… is een illustrator uit New York
Brian Cronin
What are your influences?
What inspires you to work?
My work is always moving in new directions and anything can cause me to go in a new direction. I’m not influenced by other illustration but more by seeing images in other areas: galleries, books, flea markets, wallpaper, design, movies, music – they all can spark off a new direction, however slight, probably unnoticeable by anyone other than me.
Other influences range from Russian constructivism to early Japanese advertising, to Mexican and Indian art. I think because my work of late is quite sparse I get a lot of comments saying, “It looks Japanese”. I take it as a compliment but I really am going for just a sparse look. But now I find my work is taking a turn and becoming more detailed. Inspiration can also come from the environment that surrounds me. I lived in Italy for a year in 2001 and this move made me want to have a studio in the country.
I now divide my time between NYC and an early 18th century farmhouse with a barn in upstate New York. I converted part of the barn into my studio. This place inspires me. It’s very peaceful with lots of nature and no one around for miles.
How do you feel about the increasing role of the computer in contemporary illustration?
Is it important to you?
I use a computer to play with color and send sketches but that’s it for me. I really like to see a human touch and I like to get messy; feel like I’m creating something from a blank space. When I have worked on my laptop for a few hours playing around with color – click click – and the color changes from red to blue, then when I stop I always feel that I had been doing nothing. I feel a bit empty. But when it comes to physically mixing the pigment then it’s a whole different world. Mistakes happen, jars of paint spill over, day light changes how the color works on paper. It’s more alive.
Anyway, I would rather be surrounded by jars of paint and brushes and pencils than faced with a computer screen. I think the computer is a really invaluable tool but I see it more as a piece of office machinery.
Bron: illustratorsireland.com
What inspires you to work?
My work is always moving in new directions and anything can cause me to go in a new direction. I’m not influenced by other illustration but more by seeing images in other areas: galleries, books, flea markets, wallpaper, design, movies, music – they all can spark off a new direction, however slight, probably unnoticeable by anyone other than me.
Other influences range from Russian constructivism to early Japanese advertising, to Mexican and Indian art. I think because my work of late is quite sparse I get a lot of comments saying, “It looks Japanese”. I take it as a compliment but I really am going for just a sparse look. But now I find my work is taking a turn and becoming more detailed. Inspiration can also come from the environment that surrounds me. I lived in Italy for a year in 2001 and this move made me want to have a studio in the country.
I now divide my time between NYC and an early 18th century farmhouse with a barn in upstate New York. I converted part of the barn into my studio. This place inspires me. It’s very peaceful with lots of nature and no one around for miles.
How do you feel about the increasing role of the computer in contemporary illustration?
Is it important to you?
I use a computer to play with color and send sketches but that’s it for me. I really like to see a human touch and I like to get messy; feel like I’m creating something from a blank space. When I have worked on my laptop for a few hours playing around with color – click click – and the color changes from red to blue, then when I stop I always feel that I had been doing nothing. I feel a bit empty. But when it comes to physically mixing the pigment then it’s a whole different world. Mistakes happen, jars of paint spill over, day light changes how the color works on paper. It’s more alive.
Anyway, I would rather be surrounded by jars of paint and brushes and pencils than faced with a computer screen. I think the computer is a really invaluable tool but I see it more as a piece of office machinery.
Bron: illustratorsireland.com
