vector artist interview

INTERVIEW WITH VECTOR ARTIST – TASSO

March 8, 2009 by Adam Jarvis 1 Comment

By Ansley Berrones
San Diego / Los Angeles, CA –
Last year, we posted this video from Tasso (speed portrait of superfox Ribith Leang) – a great friend to Vectorvault and an amazingly talented artist. Just recently, we had the awesome opportunity to dig a little deeper into his brilliant mind and take an up-close and personal look at the artist behind the designs.

VECTORVAULT: Tell us a bit more about your background. What did you want to be when you grew up?
TASSO: The earliest memory I have is wanting to be an animator. I grew up watching traditionally-animated Disney flicks (“Aladdin” is still is my fav) and I was always captivated by the creativity and group effort it took to make a movie. I interned for “The Animation House” in Toronto for 3 months through my high school program, where I got a first-hand look at the animation process. I assisted on projects for Cheerios and the music group Prozak, who used animated characters before Gorillaz made cartoons popular for music videos. It was great! I learned a lot about the business side of art very early on.
Give us a little more information about your work. Did you go to school to study? How did you get started as an artist/designer?
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INTERVIEW WITH VECTOR ARTIST: MILK

March 3, 2009 by Adam Jarvis 5 Comments

By Ansley Berrones

Tucson, Arizona –

Not a lot is known about the mysterious artist MILK (a.k.a Chiara), yet people across the net seem to want to see more and know more about the artist behind the brilliant and mystifying designs. Here is your chance to learn more about MILK and how she is inspired to create the beautiful art that she displays on her MySpace page.

VECTORVAULT: Tell us a bit more about your background. How did you get started as an artist/designer?
MILK: I’ve always been interested in graphics and design. When I was a little girl, I wanted to work making 2-D animated movies. As a teenager I gave up on the idea when I found out the huge amount of work behind those kinds of projects, and then, 10 years after I changed my mind about my dream career, I started working as a graphic artist/designer for a daily newspaper (the night shift, six days a week). I have to say that after my first year in the newspaper business I did change my mind again, and now I think that being an animator is a (beautiful) dream job.
I’ve been an editorial artist/designer since 1999, and I’ve always worked for newspapers. When I started, I just wanted to make a living making illustrations, and newspapers pay for it, so it was a good deal. 10 years later, I can say that sometimes its stressful and you’re always working on a very short deadline, but I just can’t see myself doing something different. It’s some sort of Stockholm syndrome.

Give us a little more information about your work. Did you go to school to study? What or whom inspires you the most? Are there any particular websites that you frequent to find inspiration?

Vector Artist – OG Abel – Interview

March 3, 2009 by Adam Jarvis 6 Comments

By Ansley Berrones

South Central Hills, CA

Here is an unbelieveABEL artist I would like you to check out. His art has a bit of a gangsta feel to it but looking a bit deeper, it has a history. Having a chance to get to know OG Abel, the artist behind the designs, has been motivating. He stands firm in believing that no matter what negatives you may have experienced in life, you can always turn it around and be successful – quite obvious in his personality, success and of course his designs. Read more to get to know OG Abel and allow his creativity story to inspire you.

Tell us a bit more about your background. How did you get started as an artist?

As a kid I couldn’t imagine myself as a successful artist or anything close to what I do now. I thought I would always have to hustle for money. My father telling me that artists die broke didn’t help either. All I know is that art sometimes would shelter me from the environment that we lived in. With so many friends and family falling victim to street violence I don’t think I ever imagined myself living this long.

I thank my mother for being so strong after dealing with so much of life’s hardships head on. I remember her asking me as a kid to draw her religious images from the bible. I would always look forward to drawing the Garden of Eden because of the animals, my favorites were lions. As a child, I would complain less about going to church if it had great paintings, architecture, and/or sculptures. I remember how I would sit with her on Sundays and pay little attention to the days sermon; I would study the elaborate religious paintings through instead.

Give us a little more information about your work. Did you go to school to study? What or whom inspires you the most? Are there any particular websites that you frequent to find inspiration?

My art education came from art classes in Junior High, High School. As a kid I loved participating in contests throughout the LAUSD. It was my way of making some much needed cash.

I also attended a two year Visual Communications program at Los Angeles Trade Tech (LATTC). It was at LATTC that I was introduced to the computer, so I had to get one. My sister’s friend worked for APPLE and got me a very good deal on a Powermac 9500 at almost half price. It was the best thing that had ever happened to me at that time! I remember many sleepless nights just myself and my Illustrator and Photoshop!

Im inspired by life and by its wonders and by people who are free and peaceful even after living through life’s hardest struggles.

What is your typical work day like? What tools do you use to help the design process from start to finish? i.e. traditional art tools, digital art tools and anything in between.

First thing I do when I get up in the morning is check the stock market on my iphone and catch up a on the days news on TV before I drive to the office, Where I start the day by going through all my emails and messages.

When doing artwork, most of the time I start with a rough sketch in my sketchbook or a blank piece of paper. I then scan it into Photoshop and make a few more revisions and then print it out as template and sketch a little more over it and then re-scan again. Sometimes I repeat the same process a few times until I have captured the look that I want. Once the final sketch is done I can complete the final Illustration in any medium I want, like Adobe Photoshop, or Illustrator or I can also paint it by hand on Illustration board.

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Vector Artist Superfex – Interview

February 26, 2009 by Adam Jarvis 2 Comments

By Ansley Berrones

Plymouth, England

Claire Latchem, a.k.a Superfex, is an incredibly talented, 20 yr old college student from Plymouth, England, currently studying illustration at Plymouth University. Some of you may already be familiar with Superfex and her creative abilities. I recently had the opportunity to chat with her briefly and get to know her history, her work and what inspires her with her creative process. Im quite sure there is something we can all learn from this inspirational interview.

VECTORVAULT: Hi Superfex! Tell us a bit more about your background. What did you want to be when you grew up? How did you get started as an artist/designer?

SUPERFEX: As a child when people asked me what I wanted to be it would either have been a zoo keeper or a vet. Since a young age I had always wanted to work with animals. As I got older I did a week of ‘work experience’ at a farm thats open to the public not far from my hometown. I guess thats what put me off! Waking up at 6am in the morning to go capture some goats that had escaped (and do escape on a regular basis) was not fun at all.

I remember when I was about 13/14, I was asked to pick my subjects to study at school. Of course you still had some that were compulsory but I looked at some leaflets and saw one for photography. I decided to take that class purely because I hadnt done photography before and my dad had a nice b&w film camera.

Over time, illustration became a hobby which I did in my spare time and it slowly took over my life. I find it funny that now I draw animals, sculpt animals, paint animals and I even have an animal themed exhibition coming up this year so although its not exactly what I pictured as a kid, its still related.

Give us a little more information about your work. Did you go to school to study? What or whom inspires you the most? Are there any particular websites that you frequent to find inspiration?

I studied photography for 6 years at various colleges and I even did the first year of a photography degree at Plymouth University before deciding it wasn’t what I wanted anymore and I transferred to the neighboring illustration course.

I started using Photoshop for photography; though I was hardly ever taught anything about it through the teachers. I started playing around with illustrator about 3-4 years ago because a friend implied that it would be too hard for me to use.

Well I guess I showed him!

I find inspiration from literally anything: posters, magazines, art, photography, food, sculpture, anything really. If I see something I like then I photograph it and stick it in my scrapbook. I always carry a small sketchbook and a camera around with me wherever I go.

Books and Magazines are a great source of inspiration. I purchase Computer Arts Projects and Clutter Magazine on a regular basis. Theres nothing like a good book to flick through too. I often go to my local Waterstones to look through their collection and if I happen to find one I like Ill order it from Amazon when I get home.

I found setting up an account on Deviantart years ago extremely beneficial to me. Not only was I able to talk to like-minded people and get useful critique on my work as I progressed, but I have also met some great friends and even picked up the odd job here and there. I think being part of an art/design community is a great way to improve your skills, develop your own style and have fun!

Some of the illustrators that have influenced me greatly are:

Jon Burgerman, Pete Fowler, Damien Vignaux, Karl Kwasny, Christopher Lee, DGPH, TADO, Superdeux, Flying Fortress and more recently Okkle, Julie West, Mcbess, Oliver Jeffers and Josh Cochran.

Websites that I visit everyday include: deviantart, flickr, bloodsweatvector, spraygraphic, vinylabuse, behance and lafraise.

Interview with retro vector illustrator Steve Millington

February 19, 2009 by Adam Jarvis Leave a Comment

Diskursdisko has done an interview with illustrator Steve Millington.
His retro style has become very popular over the past few years. His company Hisknibs has created a niche for work that seems to take cues from old album art, and fashion illustrations from the 60’s and 70’s. He successfully wraps them up with modern polish, making his work marketable and highly sought after.
Read his interview and learn what makes this creative master “tick”.

Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand

February 8, 2009 by Adam Jarvis 1 Comment

Now a household name for his iconic take on the presidential visage, Shepard Fairey is uniquely suited for a career retrospective. And not just because of his Obama-fueled stardom. This year marks the 20th since the street artist/graphic designer/general renaissance man began printing his infamous “Andre the Giant has a Posse” stickers while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. To mark the milestone, Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art is presenting “Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand,” Fairey’s first ever museum survey, which traces his oeuvre from 1989 through works he completed just weeks ago. The location is no accident either. Fairey admits a close connection to the town, as it was the first “real city” where he came to display his omnipresent street works.

Unlike many retrospectives, “Supply and Demand” is not organized chronologically. Since he regularly revisits certain concepts throughout the years, his work is separated into seven different thematic sections. The “Propaganda” portion, for instance, focuses on Fairey’s “Obey” theme, and includes plenty of works with Andre the Giant’s goofy mug. The “Music” section includes images of his biggest musical inspirations. In that room, portraits of Joe Strummer and Sid Vicious hang next to Tupac and Chuck D. But if there’s one underlying theme in the show, it’s exemplified by the last category, “Question Everything,” which subverts everything from Middle Eastern imagery to American currency. Running from this Friday through 16 August, the show is exclusively sponsored Levi’s, which couldn’t be more appropriate: the famed jeans company has championed Fairey since 2002, when they sponsored one of his group shows in Los Angeles.
We were lucky enough to get a preview of the exhibition, given by none other than the artist himself, who was dressed more GQ than DIY. He discussed myriad subjects, from the concept of street art to his creative process and post-Obama expectations. But since he explains it better than we can, we offer a particularly rough Rough Cut Video. Enjoy.
Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand
6 February-16 August 2009
Institute of Contemporary Art Boston
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210 map
+1 617 478 3100
Source: Coolhunting

INTERVIEW WITH VECTOR ARTIST – TASSO

INTERVIEW WITH VECTOR ARTIST: MILK

Vector Artist – OG Abel – Interview

Vector Artist Superfex – Interview

Interview with retro vector illustrator Steve Millington

Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand

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