Emma Trithart - Illustrator

The 4 of Wands

Emma Trithart

Name: Emma Trithart

City/State: St Paul, Minnesota

Email: etrithart@gmail.com

Website: emmatrithart.com

Blog: emmatrithart.blogspot.com

Twitter: @etrithart

Hello! I am a freelance illustrator and designer working out of darling St. Paul, Minnesota. I grew up in equally darling Ann Arbor, Michigan, a place lined with trees and friendly faces and old houses - which probably informed my love of drawing charming things. I moved to Minnesota to pursue a BFA in Illustration from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and graduated in 2008. Since then I've been working various art and non-art job, showing work occasionally at the Light Grey Art Lab (http://lightgreyartlab.blogspot.com/), and working with my art partner Bill Ferenc (http://billferenc.com/) on posters and other fun stuff under the name The Perfect Pair (http://wearetheperfectpair.com/).

Popsicle

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

My work ranges in subject matter, but above all I try to keep a charming and hand drawn quality to everything I draw. Currently I've got a few projects, both personal and client-based. In my personal work I've been exploring my interest in/fear of ghosts and spooky things - a subject matter that is pretty far from my regular cutesy stuff. These new interests have lead to a collaboration with an amazing poet named Lisa Cicarello (http://punchinglittlebirdsintheface.blogspot.com/)  on a zine called It Will Be Known to Us (http://itwillbeknown.tumblr.com/).

How did you decide to become an artist?

I've loved drawing since I was young! An elementary school friend and I would construct these really elaborate "Egg Wars" drawings where lizards were throwing eggs at each other with catapults and dropping them out of airplane and all sorts of crazy kid stuff. Later on in high school I got interested in comics and anime, which made me realize that I could make a living as an artist. I've since dropped the anime style, but I'll always be thankful for the path it paved. 

Dola

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

I've loved the support that graduating from MCAD has allowed me. My alumni friends have been fantastic and I get the best advice from them, since we're going through the same thing! A lot of it has to do with not being intimidated by the success of other artists our age. Everyone goes at their own pace, and perseverance is key! 

Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?

My full-time freelance career is a month old TODAY (eek!) so I can't say too much about marketing myself yet - I do plan to get some postcards printed up and getting a mailing list going to send out my portfolio/website (www.emmatrithart.com). Luckily I have a big job that requires most of my attention, so after that I'll have time to work on marketing. My easy shop is nonexistent at the moment, however I do sell stock art and some handset fonts over at youworkforthem (http://www.youworkforthem.com/designer/57/emma-trithart-for-youworkforthem/) and their sister site nanamee (http://www.nanamee.com/designer/emma-trithart-youworkforthem). These sites are great not only for the sales BUT I've received online attention and clients from them as well.

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy? 

ILLUSTRATORS REPRESENT!!! I love these guys:

Kelly Abeln http://kellyabeln.com/

Bill Ferenc http://billferenc.com/

Erik Krenz http://erikbkrenz.com/home.html

Allysa Nassner http://alyssanassner.com/

Teagan White http://www.teaganwhite.com/

Katie Wilson - currently living in LA but an MCAD grad http://k-wilson.com/

Other artists:

David Bradberry http://www.davidbradberry.com/work/

Scott Grover (another MCAD to LA transplant) http://scottenergrover.com/

Allison Vallant http://allisonvallant.com/

Ben Innes http://www.beninnes.com/

Carla Rodruiguez http://www.carla-rodriguez.com/

Ben Thompson http://benthompsonfilms.com/

a doodle

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

Since we'd start off in St. Paul at my apartment our first stop would be the Elva Pottery (http://evlastudio.com/), right around the corner! I love their ever-changing selection of pieces and paintings - I'm known to stop by the window and sigh a big "why can't I buy it all" sigh when walking past. Big Table Studios (http://bigtablestudio.com/) would be next, an amazing print shop/studio space located in downtown St. Paul. We would look at some super cool posters, maybe watch one of the studio folks do some printing, and inquire about their upcoming shows. 

