Concrete Hermit: Joe, your intricate, accurate drawing style is often imitated but never bettered. How has your style developed through your career so far?

Joe Wilson: I’ve always been a drawing guy, and it’s always been the line that interested me, a lot of my childhood drawings were just pencil or black pen. I spent most of my university time etching so I got really into building up detail, shape and tone with just line-work. I left with a sort of scientific approach to drawing which I’ve tried to step aside from a bit and bring up to date in my own way. I think it’s changed a lot as a product of working commercially as well as wanting to progress to something more original. I seem to have landed in a nice place where I’m happy to sit for a while but it constantly evolves.

CH: Is there any medium or method in particular that you fancy trying out?

JW: I’ve been doing bits of screen printing since university and it’s something I’d love to get more into doing myself. I really like the process of it and I don’t often get a chance to get my hands dirty! I like the restraint of using 3 or 4 colours and having to make them really work for the image. Some of my most successful pieces of work are the ones where I have a limited palette so I’m forced to colour things differently, which often feels uncomfortable at the time but seems to look great when I’m done.  I should do more of that.

I also love the format of graphic novels as a narrative device. I’d love to draw sequential panels without any words that bring a story together but i find it really hard.

CH: Weapon of choice?

JW: Staedtler Mechanical pencil. Sakura Microns 005 / 01 / 03. Southbank Smooth Paper.

CH: As you do a lot of editorial commissions, visual communication has to be an important element of your creative process. How do you go about researching or forming a new narrative piece?

JW: One of the aspects of the job I find really hard is being particularly clever with ideas. I’m not one of those really communication based illustrators, I hate to say it but I’m really into stuff that looks nice. I’m very wrapped up in the process, and the physical activity of drawing is what I like, and the satisfaction of producing something really beautiful. Its like a sort of therapy for me, total brain engagement and concentration. Obviously you can’t avoid communicating something with this job, if I’m illustrating an article that demands something a little more communicative I just try to focus on the main points of it and sum this up as best I can with a concise and hopefully interesting piece of work. I often find the simplest and usually first idea I have is the best way to go, there’s a lot to be said for trusting instincts. I have a tendency to over-think which can be a hindrance.

CH: For the Hermit Editions ‘Four Floods’ series, you drew inspiration from the Winnebago tribe and it’s folklore. What else inspires your personal work?

JW: I used to be hugely into drawing animals, I’d draw them constantly and I still love doing so. Particularly birds, there’s just something sinister and beautiful about them. I always find myself returning to them for inspiration. Occasionally I come across little sentences or paragraphs, or nuggets of information that can spark a little idea off. It doesn’t necessarily always work but I like to collect these thoughts and ideas. There are ideas and sayings and private jokes that I don’t want to forget so I try to write them down. I have envelopes from 6 years ago that have some strange scribblings about bizarre bits of late night TV that I just can’t get rid of. I don’t really know what to call this kind of information, it’s mostly useless but it has a hold on me.

CH: Do you have any particular objects or artifacts that you like to collect?

JW: Well, I collect prints and posters, I have some amazing psychedelic Black Light screen prints from the 70s. The black panther print in the photo (see featured image) is incredible and all the black on it is flocked. I’m always on the hunt for little interesting things, I have a large ceramic cheetah at home. Apparently I collect odd bits of furniture which I’ve never really thought about, but now I’m thinking about it, I guess that’s right. I’ve taken a liking to old cigarette cards recently so I’m thinking this might develop, but insane collecting and hoarding runs in my family so I’ve got to be careful it doesn’t get out of hand.

CH: Some of your most recent pieces have been reworking film posters for cult films. This seems to becoming something of a trend at the moment. It’s great to be able to see the range of creative reinventions from different artists. How do you go about interpreting the films?

JW: I guess each one commands a different approach. I think there’s something within the films, a mood and overall feel that I want to put across and keep true to in my posters. I guess the self initiated nature of it means I can try new things without any risk, but it gives me some sort of structure to work within which I quite like. I guess there is an element of jumping on the bandwagon about it, but people hold these films very dear and it’s nice to pay respect to that, and people who have bought the work seem to genuinely love it which is nice. I find that it’s a good way to interact with people and share my work with a wider audience. I work a lot with Little White Lies magazine so I get to do a lot of film related drawing for them. It’s nice to be commissioned for that sort of stuff and I hope the personal interest in the field helps me to produce some of my best work.

CH: So then, tricky question, what’s your favourite film?

JW: Terminator 2 Judgment Day, no question.

CH: Any New Years Resolutions for 2012?

