What I value most in Mark’s art is his interest in and curiosity about others. By lavishing attention on small talk, he shows how every interaction between people can be meaningful.
Q: What is your process for gathering the language on your blog (Do you constantly make notes? Are certain spaces more ripe for inspiring language?)? What is it about language, out of context, that inspires you? What does art have to do with listening/eavesdropping?
A: For my daily illustration project, You Look Like The Right Type, I'm always listening in with an acute ear for what other folks say—inside crowded elevators, over breakfast at diners, in the gym locker room, in line for the bathroom (a source of inspiration, in fact, over the weekend). In a way, the more common the location, the better the quote—people tend to let their conversation guards down in their comfort-zone areas. I've even passed people on the sidewalk and have heard some amazing, out-of-context words that I've later translated into imagery. Any place where regular and, oftentimes, extraordinary folks frequent makes for good illustration fodder.
I overhear and illustrate dialogue in the same day, and my favorite illustration gets posted at the end of the day on my blog at YouLookLikeTheRightType.com.
Mark's notebook. The inspiring line... |
So, yes, I'm constantly making notes. I actually find myself gravitating toward people that seem particularly chatty. Once, while seated next to a mother and her son on the 'L' train, I pulled out a wadded-up receipt from my front pocket and transcribed bits of their amazing conversation—she was curiously asking her son about a man that was of interest to her (her ex husband, perhaps, that their son had just visited) and later began speaking with him about Einstein and the definition of the word 'genius' (he was a very bright 10-ish year old, and she was quite the interested mom). I always assume folks know what I'm doing, even though they don't—I'm rather discreet with my research and have only been 'busted' once. I justify my note-taking as a 'to do' list that I'm making.
...and the image he drew of it. |