Artist Spotlight: ChetArt
Every Wednesday for the next few weeks, we'll feature an exclusive interview with one of our top artists. This week, meet ChetArt!
---
What inspires your work?
More than anything, memories of a childhood surrounded by comic books, aurora monster models, bubble gum trading cards, and movies.
What’s your creative process when creating a new design?
Once an idea is established, I do lots of research, then sketching. Sketches evolve from compositional thumbnails to a more finalized version which is scanned. Everything’s digital from there on.
How would you describe your design aesthetic/style?
My “digital woodcut” work came from years of working with traditional scratchboard. Stylistically, I guess I pursue a form of low brow, pop culture humor.
Where’d your name come from?
A fancypants college painting professor of mine who studied in New York once dubbed my work “Chet Art” as a form of derision for it’s lack of abstraction. Later in life I adopted this nickname as a positive thing.
What do you like most about being a designer?
After years of working on art director’s and corporation’s ideas, I get maximum satisfaction by creating my own ideas for merchandise and galleries to share with the world.
How did you come into t-shirt design?
I love finding as many ways as possible to present my artwork for people to enjoy. Pictures on the living room wall are wonderful, but even better when they are attached to people roaming in the wild for all to see.
What are your favorite two designs of yours?
That’s constantly changing, but I’d say for now, my Godzilla Tokyo Terrors baseball shirt and Darth Yoda.
Do you have a design and/or series you’d like to highlight?
I’ve just released a series of Maneki-Neko themed characters, borrowing from the traditional Japanese beckoning cats that bring good fortune and luck.
What movies/shows/books/music/podcasts are you really into right now?
Fargo (TV and movie). Better Call Saul, Preacher, Rick and Morty, Silicon Valley, Bone Tomahawk, Ready Player One
What three things would you bring with you to a deserted island?
Sketchbook, Water, Time Machine
What is your spirit animal and why?
Monkey, because, you know. Monkeys.
What’s your favorite tee you own?
Cloverleaf Studio tee (a local fine bookbinding studio here in Austin) mainly for the company’s motto on the shirt - “We may be slow, but we’re expensive.”
---
Check out ChetArt's TeePublic shop and follow him on social:
