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Ben Sears sent me a post modern slice of pizza in the mail today. 

Ben Sears sent me a post modern slice of pizza in the mail today. 

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entering the new year with Thing-era Kurt Russell as my stylist. 

entering the new year with Thing-era Kurt Russell as my stylist. 


Video: The Making of Madison & Kohlhase

Please share, watch and enjoy.

Jacob v.  

334 notes (9:28)
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Gino Pambianchi, a talented illustrator attending school in Memphis, was part of a group exhibition in Colorado where I was also featured (The Machines are Winning: Sidney Lumet Tribute Series). After the show, he contacted me to ask a few formal questions about my work. After it was transcribed, it was shared on a blog through the University, and with permission, I have posted the interview here. Thank you to Gino @ Blogspot for the opportunity. Interview G: So what really got you into art in the first place? I remember two moments that established the interest. The first moment must have been when I was six or so, sitting at the dining room table after school, copying rudimentary 3-D drawings out of a tutorial penned by an illustrator named Bruce McIntyre. It was this cheap book, staple-bound with a yellow Xerox paper cover, but it had an illustration of an expansive cube/module based futuristic city printed on the front. I tried to copy that a lot too. The second moment was at an art class I had when I was ten; I spent six months painting/correcting a still life that had a basketball, baseball glove, and racket ball. I didn’t touch acrylic paint again for eight years, but that painting showed me how to challenge myself like nothing else ever had. G: What is the process you go through when you get an initial idea for a piece? (i.e. starting at the reference thumbnail phase, through to the final piece) First thing I do is research. I like art history and it informs much of what I make, but what I research varies frequently. It’s to say the better informed I am, the easier it is to create. I always do thumbs. They are the illustrated equivalent of a doctor’s signature- in every way a vague scrawl, mostly inelegant, surrounded by notes. I tend not to do too many thumbs; I feel like sometimes concepts can be muddled by spending too much time in the early stages. I resolve a lot in my final sketches, which are very tight. I don’t like to ink or paint on a messy sketch. Thumbnail for Roman Ring EP Sample from finished linework for Roman Ring EP (view final piece here) G: In terms of reference material, do you have a go-to set of subject matter or do you change it up from piece to piece? I almost never do one-offs. Working in sets, or even mini-series makes any approach I take more worthwhile. Two constant references I make to my work pull from studies I’ve done on Russian Constructivism, and Route 38, know nationally as The Lincoln Highway. I address the ideas differently in most pieces. I have a newer, growing interest in modern fashion design and how it simultaneously resonates and responds to architecture. G: What are the materials you most commonly work with? A mixed bag, really. When possible, I like the media to say something about or contribute to the concept. Media can be manipulated in any way you want, and the residual aesthetic can speak of a concept. There’s also something reinforcing about the tangibility and feel on a Rauschenberg piece that wouldn’t mean the same thing, if it were just a graphite drawing. I often come back to graphite and watercolor in my own work. I like building and working on birch panel. G: What hours do you generally work at? Are you more of a night owl when it comes to working on your art or do you prefer the daytime? Casual surveying among my fellow artist friends has informed me that most feel creative in the late, late hours. I don’t always trust when my brain is telling me “good idea!” if I’m sleep deprived. So, I work in the daytime when possible. G: So what was your first major freelance art gig? For illustration, the first freelance-related tax form I got was for a poster commissioned by the Alamo Drafthouse. It was for a screening of Life Force, the 1985 space vampire Epic by Tobe Hooper. A great film for their weekly Terror Tuesday event. I have been receiving more commissions from private collectors and galleries for my paintings in the last two years. G: Did you approach this piece differently than you would your own personal work? Space vampires aren’t my usual bag! I was able to give the piece a treatment not unlike other technical ink illustrations I’ve done in the past. For paintings that could be considered a part of the Arbor series, I let clients provide me with certain direction if they wish to, though most times they are more than willing to let me just work. I’ve only had one instance where a client’s oversight got a little overbearing. An ad agency brought me onto a project still in the proposal stages, and the concept they gave me was just not good. They weren’t looking for input either, so it ended up not working out. G: What do you think was one of the major things that led you to being recognized in the art world? The consistent output of work and the contacts I’ve made so far who recognize the potential. Success is something to build upon, and I can’t wait for what’s coming next in my life. G: Do you have another job or are you able to support yourself solely by your art? I chose to get a non-related job that provided me with boring but fundamental adult things. I like having some resemblance of a consistent schedule, savings, an HMO, etc. I hope to bolster my portfolio this year and join a creative firm within two. Having a plan allows me to focus closer on my personal work, which informs my freelance and commissions. A full freelance career is admirable, but costly in it’s own way. Not for everyone. G: What are some of your major influences? I had to think about this for a moment, because there are many. Like I mentioned before, I have been pulling from modern fashion. Issey Miyake is featured in a Japanese fashion retrospective I have, and I look at his work a lot. Martin Margiela was doing extraordinary things in the 80’s and 90’s. Rei Kawakubo’s body of work blows my mind- art is rarely more outspoken. All those things are a recent interest, and I tend to move between artists and genres when looking for inspiration. I find the best way to hone a style and secure a vision for new work is to look at what’s out there already. The reason I look at a lot of work is not only to be inspired, but so I don’t fixate one a single approach that belongs to someone else. My mainstays are El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Frank Stella, and Francis Bacon- Old, big names. Even though I look through the work of many great contemporary painters and illustrators’ daily, the work of those old guys is what I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about. Thanks reiterated to Gino Pambianchi for his time. Jacob v. FacebookTwitterBehanceIllustrationMundoLinkedinFlickr (new page)

Gino Pambianchi, a talented illustrator attending school in Memphis, was part of a group exhibition in Colorado where I was also featured (The Machines are Winning: Sidney Lumet Tribute Series). After the show, he contacted me to ask a few formal questions about my work. After it was transcribed, it was shared on a blog through the University, and with permission, I have posted the interview here. Thank you to Gino @ Blogspot for the opportunity.

Interview


G: So what really got you into art in the first place?

I remember two moments that established the interest. The first moment must have been when I was six or so, sitting at the dining room table after school, copying rudimentary 3-D drawings out of a tutorial penned by an illustrator named Bruce McIntyre. It was this cheap book, staple-bound with a yellow Xerox paper cover, but it had an illustration of an expansive cube/module based futuristic city printed on the front. I tried to copy that a lot too.
The second moment was at an art class I had when I was ten; I spent six months painting/correcting a still life that had a basketball, baseball glove, and racket ball. I didn’t touch acrylic paint again for eight years, but that painting showed me how to challenge myself like nothing else ever had.

G: What is the process you go through when you get an initial idea for a piece? (i.e. starting at the reference thumbnail phase, through to the final piece)

First thing I do is research. I like art history and it informs much of what I make, but what I research varies frequently. It’s to say the better informed I am, the easier it is to create. I always do thumbs. They are the illustrated equivalent of a doctor’s signature- in every way a vague scrawl, mostly inelegant, surrounded by notes. I tend not to do too many thumbs; I feel like sometimes concepts can be muddled by spending too much time in the early stages. I resolve a lot in my final sketches, which are very tight. I don’t like to ink or paint on a messy sketch.


Thumbnail for Roman Ring EP

Sample from finished linework for Roman Ring EP (view final piece here)

G: In terms of reference material, do you have a go-to set of subject matter or do you change it up from piece to piece?

I almost never do one-offs. Working in sets, or even mini-series makes any approach I take more worthwhile. Two constant references I make to my work pull from studies I’ve done on Russian Constructivism, and Route 38, know nationally as The Lincoln Highway. I address the ideas differently in most pieces. I have a newer, growing interest in modern fashion design and how it simultaneously resonates and responds to architecture.

G: What are the materials you most commonly work with?

A mixed bag, really. When possible, I like the media to say something about or contribute to the concept. Media can be manipulated in any way you want, and the residual aesthetic can speak of a concept. There’s also something reinforcing about the tangibility and feel on a Rauschenberg piece that wouldn’t mean the same thing, if it were just a graphite drawing.
I often come back to graphite and watercolor in my own work. I like building and working on birch panel.

G: What hours do you generally work at? Are you more of a night owl when it comes to working on your art or do you prefer the daytime?

Casual surveying among my fellow artist friends has informed me that most feel creative in the late, late hours. I don’t always trust when my brain is telling me “good idea!” if I’m sleep deprived. So, I work in the daytime when possible.

G: So what was your first major freelance art gig?

For illustration, the first freelance-related tax form I got was for a poster commissioned by the Alamo Drafthouse. It was for a screening of Life Force, the 1985 space vampire Epic by Tobe Hooper. A great film for their weekly Terror Tuesday event. I have been receiving more commissions from private collectors and galleries for my paintings in the last two years.

G: Did you approach this piece differently than you would your own personal work?

Space vampires aren’t my usual bag! I was able to give the piece a treatment not unlike other technical ink illustrations I’ve done in the past.

For paintings that could be considered a part of the Arbor series, I let clients provide me with certain direction if they wish to, though most times they are more than willing to let me just work.

I’ve only had one instance where a client’s oversight got a little overbearing. An ad agency brought me onto a project still in the proposal stages, and the concept they gave me was just not good. They weren’t looking for input either, so it ended up not working out.

G: What do you think was one of the major things that led you to being recognized in the art world?

The consistent output of work and the contacts I’ve made so far who recognize the potential. Success is something to build upon, and I can’t wait for what’s coming next in my life.

G: Do you have another job or are you able to support yourself solely by your art?

I chose to get a non-related job that provided me with boring but fundamental adult things. I like having some resemblance of a consistent schedule, savings, an HMO, etc. I hope to bolster my portfolio this year and join a creative firm within two. Having a plan allows me to focus closer on my personal work, which informs my freelance and commissions. A full freelance career is admirable, but costly in it’s own way. Not for everyone.

G: What are some of your major influences?

I had to think about this for a moment, because there are many. Like I mentioned before, I have been pulling from modern fashion. Issey Miyake is featured in a Japanese fashion retrospective I have, and I look at his work a lot. Martin Margiela was doing extraordinary things in the 80’s and 90’s. Rei Kawakubo’s body of work blows my mind- art is rarely more outspoken. All those things are a recent interest, and I tend to move between artists and genres when looking for inspiration. I find the best way to hone a style and secure a vision for new work is to look at what’s out there already. The reason I look at a lot of work is not only to be inspired, but so I don’t fixate one a single approach that belongs to someone else.

My mainstays are El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Frank Stella, and Francis Bacon- Old, big names. Even though I look through the work of many great contemporary painters and illustrators’ daily, the work of those old guys is what I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about.

Thanks reiterated to Gino Pambianchi for his time.

Jacob v.

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