Then we'd go to Minneapolis and make a stop at Hang It (http://www.hangitinc.com/) to see what they've got on deck and maybe drop off a poster for framing… two birds, one stone! Then we'd check out the main gallery at MCAD (http://mcad.edu/events-fellowships/gallery-exhibitions) for student, faculty or alumni artwork. Finally we'd walk on down the street to see what was going on with Lindsay Nohl (http://lindsaynohl.blogspot.com/) and the folks at Light Grey Art Lab (http://blog.lightgreyartlab.com/) were up to before ending our trip with a latte and some more great art at the Nicollet Ave Spyhouse (http://spyhousecoffee.com/). Phew!

The First List

In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise? 

Of course I like to browse dribbble (http://dribbble.com/), 

behance (http://www.behance.net/) and 

ffffound (http://ffffound.com/), but I've also been getting into using pinterest (http://pinterest.com/) in order to save artists I want to check out later. 

Remember to make sure all your pins have proper credit, folks! 

I also loooove Ten Paces and Draw (http://www.tenpacesanddraw.com/) and 

Illustrated Ladies (http://illustratedladies.tumblr.com/)

Mr. Hyde - a handset font

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

Check out the Light Grey Art Lab shows I'm featured in, coming soon!!!

Tarot, Mystics & The Occult: http://blog.lightgreyartlab.com/2012/08/tarot-mystics-occult-opening-reception.html
GIRLS: Fact or Fiction: http://blog.lightgreyartlab.com/2012/09/girls-fact-or-fiction-exhibiting-artist.html

Emma Trithart

Light Grey Art Lab

Adam Hoppus

"Pokemmon Battle Royale" Charizard

Adam Hoppus

Name: Adam Hoppus

City/State: Minneapolis, MN

Email: ah_drawl@yahoo.com

Website: monsters-n-stuff.blogspot.com

Twitter: @adam8ch

 

Bio~

Born in “middle of nowhere” Texas and raised in “middle of nowhere” Iowa left a lot of room for imagination to run rampant. Amazed by all things artistic, Adam fell in love most with animation. Adam first received recognition by being accepted to the Connie Belin Center for Gifted Children at the age of 12. He began his professional career at age16 when he got a job at a small screen printing company in the art department. Adam attended Iowa State University majoring in Drawing/Painting, but left after 2 years to attend Minneapolis College of Art and Design as an Animation Major with a Minor in Illustration/Graphic Design.

 

After graduation he pursued animation, providing work for the film “Death Becomes Them” directed by Dan Lund (2003) shortly before the American 2D animation industry fell apart. Adam switched gears to pursue an internship at Target Corporation as a product designer. Eight years later, Adam is now a Senior Designer having worked in multiple areas of the company including Sporting Goods, Luggage, Toys, Stationery, Bedding and Accessories, Storage and Org., and Apparel. Adam has won multiple internal design awards, currently has 6 design/utility patents, and has helped establish many internal brands including Circo, Play Wonder, and Spritz. Adam also recently taught his first class at MCAD.

 

Adam has not actively pursued gallery work, but has been shown in “One Inch One Night Stand” (Aug. 2011), “Pokemon Battle Royal” (April 2012), “Night of the Exquisite Corpse” (Curator – August 2012), and the upcoming “Expletive Show” (Sept. 2012).

"Super Awesome Art Challenge" Teeth

 

Tell me about your work. What are you currently working on? How is it different from past projects?

Working in product design keeps me pumping out a steady stream of mom friendly, kid approved creations that don’t always allow for a lot of time for personal work. When I do sit down to do my own thing it’s usually more of a stream of consciousness than a “piece”. I just try to get out all of the completely bizarre things I can’t do at work. I sketch a lot, try new things with programs, pens, paints, and generally just try to keep my skills fresh. I usually work digital, but having recently taught a traditional medias class at MCAD I really reminded myself how much fun, and how important it is to work with my hands. 

I am notorious for starting massive personal projects and floundering halfway through. I think my brain gets tired and wants a new project before I finish the old one. Currently I have a personal project on my blog called “Weekend Monster”. I hate drawing cars, but I love drawing monsters. I gave myself the challenge of drawing a car and its monster owner every weekend for a year. Sadly I got to monster/car number 8 and stopped. I will pick it up again someday.

Most recently I’ve been doing more show work. I was in the “Pokemon Battle Royale” show in April, and am participating in and co-curating the “Night of the Exquisite Corpse” show August 17^th 2012. It is a 50+ artist collaborative exquisite corpse style paper toy exhibit with the theme of the undead. I really enjoy paper craft/paper toys and also interacting with some of my favorite artists has made this show a blast to work on. However, after assembling 50+ paper toys, I may take a break from them for a while.

 

"Night of the Exquisite Corpse" Paper Toy print

Why did you become an artist?

I have been drawing, creating, imagining and playing for as long as I can remember. It’s an odd question that I think I can only answer by saying “It’s all I know how to be”. I, like most artists, don’t see the world the same way everyone else does. So the only way I could figure out how to communicate that vision was to become an artist. Drawing only the things I can imagine, telling the stories that came only from my head. I was definitely fueled by stuff like comics, cartoons, toys, and things like that, but on a much deeper level as a child I was amazed by the “magic”, the emotional experience that artists can create.

People like Jim Henson who created so much imagination and wonder. It was all so colorful, wild, fantastical and beautiful. Animation masters like Chuck Jones, who invented motion blur and draws the best facial expressions on any character ever. That split second before Wile E. Coyote get smashed with a rock you can tell exactly what he’s thinking by just looking at his face. Frank and Ollie of the Nine Old Men of Disney can’t be matched for the amount of personification they could bring to a drawing. Basically I grew up being mesmerized by these magicians and all I wanted to be able to do was to have a fragment of that ability to create that kind of magic, that emotional connection, myself someday. Plus, I am awful at math, geography and history…so I didn’t have much of a choice.

"Night of the Exquisite Corpse" Paper Toy assembled

 

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

Although it’s very superficial, my high school art teacher Mrs. Howe would often scold me and forced me to stop using black in my work. I didn’t realize how truly rich and deep you can make color with removing all black from the palette.

 

Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art. How do you sell your work? How do you market yourself?

This is a slightly tricky one to answer since I am actually employed for my art. Still, I have to sell my work on a daily basis to my internal clients. My advice is simply, you have to understand your customer. You have to connect with them on an emotional level. Often it’s not about the art, but how the art makes them feel. Also there’s the importance of strategy. For example if I’m designing t-shirts for boys 5-10, I have to understand not only what the boys that age will think is cool conceptually, but also what their mom who’s making the purchase for them will deem “acceptable” for them to wear. 

Once I understand that it comes down to knowing more surface things like what colors are “boy friendly”, won’t get dirty as quick, mix well with the other clothing items and other things like that.

This advice is of course for the sole purpose of “selling” art. If you’re just creating to create, there’s no guarantee you’ll sell anything because the art is just meant to exist, not sell. When I create for myself I don’t often think about many of those things except if I’m really trying to sell the work. Recently in the “Pokemon Battle Royale” show I selected the character Charizard. I knew he was a fan favorite, I knew I had to really have a great emotional energy with the characters pose and image, and I also wanted it to be a little edgier since the people who might want to purchase the art were mostly older and nostalgic. I guess I got it right as it sold very well.

"Weekend Monster #4"

 

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

Most of them are my friends!

 

Lindsay Nohl: http://lindsaynohl.blogspot.com/

 

Chris Hajny: http://blog.hajny.com/

 

Francesca Buchko: http://francescabuchko.com/

 

Jesse Riggle: http://jesseriggle.com/projects/

 

Andreas Guzman: http://andres-guzman.blogspot.com/

 

Emory Allen: http://www.ocularinvasion.com/

 

Allison Black: http://5minutesketchbreak.blogspot.com/

 

I’m probably missing a ton! Sorry guys.

 

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

As cliché as it may sound, just open your eyes while we walk. Billboards, street art, some guy’s cool shoes, that girl’s t-shirt, the flier in the café, that menu, that flower, the pattern of dirt on the side of that car. I don’t really go anywhere in particular to see art. Everything has its own cool colors, patterns, compositions. Or, we could just go to Barnes and Noble or the library and look at all the cool art books!

 

"Super Awesome Art Challenge" Buttonface

In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

Hmm, I am an avid blog-hopper. Find a cool artist, check out all his or her friends sites, repeat. There are so, so many amazing people out there who just freely post up all their work. However when I really want to beat myself up I go to CGHub.com. It’s an incredible concept art site where people who are too good to be true post all the most amazing things. I also check a lot of art mags like High Fructose, Juxtapose, Clutter and stuff like that.

 

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

Cool kids t-shirts in Target! Aside from that I’m in the “Night of the Exquisite Corpse” paper toy exhibition August 17^th (2012) at Light Grey Art Lab and the “Expletive Show” also at Light Grey Art Lab on September 14^th.

