2008 Golden Nosey Interview
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| Author | Jeff Redford |
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| Subject | Jason Seiler |
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| Published | EF Issue 2009.1 |
Publication date | Winter 2009 |
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| Pages | 12-15 |
| Website |
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Article Description. Should include author, brief description, issue number and page number(s).
Article Transcript
Jeff Redford: I am talking with Jason Seiler, winner of the Golden Nosey for the 2008 Convention that was held in Raleigh, North Carolina. It really was your first year competing, wasn’t it?
Jason Seiler: Sort of. I came in 2003 when Kruger and Op de Beeck were first there. My wife was about three months pregnant. She was there, and really, really sick. So I only did a few drawings and I wasn’t into it seriously. Mostly, I was walking around, observing. So I really didn’t compete the first time I was there. And actually I wasn’t even there that often.
JR: So 2008 was the second time you attended a convention and the first time you really competed?
JS: Yeah.
JR: So how did you feel about your win, and the competition?
JS: Well, I feel extremely honored that I won. I’m still—I don’t know if the word is “shocked” because I worked very, very hard. To win all that I did win, was overwhelming and a huge honor. But it meant even more because of the friendships with the other artists. I think that is what makes it so special and cool—to be able to let your friends and peers vote for you. But as far as my first time and my experience with competing, it was a lot of fun. There was so much energy. I think I could have gone for another day, at least another day. But I was pretty trashed by the end...
JR: Does anyone’s work stick out particularly?
JS: My friend, Fred Harper, from New York was sitting next to me. He is a talented painter and has some great color techniques...I also thought Paul Moyse did some excellent work. Jert’s work is excellent too! It was overwhelming how much artwork there was. It was pretty unreal.
JR: I thought so as well. You have been painting and drawing probably since you were a kid. So tell me basically how you got started. I know your father is an artist...
JS: Yeah, I grew up with a father as an artist and I really didn’t take advantage of anything he tried to teach me. I kind of blew him off a lot, like most kids tend to do. I wanted to do my own thing...I was pretty seriously geeked out on drawing since I was in at least the second or third grade, to the point where I didn’t really play with other kids...My dad would tell me I should go outside and play... but I would get bored and ten minutes later I would be back in my room. My dad gave me his old drawing table from his college days. And basically all I ever did was draw.
JR: Did you ever feel pressure to go this way or did it just evolve and your parents just let it happen? JS: Actually, my dad tried to talk me out of being an artist, at one point. My dad is a fine artist and there is not a great market for that kind of work. I don’t think my dad was hoping that I would become an artist. But I think he saw the passion that I had and the ambition. I would come home from school, get my homework done as fast as I could and draw for hours and hours. I think he supported what I did, but he never pushed it on me or forced me to draw.
JR: Did you go to art school?
JS: I sort of went to art school. I had always wanted to go to art school, but things just didn’t work out the way I wanted. I moved to Chicago when I was 18 and I ended up getting married when I was 20. So art school didn’t really happen. But I still wanted to go really bad. I was also in some...not really famous or successful bands, but we put out several CDs. So that was pretty much my life for a few years-touring the country, putting out albums and stuff like that. I was in three different bands. And then I still did my art on the side.
My art was slowly picking up and I started getting more illustration work. Caricature work here and there. Things for me started to change when my wife was pregnant. Us having a child together kick-started everything into gear. I sort of freaked out the night my wife went into labor. That night I had my first go at “really” painting, all while my wife was in labor. She had a friend coaching her and I ended up freaking out... I remember thinking to myself, “My gosh, I am never gonna make it if I don’t learn how to paint.” and, “ How am I gonna support my family if I can’t paint.” Up until this point, I had always been afraid to learn how to paint. So I got out some paint and did my first of many paintings. And I haven’t stopped since.
JR: What was that first painting of?
JS: It was a watercolor of Owen Wilson. I remember thinking about different artists that I wanted to one day compete against, artists like Daniel Adel, Roberto Parada, Ismael Roldan and Philip Burke. I realized that these guys all can paint. And at the time I wasn’t doing any kind of painting.
