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  Whose Sketchbook: Junichi Tsuneoka

  Bio: Junichi Tsuneoka was born and raised in Japan and, upon graduating Waseda University in Tokyo, arrived in the US at the end of the 20th Century. After five years as a graphic designer, Junichi established a style often recognized as “California Roll Stylie,” the result of both a visual and conceptual fusion of Japanese pop culture and American urban culture. He founded Studio Stubborn Sideburn to broaden his visual communication and to employ his visual language in art, illustration, and design. Junichi’s pieces possess highly communicative, assertive graphics, and contain clear signs pointing back to his strong design background.

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  Whose Sketchbook: Riot68

  Bio: Growing up in the 80’s my world was full of crazy cartoons, action figures, sticker collecting and DC comics, I also spent my night times staying up to watch old Boris Karloff and Vincent Price movies along with a stream of the classic hammer horrors. My artwork now finds me torn between the ultra clean futuristic machine and the dirty horror filled world of the undead.

  I started writing around 1990 for a few years, just messing about with friends after we saw a few books on New York graff, life moved on and it died out, although I’ve always kept sketching. A few years ago I took it back up again and am now striving to push my self in new directions, attempting to add the clean lines to the chaos and vice versa.

  My artwork has also extended beyond graffiti to custom toys, canvas work and digital media and I am always looking for new ways to move it all forward, searching out new spots to paint, new people to paint them with and new ways to release the undead. Visual anarchy since 1990.…

  To learn more about Riot68, you can visit his website, check out his tweets on Twitter, follow him on Facebook, or view his YouTube page.

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  Whose Sketchbook: Michael Wandelmaier

  Bio: Michael Wandelmaier is an illustrator and graphic designer who currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Though formally trained as a civil engineer and geologist, Michael has chosen to pursue a career in the arts. He uses both traditional and digital media in his work. To learn more about Michael, you can visit his website.

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  Whose Sketchbook: Anke Weckmann

  Bio: Anke Weckmann likes drawing, early grey tea and audio books – especially all of them at once. She’s an illustrator and lives in London. To learn more about Anne, you can visit her website, read her blog, or visit her on etsy

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  Whose Sketchbook: Ryan Snook

  Bio: Ryan is a freelance illustrator working in Toronto. Some of his clients include Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Hasbro, The Stranger, Maisonneuve, Billboard and Time. In off moments he works on comics and plays video games. To check out more work visit, ryansnook.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

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  Whose Sketchbook: Steven Topley

  Bio: Steven Topley is an illustrator based near Nottingham, England who creates doodles in all manner of styles, on whatever medium he can get his crayons to! A serial scribbler, he eats, sleeps and breathes illustration, and is occasionally spotted playing the guitar badly. To learn more about Steven, you can visit his website or read his blog.

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  Whose Sketchbook: Adrienne Marcus Raja

  Bio: An aspiring filmmaker, she is currently indulging deeper into the art of documentary media at one of Toronto’s university to find her path. Adrienne also enjoys experiencing interesting food, culture and people. All these inspires her sketches.

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  Whose Sketchbook: Shingo Shimizu

  Bio: Shingo is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design’sCommunication and Design program. His work has also been featured in Mixmag, Business 2.0 and Popular Mechanics. Shingo has been recognized by The Advertising and Design Club of Canada and American Illustration and also been profiled in Vektorika’s ‘Greatest Hits’ issue. Currently, he works out of his Toronto studio where he takes on various projects including Illustration, Graphic and Character Design. To learn more about Shingo, visit his website or follow him on Twitter.

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  Whose Sketchbook: Iain Laurie

  Bio: Iain Laurie is the creator of Powwkipsie. He is also the artist on Roachwell (written by Craig Collins). He lives in Edinburgh.

We asked Jeremy to continue our “Filling in The Blanks” series, where we ask local artists, musicians, and designers who live, work, or play in Toronto to finish off 20 questions that we give them. Here are Jeremy’s responses:

• Q1. If I was forced to use only two fonts for the rest of my life, they would be Gotham Rounded and Archer!
• Q2. The best thing about being the Creative Director of the Gladstone Hotel is that I get to work in such culturally rich and supportive environment where I am trusted and respected.
• Q3. If I was mayor of Toronto, I would first create complete transparency in the municipal government,and at any time during a term the voters could call in and vote to have anyone on council voted out of office. I would speed things up so we could create social programs overnight, and if they didn’t work out then we would try something new the next day. All the social programs would be self supporting or supporting another program. I would change around some current hierarchies to: trees before power lines, pedestrians before bikes and then cars, sidewalks before roads, transit before cars, individuals before groups, communities before cities, people before businesses and heart before wallet. I would create an urban permaculture program where every inch of city land from boulevards to parks would have self sustaining ecosystems that would create an abundance of food for humans, flora and fauna. I could go on forever.
• Q4. One thing people would be surprised to learn about me now is that before working as the Creative Director at the Gladstone Hotel I was actually working in architecture and interior design for 6 years.
• Q5. My dream project would be to be in charge of creating self sustaining and sustainably driven social programs for the city of Toronto, starting with my own community, Parkdale.
• Q6. My biggest vice is a tie between fantasy novels and going out on a Wednesday night to Vitamin G, shaking my booty mid-week, then showing up a bit hungover to work on Thursday
• Q7. The thing in life that scares me the most is people with a sense of entitlement to specific things that no one really owns, like land, a dog, or respect. Land is the earth’s; it is unto itself. No one can own it. You can’t own a dog either; the dog owns itself. As far as respect goes, I think you might be deserving of respect, but that doesn’t mean you are entitled to it.
• Q8. My favorite places to hang out in Toronto are my front porch and any of our gorgeous parks.
• Q9. I love it when the weather and sky change dramatically. I’m always looking up, and wondering why everyone else is looking at the sidewalk. The weather makes me feel connected to something much bigger than myself.
• Q10. The most important lesson I’ve learned about life so far is that unconditional love for other people comes from unconditional love for oneself. A lot of the time we’re looking for love all around us, from other people, from objects, situations or money, but the truth is that unconditional love comes from a deep sense of self love, of contentment and acceptance of oneself. Once you connect with this you can feel a profound unconditional love and gratefulness for other things in your life. Still working on it and always will be.
• Q11. I love Toronto because of its diversity. Diversity in ethnicity, culture, wildlife, business, music, philosophy, politics, plants and trees. Diversity is the key to the health of an ecosystem.
• Q12. The craziest thing that ever happened to me was that in my early twenties I drunkenly fell off a balcony in a club, landed ass first in the centre of a cocktail table full of glasses with people at it, knocked everyone off their seat, slid off and tipped over the table, and walked away without getting kicked out or remembering anything. I’m not proud of it, but it is the craziest event for sure.
• Q13. I always wanted to start an urban permaculture movement.
• Q14. If I wrote an autobiography about my life to date, the title of the book would be Public Displays of Affection. Oddly enough, the same name as the volunteer organization I started with some friends, and named for similar reasons. It would probably be about my quest for self love, and how that changed the way I was able to help and love other members of my community.
• Q15. I love Come Up To My Room because its the best example of why the Gladstone’s Art and Design Incubator Projects are working. It takes designers, artists and everyone in between and mixes them all together, synthesizing new ideas and dialogue that push the boundaries of almost every discipline.
• Q16. My favorite color is green because it makes me think of the forest.
• Q17. Did you know that apparently a comet hit the earth like a billion years ago, took a bunch of the crust off the earth, pushing it into space, creating the moon and its gravitational fields which directly affect the long term biodiversity of the earth. Also, pulling all that crust off helped to make the continental drift possible, which also added to the rich biodiversity. Thanks massive Comet!
• Q18. If I could have my own TV show, it would be a documentary that followed the improv-everywhere team around while they tried to make peoples lives less boring and succeeded.
• Q19. If I had one wish, I would wish for a retro golden brick cell phone or to be living on the planet before civilization started making it so grey.
• Q20. I always wanted to work with Jaime Lerner, former governor of Paraná Brazil and former Mayor of my ideal city Curitiba in Brazil. Lerner is a world renowned urban planner because of his progressive sustainably and socially minded work in Brazil.

To learn more about Jeremy Vandermeij, you can visit his website.

Jason: You’re quite the creative sparkplug. I mean, you’ve created some jewelry, some silk screen illustrations, and comics, just to name a few things. As a result, do you prefer being called an illustrator, an artist, or perhaps just super creative girl?

Ginette: I guess, in that sense, I’m not really just strictly an illustrator, because I like going from one medium to the next. I get kind of bored really quickly, and I’ll stop one project and go to something else. I’m really a big procrastinator too, so, I’ve got projects that have been going on for a few years. Like, I’ve got this doll house that I’ve been building from one of these kits you can buy online. You have to sand it, glue it together, paint it, and this ridiculous stuff, that I’m still working on. So, it doesn’t really pertain to illustration at all. I’ve always thought of myself as an illustrator, I guess, mostly because of OCAD, and I think, before then, I didn’t really know what being an illustrator really was. I started at OCAD in the arts stream, actually, but I found that I wasn’t getting enough guidance there, so I switched over to illustration. It was so much better.

Jason: As an artist, how have you changed over the last five years.

I really don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t into art. I really can’t imagine not having these weird projects to work on everyday that make me feel really good and happy.

Ginette: Oh, tremendously. I can’t even explain the kind of art I made in Highschool. It was so different. It was like really girly and, you know, unicorns, and drawing girls with long hair. Which I still like, when I look at other people’s art, but I don’t like doing that kind of stuff anymore, and its got really cartoon influenced which I always got influenced by but I never really thought that I could draw that way and get respect, you know. Especially being in Gary Taxali’s class in second year. That really turned me around. When we would do illustration projects, at first, I was trying to do stuff that was a bit too realistic. At one point, he just saw my doodles and he was like, why aren’t you doing that, you know? I got that from a few other teachers that year, and I was like, why aren’t I just doodling stupid faces, you know. Ya, I think I pretty much did a 180 after getting into OCAD. I’m still doing the cartoon stuff but its gotten more crazy.

Jason: Ok, if you had access to a hot tub time machine, what would you do or what would you change?

Ginette: If I could be a kid again I might try and draw more. I was always sort of like, the art kid, except I wasn’t really drawing that much on my free time. I think I spent way too much time watching cartoons. Although, that was good for me as well. Ya, just being a bit more into drawing things from my head. For a long time, I was just drawing, you know, copying Mickey Mouse. I think I did that for like 10 years when I probably should have been doing other stuff. I don’t know, maybe I would be like five years ahead by this point.

Jason: What were some of your favourite TV shows and cartoons?

Ginette: It wasn’t even like the TV shows that were playing on TV at the time. My parents would buy me all of these weird VHS tape complications. They loved Betty Boop—that was my favourite. I like anything that was, like, old Fleischer Studios. The type of cartoons were the ones from the 30s and 40s where the whole cartoon was sort of centered around gadgets. Like weirdo, you know, like this is a boot hitting something and it does something else. It was like the most amazing thing to me and I was like I want to do that someday. I want to make inventions and make cartoons.

Jason: What’s one really cool thing that you love about being an illustrator/artist?

Ginette: I just love waking up every morning with cool projects in my head that I have to get done. I’ve got all these projects that I feel that are making me better or, you know, just be seen. I really don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t into art. I really can’t imagine not having these weird projects to work on everyday that make me feel really good and happy. I love making stuff that looks funny or like stupid. It’s really hilarious to me, and it’s kind of like bizarre that it’s my life. It’s kind of unbelievable that it’s something that I can do. I’m from Sudbury, Ontario, so I never really considered that I could be an artist for an living. For a long time I was like, I guess I’ll be a teacher—that was sort of plan B.

In 2007, we some how got a table at TCAF (The Toronto Comic Arts Festival), and so I was forced to make a zine. I had no idea what a zine was, so I just made one. I went on a porn website and pretty much just copied pin-ups, but then I added all kinds of shit to them. That was my first zine comic.

Jason: I have to ask you this. If you could punch any celebrity in the face, who would you punch?

Ginette: There are so many celebrities that I hate. Ok, maybe Tim Burton for ruining Willie Wonka and probably ruining Alice. Oh, but there’s also Nicholas Cage. I just can’t stand his face. I’m mean when it comes to those two.

Jason: Tell me a little bit about Wowee Zonk and how you got involved in it.

Ginette: Wowee Zonk is this really weird thing. Sometimes we talk about it, me and the two guys, and we try to figure out what exactly happened, but we’re not really sure. I think we all had similar esthetics, I guess, or at least inspired by similar things. So, we gravitated towards each other and started hanging out a lot. Patrick Kyle and Chris Kuzma, they are the other two dudes, always seemed to be into comics, and they sort of pushed me into it. In 2007, we some how got a table at TCAF (The Toronto Comic Arts Festival), and so I was forced to make a zine. I had no idea what a zine was, so I just made one. I went on a porn website and pretty much just copied pin-ups, but then I added all kinds of shit to them. That was my first zine comic. I was like, yah, I was just forced to make comics, but it was really fun. I think the name Wowee Zonk just stemmed from too many beers. We doodle together a lot and definitely drink too much, which is not my fault. They totally pushed me into it. I don’t even drink beers unless someone’s forcing me to, but it’s awesome. I love hanging out with them, and we draw constantly. We started these sketchbooks recently where we were just doodling together, and it’s some of our best work so far. It’s kind of amazing. We really seem to be learning and we really work together very well which is very exciting.

Jason: I’m really digging this Pobody’s Nurfect. Tell me more about it.

Ginette: This came about because Annie Koyama really wanted to do a project with us. I don’t know if she had any idea of what she wanted us to do. Like, she mentioned you can do a comic, but you don’t have to. Then we realized we don’t have to make a Wowee Zonk three. We can make an offshoot of that. We had two different art shows last summer, so we had all of this artwork that not too many people had seen because it was two small art shows. So, we decided to compile those in this little book.

Jason: This is awesome (looking at Pobody’s Nurfect)

Ginette: This is just like our fine art work. We have been using it even as a promotional tool sending it to a few magazines. It works really well. She (Annie Koyma) just like covered all the costs, and is amazing about it. She has been pulling strings for us everywhere, and she got us an interview for tomorrow. She really loves us and we love her back. It makes it so much easier when you have someone rooting for you.

Jason: So where do you think you’ll be in a couple of years? Where do you see yourself progressing too?

Ginette: There are so many things I want to do. I just want to branch out in as many different ways as I possibly can. I really hope that I can sort of get my foot into the door with editorial stuff and working for magazines. I’m hoping that could be my bread and butter, but who knows, and (as far as) keeping the comics going: I think long-term with Wowee Zonk we might even like to become publishers and start publishing smaller zines of our friends. You know, just keep trying to promote people we like and ourselves. We really love creating books. On the front cover of Pobody’s Nurfect is every single zine we made separately and some together. I would really love to branch out into animation. Although, I sort of need to study a bunch of animations first. I would really love to eventually have a finished animation.

To learn more about Ginette Lapalme, you can visit her website

Every once and a while an artist will come along that commands your complete attention. Such was the case with artist/illustrator Alexei Vella. This award-winning illustrator’s work has been recognized by some major players in the illustration world, including Juxtapoz, 3×3, American Illustration, Applied Arts and Creative Quarterly. When this creative juggernaut isn’t working on illustration assignments, you can find him earning his MFA at OCAD in their Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art, Media and Design program.

We asked Alexei to continue our “Filling in The Blanks” series, where we ask local artists, musicians, and designers who live, work, or play in Toronto to finish off 20 questions that we give them. Here are Alexei’s responses:

• Q1. The thing I like most about being an illustrator is the satisfaction of coming up with interesting visual solutions to conceptually hard or bland material.
• Q2. If I could collaborate with any person or company on a creative project, I would love to work with a dream team of my own invention consisting of Barry McGee, Gary Panter, Yoshitomo Nara and Banksy. If you do not know who these art stars are, it is time to call up your friendly neighbourhood web-search.
• Q3. The last good movie that I saw was …let me interject before I move on… a “good movie” depends on one’s definition of “good”. I personally have not seen a movie I would consider “good” in a while; but that does not mean others have not. The way I see it is, all movies have their merits and shortcomings and I am not just saying that to be safe. What I do know from what my friends and family tell me, is that when I recommend a movie they know what to expect – one of Alexei’s bizarre and often-curious choices in movies, I guess I am not one for the mainstream. If you are interested in my strange tastes watch some of the following films: The Holy Mountain, Stalker, Begotten and Freaks. P.S. But you don’t have to take my word for it…
• Q4. One thing people would be surprised to learn about me is that although my illustrations are bright, colourful and often positive I am quite the opposite, it really all stems from my love of Black Death Metal. However, that does not mean I fit the brooding artist stereotype… Well, actually now that I think about it, that is the image I project to those who do not know me well enough. I guess that happens when you consider yourself as the “other” in the crowd and share an affinity with the Elephant Man, Skeletor and Frankenstein.
• Q5. I believe everyone should experienced the 80’s. Those of you that do not know who Gizmo, Megatron or Skeletor are you are totally missing out and should not exist at all; you are a waste of space. All seriousness aside, everyone should have a sense of humour.
• Q6. My creative inspiration comes from a variety of sources and is in constant flux. If you had asked me last year where my creative inspiration came from I would have responded with vintage comics and cartoons (E.C. Segar, Joe Oriolo, et al.), ephemera and the early 20th century, but I find that stuff so passé and over done right now, marketable yes, but over done. With that said, it does not mean I do not use that visual vernacular in my work – what it does mean is that I have been looking elsewhere for inspiration, especially after returning to school. Graduate school really changes your headspace – currently what inspires me is the concept of abjection, the occult, monsters and psychoanalysis. If I was asked for a broad all encompassing source of inspiration (past, present and future), which I think this question was expecting, I would have to say it would be popular culture.
• Q7. Another illustrator whose work inspires me consists of a list of about 50 or so artists and illustrators – there are so many out there, all rightfully amazing and inspiring, so I cannot say one inspires me more than another. I am currently enjoying the work of Alex McLeod, David Altmejd and Andy Warhol.
• Q8. If I wrote an autobiography about my life to date, the title of the book would be a tie between “One Foot In Front Of Another” and “Kick Ass And Take Names” or possibly a combination of the two – “One Foot In Front Of Another, Kicking Ass And Taking Names: The Life And Times Of Alexei Vella.”
• Q9. The best thing about being an illustrator is drawing and getting paid for it.
• Q10. The worst thing about being an illustrator is drawing and NOT getting paid for it. SPEC work is evil… avoid it at all costs.
• Q11. My favorite place in Toronto to hang out is difficult to say. Being a recent addition to Toronto, I really do not know where to “hang out”. Can you recommend a place to hang out? I will seriously try it out. I suppose I enjoy hanging out in my ivory tower, contemplating my artistic revenge by squishing people’s heads from out my window. Seriously though, I would say the Art Gallery of Ontario, it is like a 2-minute walk from where I live and it is free entry for OCAD (name drop) students.
• Q12. The thing in life that scares me the most is change. I see myself change everyday and not in the good way. I guess all we can do is accept change and move forward.
• Q13. I love it when it rains.
• Q14. If I could go on a vacation anywhere in the world tomorrow, it would be California. Not exotic enough? Okay… fine… New Zealand/The Land of Mordor.
• Q15. The most important lesson I’ve learned in life so far is there is more than meets the eye. Just because someone might be crippled does not mean they are any less than everyone else. If you are afraid of them, do not further the fear by calling them names like freak or gimp. Karma will get you in the end… I am certain of that.
• Q16. I love Toronto because it is a city and I love cities. I think I am biased though, I think it stems from living in suburbia for so long, everything there is so far apart.
• Q17. One of my favourite places to eat in Toronto is not one but rather many. Toronto is littered with a ton of its fine fast food establishments and I love my junk food. I know… I know… I should be eating healthier. I hear enough of that from my mother.
• Q18. The most influential person in my life is Skeletor… no wait your Momma… no wait actually my Momma.
• Q19. My ultimate goal in life is to eliminate everyone standing in my way of becoming the king of everything and attain world domination through the use of image.
• Q20. If I could meet anyone in the world, I would love to meet Stephen Hawking, Slavoj Žižek, Hades or Skeletor, depending on what world is being referred to.

