Hello Simon, first of all, tell us something about your upcoming work. What are you into at the moment?
I am finishing some Drawings and Etchings for a show I’ll be to at the beginnig of July in Trier, Germany called something like “graphical disaster of the nature” and I am also contributing to a an artzine edition, along with 11 other artists and illustrators. My passion for etching engages quite some of my time, as I am learning, by doing and experimenting with different techniques and materials. Every step takes his time – so my hands are black, from printing ink, most of the time!
Tell us a little bit about yourself: where is home, and how long have you been an illustrator?
I was born in the South of Germany, close to the borders to France and Switzerland and I have been living and studying Graphic Design in Trier, in the west, for the last 4 Years. My first job as an illustrator was an educational boardgame for a french company, 3 years ago. I am still getting started with commercial jobs – most of my work is for University or selfinitiated. I try to put as much energy, as possible, into developing my own artistic language and vocabulary at the moment.
Could you tell us some more about your illustration? How would you describe your style?
In the last years I have been working a lot with Ink and pen, on rather big Format. Mostly i work in black and white, but I enjoy coloring with aquarell, if I feel the work “needs” color. My style is rather dirty, often a bit dark and not too digital, I guess. I also like to combine drawing and writing. To filter the amount of pictures and informations we get all the time and everything, that has to do with chaos and the human creation and its helplessness is very fascinating to me.
Would you give a brief walk through your work flow?
When I work for a client, I try to figure out as good as I can, what he wants the illustration to express, or look like and than search for the right tools to use. I don’t like doing corrections on pieces, I am happy with, so I try to clear them, at the beginnig. If the work is personal, its not that organized. I don’t try to do something I already did and know how to do, but to learn something new through the process of creation, which also includes failures and experiments. The work that happens before the execution is also very important for me – reading, cutting out pictures from the newspaper and browsing the web to get a feeling, of what I later want the work to express.
If you could change one thing about being an illustrator, what would it be?
Here in Germany, illustration doesn’t get the attention, it gets in countries like France, Great Britain or the United States, for Example. I hope, that Editors and Agencies become more receptive towards Illustration around here.
Do you remember the very first piece of art that you worked up?
There is this painting in my parents’ house, I did when i was 8 or 9. I illustrated the 4 animals from the folktale of “The town musicians of Bremen”. Colors and composition are totally unusual, but I remeber taking the picture pretty serious and, that my teacher told me afterwards, that this is a real piece of art, which made me very happy.
What artists have influenced you, and how? Who or what inspires you in your personal life and work?
I love to study the old Masters, like Lucas van Leyden, Albrecht Dürer, Francisco de Goya or Rembrandt – I have always loved Egon Schieles work very much. Horst Janssen and Klaus Boettger have “told” me a lot about Etching and Drawing too. My inspiration comes more from the real world – nature and architecture, people in the bus, or books I read. I try to keep informed through newspaper and the internet, as my personal work often has to do with things, that happen around the world.
How has your work evolved over the years from when you where beginning?
When I started, I thought a drawing is good, if others look at it and say: “That looks so cool.” – now I am more interested in creating a confusion or question in the observer, so he will start to think or act and not just consume. I try to find out for myself, what makes a picture a good picture. If I go to a museum or a gallery, I ask myself afterwards: “What sticked to your mind and what makes this picture stay, while you forget about others?”.
What inspires you and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?
I try to be disciplined and work even if I’m not motivated – often the motivation comes while doing doodles or sketches, of stuff lying around on the desk. If nothing works, its always good to take a walk through the forest and calm down. Watch the bugs walking around there, they can teach you a lot about motivation!
How could you describe that precise moment….The one it makes you say: “Yes! This is great! I did it! I got it!”
That feeling is the recompense, for the struggle and the energy you put into your work. Sometimes it takes me two or three attempts to start a big format (including destroying the paper ) , because I really need to feel, that the drawing will be good from the beginning, so I will work an it for the next days. It has to happen after some lines or minutes – just like dancing with someone: if it doesn’t work from the first song, it won’t get better and you should try someone else or go back to the bar.
What is your family background? Were there any artists or creative types in the family?
My uncle is a graphic designer and did a lot of woodcutting and sculpturing. He fed me with books about artists and informations about the world of art and its history, when I started. My mom would have been a great designer, I believe, but never had the chance, as she came from a poor backround in Barcelona, Spain and had to choose a secure job. She would always create things with me and my sisters, when we were young. The interest in the humans destiny and social awarness is something, that was very important in my parents’ education too, I think.
The hardest and the easiest part of your passion?
You have to accept, that you can’t produce art, like other products – you are not a machine. It is also difficult, to compensate your passion with money. For me, the best thing about the passion of drawing or etching, is, that you can built your own world and explain your ideas in a language that everybody, who wants to, can understand, no matter where he is from.
How do you keep yourself motivated and your illustration fresh?
The desire to create things or to understand something through drawing or painting is an impulse, you should have deep inside. If you don’t have it, you will loose motivation at some point; sometimes its quiet hard to tell, if it is a gift or a curse to have this impulse.
What good advice do you have for people who want to be illustrators?
Spending too much time on watching other stuff on the web for example, won’t make it easier to develop your own work. Find your own style and forget about what is modern or cool at the moment. Everybody has its own language, you have to find yours and you will be distinguishable from the rest.
Before you put your work “out there”. Do you have it critiqued by someone else, or do you just go with what your heart tells you is right?
While I work, I am my own critic and really try to convince myself, before I show it to to others. But I believe that it is very important, to have people around you, who tell you honestly, what they think about your stuff, even if its uncomfortable. I often prefer to talk to friends, who are not artist if I want to know if something works or doesn’t.
Who’s the first illustrator that comes to your mind in front of your next blank canvas?
As my upcoming show will put my work next to Horst Janssens’, an artist I admire since I started Drawing, he is on my mind quite a lot these days. But I try to be just myself, and forget about things I have seen before, when I work.
