Interview by Jenkin Au
Words by Jenkin Au
Photography by Jenkin Au
The justalilhype! Crew got to sit down with Cam Strudwick, an illustrator with animation as his background. Working with many themes, most of his work comes from inspirations of dark ideas, such as those from cults and dark religions. His work is not all dark, as he plays around with reality twists here and there. Cam talks about his work and his background in a conversation with us.
Please tell us a little more about yourself.
I grew up in Langley, B.C., out in the Valley. I was pretty into the outdoor stuff when I was younger and then afterwards I went to college for animation. I guess I’ve been in the animation industry for the past seven years involving lots of TV shows, video games, websites… I decided to go back to school and get out of animation and work more on my own stuff.
When did you move over here to Vancouver?
As soon as I graduated and got hired at a studio. That was around 2003, I think.
What have you thought of Vancouver so far?
It’s awesome. There’s a lot of good things living out there –
Like the Vanilla Room?
That’s hilarious. My little brother goes there and his friend is a promoter. Anyways, being in Vancouver is nice because of all the restaurants and just people and culture.
Can you tell us when you first got into illustration?
I guess drawing has always been a passion for me. It took me a while to realize that I didn’t have to just draw cartoons and I could draw whatever and people would be interested in me. I don’t know, but I had to go to Emily Carr to figure that out. It’s sort of neat to take other people’s ideas and use it as inspiration and add my own style to it, of course.
And who are some of the people that you draw inspiration from?
A lot of music. I do a lot of work for bands and so the music is inspiring. Also, pop culture and social issues, I try to spin some of these into it and try to be a real artist.
For sure, I feel you. Branching off on that, a lot of people that we’ve interviewed in the past have spoken about just sticking with something and the following will come.
The way you stick with it too is all about doing something you love. That was the whole point with me going back to school – it was just about getting back into doing something I loved doing. I don’t want to trash talk the animation industry but any business that’s a business, they’re doing it for money and sometimes, that sucks the soul out of things.
Word. Has money ever been a problem for you?
Well, going to school right now and I’m a poor student, just like everyone else. It’s all about how you look at things. I’m pretty fortunate to be living in Vancouver, Canada – it’s expensive and it’s beautiful, but it’s totally worth it.
While we’re on the topic of education, what are some of the main differences between self-taught art and institutional art?
Well, I can really only comment on school I’ve been to. Emily Carr is really theoretical and less technical so they have a lot of really passionate people that love doing their stuff. I also went to the Art Institute, so that’s almost purely a technical school – the total opposite of the spectrum. There are people that are brilliantly technical but they don’t really have the theory to back it up. I don’t know, sometimes you have guys that got both and they figure it out themselves. It’s all just about having fun, man.
Definitely. And where do you find your own forte in?
Both, of course! I don’t know, I can tell you that the technical side was a focus for me in some areas but I’m trying to be a little more critical with theories and ideologies.
When was the first time that you pushed the envelope in terms of the theory?
Well, in animation, it’s all about story and I guess that’s what you could call theory. Going back to university, it’s been really pushing me to branch out a lot more. At the same time, I think the fine art world is a little stuffy and people have to relax a little. Art is art and sometimes, you don’t have to justify things with a novel.
Totally! Branching off, on your website, you get that eye that follows your cursor around. Did you create that yourself?
Yes. That’s just my animation training that I have done, with the Flash. The All-Seeing-Eye has sort of been a theme for me and it’s a popular icon in tattoo art. I think a lot about the images of the occult and religious icons and I like the idea of considering where you go after you die. That sounds so serious but there are other things to think about.
It’s really interesting how one purpose for something can spawn off so many different spin offs. So your themes are more cult like?
That’s a small part of it. Obviously, I’m influence by pop culture and music so I like to reference that a little bit, like poster making. I like the idea of taking influences from different areas and combining them. I think consumers are smarter than they used to be – you should be able to purchase a shirt that has a piece of art on it that goes further than an assembly line character that someone threw together.
What about Ed Hardy?
You know what? Ed Hardy, originally, was a tattoo icon and he invented some of that art that, now, almost seems cliché and tacky.
