Carter: First, introduce yourself and where you’re from?
Ken: Hello. My name is Ken Stewart. I lived in Boston, Melrose, and Woburn, Massachusetts , but I just recently moved to New Haven CT. I’ve always been really into art as long as I can remember and now I’m really enjoying the chance I have now to combine my love for art and my love for music by illustrating art for bands. I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from the Art Institute of Boston in 2006 and I have been working as a freelance illustrator ever since then, Creating art for magazines, advertising, and even children’s books.
Carter: What got you interested in painting? Were there any artists that inspired you to do what you do?
Ken: I got interested in art when I was little. I got injured pretty badly when I was about four and had to be in the hospital for a couple of weeks. I couldn’t get out of bed for several weeks while I was healing, and I remember just lying still and drawing. It took several months for me to recuperate and during that time I discovered I really liked drawing and I wasn’t all that bad at it.
When I was younger, my drawings were influenced by the cartoons I liked which included Thunder Cats, Ninja Turtles, and the Simpsons. Now I’m influenced by a slue of modern artist and illustrators. Some of them are Greg Manchess, Phil Hale, Jon Foster, and Mark Ryden. I’m also really interested in Renaissance painters, like Vermeer and Velazquez.
Carter: If you had to describe your style to someone who didn’t know anything about painting, what would you tell them?
Ken: If I had to describe my style, I would say first, I love the medium I work in, which is oil paint. I don’t try to hide that fact. I like showing the viewer all the brush strokes because that shows a lot of energy and shows a little more of who the artist is.
To really describe my work, I’d have to say it is painterly and loose with areas of detail. I use bright colors for the simple reason that it appeals to me. I don’t paint realistically. I have a way of stylizing my people, places and objects to make them more my own.
All in all, I’d say I have a fresh painterly take on classic ideas with bright colors, and images with a narrative that the viewer creates on their own.
Carter: I noticed that you painted the cover for The Carrier’s CD. Did they ask you what to make or did you conceive it on your own?
Ken: The way I handled The Carrier album, “Alcatraz” was the same way I handle all my illustration jobs. First, the client contacts me through Myspace, email, or my webpage with the idea of commissioning me to make some art for them. Sometimes they don’t have any idea of what they want. In that case, I just make something I think is cool and that I think they’ll enjoy.
It was a lot easier for me with The Carrier album because they already had a concept they wanted to pursue. So with the hard part over, that is, thinking of an idea, I did different sketches of their idea from three different angles. They picked the one they liked the most and after figuring out what colors we wanted to use, I went to my studio, broke out my paints and created a piece of art that met both our expectations.
My goal as an illustrator is to make bands and other clients happy and give them just what they want. At the same time, I want to show my voice as an artist and make my art known in a cool, constructive vehicle, such as on the covers of CDs of great bands like The Carrier.
Carter: What is your favorite piece?
Ken: For me my favorite piece is always the one I’ve just finished painting. When I work on a piece, I put all my attention into it and I don’t think about anything else. Also with each piece I get better and better, and closer to my artistic goal. So when I’m finished, I look at it and right away think that all my other paintings aren’t as good in comparison. But the next day I’ll make another piece and all of a sudden my painting from the day before isn’t looking so good. That’s good though, because it really keeps me motivated to paint more and keep painting. Theirs also something about the freshness of new work, something I haven’t seen before really hopes my attention.
Carter: How long does it usually take you to make a painting? Do you ever take breaks from working or do you like to get it done all at once?
Ken: It really depends on the piece as to how long it will take. For The Carrier’s “Alcatraz” CD/7”, it took about 2 weeks to get the sketch right on both the front and the back of the CD before it was ready to paint. From there probably it took another 2 or 3 days with the painting and the dry time for the oils. Depending on the project, there can be more or less steps in the preparation for painting. For The Carrier CD, I took the original sketch ripped right out of my sketch book and used artists’ clear plastic glue and fixed it to a piece of masonite wood. From there I started painting using the color pallet we decided on. With The Carrier’s art, I did the whole thing in one sitting. I sat down at 9:00 at night and finished at about 8:00 the next morning. So it took me about 11 hours, give or take a break or two.
Once I’m ready to paint, I like to do it all in one sitting. That way I don’t get tired of looking at the same painting everyday. Sometimes bigger projects can’t be finished in one day. In the past I just stayed up for three days straight and got it done in one fell swoop. The problem was, it doesn’t really work out all that well for your mental heath. So with bigger projects I try to do 7 or 8-hour sessions a day for a week or so to keep me for going insane. After that I let it dry, scan it in to my computer and e-mail it off. So it really depends, anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months.
Carter: Do you have any other hobbies that you spend a lot of time on?
Ken: Hobbies? I like to watch Horror movies ( Evil dead, Night of the living Dead, Bio Zombies, )anything with zombies really. Watch tv (Metalocalypse , tom goes to the mayor ) hang out with my friends and family. Eat at Grasshopper in Boston and most of all sleep. I aslo enjoy to building tiny model ships in bottles. No, not really. I played guitar and write music for fun and was in a punk band called McClane for awhile.
Carter: Have you done many art shows or exhibitions? What is the most common response you get from people who look at your pictures?
Ken: I haven’t done any art shows since college, but I’m looking for new places to show my work down here in New Haven. Its going a little slow though because most of my time is spent doing commissioned work for people and bands.
As an illustrator, my primary goal is a little different from that of a fine artist. Fine artists paint or create with the goal of having their art hung in a gallery. An illustrator’s goal is to have their work printed in magazines, CDs, books, websites or billboards, etc., where people can see it and after seeing it, decide to buy the product. Illustration is more commercial than fine art. I like to move between the two.
The most common response I get to my work is “Dude, that’s awesome!” Although I’d probably get a different response if I showed my work to my college professors, then when I show my friends my work online at a party. I would guess that people respond to the subject matter I chose to paint in combination with my style.
Carter: Any bands out there that you’re into right now?
Ken: Right now I like fast, melodic, punk with good messages. Propagandhi, Kid D, Lifetime, Hot Water Music, Dillinger Four and the Descendents. Those CDs never leave my CD player., I should really get an Ipod.
Carter: Any last words?
Ken: Last words – Do what you love and have fun!
If you want to see more of my work, go to www.KenStewartArt.com or www.myspace.com/kengotlost
If you need any illustration work done, you can contact me at: runkenrun@gmail.com
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment