playing darts with my friend’s. I once penetrated the end of a dart through the flight of another dart on the bullseye. My proudest moment. Robin Hood shit. My darts name is Valdez Prince and I defeated Quincy Chalis in the final.
On going back in time...

I'd insist on taking Karate class not ballet.

Stevie_Gee
Big plans...
Keep on keeping on. Staying wild and staying busy. Rest when I’m dead. Go for lunch.

Dream life...
I would love to have a gold ring on every finger and have a table reserved in the back of a Greek restaurant for me, where everyone knows me and looks down as I walk past and I don’t have to pay for any of the food. I don’t think enough illustrators have that kind of respect or reputation. It should be a more glamorous a lifestyle.

Stevie_Gee
If not art then...
Probably still landscape gardening. I seriously considered staying with that or training to be a tree surgeon. I love climbing trees and using chainsaws. That would be a cool job.

I want to do animation soon, it's kind of a natural progression for illustrators. I have storyboarded and art directed a few at work but never done any with my drawings. I have a plan with some friends to do something with 'Team Unicorn'. Lets see...
A note of advice...

In general, don’t take life too seriously, have fun, be rad, make cosmic love as much as your body can handle, stay wild and don’t listen to negative talk. If you’ve got your people around you, nothing can touch you.

Share everything you’ve got creatively: your ideas, your style, your pens, your desk, your body... there’s nothing new under the sun so let's ride into the horizon together and make love happen.
Optional extra...
I’d rather be Joe Frazier than Muhammad Ali, you know what I mean?

Be brave, be kind and stay wild!
Continue reading...

Wednesday 18 November 2009

13.1 / One Horse Town / Justin Poulter

What: Illustrator and entrepreneur
Where: Cape Town, South Africa
Websites: One Horse Town

Justin_Poulter
History...
Both my parents are/were designers. At school I was an art nerd and didn’t really pay much attention in other classes except history. I studied graphic design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, majoring in illustration. I started One Horse Town with Simon Berndt, who I met at college at the beginning of this year.

Justin_Poulter
Work...
I am an illustrator and partner/founder/manager of One Horse Town. I love collecting old toys, frames, photographs and other antique trinkets. I also collect music and DJ occasionally too.

Justin_Poulter
Learning...
Well, studying taught me a whole lot, but I've always been keen on drawing/painting and have put a lot of time into it through the years. Also, keeping tabs on other designers, illustrators, photographers and art directors has guided me along the way.

Justin_Poulter
Childhood...
I was quite introverted and anti-social. This has changed since and I'm quite the opposite now. I loved surfing, skateboarding and punk rock. I still do but time evades me.

Justin_Poulter
Confidence...
I think the positive response to my work from a young age was a great encouragement. The fact that my parents went the creative route was a further encouragement.

Justin_Poulter
Right now...
We are currently working on posters for Gazelle’s 2010 European tour. We also have some ad jobs on the go.

Justin_Poulter
Pros and cons...
I like being able to draw all day. I dislike difficult art directors but most of them are not bad at all.

Justin_Poulter
Places...
I grew up in Simon's Town and Hout Bay, in Cape Town. I think the seaside town lifestyle has had a bit of an effect on me.
Encouragement...
My friends and family are very supportive of what I do.

Justin_Poulter
Family...
Broken but good. Support from both sides has helped me a lot.
Collections...
Old toys, figurines, music from the 50s, B-grade grade films and vintage pictures.

Justin_Poulter

Justin_Poulter
Inspiration...
Blogs, books, long walks, certain friends and music.
Favourite things.
My studio, The Cramps, The Kinks, Bukowski, Mirage Magazine, old travel posters and films.

Justin_Poulter

Justin_Poulter
Websites...
Ffffound.com – there are lots of interesting pictures and I'm a bit obsessed.
Relaxation...
Good friends, good food, good wine, good films and mountain walks.

Justin_Poulter
Admirable people...
Parra, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Xander Ferreira, Gary Taxali, Gary Baseman, David Chou and all the very talented, local illustrators I have been lucky enough to work with.
Plans for the immediate future?
Just to do as much work as possible. The more I work, the more I learn.

Justin_Poulter
Dream life…
Ideally, I’d be drawing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. A lot of travelling would be nice too. 

Advice...
Know your worth. Keep up to date with current illustrators. And I think the best advice is to draw everyday.
Continue reading...

Monday 9 November 2009

21.1 / It's Saal good / Michael Saal

What: Designer, illustrator and art director
Where: Cape Town, South Africa
Websites: Mike Saal and Gods And Gangsters

Michael_Saal
Behind the mask…
I freelance as a designer, illustrator and art director for advertising agencies and on the side I paint, draw, create whatever, collaborate with other artists, take photographs and stare into space. I grew up in Mitchell's Plain, Cape Town, South Africa – also known as the Cape Flats. A strange place full of scary people who control the most notorious gangs in South Africa. I spent most of my time avoiding this reality by daydreaming and playing Nintendo TV games and watching TV. When I wasn't playing games I was running around bumping my head on walls or falling off bicycles, double bunk beds, skateboards, fences and roller skates. Eventually I was sentenced to 12 years of brutal, mind-numbing, miserable, painful and embarrassing school. Somewhere around the end of my sentence I ditched the accounting class. I heard rumours that kids just talked and listened to music in art class and I thought that's the lifestyle for me. There I discovered a funny kind of joy in making pictures and I kept at it.

