The awesome Robb Mirsky participated recently in the My Petite Bourgeois Revolution show at Northern Contemporary Gallery in Toronto.
I asked him a few questions in the wake of the revolution, about art, his razor sharp indie-comix edge, and inspiration:
Usually i think about composition first. I like to try to find something simple yet captivating and sort of work from there. I don’t really have any one set way of doing things, so i let it fester in my brain a bit before heading to paper. I can usually see some form of what i want in my head before i really start getting down to the nitty gritty, and i just try to emulate that.
What kind of work do you usually do? Commercial, editorial, advertising, fashion, fine art?
For the most part i create comics (which can be found in the printed books, Read More Comix), but i also make a lot of band posters for local shows and bands around Toronto. I’m primarily working within commercial and advertising with a low brow/indepedant twist.
Why did you chose the First World Problem you did?
I chose the First World Problem I did because I am constantly inundated with (as I’m sure the rest of you are too) people who blindly walk the streets, staring at their phone screens, acting like zombies. I find it infuriating, but also hilarious how far humanity has slid that we can barely handle interactions that don’t have to do with our personal technology.
Why did you chose the First World Problem you did?
I chose the First World Problem I did because I am constantly inundated with (as I’m sure the rest of you are too) people who blindly walk the streets, staring at their phone screens, acting like zombies. I find it infuriating, but also hilarious how far humanity has slid that we can barely handle interactions that don’t have to do with our personal technology.
We often build on the backs of giants. I know I try to, and I've been influenced by the Constructivists, Symbolists, and Bauhaus. What artists and / or art movements inform / inspire your work?
For the most part, i find a lot of inspiration from independent comics artists of the past like R. Crumb, Basil Wolverton, Dan Clowes, and the list goes on. I stare at their panels and just soak in the composition choices and the details like line work and shading; really nerd stuff! I also grew up with a lot of custom car culture in my face (yet i know very little about cars…), and the work of people like Ed “Big Daddy” Roth really bent my mind with things like gross out art, and zany colour choices.
Any advice for new artists, starting out in today's market?
Do it cuz you love it. Do it for yourself. Spend years toiling in obscurity. Don’t expect anything from anyone else. Never settle. Always keep pushing. Keep striving to make better art than the last thing you did. NEVER STOP.
What are you working on now? What’s your next big challenge?
Currently I’m working on a few different comic projects for Read More Comix, as well as a couple show posters, beer labels for a small brewer, a shirt design, and as always filling sketchbooks with wacky sketches that i can pull ideas from later.
Check out more of his stuff at www.robbmirsky.com, on Instagram at @mirsktoons, or through his comics collective: www.readmorecomix.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment