文章来源：http://www.iniciativacolectiva.com
 
Name: Nathan Cooper
Age: 25 years and counting
Email: hello@nathancooper.com.au
Website: www.nathancooper.com.au

访谈内容：
1. What type of medium do you work with and explain how you use it? (Paint, design, photography, collage)
It’s really just a mix of all of the above and a few more. Depending on what the project requires I’ll use the best medium suited for the project. I prefer to do line drawing most of the time, then scan, cleanup, and finally recreate as vectors. I’m also starting to experiment more with real textures in my vector work, which seems to be working well.
2. What was your main interest in producing this artwork, or is there a statement you wanted to convey?
Well each artwork has it’s own purpose be it a project submission, a competition entry, freelance project or personal artwork. For example the tee shirt graphics for Noisebot where simply funny scenarios involving food, the Vormator project was a test in producing art within strict guidelines. Emergency was simply my take on the theme for that week on Illustration Friday. I usually try to develop my own personal interpretation within a style that is best suited for the message. This is why my style is quite varied. I find tee-shirts are one of the best mediums to use for expressing personal statements or just random thoughts.
3. Tell us about your creative process, do you have any rituals, routines you follow?
How does your artwork come together? (Do you use found objects, image banks, etc)
Basically I’d start with a mind map of keywords regarding the project, this would then usually produce a few good ideas to explore. Research for reference imagery.
Lots of sketching and tracing and sketching again. Ink up the final illustration.
Scan, Detail and then recreate in Illustrator. Then final coloring. Print and recheck until desired.
4. How did you get started with your artistic career?
I guess it all started as soon as I could use a pencil. But the real turning point was when I was 17 years old & in my final year of high school. That was when I realized that I would like to become a graphic designer, but I never could have imagined back then that I’d actually be doing
what I am today. Straight out of high school I completed a 9 month course in multimedia then started working as a web designer the following year. Now I’m 25, and at the moment I’m pushing pixels for Sulake the peeps behind Habbo. I’m also doing my own projects and freelance work on the side.
5. What would you say is one of your greatest accomplishments?
- Winning the final for a lego building competition when I was 9. I built 4 different insects. Kapow! the competitors didn’t know what hit them :)
- Getting the latest version of my website live after a 1 year hiatus :)
- Learning how to play “Drifting”, by Andy McKee, on guitar (I still need to work on this a little more, gotta get the flow going)
- 2007 has been a great year as I have pushed myself as an illustrator more than ever, so I guess that would qualify as well.
6. Where does your inspiration come from? Or is there any particular movement, artwork or artist you find yourself influenced by?
- My inspiration comes from everywhere and anywhere. It could be a song, movie, cartoon, website, eating, walking outside, dreaming, random thoughts. I also have a heap of toys around my workspace, so when I’m bored I can watch Astroboy battle Blaster and Tooth :) It’s also a good idea to have a selection of books on hand for references and idea seeds. Here’s (The following
are) a few illustrators/designers that I think produce some awesome work; Jon Burgerman,
Hydro74, Quickhoney, Nate Williams, Maki Maki, Eboy, Presstube, Iso50, DGPH.
7. How do you see yourself five years from now? How do you see your artwork evolving from now?
My artwork is in a starting point. I am really excited because I think that I - as anybody work- Wow five years, that’s a long time. It’s kind of hard to imagine what I would be doing then as I sure didn’t think I’d be where I am today 5 years ago. But here’s a short list of things I’d like to achieve;
- I would like to publish a book of my selected projects & another book of my photographic works.
- Start making a bimonthly zine.
- Stop working a 5 day week.
- Write a childrens book.
- I’d like to be healthy, happy, wealthy and travelling around the world.
I think my artwork will definitely evolve overtime as I learn new techniques and mature as an illustrative designer. It will be interesting to see how my style evolves over time and the way it’s influenced by the world around me.
peas.
Nathan