JW: Yes. Do less work for free. Charity and print work excluded. I’ve helped people out in the past and do the occasional bits for free, and I’m coming to the realisation now that I just don’t have time and I’m making extra work for myself which stresses me out. Unless its really cool I’m going to be more vigilant about it this year. One thing I hate is letting people down and when rammed with paid work obviously the free stuff drops off. I reckon the time could be better spent. I think Mr Bingo has something good to say on this front.

CH: And finally, any interesting projects planned for the coming months?

JW: Yes, plenty! Lots of awesome projects on the boil at the moment which I can’t say anything about, and a few things coming out this year which I’m really excited about as well. Hopefully I’m going to do some new film posters, the reaction to the Blade Runner and True Grit prints has been really positive. There’s potential this year for me to have an excuse to do them more regularly for a specific reason which would be great but you’ll have to watch this space for the meantime. I want to expand my online shop a little more and give people the opportunity to buy some of my work both new and old.

Keep your eyes on my blog and twitter for updates and news!

See more of Joe Wilson’s work here.

Buy Joe’s ‘The Coming Dawn’ screen print for Hermit Editions here.

Concrete Hermit: You’ve recently moved to London. How are you finding it?

Pedro Matos: I am loving it. I fell in love with the city since I first came here a few years ago and I kept coming back a lot of times since then. Every time I met new amazing people and found new things that I love about it. I am happy I had the right opportunity to make a permanent move this year. Right now I work and live in Hackney and work from home, as I am just working for few upcoming group shows. Once I start working on my next solo show I will need a separate painting studio.

CH: Has the move influenced your work in any way? What inspiration have you taken from the city of London?

PM: I am sure it has been influencing me in many ways. London is very different from Lisbon both aesthetically and culturally. On one hand, there’s a lot less light and space, but on the other there’s a lot more energy and it’s very inspiring to be active and create. The culture and people’s mindset are very different, but I feel a lot better here. Portuguese people are very negative and passive, and I can’t surround myself with that. In the upcoming months I’ll be able to tell how these differences affect my work.

CH: Best place in London as yet?

PM: There are so many! I had a good time at the broadway market today…

CH: Talk us through your creative process, from the very start of an idea to exhibiting the finished painting.

PM: I start painting with no plans, studies or sketches. The process of painting is a dialog between the different layers, languages and subject matters. I add and take a lot, and paint over things previously painted, and write a lot on my paintings as well. There’s a basic structure of composition and subjects I am interested in and want to explore and question, but I can never plan or predict 100% of what I am going to do, I make changes all the time until it feels right.

CH: It seems, given the reaction of many, that your paintings are just the right balance of genres to appeal to a wide range of people. Though I think it’s down to the level of skill that people can admire within your Photo-Realism style, have you encountered any genre-hopping injuries?

PM: I wouldn’t say I have found any injuries, but quite often I find people becoming interested in my work for reasons I do not relate at all. For instance, it seems people are finding out about “street art” and “urban art” in Lisbon right now, and approach me because of things I have lost interest in years ago. When I think about painting as a technical and physical practice, it is my hope to be able to master it and push it further that it already was. There’s nothing more sublime than experiencing a painting by Rembrandt or hearing Chopin’s piano, and that’s where I want to go with it. For me it’s not about labels or genres, I am not worried about that. It’s a very liberating feeling to be free of all that, but of course you can find those injuries, specially if your talking about the commercial aspect of the art world. It’s a lot easier to sell a stencil that makes a yuppie feel rebellious for owning it, than it is to sell a portrait of an old homeless man. No one wants that in their lofts.

CH: Where did you learn or who taught you to paint?

PM: I started painting on my own when I was about 16 years old. I am self-taught in that way. Again, my teachers are Rembrandt and Caravaggio,  but they’re all dead. I then entered a BFA in Painting, because I thought I would learn and improve etc, but it brought me a lot of conflicts so I ended up dropping out. The first time I learnt something with someone else was when I found out Jason Martin had a studio next to mine, and they would tell me about things I didn’t know, like shipping, documenting, and so on.

CH: Where does the visual inspiration come from for your shredded paste-ups and patterns that frame your characters? Do you collect scraps or does it come from your experience or memory?

PM: They come from the streets. The patterns are from traditional Portuguese tiles that cover the facades of buildings in Lisbon. The shredded paste-ups come from the posters in the street. It’s a little different here in London, it’s a lot cleaner in that way… but in Lisbon you can find a lot of shredded pasted-up posters on top of each other, with 20 or 30 layers of posters, all ripped, tagged, aged, etc.. it’s very beautiful. I don’t collect them, but I take photographs for reference.

CH: You seem to have discarded a few ways of making work already (your charcoal paste-ups for example), how do you see your work changing and growing in the future?

