Conrad Roset - Barcelona, Spain.
Le Style Moderne: Conrad, first I must say a big thank you for participating in Atlas II, I feel if it was just a month later, you'd be impossible to contact.
I see you've designed t-shirts for Scarafaggio, created amazing cover art for the band Sun Darling, been in various Art Shows showcasing you talent on everything from skateboards to post-it notes, hitting over a 1,000 followers on your blog, teaching at BAU, Escola Superior de Disseny, and producing one of the most beautiful art process video's I've ever seen. And all this is over the past month or two.
So I'm going to ask the obvious question is how do you do it? What's a normal day for Conrad Roset? How many hours a week do you work on illustration?
Conrad Roset: It is very simple, I love to draw most days draw about 8 am hours for various projects.
I have a studio where sunlight comes in the morning and put there to draw me for my projects. I am happy, the truth by drawing.
LSM: I noticed some great natural light in your Drawing a Muse video. That's quite a nice studio.
CR: If my study gets a lot of sunlight, it's amazing and is seen throughout Barcelona from the window.
Conrad's drawing from conrad roset on Vimeo.
LSM: When you work on an illustration, such as a Muse, do you usually use a reference, and if so do you take those photos yourself?
CR: Yes, I almost always use a picture as a reference. I usually take pictures of my girlfriend, my muse. Other times I ask friends or photographers, who like me, for permission to draw inspiration from their pictures.
LSM: So you have the photo, and you start drawing. I see in the video your tools are essentially pencil and watercolor. When you start to set the watercolor, do you have a specific placement in you head, or are you spontaneous?
CR: With the drawing trying to be realistic, the human figure must be well drawn, given, etc. But with the color patches as you say, sometimes I let fate do its job, so symbolic paint and create my own rules. For example I use red for the most erotic parts of the elbows and knees.
LSM:Now that the art is finished, what do you do with it? Does it sit in a drawer, do you sell them online, or do most end at galleries (such as your Muse art show a month back)?
CR: Most end up in galleries and almost all I place for sale. I have only 2 or 3 that I like so much that I have not released, but almost all are for sale in various galleries.
LSM: How did you start to get into art galleries?
CR: I consider myself an illustrator and I never thought I would also make presentations, but one day a small gallery asked if I wanted to share some muse. In 2years I've done around 10 exhibitions (individual and collected) in cities like Barcelona, London, Amsterdam and Cape Verde. Now I have wanted to have a solo exhibition outside of Spain or would love one in London, so I am preparing new wooden boxes of large size for painting.
LSM :As I mentioned before, you have a fairly solid internet following. About how many hours a week do you spend networking? I feel for me, I can draw every waking hour, but if I want to do this professionally and not as a hobby, networking is king.
CR: I like Facebook and to update my blog whenever I do a drawing, so I post on my Facebook wall and also on he blog because I like talking to my fans.I think social networking and showing my illustrations is part of the profession, similar to what great illustrators Jason Levesque or Charmaine Olivia does.
LSM: What goodies do you have coming up? Any show's you'd like to plug?
CR: I’m currently preparing myself now for my new personal project called Princesses.
Also, my girlfriend, who is also an illustrator has made an animated video clip.I have longed to see my drawings in motion. This is my new project!
LSM: So, when can we expect to see Conrad Roset's artwork in galleries in the US?
CR: I think in early 2012, a small exhibition Collective Disturbance. Although I have little information. I hope this is the beginning of many more exhibitions in USA.
More of Conrad's outstanding artwork can be seen at conradroset.com