Adam Hoppus

Light Grey Art Lab

(website)

Lindsay Nohl - Illustrator

Lindsay Nohl

Altered Esthetics Featured Interview for...

"Dia De Los Muertos"

One-day Celebration
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
6:00-9:00 PM

Name: Lindsay Nohl
City/State: Minneapolis Minnesota
Email: Lindsayjunenohl@yahoo.com
Website: lindsaynohl.blogspot.com, paperbicyclecreative.blogspot.com, paperbicycle.com
MNartist.org profile: http://www.mnartists.org/Lindsay_Nohl

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
I am a professional product and surface designer by day, where I really enjoy creating graphics and illustrations for a wide variety of kid-friendly consumer products. That's been part of the reason why I've always loved patterns. Currently I'm working on a 7 month long "Daily pattern" project, with the other artists at Paper Bicycle LLC, where we create a fully illustrated pattern a day. So far we are in the 6th month and it's been very exciting. The majority of the work is whimsical and is based on topics at random. I've really enjoyed the challenge!

This is the first time that I've participated in a project that extends over a month or two. It's been a test of my endurance, and a large test on my creativity. Having to come up with a great idea, execute it, and make it repeat every week day has definitely been a challenge!

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What statement do you hope to make?
It's funny, having just had a conversation with my husband about this the other day -- I believe art to be the experience of working through your process. It's a personal thing. The efforts of your energy create an end "product", but the important part is the creation of that work. It's the time you spend exploring, re-working, and finessing your own practice. The final piece is a reflection of the time the artist has placed in the work, and I believe the audience gets a glimpse into the mind of the artist as they view the final piece. It's not necessarily what the end thing is, it's the culmination of everything (including the time, energy, emotions, and intention) that went into what you see when it's finished.

My artwork is relatively light hearted in mood, but the audience may be able to see my influences and thoughts show through in my art. It's a marker of where I was at that time in life, and what was going on in my world. I'm incredibly transparent when it comes to my interactions, and I believe the same thing is shown in my work.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
The best advice I've ever been given has been to "create work with intention". John Gaunt, a great professor of mine from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, is a fantastic motivator and and a wonderfully inspired and talented artist. I keep this in mind every time I create a piece of work.

Tell me about your work space and your creative process.
I have two work spaces. My studio is in Uptown, Minneapolis - where I share it with 3 other really talented artists. The work we create there is more commercial, and the space reflects a little bit of that feeling. Light grey walls, Black furniture, Large, work spaces and desks. Still, it's un-cluttered for the most part and I really enjoy it as a clean creative sanctuary.

My home studio on the other hand is my down-and-dirty space. This is where I leave my paints out for weeks, I don't clean it up, my notes, scraps, and drawings are where I left them after I made them. It's a space where I have the good ideas and the bad ones. Depending on the mood I'm in, and what art I'd like to create, I love having a choice for how and where I create my artwork.

My creative process is incredibly varied. I am a traditionally trained illustrator that also has a large digital side. I jump between mediums constantly, depending on the mood or purpose of my work. I am impatient artist. I have to start, and finish pieces quickly while I still have the passion to do them, and I fly through projects as quickly as humanly possible. This does not mean that I don't take the time to make them well, or make them right, but it does mean that I'd rather pull an all-nighter and whip out a painting while I'm in the zone, rather than wait weeks to see it through. While I'm working, I am working in a frenzy.

Lindsay in her studio

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
Jennifer Davis http://www.jenniferdavisart.com/
Chris Hajny hajny.com
Andres Guzman http://www.andresguzman.com
Francesca Buchko http://francescasketches.blogspot.com/

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
The place we'd go most often is the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Every day there is something new and exciting. The students are fantastic and they eat, breathe, but rarely sleep, design and art. I love teaching there - both for the BFA program as well as the Continuing Studies program. Everyone brings so much passion and freshness there. It's hard not to be incredibly awed and inspired when you visit.

Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?
I love Behance.net, Pinterest.com, pikaland.com, and ten-paces.blogspot.com. Some are portfolio sites, and others are fantastic art-centered blogs.

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

I addition to the Altered Esthetics' "Dia De Los Muertos" exhibit on 11/2/11, I will be launching a new project in December around the theme "Customizable Christmas", and working on a new series of textural paintings.