Juan Carlos Federico

Heres the answers iv got back from Juan Carlos Federico, i think hes misunderstood one of the questions a bit cos of the language, but i plan to follow this up anyway.

Hello,
I am a third year undergraduate studying Illustration at Stockport college (near Manchester, England). I noticed your work on the IllustrationMundo website, and i love the metal creatures you have designed - its really inspired something im doing in my final major project. I was wondering if you would mind me asking you a few short questions? I realize that you must be quite busy but id be really grateful if you could spare a few minutes.
Thanks, Jenny Reed.

Hi Jenny!
It will be a great pleasure to answer your questions.
Only I warn you that my Tarzan-English is very limited. I hope you understand :)
Moreover, the questions should be in writing, because my oral English is almost nothing :(
Have a nice day!
Juan

Hello Juan, how are you?
Thanks for getting back to me. Your English is much better than my Argentinian! I have attatched the questions to this email, just send them back to me when you have time. Cheers again!
Jenny

Hi Jenny!
Here are my answers.He joined the 2 and 3 in oneI remain at your disposal for any question. I wish you good luck with your final major project!!
Cheers, Juan

1. I love the metal creatures on your website, have you actually made them in 3d or did you just photograph each part and put them together digitally?
I do not do 3D drawings. They are digital assemblage (Collage / Object resignification), from fragments of photographs and textures

2. Was this a brief given to you, or is it a project you invented yourself? If so, what do you plan to do with them next?
3. What influenced you to work in this way?
I became involved in illustration in two stages: the first one 12 years ago as part of my teaching activity. In those years I devoted many time to the writing of theoretical essays about design and I tried to apply those principles in the workshops with professors and students. I was interested in verifying how theory could be applied to the composition of a visual piece.
This became an exercise where the objective for the students was to make the portrait of a character and the technique pre determined was collage/ assemblage.
It wasn’t the technique that I cared about, but the strategy used to choose the pieces (images or part of them), in a way that by yuxtapositioning them, they became completely different from its individual parts. The practical work implied a “mise en scène” of a group of objects related directly or not with the character. The assembling of these objects should be able to produce a new discourse telling a story about the character that a caricature or a photograph could not tell.
Some of the illustrations I show today date back from these years. I just made them as an exercise before the other professors in my team so that they could guide our students through the process. Later, I gave up teaching and illustrating. I devoted 100 % of my time to corporate image projects.

The second stage connected to illustration began a few years ago, partly as a game with my son Joaquin, aged 7. Sometimes he comes to my studio in the evenings since last year, when he started primary school. We have fun composing imaginary characters. He can’t deal with the Photoshop yet, but he actively participates in the choice of objects, in the photo production and he also enjoys naming the characters.

This year I have written and illustrated a book for children which will probably be published soon. I have also finished another one and looking for a publisher.
I have also developed an educational illustrated game of cards (http://algebranos.com.ar) which I will try to have it published.
e than a decade ago. I am currently finishing two other books, one for children and one for teenagers. I have also started to illustrate them. But sometimes it’s the other way around and the illustrations determine the stories.

In the long run, I am starting a pending activity: sculpture. I have been filing sketches, which will resemble the final works, and I will make them out of metal, pieces that I have been keeping and documenting in photos (the same photos that I use to create my preliminary works.)

4. Have you noticed any difference in the amount of work you have been getting as a freelance illustrator since the global recession?
The global recession has not affected me yet. But I guess I feel its impact in the short term. It will be a good time to apply creativity.

Republican Party Elephant

Illustrator Thomas Fuchs and designer Felix Sockwell have released a whole book of these different representations of the republican party logo. I found it on the creative review blog & iv put them up here because it amazed me how creative you can be with something so simple. I cant pretend to understand every one of them, but i love how they express so many different concepts using the same shape and colours. I guess it just reminds me that communication is often most effective when its kept simple, & also to push myself further when it comes to ideas cos i never thought you could say this much using only a blue and red elephant.

Biddy Maroney

I emailed this illustrator mainly just for the one piece, above. I found it online, & tho i work in a very different way, I love the way hes used fabric as a texture and the richness of the colours, also the pattern in the background adds a further decorative element to the piece. Im eager to find out more about illustration in other countries so thats another reason for contacting him. Heres the answers to the questions i sent:

1. I particularly like a piece of yours called ‘silver spangled Andalusian’, I was wondering what techniques have you used in this piece?

Thankyou, that one is almost completely digital.
I drew the chicken with ink and a brush so I could use some of the inky lines for its feathers. (I didn’t end up using the outline of the bird in the end though, just some of the feathers) I used the brush and ink stuff as layers of texture in Photoshop, mixed in with a lot of fabric and string that I scanned in, and found photos (the birds eye and cricket balls) I drew the text, and various lines in Photoshop with a Wacom.

2. In the last few months, since this global recession, have you noticed any difference in the design industry, for example in the amount of work you get?

