interviews........

i found these interviews because i was looking for last nights episode of animate tv on 4od. two are from animators who were commissioned by animate projects http://www.animateprojects.org/films/by_artist/s/c_swann. Cordelia's interview tells the story of how she came up with the idea for her film Amnesia, about women who wake up in malibu married to pierce brosnon through amnesia brought about by day time tv. petra freeman also commissioned by channel 4, paints her animations on glass and has an interesting story about maturing eels and being synthesthetic. Jasper goodall takes inspiration from history rather than other illustrators. He designed the cover of varoom of the silhouette of the woman with a zebra print. and jessica hische is typographer illustrator with a nice tatoo.

Interview with Cordelia Swann from Animate Projects on Vimeo.

SP 2010 Speaker - Jasper Goodall from Semi Permanent on Vimeo.

Interview with Petra Freeman from Animate Projects on Vimeo.

SP 2010 Speaker - Jessica Hische from Semi Permanent on Vimeo.

the interviews part II

Talya Baldwin.

What are your daily inspirations?
Maps, old paper, birds, books about exploration, medieval manuscript illumination, my friend Phil Hall (www.philhalldoesthis.co.uk <http://www.philhalldoesthis.co.uk> ), old film posters, taxidermy, dead things generally, comics, Tom Gauld, Morteza Zahedi, monoprinting, letterpress.

How do you get out of being stuck with drawers block?
I stop and do something else! And I try not to get angry. I look at the work of other artists I like. Failing that, I go to my boxing class and hit stuff. It really helps.

What materials do you use?
I'm obsessed with biros and fineliners. I have millions. Also brush/pen and ink, coloured pencil, acrylic and paper. I have to have a good white pencil and a white oil bar, for some reason.

Is the computer important in the composition of your work or just necessary for print and email?
Sometimes I scan things in and then remove bits of the image that I don't like. It's useful for changing the size and position of elements within a drawing, but I generally find that becuase I'm crap with computers, if I manipulate an image too much it just ends up looking incredibly clumsy. Also, you can fall into the trap of drawing lazily and thinking 'Oh it's ok, I can just Photoshop it.'

What are your favourite projects to date?
I'm at a pretty early stage in my career, so I'm still kind of finding my feet. Last year I was asked to design a beer label for a little brewing company in Ottawa, so I did a drawing I was really proud of and they loved it (or at least they said they did), but then they took it and never paid me! Bastards...

Is their an art movement or decade you are most inspired by?
I love medieval illuminated manuscripts, like the Book of Kells and the Tres Riches Heures; anything with little gargoyles and creatures and stuff going on in the margins. Also pre-Renaissance religious painting by people like Duccio, especially the way they didn't understand perspective properly so they made it up as they went along.

Which other artists / illustrators, do you admire ?
Luke Best, Morteza Zahedi (or Zehadi - I always get muddled), Marcel Dzama, Paul Davis, Tom Gauld, Gregory Blackstock, Hughie O'Donoghue (just discovered him at Leeds Art Gallery today; amazing painter), David Hockney, Cy Twombly

to see more of talya's drawings, www.talyabaldwin.co.uk,

The interviews.........

HEATHER GATLEY

What are your daily inspirations?

Bowl of cheerios (inspiration to get up!), boredom, my potted garden that changes everyday, itsnicethat.com

How do you get out of being stuck with drawers block?

If I'm struggling with that I find if I just grab a pencil and just draw literally anything lying around it just starts the ball rolling and takes the pressure off! It might be a rubbish drawing but then you've got it over with and the next one will always be more focussed and ten times better!

What materials do you use?

Ink, paper, paint and the trusty pencil.

Is the computer important in the composition of your work or just necessary?

Depends on the job really, but generally the computer helps me a lot in working out compositions.

What are your favourite projects to date?

Hmm thats difficult. I really enjoyed working on the Waitrose Essential range because it was doing simple watercolours which really got me back to basics because I couldn't rely on the computer to sort out any mistakes! I've done work for Illustrated Ape and Traveller magazine recently which were both fun.

Which other artists / illustrators, do you admire ?

Oh so many, but favourites are Egon Schiele, Cy Twombly and David Hockney. Illustrators I like at the moment... Alan Baker's work is great, Luke Best, Jon Klasson, Camilla Engman... and my good friends Debbie Powell and Dan Haskett!