Visual Artist: Oscar Cargill
Q: What was the first piece you ever created?
A: The first real piece I ever created since I took part seriously was a self portrait. It was pretty therapeutic and enlightening to appreciate the structure of my face from an artistic perspective, and it gave me a certain level of confidence to continue to draw myself, every now and then. I encourage any visual artists to draw themselves whenever they can, it gives you a great opportunity to not only face your insecurities, but also learn to appreciate them.
Q: What do you like about cartoons? What was your favorite cartoon growing up?
A: I like the fantastical aspect of cartoons, as well as the stylistic differences between different cartoons. How people are drawn, the vibrancy of the colors, and of course how almost anything is possible in the realm of cartoons. My favorite cartoon of all time is Avatar: The Last Airbender for sure!
Q: If you did not have art what would you think you would be doing?
A: If I did not have art I am sure I would be a much more emotionally confused person, as I express myself and my feelings mainly through art. As for a career, I would most likely be a therapist of some kind, as the human mind and emotions still fascinate me.
Q: If you could pick any late artist, who inspires you? Why?
A: My inspiration mainly comes from contemporary artists, but people like the late Jean-Michel Basquiat and Van Gogh inspire me and my process, because I admire how each of their pieces felt like taking a peek into their minds. Van Gogh had a habit of painting many self portraits and bending the essence of the subject he painted, and Basquiat’s paintings seemed to be composed almost entirely of raw emotion. I aim for a balance of these concepts in my own art.
Q: Where do you get the ideas for the stories that you draw?
A: Usually from personal experiences, or inspiration drawn from other stories such as books, movies, video games, and even music. I try to find a theme that can be considered relatable by many people.
Q: Do you prefer to work with black and white or color? Why?
A: I feel that there is a time and place for both. Sometimes when working on a piece I come to the conclusion that it is better to leave it without color, and other times a piece is incomplete without color. Generally I find working with black and white more satisfying, as I take pride in my linework.
Q: How do you go about creating your digital pieces?
A: I use a program called Procreate on my iPad and Apple Pencil. Once I got used to the commands, it was basically like drawing/coloring on paper, with the benefit of being able to undo or erase anything along the way. You can even get a cool little time lapse video out of it!. I start on one layer with a vague sketch, then on a layer above that I begin refining the forms of whatever I am drawing with linework. When that is done, I make a new layer under the linework and begin coloring. Trust me, it’s much easier than it sounds.
Q: Do you like to use Photoshop? Why or why not?
A: I tried Photoshop and compared to the program I already use (Procreate) I just found the interface and the features kind of overwhelming. I mainly gravitated towards digital art because of the accessibility and how my only real “resource” was always my tablet’s battery level. I would personally prefer to work with a simple program over a robust one like Photoshop any day.
Q: Would you ever want to do cover art for up and coming artists? If somebody was interested how could one contact you?
A: I feel like the spectacle of hand drawn cover art is really under appreciated in music. However, I also think that only certain musical artists can mesh with that aesthetic successfully. My style is much more comic book-esque, so artists with more animated delivery/cadences such as Denzel Curry, Rico Nasty, Travis Scott, Don Toliver or Young Thug would be some of my dream collaborations.
Q: Would you ever want to start your own comic book series? What would it be about if you decided to do so?
A: As a casual comic book reader, it definitely seems to take a LOT of work to make a good comic, from scheduling to promotion, and of course drawing each panel. Although I’m sure it would be a fun experience, I think I’m more comfortable on the consumer side of things for now. I’ve had a bunch of ideas for my own comic, but it’s pretty difficult to come up with something that’s both good and never been done before. I guess we’ll see!
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