I started getting work once I started painting, but I felt like I still had things to figure out. I felt that maybe I could be faster and better if I took a couple of classes. So when I was 26, I went to an art school in downtown Chicago called the American Academy of Art. I went there because a lot of well known illustrators like Alex Ross came from there. I just felt it was a good school. I went, just to take a class or two...but it turned out that I had to do the whole sha-bang. It would be nice if an art school could sprinkle fairy dust or wave some magic wand and just like that you could have it all figured out. The truth is, it’s a lot of work. So I went to college for three years. During those three years, my work really started totake off, I did work for Time Magazine while I was going to art school, so that was cool. I ended up getting so busy that it was really difficult to continue with my schooling. It got to the point where I was turning down work from magazines so that I could go to school to get work from magazines. So it really didn’t make sense.
During my last semester, I went to New York and met with many art directors. Everyone was asking me why I was still going to school. What’s the point and why are you going? I said to them that I thought you had to have a degree to work professionally. They told me I was ready now and none of them ask to see a degree; it’s the work that talks. So I talked to my wife about quitting school, and she was more than thrilled because it was taking up my entire life. So I’m no longer going to school, but I am still paying it off. Drawing and painting from life and basic anatomy classes made going to art school worth it!
JR: That’s great. And do you think those are important foundations to have?
JS: It may sound a little goofy since I won caricature artist of the year, but I don’t really consider myself a caricature artist. Instead, I consider myself more of a portrait artist who stylizes and uses exaggeration to create something cool and original. The word “caricature” sometimes gives people the wrong idea. They just think that they are some quick little drawings. A lot of artists I see at theme parks are doing more complicated drawings than what people in the regular world think of when they think of caricature. So anyways, I try to stay away from the “C” word. Anatomy classes, learning structure, and learning how to draw, and paint how the masters would paint-all of that goes in play with everything that I do with my work today. I might be exaggerating or pushing someone’s features, but I am using the same techniques as if I were painting or drawing like a fine artist. I feel the same rules apply.
JR: I know you mentioned some people you would like to be like Robert Parada, Ismael Roldan. Was there anyone that really sparked you to a new level?
JS: It’s kinda funny. When I first started doing caricature, I didn’t really know that there was anybody else doing it, didn’t even know what I was doing had a name. My Mom and Dad used to take me to the Mall of the America. And I think that is where Tom Richmond’s booths are. I remember I would just stand by the caricature booths, watching those artists draw for hours while my parents shopped. So early on, Tom Richmond’s work was something that helped me to see structure and exaggeration. For years I kept trying to draw in a more exaggerated way and then tried to render or paint them in a realistic way. I thought I was being original and clever. Then my Dad bought Kruger’s book, Stars. I was like “Oh my gosh, This guy is doing exactly what I’m ‘trying’ to do.” That book totally changed everything. And right now that book is barely holding together. If you go to the last few pages, they will start to fall out.
JR: So it’s really been a great reference!
JS: Yeah, at first, Kruger’s work was a big inspiration for me. At first I was trying to emulate his style. I have always had the ability to look at someone’s work and pretty much figure out what they’re doing ...So when I studied Kruger’s stuff I began to understand structure and anatomy a little more though I never studied anatomy before that. Kruger’s work really helped me develop in that way. At one point, I met Thomas Fluharty who is also an excellent painter and caricaturist, and he has done a lot of covers for magazines. He told me, “Your work has a quality that is good enough to be published anywhere. You could be huge...But your problem right now is that your work looks too much like Kruger’s. Close your Kruger books and take what’s good from him, like structure and painting techniques. But make it your own. Do something on your own. Basically, find your own shoes and fill your own shoes.” That was some good advice. I didn’t realize at the time it was so obvious that my work was Kruger-ish. So I listened to Tom’s advice. I closed my Kruger books, and I just started to try and develop my own drawing style. Before that, when I would draw someone, I’d look at how another artist may have drawn them just to see what they were thinking. Eventually I stopped looking at other caricaturists all together and thought “How would Jason draw this?” I would just start doing my own drawings and not look at any reference. And I did that for about a year or so. I started studying poeple more on my own. And really through all of that I kind of came up with my own voice, my own way of drawing and my own style. There were a lot of different steps, levels and phases. Now I look through my Kruger books for painting inspiration, he’s one of my favorite painters. But I don’t want my exaggerations to emulate him. When I draw people now, it’strictly Jason Seiler. I just let my pen or pencil flow naturally, I’m thinking about structure and about what makes this person special or unique and I then explore that. It’s not about exaggerating one feature, it’s about how all the features work and relate with one another.
JR: So you are secure in your own shoes and you can look at other peoples work and whatever you can take from it you take but it is all filtered through you.
