FRESHLY SQUEEZED ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE
HELP US TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP Our decision to go digital has not been an easy one. When we founded the magazine we wanted to create a beautiful printed magazine that would be seen as a piece of art in its own right. Financial restrictions meant that we looked for a cheaper, but effective alternative and we have released all of our current editions through ISSUU. We eventually want to return to our goal of producing a limited, printed run of our magazines but our main focus remains and exploring the wealth of potential that a digital magazine has. The goal is to raise enough money to help us transform our magazine from its current state into one that can support multi-media rich content and reach a wider audience. We will do this by developing apps across several platforms to help us share our content with the world. If you would like to help us realise our goal, please follow the link below. In exchange for your generosity we are offering exclusive Lemonade goodies from past and present artists. Thank you in advance.
FRESHLY SQUEEZED ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE
CONTENTS:
THIS EDITION IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM ALL OVER THE GLOBE
RHYS OWENS (HIDDEN MOVES) REMON VAN DEN KOMMER SILJE MARIE KRISTIANSEN TOM BAGSHAW ARE WE DESIGNER PAUL WHITE
FRESHLY SQUEEZED ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE
Thank you to everyone who contributed both words and images to this issue. Unless stated otherwise all artists featured in Lemonade Magazine retain copyright to their work. Every effort has been made to contact all artists involved with the sole purpose of the magazine being to highlight the artists skills and talent and all reproduction of images are merely out of respect and enjoyment of the work. Lemonade magazine is a quarterly art and culture magazine designed and produced by Lemonade Design Group.
Front cover: Silje Marie Kristiansen Special thanks to Silje for taking the time to create this awesome cover design for this edition.
AMANDA MOCCI DAVID TERRAZAS REIULF RAMSTAD ARKITEKTUR I LOVE DUST Ă…SA WIKMAN SHIN TANAKA
AGA TARNOWSKA GHOST TOWN MEDIA GERREL SAUNDERS W R D B N R/INTERLUDES
CREDITS: Aga Tarnowska 1: Model: Magdalena Zalejska MUA: Ksenia Orzel Styling: Andrea Achinte Photographer's Assistant; Martyna Kamecka
This is Now poster designed by Silje Marie Kristiansen in collaboration with Oh Yeah Studio.
Aga Tarnowska 2: Models: Kasia Dziobek & Emma Johnston MUA; Ksenia Orzel Styling: Aga Tarnowska Photographer's Assistant; Martyna Kamecka Aga Tarnowska 3: Model: Lynn Mathieson MUA: Marta Marcinkowska Photographer's Assistant; Martyna Kamecka
efl
stop by and say hello lemonade-magazine.co.uk
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SWANSEA/UNITED KINGDOM ILLUSTRATION
For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name's Rhys Owens, I'm based in South Wales, UK, and I'm a designer / illustrator / creator of odd looking characters. Can you tell us a little about your artistic background? I've been interested in art and design for as long as I can remember, but it became more than a hobby when I started a graphic design course in college. While there, I was introduced to digital art and design, both 2D and 3D, which greatly changed the course of my work. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? Comic books were a great inspiration to me when I was younger. 'How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way' was my favourite book and I've still got it on my shelf. It still gets used once in a while.
How would you describe your art? Urban is how most people describe it. It's not an inaccurate term, but it seems awkward to me as I'm not a very 'urban' person. You won't find me tagging my initials or wheatpasting in an alley in Swansea city centre. How would describe your creative process? Do you always start from the same point or do you try to work more organically? I've got a 9-5 job weekdays, so my design work is limited to evenings and weekends mostly. When I do have the time to design, I like to play around with an idea until it either works or it doesn't. It's a very hit and miss process but it does the job. Also, I'd love to be the type of person who has an abundance of motivation, but some days it takes a lot of caffeine and a strong will to get started. Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you?
Panda No.3 is my favourite piece. It's the first one where I really nailed the look I was going for. A lot of it came from hours of experimentation with 3D models, textures and Photoshop effects, but it set the standard for most of my future pieces. In regards to Panda no.3, do you think that piece helped to define your style and has it progressed since then? Panda No.3 was both the birth and the pinnacle of that style. I don't think I've done anything I'm as proud of since, which is why I need to take some time to experiment. I think every artist needs to take time to explore and experiment to encourage growth. Who are your favourite artists, past or present? I'm inspired by the likes of Hush, D*Face, Miss Bugs and Antony Micallef. I also envy Lucian Freud, Rodin and Giacometti for being able to create something I could never do.
If you had to up sticks and leave the country where would you choose and why? If I had no ties to the UK anymore, I think New Zealand would be a great place to live. Lush, green and not too flat. Flat is dull. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by? Anything Adobe. I've been using Photoshop for 17 years and I'm not going to stop now. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? Unless you're extremely talented, you may be pretty disappointed with your initial attempts at anything good. Time and effort are the two most important things in getting better at what you do.
What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why?
What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take you?
It changes all the time, but the first piece of original art I bought was 'Betsy Kills Cowboys' by Ian Seniff, so it's a favourite of mine.
I'm changing tack for a while; experimenting with some new styles. I don't know the outcome at this point, but we'll see what happens.
EYE OF THE TIGER
THE MORNING AFTER
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REMON VAN DEN KOMMER
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SILJE MARIE KRISTIANSEN OSLO/NORWAY ILLUSTRATION
Back in Lemonade 02 we interviewed Silje and we loved her work so much that we asked her to create the cover for this edition, and what a fantastic job she has done! If you haven’t read the interview yet, then why not? Head over to the Lemonade website and give it a read. Silje has also provided us with some fantastic new work from her portfolio for you to feast your eyes on, why not drop by her website and take a look at the rest of her portfolio and say hi.
Based in the Georgian city of Bath, England, Tom Bagshaw works as a commercial illustrator under the moniker Mostlywanted and is represented by The Central Illustration Agency. His talents are sought after by clients in fashion, advertising, editorial and publishing, and include Saatchi & Saatchi, Sony, the BBC, Kraft, GQ, Future Publishing, Scholastic and Random House to name a few. For his personal work he has developed a highly rendered digital painting style through which he explores themes of fantasy, beauty and mysticism. While his work deals with imaginative content, it also aims for a strong level of realism in its presentation. Feminine beauty plays a large role in his work, but the women he depicts are never frail damsels in distress. More often than not they are strong, intriguing characters, with an air of mystery to them.
Check out Tom’s work at these current and future shows. Modern Eden Gallery/San Francisco - Until Nov 11th Fine Grime Gallery/Bath - Opens Nov 9th For more information visit mostlywanted.com
TOM BAGSHAW
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ARE WE DESIGNER KÖLN/GERMANY DESIGN
For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? We are a fantastic design studio based in Cologne, Germany. We are 4 lovely designers Daniela, Janina, Ruth and Sascha plus our current charming intern Miro.
mothers or grandparents to show us how to live a creative life. Maybe it has something to do with our very own talents and interests, we guess. The only thing we were not prepared for is the fact, that creativity forces you to do something – anytime. If you are a creative you have to do things. Full stop. How would you describe your art?
Can you tell us a little about your artistic background? We all studied Design in Germany, three of us at the Köln International School of Design in Cologne and one at the university of applied sciences in Trier. After graduating we all worked as freelancers for different companies, before we decided to run our own office. Having the opportunity to gain experiences before hitting the ground with ARE WE DESIGNER was something very precious. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? This is really hard to say. None of us have creative backgrounds in our families and didn't have fathers,
We always try to be bold, breaking down barriers and attempt to elicit a smile on people's faces. We believe that the rational part of everything is better understood with sympathy and fun. You can bring together the most interesting information in a straight and neat way – not many will remember the contents or conclusions. But if you add some smilemakers in it, than people start talking about it. The best thing we can do as designers is helping people to laugh, think and talk. How would you describe your creative process? Do you always start from the same point or do you try to work more organically?
First of all we want to impress ourselves! So no matter what, we are looking for new and inspiring solutions. We love to combine unseen topics to get a strong result. This is not the easiest way we admit, especially because we are aware of life being exactly as it was said in Pixar's Ratatouille “The new needs friends” Fortunately we are friends and most of the time our clients go all the way with us from start to finish. Regarding the process, many times our starting point is research and thinking. After everyone has done this, we bring everything to the table and start talking about it, exchanging thoughts and perspectives. Then we start coming up with ideas - sometimes good ones, sometimes weird ones (always our favourites). A teacher once taught us never to use the word “but” while brainstorming. It is really tough to follow this advice, but it is always worth it. After we found our idea the process is always different. So at the end it is some sort of combination of “always” and “organically”.
Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? We always try to make our last work the best. To quote the New York City Metro we are “Improving non-stop.” Our goal is always to look ahead and to discover something new. We are not really into nostalgia regarding our own work. But since you have asked… a very special project was our first trend book that we did for BASF Coatings. What makes us feel special about the book is the fact that it was totally realised in screen printing. The printer asked us several times if we really want to do this (he thought we were crazy!). It was a huge adventure and we died a thousand deaths but at the end everything worked out great. What's the craziest idea you've either been proposed or come up with? For outsiders our craziest idea was closing our studio
TREND BOOK BASF
for 2 months in 2011. Sascha took parental leave, Ruth learned Spanish in Barcelona for 4 weeks and Janina and Daniela went to New York City and spend the entire time there. During this time we did not only explore spare time but also our own thoughts. By the time that we all met back in Cologne we had tons of inspiration, hundreds of ideas and some really important findings in our pockets. All our friends told us that it would be crazy to risk losing our clients. But at the end, we didn't lose a single one.
What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? It always alternates. You know that situation when you come across a new project or work and end up being completely blown away by the whole project? A few days this happened to us when we read about the recent work “Rain Room” by random international. This installation gives visitors the experience of what it is like to not be hit by the rain even though it is raining all the time.
Who are your favourite artists, past or present? This is a funny question because we are working on a video right now, where we try to mention all the people that influence us. We detected that there are many of them and we don't even know how many people are still out there that we haven't come across yet. To answer your question – we love people like James Victore, Ferran Adria, Tilda Swinton, Lady Gaga, Sanaa, Stefan Sagmeister and Wes Anderson, just to mention a few.
Bringing people out of their comfort zone and giving them an idea of how things could be different is always something we feel very attracted to. Finding those works and having this moment of being super energised is the best starting point for doing something new. It really kicks ass.
FROM COLOGNE WITH LOVE PERSONAL PROJECT
If you had to up sticks and leave the country where would you choose and why?
Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists?
There are so many interesting places on earth! But New York City and Barcelona definitely would be a good choice. Why? Because we love cities that are inspiring, exciting and vibrant. But the most important thing is the people living there – this is something we really love here in Cologne because the people are nice to each other which make even the greyest days shine bright.
Oh, we LOVE wisdoms. Ours would be: Trust and be yourself, don't be afraid of anything – failing just makes you wiser (even if sometimes it is hard to endure), work hard while having fun doing it and keep your social life in the real world.
Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by? Having fun and listening to pop music.
What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take you? Our crystal ball is currently on vacation. What will be, will be.
PAUL WHITE MELBOURNE/AUSTRAILIA ILLUSTRATION
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MONTREAL/CANADA ILLUSTRATION
For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My art focuses mainly on realistic portraiture with a touch of surrealism. Can you tell us a little about your artistic background?
do. Things that perhaps my brother would have liked to try if he was still around today. I always told myself that I could never draw a portrait because it was too hard. I think I surprised myself a little the day I actually tried. Music also has a big influence on my work. Some of my first portraits are mainly of my favourite musicians. How would you describe your art?
I began by studying graphic design in 2004 at Dawson College. After graduating college, I did my bachelors at UQAM where I minored in illustration. Everyone always told me that I should make illustration my main career focus, but I was always afraid I would lose the passion to illustrate. It has been about 3 years now since I started as a freelance illustrator.
I like to focus on the centre of the page and keep the surroundings clean. My first pieces were a little darker than my newest ones. I like to keep things on a serious level; there is a lot more room for imagination that way.
Who or what inspired you to start creating art?
How would describe your creative process? Do you always start from the same point or do you try to work more organically?
My brother played a huge role in. A year before I started drawing, my brother passed away at the age of 30. When I finished college, I wanted to challenge myself with things that I told myself I could never
It's rare that I sketch out my idea before I start. A lot of my teachers hated me for that because I always tried to assure them that the final piece would turn out just the way they wanted it to. When there is a
REVIVAL
complex composition, I will do small, quick sketches to figure out the placement of elements on the page. My main focus when starting a new drawing is the eyes. The eyes are what make the drawing come to life. Once the eyes are right, the rest falls into place.
The video you created for the piece is fantastic. Have you ever thought about creating more video pieces that aren't specifically of your drawing process?
Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you?
I really enjoyed making the 2 process videos. It was nice to show people exactly how I work from start to finish. I have been thinking of making a short bio video of myself so people can get to know the person behind the work.
I am strangely fond of my self-portrait, Dark Wings. I never thought this would have been the case considering that I always said that I would never draw myself. I like to draw people that fascinate me so it was an odd thing when I took up the personal project. It started out as a promotional piece but then it slowly evolved into one of my most beloved artworks. I was discovering myself everyday that I would work on it. I think that it is partly because of the video I created while working on the piece. It was exciting to be put in the place of the viewer and to see from their eyes what I do.
Who are your favourite artists, past or present? A past artist would be Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. I am greatly influenced by his use of chiaroscuro, which translates as “light-dark� and dramatic lighting. As for new artists, it would have to be Sam Weber and Sophie Jodoin. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why?
DARK WINGS
Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by? My “H” range of pencils is my life. As for brands, I started with a generic pack of pencils and created some of my earliest pieces with them. I now use a full range of Staedtler pencils. As for colour, I swear by gouache and have a fond love for oils.
That would be me, since I'm the only one in my studio. I really love a lot of music but it varies from day to day and also what I am working on at the time. Without music, I would not be able to draw or come up with ideas. Some of my favourites are Radiohead, Interpol, Portishead, The Beatles, Muse (the old stuff), Beach House, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, and a bunch of other stuff. Really love Jazz and classical too.
Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists?
If you had to up sticks and leave the country where would you choose and why?
Practice and patience is the best advice I can give. One of my teachers once told me that when I reach my 100th drawing I will be a better artist. When I got to that point he told me “now get to your 500th drawing and you will be even better”. You always need to set the bar higher and higher and keep surprising yourself.
New York city in a heartbeat... well Brooklyn. I feel like I can make anything happen in that city. Every time I visit I come back with loads of inspiration and tons of adrenaline to create new things. I don't think I am the only one though!
What's the craziest idea you've either been proposed or come up with? Some people thought I was nuts when I made my book 'The Universe'. Who controls the stereo and what's usually playing in the studio?
What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take you? It is hard to say what people might see form me in the future. I enjoy challenges and I love to try new things. One thing for certain is that I will be doing more large scale pieces. After doing Revival, I enjoyed the amount of detail I was able to put in the piece.
THE OATH
DAVID TERRAZAS
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At Lemonade we have a soft spot for architecture. We aren’t drawn into the whole argument of whether architecture is art or not, as far as we are concerned it plays a massive role in our day to day lives and when done properly can have a stunningly beautiful impact. Starting in this edition we will showcasing some of our favourite architectural creations and the facts and figures behind the project. First up with have the amazing tourist route in Romsdalen, Norway designed by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter.
LEMONADE a space ARCHITECTURE
REIULF RAMSTAD ARKITEKTER/NATIONAL TOURIST ROUTE
TROLLSTIGEN The project enhances the experience of the Trollstigen plateau’s location and nature. Thoughtfulness regarding elements and materials underscore the site’s nature and character, and well-adapted, functional facilities augment the visitor’s experience. The architecture is characterised by clear and precise transitions between planned zones and the natural landscape. Through the notion of water as a dynamic element - from snow, to running and then falling water - and rock as a static element, the project creates a series of prepositional relations that describe and magnify the unique spatiality of the site. location: Romsdalen, Norway program: National tourist routes client: Norwegian public roads administration size: Buildings 1200 m2, landscape 150 000 m2 commision type: Invited Competition 1st prize in cooperation with Multiconsult 13.3 landscaping (2004) status: Completed, 2012 year: 2004 - 2012
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I LOVE DUST LONDON/UNITED KINGDOM DESIGN
For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction to who you are and what you do? Sure, my name’s Mark Graham I am creative director at ilovedust a small design boutique style design studio out of the UK. Can you tell us a little about your artistic background? After graduating from Portsmouth University in 2001 I worked a number of odd jobs ranging from builder to kitchenware salesman and as a designer of everything from websites for glove companies to housing brochures. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I guess it started back at school drawing on skateboards and making tees and stuff. My mum was pretty artistic, always making stuff, and my dad worked as an interior designer so I was always dipping my toe into the design based pool if you like.