If you have iTunes installed on your computer, each link will take you directly to the listed song, album, or artist. If there isn’t a link, we couldn’t find it on iTunes.

Alexei’s Playlist: 10 songs currently getting heavy rotation on his MP3 player.

1. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box, by Radiohead.
2. Molten Light, by Chad VanGaalen.
3. Iron Man, by Black Sabbath.
4. What’s He Building In There, by Tom Waits.
5. Bad Romance, by Lady Gaga.
6. The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion, by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
7. East Hastings, by Godspeed You Black Emperor!.
8. Aghartha, by Sunn O))).
9. Delìrium Còrdia, by the Fantômas.
10. The Magic Position, by Patrick Wolf.

To learn more about Alexei Vella, you can visit his website or Facebook page.

Describe a typical day in the life of Gary Taxali

Well, a typical day, I guess, is getting up in the morning and drinking my ginger tea, reading my emails, and trying to figure out what I’m going to do first. Usually, I have to go through a process of doing some quick drawings to get in the groove of just relaxing and in a state of what I need to work on. For example a typical day: right now as I’m talking with you, I’m working on an illustration for the London Telegraph, and then I’m going to work on this for a few hours. I’m going to take a break, then I’m going to work on some personal work. Later in the afternoon, I’m going to work on some sketches for two other jobs I’m doing, and I’ll see how that goes. By the evening, if that still takes me to the evening, I’ll force myself to stop working around six o’clock, walk away from the computer, walk away from my drawing table, walk away from my studio, and just try to make some plans to go out. Maybe watch a movie, make some dinner, or hang out with some friends.

I always have a bit of pressure related to my artistic passion, but most of it is personal, and related to a sense of sincerity about what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it.

So what’s the best thing about being you?

Maybe the best thing about being me is that I’m really lucky and thankful that I exercise honesty about my career and my work. I think that’s very important, because it reminds me of what I really want to do and what I love. I’m guided by (honesty) in my career decisions and when it comes to the pictures that I make and all that other stuff. I guess just having that honesty, self-respect, and value for my pictures and my designs.

What do you love about living in Toronto?

Toronto is great. It’s home. My family is here, my really good friends are here. I teach at the art university in the city, OCAD, I really like teaching there—I like that school a lot. I like the infrastructure of the city. There are certain quirky things about it that make Toronto great. I like my neighbourhood. I live in a Portuguese neighbourhood in the north west part of the city, in the junction. I like the proximity to Europe, the proximity to New York, and the proximity to LA. So, going to Europe or going to LA is not a crazy leg. It’s manageable, you know, like five hours to LA and seven hours to Europe. It’s totally great to be central in that way. So, I feel like Toronto is a really good nucleus for my career. I like the cold weather; I really do. I love winters. I love the seasons. I like the cold weather, because it keeps me busy and keeps me working.

So who’s work inspires you?

A lot of my friends inspire me because they are my friends. People like Yuko Shimizu inspires me; I love her work a lot. I love the work of Mark Rosenthal; I think he’s a great illustrator. I love the work of the Clayton Brothers. They’re really good friends, and I love talking to those guys about art. Then there are a lot of dead people that still inspire me like E.C. Segar, the guy who created Popeye; his work is amazing. The Fleischer brothers I love. I love Dr. Seuss, Andy Warhol, Picasso, and Jackson Pollock. Then there’s film makers like Jim Jarmusch; he really inspires me. He’s a big influence in my work. I’m inspired by a lot of old packaging from all over the world from different countries. Typography is a big part of my work, so I look at typography more than I do at other people’s pictures.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

The best piece of advice was from a teacher. I went to the school that I teach at, back then it was called OCA, and I had a teacher named Jerzy Kolacz who helped me understand that illustration is a language. He said that you have to learn how to speak a language before you can express thoughts and ideas in that language. He said when you learn how to speak that language then you have your own style and way of speaking. So that helped me understand the power of the visual voice and how what we say is a language and it’s just a form of speaking. That gave me an understanding about what I do beyond just making a static picture versus that picture just being a part of all the other pictures I make, because they come from the same person. So it’s the same person saying different things but collectively it’s one language.

What are some of the biggest challenges the illustration industry now faces?

The most obvious one, this is something none of us has any control over, is the economic state of the planet. The country that was hit the hardest was the United States, and culturally speaking, there are not many countries in the world that are good to illustration like the United States is. So therefore, because the American economy is going through a very difficult time, a lot of publishing companies are being forced to downsize and just go online and can no longer afford the level of content they once did. That’s affecting illustration. So I think that illustrators today are going to have to be concerned more with looking at online outlets as a means to survive. I don’t think print is dead. Print will never die. It’s just becoming smaller, and maybe it’s going to enter a state of comatose. That’s going to be a really big issue.

Aesthetically speaking, I don’t think a lot of great art direction is happening in publications and therefore there’s a lot of literal, unoriginal, and cliché solutions that I see in illustration. I think it’s become somewhat mediocre.

There’s more illustrators today than there were 20 years ago. The market is smaller but it’s over saturated with illustrators. Stock houses have really adversely affected the industry so that has in turn forced the rates to stay the same and in many cases decline. If illustration today is worth the same, in terms of magazine real estate, as it was worth 30, 40 years ago, and you take into account the cost of living and inflation and so forth, that means we’re really taking a hit. At the same time though, there’s more opportunities in other areas that didn’t even exist before. For example, the online convergence with things that require creative people to create imagery, interactive websites, motion graphics; the gaming industry has also exploded. There’s a lot of really wonderful things that have emerged, which I think are great opportunities for emerging illustrators to tackle.

The sensibility has also changed which is also a reflection on the times. Aesthetically speaking, I don’t think a lot of great art direction is happening in publications and therefore there’s a lot of literal, unoriginal, and cliché solutions that I see in illustration. I think it’s become somewhat mediocre. I think that has to do with the fact that there’s too much power being exercised by editors who are fearing losing readership and perhaps starting to do the art directors jobs; I see that all the time.

As a well known illustrator and artist, you have the power to reach a lot of people. Do you feel you have a social responsibility to your community, your country, or your world?

I think everybody does. There is an unwritten social contract for living in the world. We all have a responsibility, but I think that the person who has cemented a career in a particular industry where people are aware of what that person is doing should recognize that their actions do affect the course of the way that industry can unfold in a negative or positive way. One of the examples I tell emerging illustrators and students is that be very careful about what you perceive to be the way things are versus the way things actually are. For example, if you see the work of an illustrator in a publication, don’t assume that person signed that contract, because different publications have different contracts for all kinds of artists. People make deals all the time. When it comes to things like rights, I don’t give away my rights, I don’t sell stock, I don’t work for low fees, and I’m very vocal about that. I think that it’s very important to uphold something in the way of ethics, which ends up becoming standards, simply because they evolve from having a moral value system about one’s own work and self-respect and career. I think people that give up the farm early in their career are doing a disservice to themselves, but because they are a part of the whole industry the industry suffers also.

Do you have any new toys on the horizon?

I just had a little figure released from Kid Robot a few months ago that came out with a little tiny friend that was an inch high. I just did another design for the key dolls. I think it’s a two and half or three inch key. I did that. Other than that, I would say not this year, but next year I will come up with more designs for Chump Toys.

Finally, what are your plans for 2010 Gary? Do you have any big goals?

This might sound silly, but maybe just to do bigger pictures, scale wise, like large canvases that are like seven or eight feet. I did a show last year and I had a canvas that was six feet. Well, actually, it was canvas on plywood. I just want to do bigger paintings.

If you have iTunes installed on your computer, each link will take you directly to the listed song, album, or artist. If there isn’t a link, we couldn’t find it on iTunes.

Gary’s Playlist: 10 songs currently getting heavy rotation on his MP3 player.

1. Cold Sweat, by Thin Lizzy.
2. Psycho Daisies, by The Hentchmen.
3. Heading for the Texas Border, by The Flamin’ Groovies.
4. John the Revelator, by Blind Willie Johnson.
5. Hate To See Ya Go, by Jack O’ Fire.
6. The American Ruse, by MC5.
7. Rockin’ the Joint, by Esquerita.
8. Lie Detector, by The Mighty Caesars.
9. Rock n’ Roll Murder, by The Chesterfield Kings.
10. I Really Want You Right Now, by The Lyres.

To learn more about Gary Taxali, you can visit his website or Facebook page.

That Voodoo Thing

Dwight’s sketchbook inspired me to have my own idea factory. Since I was a creative guy who could design and illustrate, I really didn’t think it would be very difficult for me to create my own idea factory. Boy, was I wrong. I found that if you don’t establish a personal connection with your sketchbook, your idea factory isn’t going to produce anything. I realize that “connection” might sound a little like voodoo, but without this connection, all you’ll end up with is a sketchbook that’s half-full sitting on some bookshelf collecting dust.

Idea Factories at Work

Over the years, I have learned that the elite creatives, the ones who stand out from the crowd, ultilize some type of notebook, scrapbook, or sketchbook. It’s not by accident that they use one. For these top creative minds, having an idea factory that produces ideas 24/7 is key to their success.

To showcase some amazing idea factories at work, I decided to show off sketchbooks from three creative professionals. Their sketchbooks are highly creative and very inspirational.

1.  Guillermo del Toro is the writer/director of the movie Pan’s Labyrinth. To showcase his early writings, ideas, and sketches for the movie, Guillermo decided to display his sketchbook online. His online sketchbook is a real interactive treat for anyone who loves pure creativity. It’s also an excellent example of an idea factory at work.

2.  Emilie Boudet is a talented illustrator who lives and works in Paris, France. This girl is one creative sparkplug. You can tell by looking at her portfolio, her travel sketchbooks, and her blog that this girl is a natural illustrator. If you’re from Toronto, you really should take the time to check out her travel sketchbook from Toronto.

3.  Craig Frazier is a designer/illustrator who’s been at the game of creativity for a long time. In short, when he talks, people listen. In 2005, Craig decided to create a website called 98 pages to showcase sketches from his personal sketchbook. 98 pages is an inspirational website dedicated to the power of the sketchbook. It’s definitely worth taking the time to look at.

Ok, Where Can I Get One?

As I mentioned earlier, it’s not easy creating your own idea factory. That’s because you need to establish a personal connection with your sketchbook first. Creating this connection might take a little time to establish. Still, don’t give up, because once you establish this connection sketching will become second nature to you. As a result, you will start seeing ideas rolling off the assembly line 24/7. If you’re looking to start your own idea factory, here are a couple tips that worked well for me.

• Think Small: Large sketchbooks are a pain to lug around. As a result, you won’t be inspired to carry one around all the time. The problem with this is, inspiration can strike anytime, anywhere. That’s why I love using pocket sketchbooks. They fit in almost any pocket, they are easy to carry with you, and best of all, they don’t cramp your style.
• Treat It Like A Diary: If you treat your sketchbook like a diary and you make an entry every day, you’ll go a long way to establishing a connection with your sketchbook. It doesn’t matter how large or small the entry is, just make one. Then one day, you’ll find that making an entry once a day isn’t cutting it anymore. Congrats, because that’s when you’ll have started to make a personal connection with your sketchbook.

A Miraculous Occurrence

Each time I get the opportunity to look at someone’s sketchbook, I feel like a little kid at Christmas. For me, nothing beats seeing another creative’s thoughts, feelings, and observations through their sketchbook. It’s like I’m taking the creative journey with them. When Milton Glaser was discussing sketching in a video by C.Coy, he also described a similar feeling when he said, “I’m astonished by drawing. I always think of every drawing as a kind of miraculous occurrence”. Well, Milton, I couldn’t agree more.

Thanks to the internet, more and more artists are sharing their idea factories on their personal websites. If you would like to share a website that features an idea factory, please feel free to share by posting a link to it in the comments section.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I am an artist – mainly a painter and sculptor. I have lived in France, Germany and Canada and I am now married to a Canadian. I love to dance and try new things, and I’m passionate about travelling and eating great food. Yet, art is my life; I cannot keep both separate. I cannot turn off my artistic brain which is critical, analytical, positive, and creative when confronted with life situations and adversity.

You are a very talented artist. When did you first realize that you were meant to be an artist?

I have always wanted to be an artist. I quickly figured out in high school that I could never be true to myself by choosing a traditional career path. For the longest time I could not decide what kind of artist I wanted to be; turns out I want to be all of them.

You’re currently taking the Material Art & Design program at OCAD. How has that experience changed you as an artist?

Every subsequent year at OCAD has truly changed me as an artist. Looking back at an old piece I realize how far I have come and how much I am no longer the artist who did that very piece. I understand I am not a ‘traditional’ maker and often push many institutional boundaries, but I have always had the support of my instructors. They have continuously encouraged me to carry on tearing down the various walls of division between art, design and craft, and ultimately unify them into my art practice.

When you start a new art project, how do you get from conceptualization to the final product? Walk us through your creative process.

01. Idea 02. Brainstorming 03. Mind Mapping 04. Research and Sketches 05. Refining the Concept 06. Models and Samples 07. Re-evaluating 08. Writing 09. Creation 10. Presentation

For an in-depth look at Elisabeth’s creative process, click on the thumbnail images below.

As an artist, what inspires you?

Inspiration often hits me unexpectedly. Most recently I’ve been inspired by the complexity and the simplicity of life, another artist, a conversation, a cup of tea, and music. One of my recent paintings was inspired by the things that people don’t say, and was centred around the adage, “the elephant in the room”.

If you could work with any artist in the world for a day, who would that artist be, and why?

At the moment I would work with the Cracking Art Group, based out of Italy. They melt recycled plastic bottles and mold them into impressively oversized animals. I respect their strong environmental and social commitment as once they are finished with an installation, they break down and reuse all materials. I am currently creating a body of work that also includes animals and I have really fallen in love with their work and ideals. They are a great inspiration to me and I appreciate the humour in their work. It always makes me smile when I look at it.

On what are you currently working?

My thesis! I am currently looking at consumption and our modern lifestyle, and the negative effect it has had on the environment. I am focusing on the fact that our lifestyle has driven an increasing number of species of animals towards endangerment. Many of us understand the impact our ecological footprint has had on our environment, but because the effects are rarely seen, we avoid changing our behaviour. Therefore, I am bringing endangered animals into our urban cities and blending them into architecture. They will be situated in such a way so as to be perceived as an obstacle; others will disappear into walls. This ‘inconvenience’ will require one to walk around it and will not go unnoticed. I am using construction materials like concrete, aluminium, plaster, etc. and placing the animals in site specific installations.

What are your long-term goals?

I want to be an artist that is reflective of today’s society. I am calling myself an ‘activist’ kind of artist. I may not always have a nice message but an urgent and pressing one that echoes our society. I am beginning to find my voice and I need art to matter. I need it to change and move people.

To learn more about Elisabeth, you can follow her on Twitter or visit her website.

For those who don’t know what Funkill Collaboration is, can you tell us who you are and why it got started?

We are a group of artists with roots in graffiti culture. Me and Bfor had been working together in the same crew for several years. We wanted to see if there was any potential for our artwork on a professional level. So we started Funkill. Unlike painting walls illegally, which stand the chance of getting buffed or gone over by other artists, Funkill provided a catalyst for us to get our work into stores, restaurants, private residences, and galleries. And I’m not just talking about canvasses, we still apply our art directly to the walls in these cases. We have a unique style, we stand out, and people are taking notice.

