Friday, December 25, 2009

Interview with Julian Kimmings






q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.


a)My name is Julian Kimmings, I'm an artist and illustrator. I live in Chester in the UK.


q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?


a)It sounds cliche but I always wanted to be an artist. I started painting at a very early age and explored oils, acrylics, water colours and various printing techniques before I started high school. I studied art all way through school. Then progressed to graphics and Illustration at College and later at University, graduating with a 2:1 in Graphic Design/Illustration from Linconshire University back in 1997. After which I started working in the design industry, became disenchanted with my profession and started painting again at the end of 2008. 2009 has been a year of re-birth for me as an artist, it's been a lot of fun and I've met a lot of very nice people in the process.


q)What are your tools of the trade and why?


a)I have been using acrylic paints, aerosols (Montana, Belton and Ironlak) and acrylic inks most recently. I like the texture and vibrant colour aerosol paint give me, it's feels instant and drys quickly. I'm an impatient artist and don't like waiting around for paint to dry. If I get an idea of how something should look or feel, I need to apply those thoughts immediately or they'll be gone.


q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?


a)Life - Life is hard, it holds no punches and is not very forgiving, maybe in someway I'm exorcising my demons through my artwork. My mind is constantly racing with new images, vague ideas and I think without the art, I'd go mad.


q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?


a)I went to college, but art college in the UK is basically a three year party, so I consider myself 'self-taught'. I'm constantly learning, studying other artists and new techniques, working further with the ones that feel right for me.


q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?


a)The Internet is great for research, talking to other artists and basically keeping an ear to the ground. I find Flickr very helpful because I can go to art exhibitions and shows via my laptop, rather than having to be there and because of this I can see work from all over the world that I'd never have had the opportunity to see before.


q)What are some of your current projects?


a)I'm working on a skate deck for an exhibition in Italy for early 2010 and I have a handful of commissions to complete also in the new year. I would like to update my website sometime soon when I get the chance.


q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?


a)'Rain'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimmings/3603579356/in/set-72157614389826733/
is the piece I did at Upfest 2009 and the piece that really changed the way I worked for quite sometime. It came about by accident, the space I had planned to paint was much larger so I had to think quickly and adapt with a few hundred people watching on.

'Cardboard Shelter'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimmings/4126229766/in/photostream/
This is the piece I made for the Cardboard Shelter exhibition in Newcastle at the end of 2009 - all the proceeds went to charity. It's also one of the smallest pieces of artwork I've painted since I picked up the brushes again. Before hand all my work was on canvases - this was 210cmx297cm cardboard and was a challenge to paint using aerosols.


q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?


a)I want to get some screen printing and patterns into my artwork. I've asked Santa for a set of oils for Christmas too. :)


q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?


a)I spend as much time as I can with my children and exercise regularly, having time to clear my mind is important.


q)how do you spend most of your free time?


a)(see above)


q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?


a)I'm a huge fan of Herakut, Bestever Crew, Hush, Antony Lister, Charlie Isoe + Tamara Muller... pretty much all art/design/music is inspirational to me.


q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?


a)Thanks - You can purchase some originals online at kimmings.co.uk - I'm planning to release some more prints early in 2010 also.