Artist Interview

I'm posting an interview below that I did for the facebook group "Facebook Author's and Illustrators".
Tell us a little about yourself.


I Graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2006 with a BFA in Illustration. In my short career I’ve won a number of first place awards ranging from pumpkin carving designs and cartoon contests and into a congressional art competition, a duck stamp contest and an international aviation art contest. I make the art and my cats try to destroy it. I’m a Vermonter, an Artist and a Catholic. These three things have defined a large part of who I am for the balance of my life and I suspect will continue to do so for many years to come.



What is your latest published work?

“The caterpillar and the Express Train” is my latest published work. “Spirit Driver” and “The little Boy Without a Name and Without a Birthday” will be published soon (possibly by the time this interview is published).

Where e do you get your ideas from?

There are three things you must do in order to successfully generate ideas for your art.

1)consume plenty of ginkoboloba

2) Stand on your head, count to ten while holding your breath and think happy thoughts.

3) Sit very still in a metal chair with a hat made of tin foil placed perfectly over the back of your skull.

If none of these work for you, continue reading.

In reality there are no sure fire ways to get great ideas. In a sense they come to you when you are ready to receive them and each person prepares themselves to receive ideas in different ways. Since I’m an artist I tend to think of things visually, so my thought process is mostly based on visual observation. Some methods for generating ideas include.

1)Mind/Idea Web- write a project related word on paper and build similar words around it.

2) Observation- Observe nature and real objects to build your own ideas off. The best artists I know create magical worlds, objects and creatures by starting from things in the real world.

3)Do something to it!- Take a drawing or idea and do something to it, add to it again, subtract from it, do something else to it. Don’t settle on your initial idea or drawing, keep changing it until you feel you have created something truly unique.

4)Images- I generally get ideas flowing by looking through tons of images done by other artists. The idea isn’t to copy other artists but just to flip through tons of images and sketch any idea that come to you. The other day I was stuck on a cover title design for a book and started looking through images. In that process I saw an illustration of a kid with his mouth wide open. I realized his head and mouth created an “O” shape. So from there the ideas started flowing for how I could incorporate the main character into the title of the book cover.

5) The Internet- This is a great way to generate ideas because it’s kind of like having an automatic mind idea web at your finger tips. You type in a word and click search to reveal all kinds of words, pictures and ideas that you may not otherwise think of. I go on forums, blogs, and art websites constantly in search of something to spark an idea in my mind.

6) friends/family- sometimes people are afraid to use a friends idea but friends are often hanging around suggesting solutions to our problems whether we ask them to or not. Generally they want us to use their idea. I say if you have their permission, then go ahead and use the idea, if it’s a good one. In fact none of my children’s books illustrations are done entirely on my own ideas. I send tons of sketches and versions of ideas to authors and work back and forth with them based on their feedback. So the end result is always meant to be something we can both (and hopefully all the readers as well) can relate to and enjoy.

7)Relax- Some of my best ideas come when I’m almost asleep or when I’m doing something mundane.



What are you working on right now?

I’m currently finishing up a children’s book called “The little Boy Without a Name and Without a Birthday” and beginning work on a book called “Allegra, Friend of All Monsters”.

Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring illustrators?

The number one thing I can suggest is to build a website or at least a blog to post your art. No one will hire you if they can’t see your work samples. I would also say it’s important to constantly promote yourself and search for your next gig while working on your current gig so you won’t be out of work for two months in between each project. Do your best in college or in your current state to make the best art you can, so that when you branch out into Illustration as a full time career, you will already have some great pieces to show to potential clients and not just some paintings of fruit and nudes. Learn character design and figure drawing while you have the time. Do your best on even the smallest things like logos as it may lead to more but don’t do work for free outside of competitions. Even most art competitions are debatable as many are just out to get your money. Winning competitions has kept me in business but I have also lost my fair share of money trying out some sketchy online art competitions.

Do you have a crazy story about an aspect of the illustrator’s life, perhaps from a school visit or event?

The first children’s book I ever worked on was with two guys who lived about an hour away from my apartment. I eventually moved closer to them but before the move they had already set me up inside an old convent which I used as my studio for about three months. There was a catholic school attached to the convent and a new church being built next door. The convent was on the third floor. I found myself trying to get into the building either before the kids and construction workers arrived or in between lunch breaks and recess as none of the teachers knew who I was. So for a couple of months I actually ended up sleeping in the old abandoned convent at nights and working all day throughout the day. There was a room filled with old children’s books which hadn’t yet been relocated to the school’s library. So some days I would sit up there and just read through this mound of books. Every now and then I would hear kids running around in the convent hallways unattended by teachers after school. So I eventually started keeping the door shut to the room I was in. I remember more than once one of the kids would get curious and try to open the door. One time I must have left it unlatched as a small boy lurched into the room saying “I wonder what’s in here”. Of course he had no idea I would be in there with my large headphones on, rubber gloves, a darth vadar respirator mask (I was using oil paints in an enclosed room), my crazy long hair sticking up everywhere and my ripped clothes covered in paint. All I remember is that I barely made a move and the boy nearly jumped out of his skin and went running back to his buddies. About a week later some boy scouts ran up the stairs and passed my “studio” as I heard one boy exclaim “that’s where I saw the ghost!”

Is there anything else you’d like to add, such as a website or blog?

First I want to sincerely thank you Simon for the work you do for this group and anyone who has taken the time to actually read about my life and passion of being an illustrator. My personal website is www.matthewgauvin.com , book website- www.thecaterpillarandtheexpresstrain.webs.com/ , blog- http://matthewgauvin.blogspot.com/ , zazzle store- www.zazzle.com/sneezingleopard*, youtube where I hope to post more art tutorial videos soon - www.youtube.com/watch?V=gQPcuzCCIDK google me and you’re sure to find me in a number of other places as well.