Can you describe your roles within Funkill Collaboration?

We both bring different styles. I myself, more towards the realism. Bfor likes to do lots of cartoons. Sometimes we work on projects together where the two styles have to go, so we both make adjustments. Other times, we can mix our totally different styles together, and it creates a unique style all on its own.

Like with any artist, our styles and techniques evolve over time. Since working in collaboration, we’ve both had to deal with two separate evolutions; our own individual style, and the one we create together.

Would you describe yourself as a graffiti artist, an artist, or an illustrator? Or, is there another description that you prefer?

I just do my thing and leave it to other people to place it on the grid as they wish. I definitely see myself, in the future, as a fine artist. I use to call myself a graffiti artist, but that’s just one style that I practice. I go home and do portraits, and I’d like to start getting recognized as an artist rather than a graffiti artist.

Can you tell us who Funkill’s influences are?

Oh definitely. If you’re talking about the black and white style that we do, I would have to mention Tim Barnard as a figure that we look up to. He’s another Canadian artist. We worked with him on several projects, as well as other artists, in black and white. In terms of graffiti, I could look up to lots of artists. There are too many to name. I mean, Montréal is so full of graffiti artists on many different levels. You know, like the bombers, the piecers. There’re way too many to name. Toronto too. I lived in Toronto for a year and hooked up with some pretty cool cats there—graffiti artists and break dancers. Your scene is pretty full, I mean, there are too many people to name.

In terms of fine artists; I’m definitely looking up to Omen from Montréal. He’s also a graffiti artist. He’s got a good thing going on maintaining his rep on the streets, but he’s also got a good reputation with the galleries and the collectors. He’s broken past the boundaries of graffiti art that’s known on the gallery level now. I guess that’s how I aspire to be thought of. Creatively, we are inspired by many things. Cartoons, poster art, tattoo art, typography. Our graffiti styles influence our canvas work, and vise versa. Like with any artist, our styles and techniques evolve over time. Since working in collaboration, we’ve both had to deal with two separate evolutions; our own individual style, and the one we create together.

When I look at Funkill’s work, you two have put together some amazing collages. For example, your work for NEON Ottawa and NEON Toronto. Can you take us through that process?

It’s quite simple, actually. Just throw a bunch of random images together, overlapping; make a few jokes, throw in some funky words, and it just builds on itself. When we do that style for clients, we suggest that they give us a list of images they would like to see. We use that list to build their custom piece.

Do you ever butt heads on the creative direction of a project? If so, how do you come to a compromise?

We probably butt heads on every project. There’s no project that goes smoothly. You’re working with two really prolific artists, you know, and we both have a different direction that we want to go in. Eventually, though, it works itself out. We’re really good friends and we’ve been working together not only professionally, but writing graffiti on the streets and in the yards together. At this point, we’re use to it. Our arguments come and go, but our work stays strong.

Do you get a lot of creative freedom when you’re working on a project?

When working for someone else, it’s really difficult to maintain creative control. A lot of people have an image of what they would like to see, and they’re just looking for someone to make it happen, rather than looking to hear what the artist has to say and take him on their word what’s new and innovative, or what people want to see. I find that a lot of people don’t appreciate the creativity. They just see that this person is able to form an image on a piece of paper from their brain, but I’ll get them to do what I want. I’m looking for people to want my message and what I have to offer.

Funkill has done some amazing mural work. What else are you known for?

Obviously graffiti, murals, interior/exterior, we do a lot of canvas that we put up in shows or just sell on a personal basis with people that we find online or word of mouth. We do clothing and clothing accessories, lots of shoes, hats, and bags. Still looking for a good t-shirt hook-up. You know, we discussed it with a lot of people, but we have yet to find that perfect partner to develop a relationship on that front. We’ll do pretty much anything. We’re looking for a challenge.

What type of projects do you enjoy working on?

Large scale projects. We like to work with paint, with the cans. We like to do environment, like a restaurant, to create the ambiance. Anything where we’re giving the overall look of an establishment. That’s what I prefer to do. There’s no greater honour than having someone tell you, “Here, create the image of my store.” When people come in and they get a feeling from your artwork, it’s a good feeling. Also, I like to do canvases for people’s homes. You know, breaking through that boundary and getting in someone’s home. It’s also a good feeling. Hopefully someday that painting will be back in circulation and in someone else’s home, or in another venue.

Can you tell us what Funkill Collaboration is currently up to?

Funkill Collaboration is constantly looking for shows to show our canvas work. We’re trying to get more serious with that. Like I said, we’re looking for an outlet for t-shirts to start producing clothing. We also want to start merchandising. We want to tap into new ideas and new markets.

In closing, where do you think Funkill Collaboration will be in five years from now.

It’s hard to say, really. There’s talk of letting more people in. Already we recruited a third member, but we have yet to do a project with him. It’s hard to say. Bfor and I are so prolific on our own, it’s possible we can both go off in our own direction, or the group could grow larger and take on a whole new mentality. Either way, whatever we do will be innovative and original.

To learn more about Funkill Collaboration, please visit their Facebook and Flickr pages.