I've spoken to and met a handful of really cool artists over the years, so I figured why not ask them a few questions so others can get a real glimpse into what Being An Artist is instead of the typical 'Starving Artist' stereotype. This is PART I. Check back for PART II (when these slowpoke motherfuckers send me back answers).
"How has it been for you as an artist?"
Scalenepumpkins: I think overall things have been pretty good. Drawing has always been a passion for me, a way for me to express myself, be creative, a way to let my mind relax and roam free. I love just letting my mind drift and let my hand just draw whatever it wants. The best designs or ideas come out when im not thinking about it. As for crafting, I love building things and figuring out how props work and what theyre made of. I have come a long way in my crafting skills and while commission work can very stressful, it has helped me hone my skills, and I am very proud of everything ive made so far.
George Durbin III: Throughout the years it's been up and down for various of reasons. The positive is that I work primarily with bands though and through that i've gotten to work with some great people and help out a lot of my friends and even discover some bands I had never heard of and become a fan of. When I first started doing band artwork, i made these cheesy black and white horror themed posters for a lot of bands and would give them the design for free. That ultimately led to me getting paid work and a bit of recognition.
Orange Zeppelin: Actually getting work is always tricky, since I’m competing with thousands of other people trying to do the same thing. That’s why it’s so important to develop a distinctive style that helps you stand out from the rest, people will want you if you stand out! But overall it’s always been a fun journey, I love making art and learning new things so it’s never hard to work up the motivation to practice.
"Your first Triumph?"
Scalenepumpkins: The first thing that comes to mind is when I made this Green Jello art project when I was in highschool, Bill Manspeaker saw it when I posted it on facebook and he made a whole post about it on his page! That was how he and I became friends, hes been an awesome friend to me ever since then. Super supportive. Its an honor when one of your idols loves your artwork.
George Durbin III: I'd say any artists first triumph is overcoming that insecurity of not being able to put a price tag on their artwork. This is still something i struggle with to this day and I get told a lot that i don't charge enough, but art is subjective and so for me that's hard to do. With that said though, that first time someone is willing to pay good money for a piece of your work is such a great feeling and helps make you feel more comfortable with charging for you work.
Orange Zeppelin: One of the first commission jobs and to this day my biggest gigs was making a poster for a three-band tour featuring Metalachi, Okilly Dokilly, and Mac Sabbath. It ended up being a huge tour that went all over the nation and the design was featured heavily in all the promotion. I got the job from doing a ton of Metalachi fanart and befriending several band members.
"Your first Roadblock?"
Scalenepumpkins: I think my first roadblock was when I started doing commission work. Art has always been something I just did for myself, when I felt like it. So having to draw or craft something for another person, not getting to choose what i'm making, make it look as perfect as possible and all in a timely manner, was definitely difficult for me at first. It still is, I'm just more disciplined now. Some projects are definitely more fun than others though. But nothing will be better than doing art for myself.
George Durbin III: My first and pretty common roadblock is just simply not knowing what to do. Especially when you're on a time crunch. Often people will want me to work on a t-shirt or album cover and their only request is "Just do something in your style." When working for someone i like to know the narrative or inspiration for what they want because if i just go with my style, all you get is a weird face with a big tongue and funny eyeballs.
Orange Zeppelin: I don’t think I’ve ever faced any really major roadblocks other than just the struggle of getting my work seen and trying to find an audience. Though I’ve had a few commissions completely implode on me, one of which was an album cover for a band dealing with in-fighting and miscommunication. I ended up getting dropped in favor of a different artist, but neither myself nor half of the band found out until the album was released with someone else's art on it!
Tehlubs: Everyday overcoming myself. It sounds hella douchey, but it's true. I'm my own worst enemy.
"Is there a specific influence that has never
lost it's charm and potency for you?"
Scalenepumpkins: GWAR will forever inspire me, I have such an intense feeling of inspiration every time I watch GWAR videos or movies, listen to their music, go to their shows, etc. Ive never felt such an intense love for a band ever in my life, not until I found GWAR. I dont even know how to describe the feeling. Its so many emotions, I feel inspired and happy, but I also get this feeling of adrenaline, its like a violent vicious love in a way hahahaha. There is so much that goes into GWAR that I absolutely love, its too much to get into here. I think another thing that has continuously inspired me would be MediEvil for ps1. That game is not only nostalgic for me, but it has such iconic characters, cool spooky themes, and overall is just a fun world to be in. I love that game so much.
George Durbin III: Ed Roth will always be a big inspiration to me. He sort of was before I even knew his name just bc Rat Fink is so popular and so many people rip off his style. When it comes to fancy art, im not a big fan of stuff that looks exactly like it should so I tend to appreciate Surrealism more and love Dali. I try to combine my love for the cartoonish style and surrealism when it comes to my more unique and original designs.
Orange Zeppelin: The animated movie Heavy Metal was a huge influence for me when I first saw it years ago, when going back and re-watching it it’s every bit as cool as I remember it being. It’s a visually amazing movie that also doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is the sort of energy I want in my own comics.
"How do you go about setting Art Goals?"
Scalenepumpkins: I try to write up short term and long term goals. But my notes are always very spastic and messy. But I always have a to do list for whatever my current project is, or I'll give myself a time frame to get a costume piece done. I have so many things I'm working on and it feels like I get nothing done unless i am seeing my progress. It helps to write everything down.
George Durbin III: I sort of don't. I'll get an idea and just sit on it for however long it takes for me to finally do it. I'm very impatient so i don't have any pieces that have taken me years or hundreds of hours, most of the time i sit around until i get that urge to work and then ill pump out a few paintings or crunch down on digital art that ive been wanting to do. When i work for someone i try to be more responsible time wise though.
Orange Zeppelin: When I get an idea for a project I write it down and then schedule time to work on it, even if it’s not a commission job with a timeline I like to set deadlines for myself. I also make a list at the beginning of every month of what I want to accomplish, and then a smaller list at the beginning of the week. Comics have to be planned out long-term since there’s so many parts of the process.
"How do you work? Everyday? In Spurts?"
Scalenepumpkins: I work on something every day. I tend to switch between projects, commission work first, then later in the day ill do personal work. I enjoy working every day, it feels good to make progress on all my projects, I also don't like staying stagnant for too long . I like to keep busy. But I do tend to go overboard and burn myself out pretty often.
George Durbin III: Definitely in spurts. I haven't painted in months and my digital work has fallen to the side as well. There will be a week or two here and there where im on the computer every night.
Orange Zeppelin: Inspiration often comes to me all at once and I’ll get really motivated to work on a lot of things at once, but I do work on something every single day, even if it’s just a practice drawing. My goal is to always keep improving at what I do.
"How many different mediums
have you tried so far?"
Scalenepumpkins: Uhhhh lets see.... Pencils, Charcoal, Paint, and since I mostly use ink I've tried different kinds, Pen & Ink, Zebra Pens (my current favorite), Microns, used to use thin Sharpies in the past.
And for crafting.... EVA foam, Upholstery Foam, Latex, Plasti Dip, Faux Hair, Faux Fur, Fabrics of all different kinds. Theres probably more that I'm forgetting.
George Durbin III: Mostly digital and acrylic on canvas. I love to doodle with pens and play with shading and stuff with the inks, but i've never done that as an actual art piece. Maybe someday. Some little crafty things here and there but nothing notable. After seeing that Mr. Doodle guy online, i have been thinking about using that paint pens and canvas and doing my desk doodle but on a larger scale like he does but im not sure if it will translate well.
Orange Zeppelin: All of them! It would almost be easier to list what I haven’t done. I’ve used all kinds of paint, lots of pens and markers, graphite, colored pencil, paper mache, and even some bronzecasting in college. I also work digitally for some comics but I prefer traditional way more.
"What is something you struggle with or never have been able to get the hang of?"
Scalenepumpkins: I've always struggled with painting. I hate painting because i have to work really hard to do a decent paint job since I'm kind of stumbling in the dark with it. For crafting, I struggle with altering existing patterns/making patterns in general. It takes me a lot longer than it should to make a final pattern.
George Durbin III: Lighting isn't my best feature and I can not highlight to save my life so i just make things darker in areas to make it work.
Orange Zeppelin: I’ve never been good at self-promotion, it’s something I’m really actively trying to improve in the last year. I spend too much of my art-making life not actively promoting myself and trying to network with other artists so my audience has stayed small, but I’ve noticed a lot more growth and exposure recently.
Tehlubs: I suck fat donkey dicks face painting...don't ask me to face paint at your shitty picnic...
"What was your first Art Sale?"
Scalenepumpkins: I can't remember exactly, but it was most likely some GWAR related art that I sold to some random bohab. I remember thats where my art sales started, was within the GWAR community.
George Durbin III: I knew an elderly gentleman named Bill who had one eye. Dude was a character and a lot of fun to be around. One day he opened a store called "One Eyed Willy's Antiques", or something along those lines, and he paid me to drawing him a mountaineer style man with an eye patch.
Orange Zeppelin: I think I might have done a sketch of Johnny Depp in exchange for some gummy snacks back in the 9th grade!
Tehlubs: Pretty sure it was a logo for a company that is no longer in business, that was tight. It came at the right time and was a course correction.
"Who are your favourite artists right now?"
Scalenepumpkins: As for crafters, I really love instagram artists like WillowCreative, Kazplay, MaggotGrace, CavitySam, all artists who make excellent costumes and show their progress, I've learned so much from studying all of their work. There's also RadulaCastion who makes puppet masks, that have really cool movements like eye blink, lip snarl, eyebrow movements, etc. All done with pulleys that you attach to your fingers. Their work is absolutely incredible.
George Durbin III: The Art Of Skinner. It's all fantasy and monsters with amazing linework and colors.
Ghoulish Gary. In my opinion, the dude makes the best horror movie posters to date.
Terry Ifern Owens. He's been on and off instagram so his work is a little hard to find, but his style is unique and really amazing. He does a lot of black and white pieces with gold highlights that just pop.
I love tattoo art and some of my favorites are Badfellow Tattoos in Fort Lauderdale Florida, Almagro Tattooer from Madrid, Jeremy Askew from Diamond Thieves in Asheville NC.
I follow this weird artist that always makes me laugh too called Weaselfaceart. It's all skateboard stuff with dicks and tits and its awesome.
Ghoulish Gary. In my opinion, the dude makes the best horror movie posters to date.
Terry Ifern Owens. He's been on and off instagram so his work is a little hard to find, but his style is unique and really amazing. He does a lot of black and white pieces with gold highlights that just pop.
I love tattoo art and some of my favorites are Badfellow Tattoos in Fort Lauderdale Florida, Almagro Tattooer from Madrid, Jeremy Askew from Diamond Thieves in Asheville NC.
I follow this weird artist that always makes me laugh too called Weaselfaceart. It's all skateboard stuff with dicks and tits and its awesome.
Orange Zeppelin: I love Simon Bisley and how powerful and striking his art is. He’s who I would most like to emulate when painting and drawing.
Tehlubs: Jean Giraud, Alex Ziritt, Andrew MacLean, Pieter Bruegel, Albrecht Dürer, Mike Giant, and Skinner.
"If you've worked conventions/events/art faires which were your favourite ones so far?"
Scalenepumpkins: I haven't sold much of my own work at events until recently, I sold some of my eyeball props at Punk Rock Flea Market while I was with RonDee Puppets. I sold all 16 of the eyeballs I had. I was super proud of myself that day. The people loved them!!! It made me so happy. I didn't think they were gonna sell out like that.
Orange Zeppelin: The one time I’ve had a table at an event was the 2019 Mid-State Metal Fest in San Luis Obispo. The event was ran by the creators of the now-defunct Hail Yourself metalzine, which I did a comic strip for. It was a great experience, though I was at the time recovering from a bad case of scabies and spent the whole day wanting to tear my own limbs off.
"Have you met, spoken to, or
befriended any of your idols/heroes?"
Scalenepumpkins: I've gotten to meet some of the guys in GWAR, but specifically Matt Maguire. I always love chatting with Matt after shows, He and I will talk about different crafting techniques and materials and Im totally in my element whenever we have a conversation. I absolutely love it. I've gotten to also meet people like Bill Manspeaker from Green Jello, he is the sweetest person ever. Seriously. He gave me a huge hug at one show, and said to me "never stop doing what you do." And I nearly cried. It was just so genuine. You had to be there!
Orange Zeppelin: Frank Frazetta’s ghost once showed up in a dream, revealed some great secret to me, and then left. I’m still trying to remember what the secret was!
"Any final words to new and upcoming artists about to enter the Hellscape that we exist within?"
Tehlubs: GTFO noobs. Jk, try to be nice to people. Love is the best policy. Don't litter. Call your mom.
PART II COMING SOON!!!!!
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