How would you describe your art? Well at ilovedust we do quite a variety of styles and directions but I always like to think we have strong narratives and a nice attention to detail. We love cool shit; we love cool shit with a story even more. How do you start off a new project? Do you always start from the same point or do you try to work more organically? Hmmmmm how do we start!? Well it depends on so many things really and that's exciting in its own right. Maybe we have to use certain pictures of an athlete like Kobe Bryant or Ronaldo or we might need to use certain colours or finishes etc. so I'd say we start with what we know then flip it on its arse as much as we can. Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? There has been a few of late, certainly jobs we have
done in the last few years that are special would be the one off box for Benji Wlison and Nike, Benji was a hugely talented basketball player cut down in his prime by gang violence in Chicago. We produced a one off booklet and packaging for his family with Nike to pay homage to him 10 years after he sadly past. That to me is a very special project. What's the craziest idea you've either been proposed or come up with? Ha ha! Fuck there are loads! Hmmmm I like the ones where people have absolutely no idea what they are asking for in reality, they just talk up a storm of nothing. We have been asked to paint a Lamborghini as well, that was pretty nuts! Who are your favourite artists, past or present? So,so,so many but the ones who stick in my mind right now would be: McBess, House Industries, Charles and Ray Eames, Jim Phillips, Saimon Chow and Alex Giard. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? Hmmmm, god that's so incredibly hard to say to be honest. I recently bought a Faile print and I have to say it's the first real piece of Art that I have bought and so I'd have to say that. My Faile flag print, yup.
NIKE/BENJI WILSON HYPER DUNK KIT
ILOVEDUST SKULL
ABSOLUT VODKA PING BAR LONDON
Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by? Redwing shoes, Cholula hot sauce, Barbour jackets, Ben & Jerry's, Sapporo Cans, Sharpies, Nike Mercurials, Stumptown coffee and M65 jackets. What do you think is in store during the next twelve months for design? How has the recent recession affected you? It's much tougher there's no question of that but I'm hopeful that it will actually mean that it's going to have a positive long term effect with everyone trying to look at quality and quantity much more.I think the recession will test a lot of people's metal and put them to the test. What's the single most important thing you want to tell young designers just starting out? Really I would say work hard, put yourself in harms way almost. Be there when needed and be there when not needed. You have to have more than just talent; you need a work ethic and the will to succeed in the long run. It doesn't matter if you don't triumph on your first try, just brush yourself off and go again..
And again ... And again. If you had to up sticks and leave the country where would you choose and why Portland, Oregon, USA. I go there so much it's like a second home and it's just so laid back and creative. It just feels like a place to be for a while. Sick it up and spit it out. Who controls the stereo and what's usually playing in the studio? Oh god that's the hardest, HARDEST THING!! We try to take turns, although I try to be the first in to take control for the day! We have so much?!! From Marvin Gaye to Jay Electronica, Beastie Boys to the Bangles, Frank Ocean to The Smiths, Kanye West to ... Well, Kanye West. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take you? I think we're going to be doing a lot more hands on projects with live installations and a bit more motion work too; certainly we are pushing onward and upward.
ASA WIKMAN LONDON/UNITED KINGDOM ILLUSTRATION
I am very interested in surface design and really wanted to work more with it myself so I recently created a hand drawn collection of wallpapers, Budgie Love, Evolution and Swedish Winter, where I wanted to mix contemporary sketchy illustration with something traditional and classic, as wallpapers, I am very happy about the response so far, British Vogue has used them in a shoot and I have received a lot of positive feedback and is now sketching on my next collection which will have a very different feel to it. Other then that, I organised a small exhibition together with two other illustrators at Fika in east London, the show is called "Let's Fika!" and is a celebration of the Swedish tradition of fika and has work from 6 Swedish illustrators; me, Karin Soderquist, Hanna Melin, Danijela Dobric, Martin Wollerstam and Emma Lofstrom. The exhibition will be up and running until the 14th of October. Now I am working on a new exhibition that will take part in Brighton in the beginning of November, and a few briefs, other then that it is not much new, I am still drinking to much coffee, being frustrated about politics and doodling grumpy animals!
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SHIN TANAKA Japanese Street Artist turned paper sculptor, Shin Tanaka, has been combining both skill sets and styles to produce highly detailed paper toys for a number of years now. Not only are Shin’s paper toys incredibly fun to make but they are also very easy on the eye. With the likes of Jon Burgerman, David Flores and Bshit amongst many others contributing to the exterior of the toys, we often find ourselves struggling to decide which one to make first. Shin regularly makes his paper toy templates available for free download from his website but they only remain for a short period of time so catch them whilst you can.
