GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Tell us about yourself, where you’re from, your age etc:

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I'm Sam and I'm 25 years old, residing in the Inner West of Sydney. I am working as a freelance artist and graphic designer from my home studio space.

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What is your artistic process?:

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My general life everyday is a part of my process, I'm always being inspired by the most random things and making a mental note or writing it down somewhere where it often gets lost for years before coming to life in one of my artworks. My process changes quite considerably depending on the given project whether it be a job/commissioned work or a personal endeavour. Quite often I take a photo or draw on a small piece of paper my idea in a simple line drawing and specify a particular colour pallet or focus point for the work. I then transfer the sketch almost exactly how it was scribbled onto a canvas and begin painting. Painting on a canvas or a wall I like to start with a black outline and add in the shadows, then blob in the colour on top, I'm obsessed with the style it gives to the simplest of ideas or subjects. I've always chosen the subject of my works based on things that i have a strong love for in an attempt to express my feelings and pay a tribute to their worth. In saying that i am often inspired by a picket fence, tiled path, or a bottle in a laneway.

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How does your work reference ‘Street’:

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Growing up I spent most of my time with mates at the skatepark or on the streets finding things to ride anything with wheels on, over or through. I was catching the train almost everyday and would just take note of all the graffiti and watch it come and go day by day. I was always watching graff videos and eventually started spray painting myself in abandoned buildings and legal wall spots around Sydney. Graffiti and skate culture was a big influence on me and so that became the sort of stuff I was painting or drawing. Paste ups, pieces and tags were what I always looked out for, so the street art scene and techniques involved shaped the style of my art. I like to make colourful art that is appealing to the eye and makes people stop to take a good look so there's no better place for it than a street corner or local pub.

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What medium(s) do you use?:

 

I work in a wide range of mediums. I do a heap of digital illustration for use in print and online spaces often for Poster design, album artwork and merch. I also do a lot of painting using both spray paint and acrylics mostly on canvas as well as large scale murals whenever given the opportunity & definitely a space I am delving further into. Although for the most part you'll see my work on a canvas, wall or street poster I have never limited myself with the form in which I express my creative ideas. I'm always making something using whatever will best express that particular idea or with whatever materials that happen to inspire me.

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How did you start/ Who inspires you and your work?:

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I have always been driven to make things in a creative way for as long as I can remember, all through school visual arts was all I ever cared about. My parents and brothers are all creatively inspired and gifted in their own ways and i'd say that was my biggest influence/inspiration. I started out drawing on paper then on skateboards and then filling up canvas' to put on the walls in my room, as I improved I would update the canvas'. Sometimes they'd be used 3 or 4 times and some of them still sit on my walls with old works buried amongst the layers of paint. Eventually the art moved to the street and I was painting larger scale works with mates around town. As I got older, my further studies in visual arts and graphic design shaped my style and focus to lead me where I am today. Artists like Kentaro Yoshida, Lee McConnell, Brent Smith, and a whole lot more were definitely my earliest inspirations.

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Where can we find your work? Social Media/Website?:

 

My instagram Mangoootango holds most of the work I make and gets updated most regularly. I'm in the process of getting a website up and running to showcase my work in it's varying forms and to sell merch, paintings and prints of my original artworks.

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What do you plan to do in the future?

 

Having recently finished 6 years of post-school studies I am now working at developing my personal creative business and developing my studio practice to take on whatever jobs come my way. So for the foreseeable future I will continue to work as a freelance artist and designer producing as much as i possibly can!