PM: You’re right. Street Art has lost a lot of it’s appeal to me in the past few years, and I have also stopped drawing. I am becoming more and more interested in painting, photography and installation, and those are the things I want to focus on. I have been learning to value my time more and discard all the things that are unnecessary. In the future, I see my work growing in concept, scale, color palette and composition.

CH: What’s the best advice anyone’s given to you.

PM: ‘You only live once.’

CH: Tell us a bit about your forthcoming solo show.

PM: My next solo show opens in April 2012 in Soho, at Ivory & Black Soho, of which I am also co-owner and co-director. It will be a new series of paintings, installation and photography.

Walls and Frames, the latest book from Gestalten, featured Pedro’s work and launched last night at Pictures on Walls.

See more of Pedro’s work here.

Buy Pedro Matos prints from Hermit Editions.

Concrete Hermit caught up with him mid-print at his studio in the Old Biscuit Building, South London. He talked us through his many projects, both commercial and personal, and we rifled through the unusual printed matter kept in his hand-made wooden box folder.

Joel Clifford is an Illustrator and professional printmaker with his fingers in many pies. His style has a graphic sensibility and is informed by the layering nature of screen print. Part of the Scrawl collective, he has worked freelance for a good few years and built up an impressive portfolio of editorial, book design and printed graphics in the music industry. His passion for music and history of playing in bands meant his designs for record sleeves, inserts and gig posters are among his favourite projects. (Quiet grumble here from Joel, lamenting the loss of printed products in the digital age of downloading music.) He also lends a hand in the fast-developing graphic department of Topman, adapting his skills to produce printed catwalk pieces for London Fashion week and the interior design for Topman’s new General Store in Spitalfields. Joel was commissioned to design the successful A.D T-shirt collection for the label, based on London’s dark history.

Joel Clifford prefers to work to a brief, to have a specific series or collection in mind as a reason to make work. He doesn’t draw, instead he thinks in collage, mentally layering and combining shapes, colours and found imagery. He collects inspiration from all over, using royalty free images and scaling them right up to play with the textures and half-tones of the original image.

Joel Clifford’s relationship with London started when he moved to the city, half-nervous half-excited back in 2004. It was the dark, Dickensian ‘realness’ of London’s history that drew him to explore on foot. Jack the Ripper, the Gunpowder plot and the Great Plague have all been notorious characters and events that have surfaced in his prints and T-shirt designs.  He continues to explore the city and from his experiences he ‘forms a narrative with what’s around him’, drawing upon the past and mixing in contemporary aesthetics.

Joel took great inspiration from his father, a fine artist. He grew up with a good understanding of art and learnt much of his technical knowledge by asking questions and sharing knowledge with others along the way. Whilst studying at Lincoln University he shared his space with a textile print studio, informing his silk-screen style of layering, deliberate offsetting and creating pattern through texture.

Joel Clifford is readying himself for a solo show at the Orange Dot gallery in May 2012, where he’s teaming up with new musician Arcam to produce a specialist screen print series in response to each track of his forthcoming album. You can also view some new pieces in Helter Skelter, the current exhibition at The Street Gallery, part of the University College Hospital.

Visit Hermit Editions to purchase Joel’s prints or head to 5a Club Row to see them in the flesh.

Artists Ian Stevenson, Phil Ashcroft, James Unsworth, Ryan McLelland and Adam Paxman stepped up to the challenge to create an experimental edition of prints. The first series of the project sees the artists translate their diverse styles into lino, using pared down imagery combined with that wonderful tangible quality of a handmade print. Each edition demonstrates a different approach to mark-making, ensuring the collection is completely unique. The Linocut Series can be seen in detail, and is available to purchase online at www.hermiteditions.com.

The Linocut Project

The prints themselves are two colour screen prints of an Animal Folk Band. Produced exclusively for our print site Hermit Editions in an edition of 30. You can see them now on the Hermit Editions Site.

The print series is available to buy online at www.hermiteditions.com or come and see them for yourself at 5a Club Row.

We think that the beauty of screen print lies in it’s evident process, the personal hand-pulled touch and the tactile inks. We produced this Hermit Editions collection in house, so we have a first hand experience of the half tones, overlaying colours and interesting composition techniques. Here’s the final peek at the collection before it’s release in September.

Artist: Joe Wilson

Artist: Heretic Printmakers

Artist: Dan Sparkes

The collection will be made up of six artworks, each in a limited edition of 35, all signed, titled and numbered by the artist. The prints will be available from Hermit Editions and through Concrete Hermit’s East London space from 15.09.11

RSPV to the private view here.