Michael_Saal
Education…
I graduated from the Nintendo to PC games in my teens and accidentally discovered Photoshop. It was an exciting tool to twist the world into strange shapes. That was probably the beginning. I can't be sure. I don't remember much before the age of 18. The doctor said this is the result of all my concussions. But I do remember graffiti. That came later. I joined NME crew in Mitchell's Plain and we painted together, drank together and risked our lives together. I learnt a lot from the amazingly talented people in the local scene. That was also around the time when street art started to bloom in Cape Town and there were fun group shows to be a part of. All in all, I'd say I learnt most of what I know from painting, interacting with the artists around me and the internet for information and inspiration.

Michael_Saal
Youth…
I read interviews of amazing artists and they say that when they were kids they were always drawing, inventing hydraulic systems and teapots made out of tea bags… and I think to myself, I never did any of that. All I did was daydream, play TV games, bump my head and make flaming patterns in the driveway with petrol when my parents were not home. I don't bump my head as much as I used to but I still daydream a lot.

Michael_Saal
Confidence…
Getting good results in high school art and encouragement from friends and family kept me on the path.

Michael_Saal
In the pipeline…
I'm building a very tall hill. A lot of awesome artists are helping me and when It's done we are going to the top to shout into the heavens. It's also a zine called Gods and Gangsters, filled with design, illustration, photography and writing. Some people think it's a movie about Jacob Zuma, Al Pacino and Jennifer Lopez and all the things they did at a dinner party together but I assure you that's not true. It's just a rumour to discredit my name.

Michael_Saal

When the coin lands on heads, I manufacture mayhem with a collective called BLKROK, which consists of a writer, keyboard player, designer/illustrator, skateboarder, mixed blood alsatian, a tambourine player and a struggling poet that's learning to play the guitar. It's a top secret project so I can't say much more. I'm already in kak for just mentioning the name.

Michael_Saal

I'm freelancing on other design jobs for advertising agencies. Most of the time for the good people at Matchboxology. They specialise in creating campaigns for HIV/AIDS awareness in South Africa.

Michael_Saal
Peaks and troughs…
I like that I can get lost in my work and transport myself to amazing places. I like working with with musicians. I like the freedom. I like making work that could have a positive impact on people's lives. I like that I don't have office hours.

Michael_Saal

I dislike being part of an industry that makes useless products that molest people's minds and destroy everything good and wholesome in the world. I dislike that I have to do this kind of work now and then to pay the bills.

Michael_Saal
Environment…
I grew up in Mitchell's Plain but I spent most of my time in my daydreams and lost in TV-game-land. School was boring as hell and so was Mitchell's Plain. I desperately wanted to be free from both as soon as possible. I was tired of living in a place where strangers would insult you if you looked or acted different to the norm. I was trapped in the land of the automaton and I was greatly outnumbered. I had to sneak around at night and disguise myself as newspapers blowing in the wind. Urban camouflage for a mild mannered Michael.

Michael_Saal

Michael_Saal
Encouragement…
Family was the foundation that I needed to do become confident in what I do. When I was a kid, my older sister kept telling me that I was talented and clever and that I could do anything I wanted to do. That was the key factor in my learning how to become a confident young artist.

Michael_Saal
Home…
My family is like an experiment. One day a scientist called Dr. Skoene decided that he wanted to make a strange fury monster with five heads cut from different types of African animals. Each head spoke a different language and the only thing they had in common was their body. But the monster was strong and clever and it made me some legs and arms from pieces of driftwood and corrugated tin and it took my head and connected it to the limbs and set me loose on an unsuspecting public. The monster has always been supportive of my career decisions. I don't know what I'd do without the fury beast. It made me who I am today, a wobbly nobbly head.

Michael_Saal
Stash…
I collect embarrassing moments, mainly when I'm drunk. I write them down on the back of grocery receipts and I keep them in my flatmate's yellow teapot. I dont know why I collect them. I have a feeling they'll be useful one day.

Michael_Saal
Inspiration…
I think my creativity comes in waves. I go with the flow. Sometimes I won't feel inspired and I won't be motivated to kickstart my engine and when that happens I try to stay calm. I increase my bath frequency to one a day and I relax or exercise. I try eating vegetables and fruit and then I watch a movie to forget about work. This can last for days or weeks but when the creative wave starts climbing I grab it and I ride it like I stole it.

Michael_Saal
Favourite things…
Koh Yao Noi, bands that record in their living room, Ernest Hemingway's book 'A Moveable Feast', friends, grapefruit, soya burgers, flaming meteorites, hysterical laughter, people that use the f-word in public and people that don't wear matching socks.

Michael_Saal
Unwinding…
I like switching my brain off. I'm obsessed with movies and staring at fires. I can do either for a very long. I justify both as research.
Time travel…
If I could go back in time I'd take my flatmate's yellow teapot with me and not do all the things I wrote on the back of grocery receipts. I'd also take a good book with me because I figure it would be really boring living in a world which can't surprise you. I don't know if I should do anything differently either. That old professor guy in Back to the Future kept warning Michael J Fox not to interfere with his past and his mother was starting to dig his bones and there's a scary scene where she tries to kiss him, which is wrong.

Michael_Saal
Amazing people…
Jeepers, the list is huge. I tried to write down their names but I know I will forget someone. Basically all of my friends.

Michael_Saal
Right now…
There are some BLKROK projects on the way. A series of experiments in light and sound. Top secret. Need to know basis only. Confidential and highly sensitive.

Michael_Saal
Dreams…
I figure I'm already living my dream life. The only thing that is missing is a catapult big enough to launch a car through a desert landscape.
Advice…
Follow a path with heart. If your heart is in it, you will do whatever it takes to get you where you want to be.
Continue reading...