andy smith volume 3, 2007, #035

since graduation from london's royal college of art, andy's work has featured in advertising campaigns, book jackets, editorials, animations and interiors for clients such as nike, expedia, mercedes, london transport and random house. his work is about characters, humour and events, and is inspired by his immediate surroundings to create a visual world that is all his own.

1. how would you explain 'art' - in 19 words or less? i think of myself as an illustrator before an artist, and so my job is to communicate whatever needs to be got across in an interesting and original way. i think being an artist is more about expressing whatever you want to express. i like the limitations of being an illustrator and working for clients. speaking of limitations, that's more than 19 words isn't it … [ed - you bet!].

2. what is the first work of art you ever loved? probably some kind of cartoon, tom and jerry perhaps … but my first great test was copying in pencil pages from a UK comic called 2000AD.

3. how important is theory to your art? i don't really think too much about the reasons behind my work or why i do what i do - i'm happiest working quickly and spontaneously on jobs which need to be done fairly fast. i think too much thinking and planning can sometimes make my stuff lose its energy. my ideas tend to come from things, people and events i see around me and not from pondering - that can lead to panic!

4. describe your ideal art workspace. a nice big open space in some kind of warehouse type building with a screenprinting press in a room next door and a good cake shop down the road.

5. describe your current art workspace. a smallish desk in a smallish room, loads of prints pilled up around me, no cake shop nearby.

6. if you could be placed in suspended animation and safely reanimated at some time in the future with the sole purpose being to see how history treated you / your art, would you do it?
no, i think if i did there'd be bigger things to worry about in the future than what i was up to!

7. who are some of your favourite artists (contemporary or canonical)? at the moment i'm doing quite a few book covers and i've been looking at the work of chip kidd, who i really like.

8. tell us about a gallery (online or physical space) that you think rocks, and why you think it rocks. soma gallery is a good gallery that sells a lot of work by illustrators and designers (me included). good prices for work you'd want to put on your wall. it doesn't have any pretentious work. they wouldn't collect up a pile of rocks and call it art …

9. would you choose the baked bean jaffle or the caramelised pumpkin and red onion tart with crispy radicchio and hazelnut salad with apple vinaigrette? i don't think i'd go for either. i'd pick something a little more simple … probably sausages, if they are available, and hope they're not made of offal or something even worse.

10. finish this sentence: "the work of art can / cannot be considered separately to the artist because ________." if it's good the work will speak for itself, but the artist may be forgotten, so i think they must be separate.

check out more of andy's work at: www.asmithillustration.com

3 colour monster, screenprint, 2006

gene therapy, digital, 2005

they quickly ran from the enormous finger,
bookcover (screenprint), 2006

regrettably yes, screenprint, 2005