Andrew Rae is a London based illustrator/film maker who’s lovable character heavy work many of you will recognise from the genius BBC series MONKEY DUST back in 2003.
Andrew began his illustration career back in 1998 producing flyers for 333 club night Perverted Science in Shoreditch, since then he has grown into one of the most succseful illustrators working today, building up an impressive portfolio and producing illustrations for big name clients including The Guardian, Sony, Orange, MTV, DC shoes, US Esquire, The Mighty Boosh, Penguin, The BBC and E4.
I’ve been a fan of Andrew Rae’s work for years now, and was lucky enough to meet the man a few months back, so it is with great pleasure that we present to you our exclusive interview with one of the most impressive and in-demand artists working today:
Do you listen to music when you work? If so what has been keeping you going recently?
I’ve been listening to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I saw them last night performing and doing readings from Nick Caves new book which was amazing they’re incredible performers..
How does working for a company differ from your private work? How is your work process different?
I enjoy both for different reasons when you’re working for a client you have a clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve set out in the brief so the joy comes from answering that brief with a good solution, of course the problem arises when they disagree with you on the solution. Private work however is a chance to play and experiment without a specific outcome being necessary but then it can be hard to find the time to fit it in especially when I could be playing my piano.
Have you ever turned down work due to a lack of creative control?
I turn work down if it doesn’t interest me and if I think it’ll bore me to do it, creative control isn’t something I particularly crave as a lot of good work comes out of collaboration and I can always have complete creative control on my personal work, and in fact my personal work generally informs the kind of commissions that I get. However the bottom line on creative control seems to be that the more you’re being paid the less control you have, particularly in advertising were they’ll often get me in because they love the bizarre things I draw but then want me to tone it down when they need to show the client. This isn’t always the way however.. for example I did a job for Perrier where they gave me keywords to illustrate and gave me free rein to do it as I wished (as long as I included the Perrier bottle somewhere) I came up with loads of bizarre responses and then they chose their favourites.
What are the benefits of working within the peepshow collective? Do you get more work offers from being part of a group? Do you share resources?
Being an Illustrator can get pretty lonely without a studio of people to work alongside so Peepshow is great for that, we’re all really good friends so it’s great to work alongside people who’s company I enjoy. We share a studio and shopping bills and printers etc. and we try to set ourselves projects i.e. exhibitions and animations to keep us working outside of our commercial work. As to whether we get more work cause of it is hard to say as I’ve never not been in Peepshow but I don’t imagine it does any harm.
A large proportion of you work includes animals with many species making frequent appearances, what’s your favorite animal and why?
I’m pretty fond of Cuttlefish since I saw some while diving in Australia and was really impressed by the way that they chance colour. There’s a great sequence in Blue Planet showing their mating dance where they use pattern and colour to attract a mate or repel an enemy.
How would you normaly produce an animation? Is the process done on your own or do you get outside help?
I do sometimes animate a little on my own but generally I prefer to get an animator in so that I can concentrate on creating artwork. Pete Mellor is the Peepshow in house animator so he tends to head up any animation projects we get in.
Who are your favorite artists or illustrators working today?
I’m a big fan of Chris Wares book Jimmy Corrigan the smartest Kid on Earth.
Do you have any plans to produce more animations either on your own, for a TV show or for a company?
I have a personal project that I’m currently working on which will involve illustrations, characters, narrative music and maybe some animation and we have a group animation project ticking over at the moment but it’ll probably take ages to get off the ground and I can’t say anymore than that right now I’m afraid.
Do you have any exhibitions planed for the near future?
I’m planning a night in conjunction with Heavy Pencil at the ICA but at a more intimate venue with bands and live drawing, we have a new Peepshow website on the way, I will have some new drawings available in the Peepshop soon and we have a Christmas sale planned with Garudio Studiage, watch the Peepshow blog for more details http://peepshowcollective.blogspot.com/.
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