Tilteed

Artist Interview: theJCW

Curator’s Statement:

Who knew that Chicago’s cloudy days were so positive? Amusing and cheerful, the_JCW’s “Look on the Bright Side” can make any rainy day just a little brighter. Good to know if you need to dash between the raindrops today… or if you’re visiting Seattle.

Tell us a little about today’s tee:

This one started out as a character sketch from my “Inks on the bus series” http://thejcw.blogspot.com/2009/06/43-chicagosky.html I started to get the most response to this particular sketch so I decided to see what else I could do with it. There have been many different forms of this shirt floating around the Internets, I have to give credit to Jaden for being the one to realize that it needed to be printed. I think I originally drew it on another dark, Chicago day in a series of endless storms and gray skies. Last year was notorious for a short summer and cold weather in Chi-town. I call it “Look on the Bright side” now since gloomy weather always seems to be inspiration for artists around the world and for me it brought out this character.

Got any new and exciting projects in the works?

Mostly I’m working on my website, and painting to get ready for a group show in November. Because of this and working full-time progress on anything new is pretty slow right now.

What people/experiences/artists inspired you to try your hand at the art world?

For me it’s kind of like natural selection. The first half of college for me was biology, that is until chemistry made me hate it enough to quit and since the only thing I was interested in was out of the equation I moved toward by backup plan, an art degree. Since I was worried about making a living I went straight to Graphic design and now I work full-time…Working full-time on loads of projects that don’t always offer much creativity really got me in the mood to do something after work that I would get me excited about art again…and that started the illustrations.
It also helps that my Dad is a sculptor, and in high-school agreeing to paint a mural got me out of a lot of other classes and a free pass to roam the halls like I owned the place.

What would you say, if you saw someone decked out from head to toe in your artwork: (hat, tee, sneakers)?

wwwuuuuuhhhhhhhh! ... “How did you find my only hat and sneaker? and when did they let you out?”

True that would be very cool, I think that people actually wearing something I made, and enjoying, it is a lot more fulfilling for me that to know than that someone might have flipped through an Annual Report I spend eons working on.

Tell us a little about the concept behind the “Inks on the Bus” and which one, you feel, is the best of those pieces:

“Inks on the bus” started for a number of reasons.

1. I was tired of my current style of illustration and wanted to try something new.

2. I was fast realizing that being an “adult” and working full-time meant that I have very little time to practice any skills so the only time to do this would be on my hour long bus ride to work and hour back.

3. I found a new love with Staedtler Triplus fineliner pens (can someone see if they will pay me for that) pens

4. I realized that unless I made it a rule that I had to start, finish and post it online for proof every single workday I would never get past that feeling of telling myself that “I can’t think of anything to draw today”... eventually I only made it to 85.

I mostly stopped so I could prepare for a self-planned 3 week trip to Thailand and Cambodia. However, I will admit that nearing the 85 I was already falling asleep and missing days here and there. Now I am still catching up on reading and adding a new one here and there. (feel free to give me some ideas on my blog)

I hope to turn as many of these “inks” as I can into apparel designs, so if anyone has any interest I would be happy to know.

Any links you’d like to tell others to check out?

Definitely check out my blog and fanpage:

http://www.thejcw.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/thejcw

If you are interested in the shirt I would be happy to get your vote on shoes…who knows maybe someday you can get matching shoes to go with your shirt?

http://www.ryz.com/shoe/detail/18110/the-brightside
http://www.ryz.com/shoe/detail/18982/step-on-the-brightside

If you are on ABT, please stop by and support these kicks - http://www.a-better-tomorrow.com/contributor/show_design/4284-tokyostompin

I know, enough with the links…this is the final one, I have a shirt on Cameesa right now that is close to being printed, you can support it and not pay until the shirt prints…

http://cameesa.com/support/design/330/my-imoto

Finally, the random question emerges: What would YOU do for a Klondike Bar?

See, this question all rests for me on where and when… if you came up to me today and asked that same question I would laugh at you and say “nothing fool, I will simply buy it”

However! if I was in.. say… Cambodia again, in the scorching heat, running around the streets at night trying to find some ice cream (true story, in Phnom Pehn) I would gladly eat a fried tarantula or even put on a display to shame and humiliate myself and all Americans for the sake of that delicious cool cream!