JOHN SOLIMINE

Spike Press is the nom de squeegee of Chicago-based illustrator, designer, and printer John Solimine.


http://www.spikepress.com/



When did you first decide to become an illustrator? Was there a pivotal moment?

I can't really point to some clouds-parting-shaft-of-heavenly-light moment. I started drawing as a kid and my 5 older siblings were a big influence - I grew up with stacks of Mad Magazine and National Lampoon (back when both were actually funny) and also, this was back in the 70s when DIY artsy-craftsy stuff became popular - ceramics, jewelry-making, crochet, macrame, etc. Both of my brothers also had notebooks full of drawings of planes and war scenes (my father was a career Air Force officer before retiring), so I was always surrounded by creativity. Illustration is pretty much the only thing I ever wanted to do, aside from a few brief flirtations with oceanography, motorcycle stunt riding, and exotic dancing.




Who or what inspires you?

Good ideas and hard work are what inspire me - and not just from other illustrators. Seeing someone really throw themselves into something they love, work really hard at it, and watch them evolve and improve I think is inspiring. And, of course I can point to a million purely visual inspirations: Evaline Ness, Aurelius Battaglia, Ed Emberly, Alice and Martin Provensen, Aliki, Chris Ware, Miroslav Sasek, Mary Blair, John Kricfalusi, Looney Tunes, just to name a few.




Where does your training come from? Self-taught? College/Art School?

I went to the University of Cincinnati's Design, Art, Architecture and Planning college, which taught me alot about graphic design and illustration, but I didn't start screen printing until much later, so I guess I'm somewhere between self-taught and art school. I much prefer teaching myself something hands-on than reading about it or listening to someone talk about it.




How do you keep "fresh" within your industry?

Its funny - I think one key to staying "fresh" is to try to ignore the industry. When I was younger, I would pour over design and illustration books and annuals, looking at other people's work, trying to emulate (rip-off) the stuff I liked, and I think this stunted my own ideas and technique, because I was trying to think like someone else, and not focus on my own originality and strengths. Another way is just to constantly be drawing - I didn't start keeping a sketchbook until 5 years ago or so and now I'm hooked.




What are some of your current projects?

A couple of magazine illustrations, 3 or 4 gig posters, a self-promo mailer - I try to keep a balance between purely digital assignments and ones where I get my hands dirty.




Which of your projects are you the most proud of? And why?

I think my most successful illustrations are the ones that elicit an immediate emotional response - The Wrens poster and The National tour poster with the astronaut are two examples. I like the idea of capturing a moment in time that is charged with emotion without really showing anything - it all takes place in the mind of the viewer. I read an interview with Chris Ware in which he talked about the "blank" look of his character Jimmy Corrigan - which he also shares with Charlie Brown - that allows the reader to map their own emotional response onto that face, which immediately draws the viewer into the story (or illustration). Sometimes I think of my illustrations as a single panel picked out of a longer narrative and I'm leaving it up to the viewer to fill in those blanks.




Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

I've always wanted to do some kind of comic book. I was a big fan of the men-in-tights stuff as a kid and then really got into all the great comics that Fantagraphics was putting out in the '90s, so I've always had a hankering to do one, but I find the idea very intimidating - its like laboring over an illustration and then doing it 100 more times. Plus, I can never draw the same character from a different angle and have them look the same.




Any advice to the novice designer/ illustrator?

Work your ass off and concentrate on finding your own style. And never whittle towards yourself.




What makes a designed piece or illustration successful?

I think it depends how you define success - a piece or illustration can be beautifully crafted and have a clever visual twist to it, but can still leave you cold....like I said earlier, if I can get someone to laugh or say "awwww!" then its a success.




What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

You can avoid burnout?


Finish this sentence. "If I weren't a designer/illustrator I would have been a..."

happy, normal person.




And finally, what is the best thing on prime-time TV right now?

Does the Daily Show and Colbert Report count as prime-time? If not, then I have to go with Dragnet '68 reruns on the Sleuth! channel.


Related Link:

http://www.spikepress.com/

Labels: John Solimine, Spike Press

posted by Jeff @ 5:43 PM 7 comments links to this post

BRIAN BARBER

I am an illustrator, designer, animator and ad agency art director living in Duluth, MN. I grew up and went to school in Nebraska, lived and worked in Minneapolis for 10 years, and moved to Duluth about 8 years ago. Most of my illustration work has been for publications, but I've also animated several TV commercials. Since I'm the guy who can draw at the agency, I get pulled in to do storyboards for TV and concept sketches.


When did you first decide to become an illustrator? Was there a pivotal moment?

I could always draw pretty well as a kid. A friend and I would get together and copy the Don Martin comics from Mad Magazine.

When I was in high school, I was fascinated by illustrations on the Rolling Stone record review pages by Ian Pollack as well as work by Ralph Steadman and others. In college I worked at the daily student newspaper as an illustrator and then as art director. I really liked the idea that I was getting paid to draw, but I also really liked collaborating with editors, writers, other illustrators and putting something together as a group. As the art director of the student paper, I also had the opportunity to try out a lot of different styles to fit a lot of different types of stories.




Who or what inspires you?

Music, co-workers, friends, stupid things on the internet, hundreds of other illustrators, my kids, www.drawn.ca, flickr.com.




Where does your training come from? Self-taught? College/Art School?

I was an art major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where I studied a lot of photography, design and illustration. Back then, we were still cutting rubylith and keylining, so my technical, software and other skills have evolved on-the-job and by digging into projects and technologies and doing my best to figure out how they work.





How do you keep "fresh" within your industry?

Collaborate, talk to other artists, look at everything, absorb as much as possible, I also have the luxury of bouncing around between print, television, web and other media. I think that really helps me look at things a different way.




What are some of your current projects?

I'm illustrating two children's books, "My Favorite Sounds from A to Z" and "My Favorite Places from A to Z." They were written by Peggy Snow, and will be published later this year by Maren Green publishing. (http://www.marengreen.com/) I also do a handful of editorial illustrations every year, as well as the full-time agency job.
In July, some friends do an annual film festival, the Free Range Film Fest, and I usually do little animated shorts for them every year.
I'm playing drums in a lounge band, and one of my duties besides maracas, castanets, and swingin' beats is posters.




Which of your projects are you the most proud of? And why?

I'm very happy with a lot of the magazine illustration I've done. Caricature can be really hard to do, but when you hit the personality of someone, it feels really good. The pieces I did of Garrison Keillor and Elvis give me that warm fuzzy feeling, I've had a really good time and learned a lot doing TV work.





Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

I used to be the artist in several t-shirt printing shops - I've been playing with doing some screenprinting on paper. I usually work digitally, but I try to get back to real paint, brushes, pens etc every so often, if for no other reason, just to keep some variety. Web sites ... ugh. I really hate trying to put a web site together. It seems like someone should have figured out how to make it all easier than it is.





Any advice to the novice designer/ illustrator?

Don't give your work away, but look for opportunities to do work. Especially when you're just getting started, Sometimes the best opportunities are in unexpected places. One of my first jobs in Minneapolis was for a little monthly neighborhood newspaper that didn't pay a lot, but was wide open for ideas. It was really good exposure, paid a little bit, and I made some really good contacts and had a lot of doors open while working there.




What makes a designed piece or illustration successful?

If it gets noticed, remembered, and adds another level to the overall piece.




What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

I bounce around between a number of different projects and mediums such as illustration, design, print, television.




And finally, what is the best thing on prime-time TV right now?

The Office, Scrubs is good, and I just started watching 30 Rock. We don't have cable anymore, but when I stay in hotels, I watch Nickolodeon and Cartoon Network. The art direction in some of those animated shows is pretty great.


Related Links:
http://brianbarber.com
http://brianbarber.com/recent
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianbarber/

Labels: Brian Barber

posted by Jeff @ 11:10 PM 5 comments links to this post