JS:Most artists that I am inspired by today are not caricature artists. I really like the work of Richard Schmid, Sean Cheatham, Bill Wray, who used to do work for Mad but is more into plein air painting now. I really love his painting. But I think my number one influence and inspiration has been Norman Rockwell. I collect Rockwell books and flip through those way more than the Kruger books. Another influence of mine is John Singer Sargent. Within the last couple of years, working with Schoolism and Imaginism, I have met animators and artists from Pixar and Dreamworks, these guys are overflowing with talent. They keep me humble.
JR: You share something with Kruger. You said that you don’t really consider yourself a caricature artist, and neither does he. He’s always considered himself a portrait artist. It’s amazing that the word caricature really never crossed his lips in the years that I’ve known him.
JS: I think I can relate and understand that more and more because I don’t really consider what I do “caricature.” For me, it’s more important that it’s a spot-on likeness...Sometimes there’s just the right amount of exaggeration. Sometimes you don’t need to exaggerate at all. Sometimes you can go crazy because the subject allows for it. But I think maybe something like “stylized portraiture” is a little bit more true to what I do. I draw and paint how I’m feeling, and sometimes I’m not feeling like there is a reason to exaggerate. Some of the work I’ve done for publication have been portraits. Daniel Adel’s work is sort of like that, more portrait-like than caricature. His work falls into the caricature world because he paints small bodies under his “portrait” heads. Truthfully, in most cases, if you control your exaggeration and focus more on story and “character” you’ll get more work. Daniel Adel is an amazing painter by the way.
JR: Do you have any philosophies for new people? Or up and coming artists that are looking to you for advice?
JS: Well, I truly believe that if you want to become a good artist, you need to study how to draw anatomy and structure and you need to understand the concept of light and how light works and values and shadows and color temperature. There are so many elements like composition and storytelling. All these different things come into play. It’s not just learning how to draw the face. There’s so many different things that need to be learned. And so many things that you need to fill your own personal toolbox of knowledge with. And then once you know those things, then experiment, push things, experiment with color and value control. All that kind of stuff. I guess a lot of the students I’ve been teaching lately at Schoolism are beginners who have never taken any classes before. And they just want to blow peoples’ faces out of the water. Give them huge noses. This is all fine, but you need to understand why it is you’re doing what you’re doing and what you’re actually looking at. The other thing I would say is that it’s important to have a good work ethic, to truly be serious about what you do. It’s true that I was serious early on; some people just have that drive. But I think it’s important to have drive and ambition if you really want to be serious, if you really want to be professional. You can’t just do it half way. You can’t be half-hearted about it. You have to be full blown, serious, “This is who I am. This is what I do.” I compare it to studying to become a doctor. Think about the amount of time and work a medical student puts into their “art”. In order to succeed, they must put everything into it. They’re not out partying every weekend or playing video games, they’re working day and night, reading and reading some more. I’m not comparing being an artist to being a Doctor, I’m just saying that we need to put more “Serious Time” into what we do, especially if we want to be professional. We shouldn’t settle for mediocre. Always aim high and know that you will always have something to learn and areas to grow in.
JR: Okay. Well that sounds great. Is there anything else off the top of your head that you want to say?
JS: Well...I’m still blown away. Still so excited and honored that I won the Nosey. You know, I was feeling nervous, when I first started, that people were going to be too concerned about winning. And too defensive. Not friendly. Trying so hard just to win. Because I’ve seen that before in different competitive arenas. But I thought it was just so cool at the convention because we all worked so hard and we all hardly slept. Hardly ate. Just drew and painted ‘till we couldn’t hold our brushes and pencils anymore. And at the very end when we all won the awards or didn’t win the awards, everyone was just so happy for each other. It was almost like it was meant to be and you just... Whoever won whatever they won, you thought, “Wow, they really did deserve that.” It was just a real nice healthy competitiveness that I saw. And so that was one of my favorite things about the convention. Making so many new friends. Everyone was from the same planet. It was really fun, and I’m looking forward to coming next year, and drawing some more. And I’m hoping to hang out and walk around a little bit more. This year I just painted a lot. The convention is amazing. It was so much fun and I wish I would have gone sooner.
JR: Yes, yes indeed we have missed you. So this is great. Now you will return, as a Master. And everyone will be running to you for advice. You’re one of the elite Golden Nosey winners. Congratulations on that.
JS: Thank you much! It really hasn’t quite sunken in yet
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