Joel Benjamin Illustration

Quint Interview

 Full interview with Quint Magazine (Dubai) issue 12.

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1.Where are you from?

I’m from Norwich City, in the east of the UK.

2.Whats your background in art?

I’ve drawn a lot ever since I was very young. Some of my earliest memories involve drawing. I would read a lot of comics and enjoyed drawing a lot as a kid. I think this is where my love of Art and Illustration stem from. Throughout School it was always my main focus. After attending a foundation year at Norwich School of Art and Design, I went to Lincoln University to study Illustration at degree level. Since then I’ve worked at freelance illustration and hope to continue for as long as possible.

3.What made you realize you had to go into the field of illustration? When was this?

During my foundation year, around 2003, students were encouraged to give every discipline and practice a try and choose which they wanted to focus on. I enjoyed many of the various classes. What I enjoyed the most was drawing, whether it was in Graphic Design, Fine Art, Fashion or any other area. I specialized in Fine Art and made abstract colourist paintings, however I struggled to talk about my work and communicate what it was about. After this I found that it would be best to enter the field that allowed me to just draw and not worry about concepts quite so much. That’s when I realised that I was fundamentally an Illustator, so thats the path I embarked on.

4.Are you a full time freelance designer?

Unfortunatley I’m not a full time illustrator. I still have to work at a part time retail job to make sure I can cover my bills. Maybe in 2012 that’ll change!

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1. In what kind of environment do you create your best work?

The best environment for me is at my desk, in my little studio at home. I have a large desk with plenty of room, it’s right next to a window so I can stare out at my little garden. As long as I’m there with a cup of tea, some music playing and an idea in my head then I can really get into whatever I’m working on. That said though, I find it very important to keep my outdoor/social life in check too. So I can’t stay cooped up indoors too long, or I’d never come up with anything fresh and new.

2. What’s your relationship with music like?

I’d say that music is very important to me. When I was growing up my Dad would always play lots of music and we’d go to gigs an festivals too. I have some friends who are musicians, they have a very different relationship with music to me but we can always understand each other when we share ideas on creativity. I’m a bit of a synasthete too, so listening to music really helps to keep my mind stimulated and gives me ideas too. The tone of a song, or the angle it conveys its message through can really influence how I want to communicate through my illustration too.

3.Do you typically listen to music while working? If so, what sort of effect does it have on your work?

I always have music on when working. Without it I feel like something is missing. I think it helps me put character into my images or sometimes helps me refine how much sensationalism I want to convey in my image. I’m not sure how to expalin its effect clearly. Sometimes it can directly influence the colours I chose to use.

4.Five of your current favorite songs?

I was dancing in the Lesbian Bar - Jonathan Richman

Try it again - Jeffrey Lewis

Demon Host - Timber Timbre

Animal Tracks - Mountain Man

While you wait for the others - Grizzly Bear

5.When it comes to portraits of musicians whats your creative process? [i.e. do you typically work with reference photographs]

Yes, I usually work from photographs. With any kind of portaiture I want to be certain that I’m capturing the correct likeness. Unless I had drawn the person loads before, I wouldn’t feel confident that I could represent them faithfully without a photo. I’ll usually draw a musician or band because their music has really inspired me. I usually try to infuse the portrait with my favourite things about their music, this usually comes through in the colour scheme. I always want to find a look that really suits the particular artist and fits with their sound. Often times the artwork they use on their CD covers will influence this too. My illustration of Devendra Banhart is a good example of this as the colours and background pattern come from his ‘Cripple Crow’ album artwork, it has a really nice little booklet with it so I wanted to incorporate that.

6. Do you approach imagination based illustrations differently? If so, how?

They can be very different. An imagination based illustration usually stems from an idea in my head, or a collection of things that have inspired me put together. The ‘feel’ of the image comes from my own feeling, where as with a music portrait the ‘feel’ comes from their music.

7.I love your Thom Yorke piece. Can you walk us through your creative process of this piece?

This piece is inpired by Radioheads latest album ‘King of Limbs’. Their previous album ‘In Rainbows’ is a huge favourite of mine and I was really pleased with how ‘King of Limbs’ followed on from that. I enjoyed the artistic statement Thom Yorke made in the Lotus flower video so I felt that I had to draw him based on that. Once I had found some good reference material it was just a case of setting about making a good drawing of his face. The colours used were drawn directly from the ‘King of Limbs’ album cover as I wanted the image to be relevant to that release. Once I had all the drawing, colours and textures in place I started taking away a few parts of the image. For example the Thoms skin tone and some of the drawing around the collar of his shirt, I took those bits away to help make to image more stark and bold.

8. Tell us more about the mediums you work with. How do you choose the medium you work with for each piece? Do you typically use one medium for each piece? Why?

I use the same medium for every piece, Indian Ink, some watercolours and Photoshop. Sometimes I use textures from different materials ie. felt tip pens or acrylic paint. Usually it’s just the same everytime. I’ve never been one for excessive stationary or equipment so I like to keep things basic.

9. What do you love most about illustration?

Just drawing mainly. For me it’s being able to draw loads and really work on mastering a craft as best I can. For illustration in general love where it sits in relation to other creative arenas. Somewhere between fine art, comics, cartoons, mainstream media, nature, reality and complete fantasy. You can choose your own little zone to make your work within.

10. Where do you go for inspiration?

Sometimes I go out for a ride on my bike to clear my mind, or go skateboarding at the local park. Other times I like to go out with my friends in the city. Mostly though, I find that inspiration comes to me unexpectedly, when it feels like it.

11. Top five favorite artists?

Anthony Zinonos

Gemma Correll

PetitMal illustration

Laura Manfre

Mark Gonzales

12. How do you choose the subjects of your portraits?

With muscians, I choose to draw them if their music has special significance and really inspires me. For other people they have to be someone I respect based on what they represent or stand for. Or if they are just plain beautiful, that will do too.