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Spraygraphic Interview with Michael DeForge
By Spraygraphic | November 9, 2007
Spraygraphic Interview with Michael DeForge
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
KT: I was born in 1987, and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario.
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
KT: I live in Toronto, where I make posters and comics.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
KT: Mostly pen and ink, and I color on Photoshop. Every now and then I’ll use my Wacom tablet for “digital inking” or touch ups.
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
KT: It’s never the same. Sometimes things come automatically to me, and I can just start on the left hand corner of a blank sheet of paper and draw non-stop until I’m finished. Other times, I have to plan and revise things more meticulously, or collage and tweak different elements together until I get something I’m happy with.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
KT: People say that when you’re blocked up, the best thing to do is relax and think about something else, read a book or whatever, but that never works for me. I basically just force myself to draw, because even if it starts out ugly and uninspired, I know I’ll eventually loosen up and get my momentum back. I might churn out 30 pages of garbage before I really get going again. I have an easier time drawing outside my home, too - I spend a lot of time doodling in restaurants. I don’t have any good ideas when I’m in my room.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
KT: I’ve been really into the cartoonists David B. and Igort lately, their work is really terrific. Also, Jack Kirby’s Kamandi series - a lot of really fun sci-fi hysteria in there. Dog scientists, dolphin architecture, Chicago gang robots, giant grasshoppers. I can’t think of any comic being produced right now with the same amount of energy that those stories had.
SG: How did you come up with the name King Trash? What does it mean?
KT: It’s just something I like the sound of, really. I think my artwork is kind of trashy, and I’ve always been interested in the cheap, disposable bits of our culture more than the stuff that floats to the top.
SG: Can you tell us a little about your character Washington Smalls and your story Cave Adventure?
KT: Cave Adventure started as an experiment, to see if I stick to a weekly schedule on a comic. So in that respect, it’s a complete failure, since the weekly thing completely dissolved after about a month. I’ve been pretty busy with commercial jobs lately, but hopefully it will get back on track soon. I really just wanted to make a lighthearted adventure story with cool looking monsters. It’s been a lot of fun so far. I’ve been shaking loose some of the influences that have stuck around since I was a kid, like Star Wars aliens and monster movies and the Legend of Zelda. Washington Smalls is the hero of the story, who goes on a quest to find his parents and ends up getting caught up in something bigger.
SG: How did you get involved in doing concert/band posters?
KT: I started out in Grade 10, when I was living in Ottawa. There aren’t that many poster artists there, and I thought it’d be a good way to get into concerts for free. This one promoter Shawn Scallen put on most of the punk and indie shows in town, so I just started bothering him about it. I didn’t have money, or a fake ID, so if a band came to town that I wanted to see, I would just bother him about doing the flyer until he put me on the guest list.
SG: Where has your work been seen?
KT: Um, recently? The internet. And my mom’s fridge.
SG: Where will it be seen next?
KT: Alot of my projects have been collaborations, lately. I’ll be doing a few new posters with Nate Duval and Greg Pizzoli, and some work with Bongout, printmakers from Berlin who I really love. I’m also working on some comics for an arts journal here, called Misunderstandings Magazine.
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
KT: Prince! I’m a big Prince fan, so anything Prince-related, really. I’d kill to do a Prince gig poster.
SG: What is your favorite color?
KT: Orange.
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
KT: Well, I couldn’t pick just one. Generally, I admire artists who are able to craft their own worlds and language - guys like Jack Kirby, Saul Steinberg, Marc Bell, George Herriman, Brian Chippendale. They have their own weirdo rules and physics, completely unique to their work.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
KT: I’m in the middle of David Michaelis‘ Charles Schulz biography, which I’m enjoying, and Somersault by Kenzaburo Oe. As far as comics, go, Injury Comics and Sergio Ponchione’s Grotesque have probably been the best new releases I’ve read this month.
SG: Ever do a self portrait? Where is it now?
KT: Yup, and on my website.
SG: Any final words of advice?
KT: Nope. . . I’m pretty terrible at advice!
Topics: Artist Interviews, International-Art, Pencil Drawings, Toys and Comics |
3 Responses to “Spraygraphic Interview with Michael DeForge”
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November 9th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Great interview! I love his stuff.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Michael’s work has been exhibited at SAW Gallery and La Petit Mort Gallery in Ottawa (i.e. he has a bit more exposure than on his mom’s fridge.)
November 13th, 2007 at 5:44 am
Man, your work is refreshing and it makes me smile. Prince fan- yeah. I like his original songs. Excellent work Mike!