SCOTT ROBINSON - ILLUSTRATORthese are a few articles and an interview with Scott Robinson a very talented Queensland illustrator who I have had the privellage to work and communicate with over the last three years.
One day Scott will surprise no one and become outrageously famous.
By the way, it's Scott's robot creation that is in the lonk box running down the right hand side of the blog, download one, they're fun.
THE INTERVIEW (from Red Bubble 2007)
Scott Robinson Illustrator, tee shirt designer and Red Bubble stalwart. Queenslander Scott has crammed a lot into his 31 years most of it based around his two great loves; drawing and skateboarding.
From owning and running two small skate shops in Brisbane to be a major contributor as lead artist for works working with young people done in conjunction with The Queensland Art Council. Scott has mixed his two passions seamlessly.
Scott also has 20 plus skateboard designs in production and has been highly active in exhibitions in Brisbane and recently sold one of his designs in auction to raise funds for NSW Cancer Council at the Across the board Art Expo.
I thought I’d sit down with Scott (in a literal sense) to find out a bit more about what makes him tick?
Danny: Skateboarding and art- where they always linked or one passion grew before or with the other?
Scot: Well, for me they’re inseparable – I once surmised that “skateboarding is art for the body, art is skateboarding for the mind”.
By that, I mean that skateboarding is a free flowing art form, self evaluated, and self inspired. You don’t rely on a team or an organisation, it’s just you and your board, and however you want to approach the world on it.
Much like a canvas really. Art is skateboarding for the mind, because it gives you a method in which to express yourself, and it takes you wherever you want to go. Again, self motivated, self assessed.
That, and skateboards themselves have always had a graphic element to them. It’s truly what separates skateboarding from other sports, all boards have graphics, and the art contained on them have always been a HUGE influence on me. So skateboarding and art have always gone hand in hand.
I still think that Skate artists like Vance Courtney Johnson and Jeff Phillips are some of the finest artists of their time.
Which came first? I think I’ve always drawn, since I could hold a crayon, I’ve been skateboarding seriously since I was 10 years old (I’ve always been a quiet and quite shy kind of person, and liked things I could do by myself,), but i also think that skateboarding made me want to work on drawing to be able to create something that could be seen as “skate graphic worthy” I suppose you mimic those you admire, and I’ve always admired skate artists, and skateboarders in general.
Skateboarding, Life, Music, Freinds,..All things influence me really, my art is just me reflecting on either ideas, or inspiration from the world around me..
Danny: Business- are you still involved – Art or skateboarding?
Scott: Well, yes and no for both… I still have dealing with Skate Companies for graphics, but I’m not behind the counter anymore. And I do freelance graphic design for a few different places, but it’s more when I want to, than have to.
Danny: Anyone with eyes can tell the technical expertise of your drawings, are you a draughtsmen or had any training?
Scott: Not really. I’ve never done any real studies in that regard. But one of my first “artistic” jobs out of design school was as a technical illustrator. I worked for a automotive parts manufacturer, and my job was to create instruction manuals. How to fit the parts on etc, etc,. Being as most of their market was overseas, drawings are more universally understandable. Was fun for a while too, but I never want to draw another headlight cover in my life. While i do enjoy manipulating images, nothing comes even close to being as fun and rewarding as picking up some A3 paper and a pencil…
Danny: Is Brisbane an artistic environment?
Scott: Hell yes! Brisbane’s art scene is so strong right now, and it just motivates me to do anything I can to promote it further. Lot of little independent galleries, all running obscure shows, New art “zines” popping up all the time.. There’s always something arty to find yourself at if you look for them. Even the more commonplace galleries are full. It’s a great place to be artistically right now.
And just to plug some events, recently we had the Paintskate Experiment and the Dex exhibition at the powerhouse in Brisbane, and then we have the upcoming FreQee exhibition held by the same group of artists. (All of these by the way: Scott was a showcased artist).
Danny: Skateboarding can’t last forever, bones get brittle- how are you preparing for this?
Scott: Flat out denial! Well, that’s not entirely true. The drive to learn new tricks, extend myself further in skateboarding has kind of died of over the last 4 years or so, but the desire to roll, and by that i mean no tricks, just skating in the sunshine, rolling down the street is still as strong as ever.. It`s a beautiful feeling, and I’ve likened it to my own personal magic carpet ride. I don’t ever want to be without that feeling..I should be able to skate like that for as long as I can stand up without falling over.
Danny: Red Bubble influence on art. lifestyle?
Scott: Well, I do love the T-shirt function, so that’s been a bit of a design consideration for me. And I do love being surrounded with such vibrant personalities and artworks. No man is an island, so I’m sure that it is influencing me to some degree..
My lifestyle remains the same though; I stick to what I love.
HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY COLLABARATE
Red Bubble 2008
How to collaborate
I’ve done a few collaborations since joi
ng Red Bubble and in my opinion it is a great way to challenge your ideas and style. It is also a great way to meet and understand other artists in the Community.
I was very lucky when I joined Red Bubble to have Scott (then known as Resisto) Robinson comment on my work and make me feel very welcome. It so happened that Scott’s work was probably some of best graphics work I’d ever seen outside of big e
xpensive advertising pieces.
Scott and I bonded and he kept on producing brilliant art and Tee Shirt design while I went on to annoy everyone with my scribbling, whether it be writing or drawings.
As we came to know each other better Scott would ask my opinion on a piece here and there that he thought was a bit “out there” for his style. In every single case it was something new and exciting and I would confirm with him it was so and let him know it
was the natural evolution of the artist who was Scott Robinson.
I must stress I’m not the only one he seeks council from but I do believe he chose me because I have no recognizable style at all.
Then one day I had an idea after looking at this picture and I knew I couldn’t achieve what I wanted in a finished version, so emailed Scott with my idea and he embraced it and said he had a similar thought.
To convey that idea i grabbed as many images as i could and made a composite to best put forward my idea.
Sadly i don’t think a sketch drawing and a scanner would work in my case.
So Scott sent back this, adding his own slant- the baby crawling with the TV placed like a carrot on a stick, representing all the promises of a future condition through television. The blinkers were an extras special touch. Where I had an innocent left to be baby-sat by the television, Scott’s vision was more ominous.
One of a baby already being conditioned.
And the added touch of Scott’s patented Splatter.
We both agreed on dull muted colours. This was to highlight the depressing scene as baby’s usually wear bright colourful clothing.
The end result was quite stunning to be honest.
Now what do you do about shared payment on a collaboration work, well this is
something you have to sort out between yourselves.
For me it’s easy, a lot of my stuff is too low resolution , file size or I rework old artwork for parody purposes so if you go through my profile you’ll notice a lot of Not For Sale signs. So I reckon if I wasn’t going to sell it anyway I give all money making credit to the ones who do all the work
Another quick example:
IDEA
COMMUNICATION
EXECUTION
RELEASE
OTHER WORKS WE HAVE DONE TOGETHER
(printed in PHATSVILLE COMIXS 2009)MURDER PALETTE