Between the stuff I do through the Jacky Winter agency and the stuff I do with my partner as Webuyyourkids I’ve been flat out working for the last two years and haven’t noticed any change to this recently. But it’s hard to say as I’ve only been with the agency 18 months, and WBYK is also relatively new – so I’m lucky to be involved with growing businesses which keep getting busier. I have heard that budgets are tighter though, so I’m now very wary of turning down work.

3. Are most of your jobs within Australia, or do you get work from other countries via the internet? If so, where, and do you notice much difference between the type of work coming from different countries?

Pretty much all the work we do as Webuyyourkids is from within Australia, and that is a huge percentage of my work. The Jacky Winter Group is different though – the initial point of the agency was to get Australian illustrators working with overseas clients – so I’ve done a fair few things for US clients through that now, who would never have known I existed without my agent. It’s been mainly editorial illustrations for American magazines, but theres also been jobs for Australian clients through JW as well – mainly Australian advertising agencies. I guess they are just the sorts of companies that have reacted well to whats in my portfolio. I couldn’t say there was any trend I could pick to do with the different countries or anything.

4. What have been the main influences on your style of illustration?

I love to draw in brush and ink but lately have been doing so much digitally – drawing with the Wacom straight into the computer and then layering textures in Photoshop. I do like black murky inky things so I guess that’s a big influence. Working with Sonny as Webuyyourkids has influenced me heaps as I’m usually working as a duo so Im being infuenced by his style which is so much more clear and uncluttered and he has great compositional skills I’m trying to learn from. I like a lot if kitchy spooky things. Being able to rework things / correct things / compile different things on the computer is seriously the biggest influence on how I work though. Other illustrators I love are Shary Boyle, Raymond Pettibon, Charles Burns, Steak Mountain, Milton Glaser, Alan Aldridge, Zeloot, Edward Gorey and I love Tim Burton too. And old movie.

Major Project - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

During this self initiated project, I intend to develop further the visual style that I have been working towards over the past few months, through more ambitious experimentation in terms of 3D work, and the appropriateness and range of materials used. Using the influence of sixties psychedelic poster artists such as Alan Aldridge combined with the 3D work of contemporary illustrators like Juan Carlos Federico, I hope to finish with a bold visual language that will stand out from the crowd. I also intend to look again at the way Christian Boltanski uses shadows & silhouettes in his photography – I think this could be a useful reference in trying to create a sense of paranoia.

I want my work to express the insanity and paranoia, and the erratic nature of Hunter S. Thompsons LSD / Mescaline experience, and also the disillusionment felt by the author over the death of the dreams and idealism of the 1960s. Representing the views of both the author and myself, I intend to explore ideas relating to the greed and materialism behind the American dream. Despite the quite dark nature of the book; the bad trip and the hallucinations and paranoia it causes, as well as the authors underlying criticism of American society, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas retains an element of humour in the writing style; something that I would like to come through in my work.

As discussed in my last tutorial I plan to look at incorporating pattern into my work, in terms of creating good designs but also communicating a message. I intend to research the possibilities as to where my work could fit in within the music industry, from the obvious sleeve artwork and merchandise, to growing industries such as designs online for example bands websites.

Alan Aldridge Exhibition

I dragged myself out of bed at 5.30am and spent a total of 11 hours on a bus to see this exhibition at the Design museum, London. Whether it was worth this amount of suffering im not sure, but i definetly enjoyed it and got some inspiration out of it.

The huge cut outs and hanging displays made it unlike any exhibition id ever seen before; it felt almost like entering a whole new world. The Beatles music being played added to the atmosphere. I thought his imagination is fantastic; i particularly liked the odd little creatures he invented for the children's book 'The Butterfly Ball' (Illustrated poems). Its an idea i should consider in the hallucination / paranoia aspect of my major project. Though i generally liked the way the exhibition was laid out, I can definetly see Roger Sabin's point (review, Eye magazine no. 70, p.88) that "the exhibition can feel like a fairground ride at times, and the candyfloss quality of some of the art can lead to a risk of sugar rush".

One large room was covered from floor to ceiling with his album cover designs and illustrations for the Beatles lyrics (of which i bought a book). At first this room looked very impressive, and added to the feeling of stepping into Aldridge's world, but then i realized that I'd actually like to see the stuff that was 20 ft in the air.

I was suprised by how much commercial work hed done - i was unaware that hed designed book and magazine covers and worked in advertising, but one of my favourite pieces on display was a Heineken ad, consisting of two images, the first of a weary, pale looking caterpillar with a full pint of Heineken. The second is an empty glass and the caterpillar has developed fantastic, bright coloured wings. His work for Penguin has inspired my cover design; I loved the contrast between the simple black background and the bright, bold image on the front.

Other exhibits included a car painted with psychedelic designs (I'd love to do this to my car..), but my favourite piece was an animation for 'One of these Days' by Pink Floyd. It felt like driving through a tunnel at night while on acid (not that i have done this) - the walls were covered in wierd and wonderful creatures, and kaleidoscope inspired designs. Though a bit disjointed in places, i loved it and watched it several times.

I like the last line of the review in Eye magazine: Aldridge "sucessfully navigated the tricky terrain between blowing deadlines and blowing minds".

Juan Carlos Federico

Alot of his design work is completely different to this, but i love this series of little mechanical looking creatures; i like the idea of experimenting further in 3D using found objects, particularly metal & mechanical objects. I think these materials add a cold, emotionless aspect to the piece, and thats something that could be appropriate in trying to express Hunter S Thompson's view of Las Vegas. (Major project is gonna be based around Fear & Loathing)

http://www.juancarlosfederico.com.ar/Restatos.htm

Some of them look really quite sinister, others are more quirky & amusing. Also, as his views are expressed largely through one long acid/mescaline trip, i think the idea of inanimate objects coming to life fits quite well. Im assuming in alot of cases hes not actually made the thing but photographed the individual parts and put them together digitally, ill definetly email him & find out more though. Hes Argentinian, i hope he'll speak English.

Anthony Ventura

Heres a reply from another contact, i love his work although its totally different to mine, i emailed him more to find out a little about the industry abroad, in this case Toronto. This is the reply i got;

Hey Jenny ,
Here's the answers to your questions. I hope I answered them OK.
If you ever have any more questions or need any advice on being an Illustrator, feel free to drop me a line and I'll
pretend to know something ;).
Thanks and best of luck to you with your future endeavors.
Anthony.

1. I love the series of ‘Skullshire girls’, I was wondering did this come from a
brief given to you, or is it a self initiated project? If so, where did the idea
come from, and what is the next stage for them?

It’s a self initiated project. The Skullshire Girls was a result of me wanting to
keep busy and try new things. Sometimes as artists, we hit a wall, and are not sure
of what to do next. I wanted to create something that I always had something to
do a drawing or a painting for in between other projects. Basically The Skullshire
Girls are an empty palette for me to have fun with. The idea and name was a spur
of the moment thing based on a few illustrations I had already done.
As far as the next stage, nothing is really planned for the girls. What I’d like to
see done, is after I have created a large body of work dedicated to them, I’d like to
see maybe a book collecting all the pictures and paintings and whatever else I’ve
come up with for these hags. Ultimately my true dream for the girls would to see
them made into a line of collectable toys, but I don’t even know where to start
with half the stuff I come up with so that’s a pipe dream right now!

2. I love the dark atmosphere in your work, can you tell me what influenced
this style?

Others describe my work as dark, but I have never seen it that way. My style just
came naturally, nothing was ever really preconceived about it. I just kept drawing
and painting and the work kept, and still is evolving. I think artists and illustrators
have to always challenge themselves and try new things, or else what’s the point.
The funny thing is, right now, my favourite art is usually more graphic and
colourful. These days I tend to enjoy the designs of animation and graphic design
more so than a lot of the painting and illustration I see.
There are times I look at others art more than I work on my own, and I really
think it helps to stay inspired and motivated. I like to tell people be influenced by
everything around you, but never copy it. Let it get into the subconscious, and
then it will truly influence what you do.

3. In the last few months, since this global recession, have you noticed any
difference in the design industry, or do you think its over exaggerated by the
media? (Im a little concerned to be graduating in the middle of a recession)

I’ve noticed that when the word recession is used, the work does slow down a
little. It’s usually in the beginning until the media focuses on something else. The
problem right now is, the bulk of good work comes from the US and things are
bad there right now so I have noticed a slow down. After 9/11, it was pretty bad.
But again, the entire art field is a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes it’s way up, other
times it’s way down. You have to be creative in the way you market yourself
almost just as much as you are in your work. I still have problems when it comes
to getting my work out there. As an artist I’d rather be drawing than sending out
promos and making mailing lists. Unfortunately, it is a necessary evil.

4. When (and if) I start working as an illustrator, id ideally like to be working
for clients all over the world, im interested in Canada particularly because I
loved Toronto when I visited, I have family there and would love an excuse to
go back! Do you have any advice on the industry over there?

Most of the work I have done is from the US. Canada is a very small market, with
only about 3-4 major cities and way to many artists, lol. But, it would be the same
as marketing yourself elsewhere, we have lots of Magazines, Ad agencies, Design
studios, it’s just a matter of reaching them at the right time. I think the biggest
problem for me is, Canadian companies tend to pay a lot less than US companies
for the same work. I think that’s why I tend to focus on the US Market. It’s really
expensive to market yourself, so you want a good return on your investment. Pay
attention to your audience too, I’ve notice my work is very well received in
Europe, especially Spain, so I’m trying to figure out ways to tap into that market
too…That’s the thing with this business, your always learning.