TOKYO/JAPAN STREET ART
SHIN TANAKA
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AGA TARNOWSKA EDINBURGH/UNITED KINGDOM PHOTOGRAPHY
For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? My name is Aga and I'm a Polish born photographer. I graduated from the University of Abertay in Dundee a few months ago and am currently living in Edinburgh. My specialism is fashion and portraiture photography. Can you tell us a little about your artistic background? I was 9 years old when I held a basic camera in my hands for the first time. I was happy to photograph the world and people around me. I can say I am the first generation of artists in my family and I hope there are more to come. Who or what inspired you to start creating art? I felt as if photography came naturally to me when I got my first camera. Since then it became my hobby, but I would never have thought it could have become my profession too. It took me a long time to make the decision about going to college. After four years I am happy to say it was the right choice.
How would describe your creative process? Do you always start from the same point or do you try to work more organically?
What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why?
For me, the creative process starts with an idea, which may come from anywhere at any time. Then I explore it in many different ways to achieve the best result. When it comes to fashion series I usually try to create a story. I tend to be a perfectionist and I like to have everything planned ahead of time. Of course, during any given shoot inspiration continues to play a role and I like to incorporate any new ideas as they come.
It is too difficult to point out single piece of work created by another artist. I can spend hours looking at images created by one of my contemporaries, Tim Walker. His unique approach to photography is fascinating for me .I would love to have the opportunity to work besides him one day. I also admire the work of Edvard Munch, especially “The Scream”. Why? I think it is because every time I look at it I can 'perceive' a different message.
Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? I would say it is my series called “Bona fide” (In good faith). This project was inspired by religious icons in various paintings. By representing catholic figures in contemporary fashion I exposed my open minded nature and creativity. However, some people find it controversial.
Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by? I use Canon digital SLR camera for most of my projects however I think that every project is unique and requires me to use different techniques and materials each time. It enables me to experiment, push my own boundaries further and produce a different body of work every time I shoot.
Who are your favourite artists, past or present?
What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take you?
It's very difficult to decide. There are so many fantastic artists, inspiring me every day in different ways. When it comes to photography I think that Tim Walker, Paolo Roversi and Miles Aldigre are my top three.
I want to keep my portfolio fresh by adding new, exciting and surprising projects. Working for well known fashion designers is one of my aims. In the future I would also like to have my own collaborative studio, preferably in Tokyo.
GERREL SAUNDERS
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LOS ANGELES/U.S.A VISUAL FX AND POST PRODUCTION
For those who aren't aware of you or your art could you give us a brief introduction? We're a pretty small vfx and design studio from Los Angeles, CA. While we started as a primarily traditional visual effects studio, we quickly found our footing in projects that tended more towards the nontraditional pipeline and aesthetics. Referring to our VFX room as 'the lab' we try to integrate new or unusual approaches for post production and design in our pipelines, as we benefit greatly for the 'happy accidents' these routes tend to yield. Can you tell us a little about your artistic background? Brandon Parvini |Creative Director:I studied originally as a Fine Art major at USC, focussing on sculpture and painting. While having always been active in design, it wasn't until after college I gave any thought to working in moving images. I always appreciate the experience I received outside the digital world though as that baseline level of classic art making I feel informs my decision making process to this very day. Though the past years have given me a new
arsenal of tools at my disposal, so when we were asked to work on the cover art for Linkin Park's latest album (Living Things) I was able to step back into old shoes, focus on just one frame, and have all the weight and weaponry that would traditionally be used in film making, but now focus all that effort into single frames of creation. Jeff Lichtfuss | Creative Director:I started taking stopmotion animation classes at Maryland Institute College of Art's “Young People's Studios� in the 5th grade. Stop-motion classes lead to hand drawn character animation, followed by traditional cell animation, claymation, then early versions of 2D computer animation with Macromedia Director in '94. I was hooked and continued my education through the Film and Animation program at Rochester Institute of Technology, concentrating in 3D character animation. After college I spent time with 3D modelling and animation at design firms before venturing into compositing and postproduction. I very much like where I am now because every day allows the use of a new style or technique, and rarely am I pigeonholed into one particular role.
LINKIN PARK BURN IT DOWN
Who or what inspired you to start creating art? Brandon: It was always something I did. I can't really explain it, there wasn't a singular moment for me where I decided to start. In my earliest memories as a child, I've always been doodling and sketching. By the time I was applying for college, and then the work force, I feel like I had always known I was supposed to be making something. What that 'something' is e xactly has remained fairly fluid process. Jeff: Like Brandon, I was basically born with a pencil in hand. I would sit in front of the TV on a Saturday morning and try to recreate the cartoon characters on screen. I was always doodling and often had more drawings and doodles in my school notebooks than class notes. It wasn't until I was encouraged to start animating that I really began to take my artwork seriously. For that, I'd have to credit supportive parents and teacher s at a young age. How would you describe your art?
Experiments. High/Low. Old/New. Rarely can we look at a piece we have done and not see other attempts, projects or directions inside of it. Each thing we make informs the next. The process of creating is really the guiding force for us. Due to the client based work we do, how our work looks changes based upon the client. In the end, we hope people wouldn't be able to easily describe our work, but rather just know it when they see it. How would describe your creative process? Do you always start from the same point or do you try to work more organically? Because of the nature of our business, there isn't the same level of self serving narcissism that is allowed. Don't get us wrong, it's fantastic when you can be left to your own devices and create in a vacuum only what speaks to you... But when you are part of a team, or under another's direction for what they wish to communicate, you're compromised. That compromise is necessary and latent to the nature of our work
when you design. So you look for ways to add your flavour to anything that's asked of you. We never can start at the same point each time, we are always influenced but what we have just done, the tools at our disposal, and most importantly, what visual riddle are we being tasked to solve this time. Tell us about your favourite piece of work that you have created to date and why it is so special to you? I think a project like our music video for Kanye West's 'Welcome to Heartbreak' would be our favorite project, as all paths in our recent past can be tied back to that project as the nexus point for who we are as a company. It was the first project where we got a chance to do something really unique and special for a mainstream act and see it turn into something that people really connected with in an unexpected way. Also it represented for us a fundamental shift in who we would become in that it pushed us into nontraditional software and workflow which is a design
and effects strategy we've adopted wholeheartedly since then. The idea of creating visual effects out of seldom used or mis-used pieces of software, or even software that has nothing to do with the effects industry, has become a basic part of what we do, and 'Welcome to Heartbreak' is what pushed us in that direction. Who are your favourite artists, past or present? People like Chris Cunningham, HR Giger, Beksinski all helped point us to making our current flavour of work. Yet, we couldn't possibly answer that question and feel like it accurately portrays our influences. Every day we are digging through hundreds of new images that are flooding at us from all angles. Each day we find 10 new favourite artists. Each one bringing something unique and inspiring that speaks to the project we are working on. For us, we need to feed on new imagery and influences on a regular basis. When people come to us to suggest direction, or hire us out, we're not allowed to really show people things
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they have seen, they are usually asking for something else, something they haven't seen. Without a regular feed of new favourite artists, we couldn't possibly create fresh work. What is your favourite piece of work created by another artist and why? This is an incredibly hard one to answer as by listing any one or two works, it inherently devalues other works that we admire as deeply. We have a huge catalog of projects that inspire us over a long period of time, but narrowing that down is tough for us. Do you have a particular material, brand or technique that you swear by? We're digital, and we like to work on Mac systems. Above that we are totally agnostic with our tools and mediums. Right now, we primarily use the Adobe suite and Maxon's C4D. We're also trying out a wide swath of o t h e r s o f t w a r e a n d l o o k f o r n e w p r o g r a m s e v e r y d a y. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring artists? 10,000 hours of practice and work. Do the due diligence and do the work, practice at your craft, everyone has great ideas. These days what makes great artists is having the technical skill to execute the ideas. What can we expect from you in the future and is there anywhere you would like your work to take? We have a hard time guessing where we will go next. We have intent, and that's all we can really hope for. We're doing some work for a good friend's feature film right now. After that, it's all up in the air as usual. We would like to continue digging into new technologies and continuing to misuse and abuse them. In terms of our bleeding edge, we would love to start tapping into the growing new media culture and find a way to have our aesthetics and work become more interactive, more experiential.
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KANYE WEST WELCOME TO HEARTBREAK
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