On this curation,
I thought I only wanted to feature photographers and photographers alone.
Now that this blog is more than a month old, and with over five hundred views a day that is not the case anymore. I've come to realize that I want to showcase many facets of work!
Some of the work I've come across really intrigues me, it really sets my mind on another path in terms of thinking.
For this next feature, I got to talk with Illustrator Michael Olivo about his sketchbook and what it exactly means!
Please introduce yourself to our
reader fellowship and a little tidbit of what you do!
Michael Joseph Olivo, born in New Jersey, schooled in Philadelphia, and currently living in Oakland. I live in something of a cave/room/treehouse/tube, a 4-foot high wooden tunnel with access to a roof, located in the Vietnamese area of East Oakland. It’s all beautiful and romantic. Location aside, my main focus is on comics and drawing, but I do illustration and design work also.
(More Sketchbook Pages; Michael Olivo)
Your sketchbook work is incredibly
interesting! It has such a rich amount of detail, are the pieces
created from spontaneity or is it planned?
Thank you, they are not planned at all,
and consist of a good amount of collage from past drawings. When I
first moved to Oakland, a little under two years ago, I worked almost
solely in sketchbooks, but I gradually shifted to salable drawings
and work that was finished digitally. I am now back at the sketchbook
phase, which I believe is reflective of several abrupt changes in my
life. The portable and private nature of the sketchbook lends itself
to these moments.
(Sketchbook Pages; Michael Olivo)
What mediums do you rely on most
while creating? Are you the adventurous type? Or do you stick to one
specific medium?
At this point I mostly use pen and
marker. As far as the adventures go, I have worked in a variety of
mediums, but right now my medium is not what I am trying to
experiment with. Having a consistent medium allows me the ability to
build off of it as a foundation, and the experimenting can address
composition, pacing, and narrative (in terms of comics). Gotta have a
rock.
On a more opinionated level, how
do you classify surrealism? Do you think people see your work as
surreal?
Surrealism to me is the very specific
art movement started by André Breton, and although its influence is
enormous and ever-present, I feel that it is an overused term. If an
artwork feels out of the ordinary that tends to be the word slapped
onto it. I’m certain that most people think of my work as surreal,
but I don’t think its main characteristic is one of surrealism, and
most of it has nothing to do with the dream state. Life can far more
surreal than a dream. I probably shy away from the word because of
its current associations with work that would be showcased in
Juxtapoz magazine or something like that, which inspired me in high
school, but now feels very stagnant.
(Ten Thousand Things Gladly Became - Page 1; Michael Olivo)
(Couples Comic; Michael Olivo)
What are some of your plans for
the future? Any gallery showings? Art exhibits?
The future looks to be fairly heavy on
the comics side of things. Likely to have some shirt design gigs come
down the pipe too. Fortunately, when you are tossing images around
the Internet you never know what will come back to you. I don’t
really enjoy what gallery shows entail. Tends to bring more stress
than it is worth, and if you sell something most galleries are
probably taking 50%. I definitely prefer the book format.
(Ten Thousand Things Gladly Became - Promo Dog; Michael Olivo)
Do you listen to any specific
types of music while making these pieces? And if so, what do you
recommend?
Yes, almost always some audio
stimulation, be it a podcast, Alan Watts lecture, music, or a movie
that I’m not paying much attention to. I’ll do the music as a
list:
Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
/ Rise Above
Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of
the City
The Knife – Shaking The Habitual
The Strokes – Is This It?
Toots & The Maytals – Sweet And
Dandy
Sixto Rodriguez – Cold Fact
Talking Heads – Remain in Light
Gonzales – Solo Piano
Jerry Paper – Vol. 1
Flower Girl – Classic Milf Tapes
Not necessarily recommendations, just
what I’m listening to currently.
And yeah, I get that Blurred Lines song
stuck in my head. (“What rhymes with hug me?”)
Micahel Olivo
By - Anthony Rogers
And How!
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