WELCOME TO THE ARTIST CREW - KENTARO YOSHIDA

Here at Chulo we wanted to showcase the creatives with a Q&A to dive a little deeper into the Artists inner workings - today we spotlight newest member, KENTARO YOSHIDA.

Tell us a bit about what keeps your creative juices flowing, do you search for inspiration or does it come naturally?

I do observations and keep collecting photos of what I like or things that catch my eyes in my dairy life. I often mix these references with my memory and experience. 

What's been your favourite project to date and why?

My recent favourite project was collaboration with Tooheys New last year. As a beer lover, it was an honour to work with national beer brand like Toohey New.


Tell us a bit about your process, do you start off searching for reference and sketching?

Depends on the project, but I do take some time for researching topics & motifs if they are given. Otherwise always stuff starts from super rough sketches on paper.


What made you want to pursue a career in the arts and do you have any tips for up and coming artist looking to do the same.

I simply love drawing since I was a kid so I would like to keep on going what I love to do for now.

I don’t have much to say to young artists but hope they keep drawing / making stuff everyday as that’s how I have made myself as full time artist.

Check out Kentaro Yoshida’s latest work here. For more portfolios from Chulo Creatives Artist stable click through here , also get in touch with Chulo Creative if you are interested in commissioning an artist for your next campaign.

WELCOME TO THE ARTIST CREW - NAOMI VONA

Here at Chulo we wanted to showcase the creatives with a Q&A to dive a little deeper into the Artists inner workings - today we spotlight newest member, Naomi Vona.

Tell us a bit about what keeps your creative juices flowing, do you search for inspiration or does it come naturally?

All my works are directly part of my personal life experience. I like to create double meanings, play with words and I really love to quote songs, books or movies that I love. Lots of my artworks are titled and directly inspired to them.

Every artwork is basically composed of three elements: my life background, my inspirations and subconscious, that is also the glue that puts all together

My artworks are the perfect mix between my passion for photography and design. The fascination for the past is the key, the flashing colours are the portal. I like to imagine that I have an imaginary portal that brings me into the past every time I desire, and my artworks are the visual proof of my time travel adventures. Pop Art, Dada and Surrealism are the historic art movement that inspires me, but I also love tons of contemporary artists. I don’t have a preference among the artists, but I mostly enjoy collage artists, illustrators and photographers.

What's been your favourite project to date and why?

The most important project that I have worked on so far is definitely “Selling Lies”. It’s a visual project born in 2017, when I wanted to participate in the Instagram challenge "100 days project".
The idea was to transform entirely a fashion magazine into a visual diary, creating a bridge of communication between the meaningless ads and my personal point of view about the fashion industry. The final result is a personal, fun and controversial art project. This personal research is now an art class called "From Fashion Ad To Protest", where I encourage my students to create their own art journal using a fashion magazine. During the event I also teach my layered technique, giving advice and tips on how to manipulate existing images.

I have completed the magazine in 2020, and I entirely covered every page of it (boring ones included!). Now I am working on a new magazine and sharing the “making of” videos of each page in my Instagram account. I also enjoy the fact that this idea became a collective project, where my students are also participating in creating their own meaningful art journal using a found magazine. It’s truly satisfying to see so many people all over the world appreciating the idea and working on it with me :)

Tell us a bit about your process, do you start off searching for reference and sketching?

I always try to not think too much of what I am doing, I want that the picture in front of me helps me to find the solution to the rebus. I don’t know any of the subjects, so my fantasy is free to decide what to do.

Most of the time I use existing images as a canvas, so this is my main source of inspiration. I basically incorporate abstract patterns and colours on found images, reinventing their look and meaning (specially if they are vintage portraits).

What made you want to pursue a career in the arts and do you have any tips for up and coming artists looking to do the same?

I have always been an art lover - I did art high school and then the Academy of Fine Art in Italy. Eventually the school years path led me to build a career in the art field. I have to say that at the beginning it is really hard, so I always recommend that anyone want to start to have a “whatever” job during their first stage of their career. We need to pay the bills first, and art doesn’t meet these needs immediately. It’s a gradual progress in time, and it’s not a marathon as well. The important thing to keep in mind is to be constant, consistent and tenacious, and things will come in your way for sure :)


Check out Naomi Vona’s latest work here. For more portfolios from Chulo Creatives Artist stable click through here , also get in touch with Chulo Creative if you are interested in commissioning an artist for your next campaign.

St John Ambulances newest team member

We were asked to find the perfect artist to create a selection of illustrations of our native Australian Wombat for the good guys at St John Ambulance, for their junior ambos booklet.

The final images were nothing short of being adorably perfect.

If you are interested in commissioning an artist for your next campaign - we’ve got you covered. Get in touch!

For more portfolios from Chulo Creatives Artist stable click through here.

GET TO KNOW THE ARTIST - MIKE DELMAR

Here at Chulo we wanted to showcase the creatives with a Q&A to dive a little deeper into the Artists inner workings - today we spotlight artist Mike Delmar.

Tell us a bit about what keeps your creative juices flowing, do you search for inspiration or does it come naturally?

Inspiration is a massive blessing when it hits. Sometimes it hits like a log and you can’t think of anything else except the things it inspires. Sometimes it’s sneaky and when you’re stuck on an idea for days, you wake up with a screaming lightbulb above your head demanding you do something about it. And sometimes it comes and goes only to be forever forgotten. I keep a log of the things I plan, which is pretty hilarious to read back: random keys words I’m sure meant something profound at the time; juvenile musings; grandiose concepts beyond my capabilities. But I’m sure bits and pieces of them all eventually end up on a page somewhere somehow.


What's been your favourite project to date and why?

I love print works. I always romanticise my days working for the Roundhouse more than 15 years ago (god that makes me feel like a dinosaur). Band posters, party posters, wall art. Total freedom to stick anything on a poster and print a whole suite of merchandise for it. That said, I never was very good at cataloguing my work back then, so I’m sure most of it aint as cool as I remember it to be.


Tell us a bit about your process, do you start off searching for reference and sketching?

I can be pretty arrogant and do a lot of stuff from memory, or my imagination, but it always pays to reference. You can only really get to the essence of an image by understanding the subject matter to the best of your ability. Thumbnail sketches, layouts, grid work, drafts. They all contribute to the final product in a way that improves it somehow. Warm ups are also huge. I’m lucky I work in a role where I spend a lot of time concepting, and doing fast impressions of ideas, so I get to flex those muscles regularly. You gotta pay your dues with those things. 

What made you want to pursue a career in the arts and do you have any tips for up and coming artists looking to do the same.

I’ve never been much of a wise man. Never been very good at strategy or logistics. I dream a lot and spend a lot of my time trying in vain to get to the essence of banal and theoretical questions. I get lost in history and pop culture and pretend I’m an anthropologist. It’s sort of pathological in a way, but growing up I always knew I needed to channel it somehow, it was just plain sight for me. When I grew up and thought I should get serious about life I deviated from the path and tried law. I just felt empty not creating. I had this niggling voice calling me back to image making. Being where I am now, doing what I’m doing, just feels right. If I had any advice for up and coming artists, or anyone for that matter, it’d be listen to that voice. Its worth it. All that shit people say about not doing what you love is exactly that: bullshit. 

But maybe I’m an idealist.

Check out Mike Delmar’s latest work here. For more portfolios from Chulo Creatives Artist stable click through here , also get in touch with Chulo Creative if you are interested in commissioning an artist for your next campaign.

GET TO KNOW THE ARTIST - ETTOJA

Here at Chulo we wanted to showcase the creatives with a Q&A to dive a little deeper into the Artists inner workings - today we spotlight artist ETTOJA.

Tell us a bit about what keeps your creative juices flowing, do you search for inspiration or does it come naturally?

I have several primal inspiration sources, which can vary from time to time, but they follow me through the life: city environment (people, cars, city animals, architecture, life in the city, cultures or lack of culture ), nature ( abstract part of it like the decay or growth, reborn) and the last one is time. The time frightens me and inspires to move forward. To picture it through the static illustartions I'm trying to make them move, creating gifs/ short animations. When painting murals, I am experimenting with the technique which I call "giffiti". Sometimes I use it in editorial illustrations too. Visually it could look as a pattern, or repetitive character, thus creating a feeling of motion, as futurists like Giacomo Balla used to do.

What's been your favourite project to date and why?