I guess at the time, when he first created it, it was golden.
Yeah. He’s a pretty old school character when it comes to this. Like, you remember Von Dutch?
Yeah, I do.
Well, the thing about Von Dutch is that he’s a pin striper on hot rods and the flying eyeball was his thing. It was totally underground and cool back in the day and then 40 years later, some business guy bought the rights to all his icons and made some fashionable thing that was cool for a summer.
I lived in that summer. My friends spent $50 at least on trucker hats that I didn’t agree on.
Of course. That’s the thing – I’d prefer if some of those pop culture references had a little more substance to it rather than just pulling it off.
Are there any themes that you haven’t touched on before that you’d like to get to?
I seem to go through these phases and I can’t seem to stay on one thing. I’m not sure what the next phase will be. I’m kind of into ecology and relationships right now and the whole buzz word of sustainability. Growing up in Langley, I really grew up in the outdoors and I think it’s always been a big part of what I do. I think representing that in my art has always been a focus and it will continue being a focus for me.
Do you do a lot of vector art?
It used to be when I was in animation. I’ve been trying to get out of it more with the fine art training that I’ve been getting. I’ve been focusing more on the traditional art and techniques. The better you get at using your hand, the better you get at using the technologies. They work hand in hand for sure. You have to realize also that everything is digital today and you have to be aware of it, but you can’t ignore the history of it.
A lot of your artwork are miles apart in terms of themes and designs. Why is there this range?
It’s conscious in one part. I don’t like to pigeon hole myself. I have a lot of influences and I like to be able to master a bunch of different mediums and just from a professional standpoint, I like to be able to be diverse and work with diverse clients.
Let’s go through your artwork. First up is the Sweetheart one. Can you tell me a little more about this one?
This was a print that I did before – it was a hand silkscreen that I reworked for the Carded show. It had 50 artists and everyone put their art on a trading card and the idea was for five dollars, you’d get a mix pack and everyone at the show would trade to get the ones you wanted. It’s my muse – it’s my girlfriend on it and it’s also trying to reference the tattoo style.
Alright, moving on to the hotrod…
It’s a drawing that I did where I turned into a print myself. Growing up in Langley with my dad has always been about hotrods and it is related to a lot of things that I’m interested in.
And this is a picture of a lot of your works?
Yeap! A whole pile of it all.
The skateboard is pretty sick.
Yeah, I’m pretty stoked on the way they came out. I also got a bunch of shirts coming out the next couple of weeks and maybe some more skateboards, too.
Nice, nice. Next up is this blue one. This is the one that everyone sees when they first enter your webpage. What’s so special about this one?
Yeah. In the last year or so, it’s been an iconic drawing for me. It sums up a lot of the things that I want to do and that I’m still working on. It works as an icon and I use symbols to represent things I’m into, like the lifecycles, ecology, and it also does reference art nuveau and just the layout of it. It came out really well and you’ll see more stuff like this.
Actually, going back, in a lot of your works, I see a lot of lateral symmetry. Is this a conscious choice?
Yeah, it is. I think, again, it’s just me pulling from other things. I wouldn’t go as far to say that it’s overdone now. I’m just referencing other stuff and I like balance and composition balance. It’s very aesthetically pleasing for me.
Nice! Now finally, the Swine one…
I did that one during the whole Swine flu thing. It was so ridiculous. I’m sure there were families affected by it and it was terrible, but at the same time, I felt like the media was just HYPEing the shit out of it. I just wanted to inject some ironic humour into the situation and make it a rock star.
What’s next for Cam Strudwick?
More band art. It’s getting more busy now with the metal and rock and roll community. That’s the music I play and my friends are in it – plus, my art goes well with it.
I also notice that you don’t use vibrant colours. Do you think you’ll be using more vibrant colours in the future?
I’m not sure. The colour pallet sort of suits the theme of the drawing, I suppose. I think that I used too much bright colours when I was doing kids stuff. I never thought of that, actually, and it’s interesting to hear your observations. It’s neat to hear it from someone that’s outside of the art world.
What is HYPE?
It’s all about doing what you love, man. That’s it.