Spring has sprung and what better way to celebrate than with a whole day dedicated to showcasing images from illustrators all over the world here on the factory. I have several Q&A's lined up to accompany the artwork and I'm going to kick things off with an interview from Santa Monica based artist Karyn Raz.
Can you tell us about what materials you use to create your artworks?
For drawings I use pen and ink. My paintings are mostly acrylic on wood, with the occasional gouache pieces. I love gouache for the beautiful, bright colors but have an easier time controlling acrylic. I like to build it up, sand it down, stomp on it, and so on.
Do you focus on mainly illustrations or paintings – which do you prefer?
I guess I don’t see a huge distinction between the two. My paintings are illustrations, my illustrations are paintings, and I thoroughly enjoy doing both. But if the distinction is between gallery/personal work versus commercial work, lately my focus has been more on gallery. It’s nice to be able to fully control my images. At the same time, I definitely also enjoy the structure (and guaranteed pay check) of an assignment. Above all I love telling a story and exploring a character visually, whatever form that may take.
Can you tell us about one of your recent projects?
Right now I’m working on pieces for a group show with my mother and brother that’s coming up for mother’s day in May. (My mom, Sylvia, is a sculptor and my brother, Alan, is a photographer.) In the past I’ve created a theme for my gallery work, but this time around, I’m just letting it happen, letting my subconscious take over a bit, especially in the drawing process. I like being surprised.
You were included in the Illustrators 50 annual – can you tell us about the Elizabeth Taylor Seven Husbands Piece?
“Liz Taylor’s Husbands” was a zine I created for a show at Junc gallery in Los Angeles. The show was curated by the husband and wife artist duo of Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson, and who were my teachers at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Mark and Esther had put a few of my drawings in their book about zines (“Whatcha’ Mean, What’s a Zine?”) and for the show they asked the artists in the book to create a seven panel zine on any subject. This was a great assignment for me: structured, yet quite open as well. I chronicled the seven husbands of Elizabeth Taylor. I drew her in seven different periods of her life on one side of the zine, and her seven husbands on the back, with the dates of their time together. In a way she is the ultimate champion of commitment: she did it over and over again. She even married one of her husbands twice.
All Copyright Karyn Raz/courtesy of the artist