My favourite project is always the next one :) But if I need to choose one, it'd be a series of animated trolleybuses from 2019. These were the real trolleybuses, which rode in the city. I've painted 6 of them, portraying some retro design products. This was the project where all my favourite elements met: surface design, muralism/streetart, my love for the industrial design objects, and giffiti. I've painted 12 frames on each of the trolleybuses. Anyone could photograph them and see a little animated story.

Tell us a bit about your process, do you start off searching for reference and sketching?

At the beginning I'm trying to visualize the idea. If I don't visualise it in a second after I've heard the task, most likely I'll get the image while I'm trying to fall asleep, or walking in the city. Then I'll get back to the paper/tablet, try to sketch it just to realise it's completely different from the one I've imagived:) And the rest of the process is basically trying to get the art to look as close as the initial idea.

What made you want to pursue a career in the arts and do you have any tips for up and coming artists looking to do the same.

Art lets solve tasks independently and understand a little bit about society, world, myself.

For a tiny second it helps to feel the existence. 

Dive into yourself, remember what you liked to do when you were a kid, the themes you liked, adapt it and make it work for your now-self. A tip - to be consistent. 

Check out ETTOJA latest work here. For more portfolios from Chulo Creatives mural Artist stable click through here , also get in touch with Chulo Creative if you are interested in commissioning an artist for your next campaign.

Get to know the artist - Nico Nicoson

Here at Chulo we wanted to showcase the creatives with a Q&A to dive a little deeper into the Artists inner workings - today we spotlight mural artist, illustrator and designer Nico Nicoson.

Tell us a bit about what keeps your creative juices flowing, do you search for inspiration or does it come naturally?

 I seem to find that the more I create the more I am inspired, so for me maintaining a bit of creative discipline helps to make sure I keep things moving and keep ideas coming in. I love looking at all kinds of books and blogs for inspo, but also find getting out of the studio and going for a walk can be a great way to ward off creative block! 


What's been your favourite project to date and why?

Being commissioned to create an official artwork for Campari was definitely a career highlight for me. Ever since I was a child I've loved Campari's bold posters and to have the opportunity to be involved in continuing that tradition was wild!


Tell us a bit about your process, do you start off searching for reference and sketching?

I generally always try and start any project with analogue sketches on paper. For me starting the work in a digital space seems to stifle my creativity. I think theres something about putting pen or pencil to paper that activates my mind. My creative process involves a lot of looking. I try to step away from the work during the process and return to analyse it with fresh eyes as much as possible. 


What made you want to pursue a career in the arts and do you have any tips for up and coming artists looking to do the same.

I never made any kind of conscious decision to pursue a career in the arts to be honest. I just always did what I enjoyed, and that led me to where I am. I would encourage up and coming artists to just focus on making the work that they like and developing that. I believe the rest is up to the universe!

Check out NICO’s latest work here. For more portfolios from Chulo Creatives Artist stable click through here. Get in touch with Chulo Creative if you are interested in commissioning a mural artist.

The Umbilical Brothers and Johan Potma collaborate.

Johan Potma has been working closely with the Umbilical Brothers for the past 2 years creating an amazing new children's book.

Below are some of the illustrations...we can't wait for more! Make sure you follow @johanpotma on instagram to know when this gem will be hitting all good book stores.

One of Johan's favourite Umbilical Brothers bits:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb-pbGvFlTo

Sneak Snake & Girlhood with Irene Feleo

Irene Feleo creates stunning colourful visuals and brings some of them to life with animation. We love catching up with Irene to see what she has been working on, its always a treat. Enjoy checking out the below recent treasures and make sure you follow @irenefeleo to stay topped up with her lovely creations.

 

 "I recently finished the first 2 episodes of a super short animation series called Sneak Snake. It's pretty much just tiny episodes based around this one sneaky snake that is a bit of a nuisance. It was a fun little personal project to work on during the evenings and a good excuse to put my strange sense of humour into a random little animation. Episode 3 is on a bit of a hold at the moment but I want to keep returning back to this character to practice my storytelling skills and also to develop how weird it can get." Irene Feleo:

"I also recently directed an animation teaser for the Project:Girl film series. They are this amazing group of women who are putting together a series of 10 short films based on stories from girlhood, with a focus to promote storytelling and representing the female voice. I am currently working on a special animated episode for them that will be released towards the end of the year sometime." Irene Feleo: