Latest / This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast) / Episode 8: Mikey-sode/ Art Identity

Transcript

Episode 8: Mikey-sode/ Art Identity · This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast)

0:09
intro intro got the intro hello listeners we
0:17
are ready for this intro uh i am very excited
0:20
about episode eight to uh big shout out to our
0:24
sponsors out there in slovenia aka just listeners
0:27
not sponsors yet but uh we got uh right here
0:32
i have my co -host lendea art therapist and friend
0:35
hi And also my good friend, Mikey, and a real
0:40
inspiring artist myself. Yeah, very talented.
0:44
Yeah, yeah. Hi, everyone. Hey, hey. And of course,
0:49
we have Josiah, aka John, rocking two name hats
0:54
today. So I'm going to try to be name inclusive
0:58
with... Yeah, that's all good. Starts with a
1:01
J. It's probably me. Okay, right on. Yeah, yeah.
1:04
Right on. Cool. So we'll quickly go over the
1:09
art invitations for those who want to art while
1:12
we chat, and then we'll get into things. So we
1:15
have three art invitations. The first is the
1:17
artist logo. So create the most basic representation
1:20
of yourself. And you can kind of think of what
1:23
parts of yourself might be represented in this
1:26
logo. You can do art as a tool. So think of a
1:30
way that art has helped you recently. And what
1:33
does it look like? And then the last one. Self
1:36
as onion. It's something that shows or represent
1:38
your layers. Are you more like an onion or a
1:41
parfait or a secret third thing? So if you feel
1:45
like arting, you can. I will also show Mikey
1:50
the beautiful work of art that John has made
1:55
or Josiah, sorry, has made for today's episode.
2:03
Oh, that's my shirt. I know. I love that shirt.
2:07
Yeah, you got my beard. You got my beard. I see
2:10
my hair. Nice. That's a cool drawing. And you
2:13
did the points, you know, for shading. I know.
2:16
Yeah. Something we talked about previously. Yeah.
2:19
Yeah, for sure. I made sure if I was going to
2:22
do you, I was going to add the points in. Yeah,
2:24
for sure. Thanks for the pointers. Oh, pun. And
2:29
you got the cheetahs. Yes, I'm a big fan of that
2:33
shirt. You still have it? Yeah, I still have
2:36
it, yeah. Where did you pick it up? I got it
2:39
at Simon's a couple months ago. You got it at
2:42
Simon's? Yeah, it's a brand from Montreal. Montreal,
2:46
okay, perfect. Yeah, yeah. It's really cool.
2:50
Oh, yeah. It's a great summer shirt. And we'll
2:54
have a side -by -side comparison on the podcast
2:56
or on the Instagram. On the Instagram, yeah.
2:59
So, yeah. You won't be able to tell the difference
3:02
because they're just so similar. They're almost
3:05
mirror images, yeah. For sure. Exactly. Right
3:09
on. Yeah. Thanks for this, Josiah. We appreciate
3:15
it. No problem. Yeah, for sure. Thank you. Actually,
3:18
the second drawing you made of me, right? Yeah,
3:21
yeah, yeah. I'm getting better. I mean, this
3:26
time I made you a little bit American dad with
3:28
a giant chin. Proportions are challenging. You'll
3:35
get it. It's tough. As a new artist, it's really
3:37
tough. It is. You got to do it over and over
3:41
again to get used to it. To really get used to
3:43
it, yeah. I'd love to just know, and for like,
3:47
cause I've, I've heard your story and I, I think
3:50
it's just so fascinating, but where did you start
3:53
off in your art journey? Where do you want to
3:56
start? Where do you want to start with us? Cause
3:57
we've got. Well, sure. I'm just going to start
4:00
from the beginning and try to, to tell the story
4:03
as much as I can. I can remember. I would say
4:07
that I've been drawing ever since I first held
4:11
the pencil. So. I'm from the Congo, Kinshasa
4:16
is the main city over there. And ever since I
4:21
started what you call the preschool, I've been
4:27
drawing. Like I've been drawing little heads,
4:29
been drawing animals. So I've always been known
4:31
as a guy who draws in class. right so uh that's
4:35
how i started and then i love cartoons so i drew
4:38
a lot of uh cartoon characters uh especially
4:42
uh goku uh um you know yeah yeah yeah so i i
4:48
used to draw i go for my friends as well in class
4:51
and in every single uh book or notebook i used
4:55
to like draw stuff on it yeah um and in geography
4:59
i remember i used to draw maps uh for myself
5:02
and for friends as well okay that's sweet what
5:06
was your what was your purpose and details with
5:09
the maps it was like people's homes to school
5:11
what kind of routes so we used to draw like maps
5:14
of countries because we used to like It used
5:17
to be big on knowing where countries are, where
5:20
you're located, and every interesting thing about
5:25
a country, like the biggest rivers and whatnot.
5:28
So I used to draw stuff like that. And that was
5:30
quite, I mean, I thought I was good at it back
5:32
then. I wasn't as good as now, but I used to
5:35
feel like I was good at it. And so my friends
5:38
at school would ask me to draw maps for them.
5:41
Sorry, I used to do it for them. It was fun.
5:44
And then fast forward, I get to high school level.
5:50
I'm still drawing cartoons. I'm still drawing
5:53
Goku. I'm still drawing Justice League characters,
5:56
Superman and whatnot. And I used to do cutouts
5:59
when I was smaller. I used to do cutouts of cartoon
6:01
characters and I'd make them get into fights
6:03
and create whole narratives. But when I was in
6:10
high school, there was a time where People in
6:14
my class felt like drawings of cartoons were
6:18
childish, juvenile. So I stopped drawing. Oh,
6:23
no. Critics. Yeah, I heard that episode, by the
6:28
way, about the critics. Yeah, I heard that. I
6:30
stopped drawing for a couple of years. I just
6:33
felt like it wasn't cool and it didn't make me
6:36
look cool. So I was like, I think I'm done with
6:40
this. And then I didn't draw for a couple of
6:43
years until I kind of missed it. I missed it
6:47
and then got back into it. And I remember when
6:50
I got back into it, I was like 16, 17. So then
6:53
I was drawing portraits of my favorite musicians.
6:56
I had drawings of Lil Bow Wow, 50 Cent. Those
7:02
were big influences back then. And I was in a
7:05
French -speaking country. So a lot of the lyrics,
7:08
my parents didn't understand, even though they
7:09
were very aggressive. Because everybody spoke
7:12
French. So I would listen to them at the house
7:16
and my friend wouldn't even know that the content
7:18
of the music was very vibrant. Listening to many
7:22
men by 50 cents. Yeah, yeah. With the gunshots
7:25
in the background. Yeah, yeah. They'd be like,
7:27
no, those are French. So that's when I got back
7:33
into drawing. It's like I would draw 50. I would
7:36
draw Rihanna and everybody I used to listen to
7:39
at the time. And then going to university, I
7:43
felt like I wanted to make original works of
7:46
art. So I started creating my own characters.
7:49
I would just put together a face from memory.
7:52
I would draw an eye, a mouth, and it would be
7:54
a character. And just going back a bit, in high
7:58
school, I made a couple of comic books of like
8:02
four pages with a full story. I used to love
8:05
doing that too and show it to my friends and
8:07
family. And then, so at university, I kept drawing,
8:13
but I was more into drawing original characters,
8:16
especially digital art. So when I first started
8:21
working, I discovered Photoshop. So when I went
8:27
to university, I studied economics. And in my
8:29
first year, I failed a couple of subjects. of
8:33
economics. So since I failed the first part of
8:36
it, in the second semester they reimbursed the
8:38
money of the second part of the courses that
8:41
I failed. So I used that money to buy a tablet
8:43
to make digital art. So I started experimenting
8:48
there making digital art and it was like very
8:52
creative. I used to create like weird mixed up
8:56
things. It was very like very busy. Like the
8:58
drawings were very, they were digital paintings,
9:01
so they were very easy. And from there, I started,
9:07
I got into Instagram. So since I didn't go to,
9:11
I didn't have any art education, like in my undergrad,
9:15
I kind of like learned by what I saw. So I started,
9:21
when I got on Instagram, I saw a lot of artists
9:23
were making like portraits and whatever. So I
9:26
was like, oh, this is cool. I kind of saw what
9:29
I could do, you know? I was like, oh, I need
9:30
to try this. This is the technique that I used.
9:33
So I tried. And back then, I was making portraits
9:37
of celebrities on Instagram. Once in a while,
9:41
we'd get a repost. I would draw followers, and
9:44
they would repost it. And that got me more excited
9:49
about drawing. So during that time, I filled
9:52
up a lot of sketchbooks with portraits of people.
9:55
People that I found interesting, people that
9:57
followed me, people that once in a while, a few
10:00
celebrities, but I was staying away from celebrities
10:03
because I felt like it was a bit cliche and everybody
10:06
was doing the same thing. So I don't think that's
10:09
original. So I was painting most of my followers.
10:11
That's awesome. That's a great way to be super
10:14
interactive. You would get great feedback from
10:17
people in that way. Yeah. Did you find it like
10:21
finding the... the inspiration to just do your
10:26
regular followers, I know that would mean a lot
10:28
to them in giving good feedback back and forth
10:31
like that. Yeah. So you get to be included. Yeah,
10:35
a really cool way to do it. Yeah. Yeah. No, that
10:39
was really cool. Yeah. I really loved it. And
10:44
it created a strong connection with my following
10:47
as well. And I got instant feedback. And back
10:50
then, 10 likes was a big deal. Oh, I feel like
10:55
it's still a big deal. It still feels awesome.
10:57
It still feels great. From the guy who's getting
11:07
the 10 likes over here. I'm here for it. Yeah.
11:10
10 likes is a good day for me. Yeah. Yeah. You're
11:13
doing awesome. We're talking to a big shot. Yes.
11:16
Yes. In a great way. And for great reason. Your
11:20
style is so. vastly different from mine I think
11:23
your your paintings are so vibrant and so expressive
11:26
and such nice colors and details to them like
11:29
something that when I was talking with Mike like
11:32
off air we were talking about the difficulties
11:35
of drawing hands for myself and Mikey just like
11:38
genuinely and not not to be braggadocious in
11:41
any way he's like oh no hands are easy and I
11:43
was like what what I just make spaghetti mess
11:46
noodles and like this guy is like he's making
11:48
these sweet details of hands and like the way
11:51
like I think you've done some self -portraits
11:53
with your hand I can only describe it as like
11:55
sort of a matador sort of stance but it's you
11:58
I think drawing on an easel again or something
12:00
along those lines and I'm just like I am fascinated
12:04
with like the fact that it can just be so big
12:06
and bold and open when you're doing it. You know?
12:09
Yeah. Yeah. How does, how does that, so with
12:13
that style, like evolving from the cartoons to
12:17
there, how did you get to there? Good question.
12:19
Yeah. So fast forward, I, so in, so when I was
12:25
doing portraits, I was in South Africa because
12:27
I had moved to South Africa when I was 18 to
12:30
pursue my bachelor. So I wasn't interested in
12:35
painting back then. I felt like it was a lot
12:38
of work and it would be a bit messier. And I
12:42
didn't really understand the value of painting.
12:44
So I was like, I'm just going to do sketches
12:46
with my pencil, my sketchbook. And then I moved
12:51
to Dublin around 2016, 2015. And when I'm there,
12:59
I'm still drawing and whatnot. So, and then I
13:03
started planning to move to Canada. So I moved
13:06
back to the Congo for a couple of years then.
13:08
When I moved back to the Congo, I kind of, I
13:11
took part in this art competition that I organized
13:14
there by the, it's like a French council over
13:19
there that organized it. And most of the artists
13:21
there, so I was the competition. In the competition,
13:25
there were a lot of professional artists, people
13:28
who studied art. And there was this woman that
13:32
was a critic, and she was very harsh with her
13:34
critiques as well. I was like, wow. So that's
13:39
when I kind of saw like, oh, painting is actually
13:41
interesting. I was like, maybe I should give
13:46
it a try. So I watched a few YouTube videos about
13:51
how to set up a canvas, but I kind of messed
13:53
it up. I wasn't able to do it. So I contacted
13:55
somebody from the, in French, we call it Académie
13:58
des Beaux -Arts. That's the art school. Okay.
14:02
And they showed me how to, you know, put a canvas
14:05
together, stretch the easel, stretch the canvas.
14:09
Yeah. And I tried my first painting. uh and and
14:15
it wasn't bad i was like okay it was a lot of
14:18
work getting used to because it's like i was
14:20
used to being so good at drawing and now i have
14:23
to restart uh painting and it's just like it
14:26
was difficult because the results were not as
14:28
good as my drawings i didn't like them so i was
14:33
annoyed um and uh oh yeah question are you do
14:37
you paint with oil or acrylic Oh, that's a whole
14:41
other level of process. Mad respect. Could you
14:45
explain what that would be, Linnea? Like the
14:47
difference between the two of them? Because I
14:48
actually don't know. I've done Bob Ross paintings.
14:53
But yeah, what's the difference? The basic acrylic
14:55
is, well, acrylic is plastic and it dries really
14:59
quickly. It has a different vibrancy. Oil, you
15:02
can get rich layers. Like I have no experience
15:04
with oil except one painting and we don't need
15:07
to get into that. But it's a whole other ballgame
15:09
in my opinion. It's a... It takes like six months
15:13
for a piece to dry. You can really work on it
15:16
through the layers. And again, it's not my forte.
15:18
So maybe Mikey can speak more about oil painting
15:21
because it's not my forte. Yeah. I found the
15:24
texture to it, what you said, the texture of
15:27
the painting is also different. So it makes it
15:29
more difficult to create shapes. that come out
15:34
how you're thinking in your head. And that transition
15:38
was a bit hard because I was like, I would paint
15:40
and be like, okay, I feel like I'm good. It's
15:42
okay, but it's not as good. So I tried, took
15:47
a break, tried again, like it took a break. And
15:52
then it took a long break until I moved to Canada
15:56
during the pandemic. I was like, okay, I'm going
15:59
to give it a try. Yeah, I tried with landscape
16:04
painting. Oh, okay. And I didn't like the results.
16:08
Like, oh, all right. So, fast forward 2021, still
16:14
in the pandemic, I tried a self -portrait. And
16:18
I think I, when I, before that, I did a lot of
16:23
drawings. And I feel like, so when I got back
16:26
into drawing, after trying the bad paintings,
16:28
I felt like I got better at drawing. For some
16:30
reason, I don't know how that works, but I was
16:33
like, oh, I think I learned some stuff like without
16:36
knowing painting and I got better at drawing.
16:39
So I was like, OK, I'm going to try to go back
16:41
to painting again. But this time I did more research.
16:44
I followed a few people that paint and I tried
16:48
to self -portrait. But the approach was to paint
16:51
the way I draw. So I have a background with a
16:55
pencil and then the outline and fill it in with.
16:59
with the paint and that self -portrait did not
17:02
look bad i was like oh that's the first painting
17:05
that i liked so i was like okay this is this
17:09
is good and also like i i have a strong uh a
17:14
strong sense of self so i was painting if i'm
17:17
with a painting i have to go all the way i have
17:20
to be as good as i actually draw it yeah so that's
17:24
the that was a goal i need to be as good as The
17:27
painting needs to be as good as my drawings.
17:29
Nice. And that one was getting close to the goal.
17:34
Yeah. I'm glad you picked up those tools. Because
17:38
they're just, I mean, I don't want to relate
17:41
everything to building or carpentry, but I find
17:44
when you're using something new, like you mastered
17:46
the pen, right? And you had kind of gotten to
17:49
that medium. You'd done it. And a lot of people
17:51
are just going to stay in that lane. I find myself,
17:53
I definitely do just stick into like, I'm on
17:55
like the, 0 .005 uh felt pens and like i'm like
17:59
if i touch another one it just doesn't feel right
18:02
and like i gotta get out of my own comfort zone
18:04
and get out of my own way and maybe start using
18:07
a little bit of colors because like the way that
18:09
i see your characters have evolved and like i'm
18:11
just glad that you did pick up that medium because
18:14
it's a different way to express yourself like
18:16
goku we know what goku looks like we know what
18:18
landscapes look like but now you've done stuff
18:20
like you're taking things from your own mind
18:22
and being able to express that in a way that
18:25
just not just like the way a pen can pen can
18:27
do great but like an oil painting and like learning
18:30
that technical stuff seems like it would be a
18:32
difficult long process and like you've just done
18:36
it so well so yeah Do you paint from references
18:41
or can you imagine it in your brain and just
18:43
put it on the paper or the canvas? Oh, the way
18:46
it starts is I have an idea in my head of the
18:49
thing that I want. And then the next step would
18:52
be to go on Pinterest and scroll for hours. Yes.
18:57
Yeah. Find references that I put together in
19:01
Photoshop or one app to create whatever I want.
19:04
And then from there, I now have an idea. make
19:08
a sketch and then i go to to the canvas and try
19:12
it out yeah i i i love that i like uh so one
19:17
of your things that i've seen uh from when we
19:20
were looking through your ipad was you're almost
19:22
fashion like designs that you've been doing you
19:25
you're saying that something along the lines
19:27
i don't want to blow up your spot here but you're
19:29
saying you wanted to do about a hundred characters
19:31
before you were to release something like that
19:33
and uh designs of the clothes and that stuff
19:37
so are you just using you're using like sort
19:39
of a baseline model and like small subtle movements
19:43
but your clothes are are the main focus of the
19:46
character or does it all work as one um so with
19:49
that the sort of fashion um My mom loves fashion.
19:54
She studied fashion. That's how I got into loving
19:59
looking presentable and stuff like that. I follow
20:04
this artist on Instagram. His name is Slowboy.
20:07
He draws his illustrations. He draws illustrations
20:11
of himself and his friends in the fashion industry.
20:15
It's more about the outfit. I was like, wow,
20:18
that's so nice. I love fashion. And I would like
20:21
to make something like that. And it looked like
20:24
he used his pastel pencils. Yes. And it just
20:27
looked so good. So I was like, oh, I need to
20:30
do my take on that. And my idea was to create
20:35
characters that look like me. So when I drew,
20:37
I'm not, it's not a self -portrait, but I know
20:39
how I look like. So I'm just like trying to make
20:42
a portrait of myself, but it's not going to look
20:43
like me because I'm not trying to. to create
20:45
my face but it's going to look similar right
20:47
you want to see the beard the hair and whatnot
20:49
so i started documenting my outfits and outfits
20:53
that i like yes and my goal was okay when i reach
20:58
100 uh stretches maybe i can put out a book with
21:01
all of those uh uh outfits uh and and and also
21:07
i thought about just like sharing my love for
21:10
fashion and just showing men how to dress yes
21:13
i think that that i i'd 100 want that on my coffee
21:17
table yeah i i've i've i've thumbed through some
21:22
of them before and i was just like this is so
21:25
nice like it is a quite mikey if you haven't
21:27
seen him has quite an eclectic taste and it is
21:30
it reminds me of like this sort of style of almost
21:33
like the 40s sometimes to like 40s to 70s like
21:37
you have just modern it's a vintage yeah not
21:40
modern just a beautiful vintage look yeah yeah
21:43
um when you print this book can it be a large
21:46
book so i could cut them out and make you like
21:47
fight yourself or like yeah they'll be bigger
21:52
than my head yeah so yeah definitely they can
21:57
definitely fight each other we will make action
21:59
characters for sure we can make a stop motion
22:01
animation yeah yeah yeah for sure absolutely
22:06
yeah that was the idea and also that's how i
22:09
got into painting from that good painting yeah
22:13
as well as being an awesome artist so you've
22:18
been also you've also started dabbling into uh
22:21
teaching kids like i think you i don't know if
22:24
it was a one -time thing but the last time we
22:25
talked it was once or twice you were showing
22:27
kids how to draw sort of in your style which
22:30
i thought was really cool because you had a whole
22:32
class of kids who basically were pumping out
22:34
stuff that looked like quite like uh like pretty
22:38
advanced for that age group so yeah So somebody
22:43
reached out to me about the idea, somebody that
22:46
works in the French school here in Halifax, and
22:50
they wanted to have a painting workshop with
22:52
their students. So I told them right away, I
22:56
was like, I love the idea. I would do it for
22:58
free. I would do it for free. If you guys pay
23:02
me, great. But I would do it for free because
23:04
I just never had the opportunity to do that.
23:07
Getting the experience to pass on knowledge because
23:10
I feel I'm a thinker. I mean, I think a lot and
23:13
I love sharing what I know. So we had sessions,
23:19
like five sessions, and they would like, I would
23:22
walk them through the whole painting process.
23:25
But before that, I watched a few tutorials about
23:28
how to do a workshop, how to teach a painting
23:34
class. And also I created a full breakdown of
23:39
all of the steps in the session using Child GPT.
23:42
I was like, OK, create a full breakdown of everything
23:45
that I have to do, when I have to do that. And
23:48
I had a full breakdown of all the tasks that
23:51
I had. So, yeah, that was so good because the
23:56
kids were so excited, so happy to do that, to
24:00
create those paintings. And my idea was to, I
24:03
knew that they were 10 years old. I knew that
24:05
they can't replicate paintings at the level of
24:08
detail that I do. But it was about like the painting
24:13
is like speaking and everybody has a voice, right?
24:17
It doesn't have, I don't have to speak like Lord
24:19
Wayne because I'm not Lord Wayne, right? I don't
24:23
have to sound like somebody, nobody else. So
24:25
I told him, whatever you're going to, whatever's
24:26
going to come out of this is you. That's your
24:28
voice. And that's how art is supposed to be.
24:30
That's how you find your foothold in art. Like
24:34
you have to go from whatever is natural that
24:38
you're creating and it doesn't have to be realistic.
24:41
There's no standard for like, oh, it has to be
24:42
good. It has to be this way. So you do whatever
24:45
you want. And that's where we went. And everybody
24:47
had their own unique painting that looked like
24:50
whatever they came up with. But they all looked
24:53
like faces, right? Yes. Portraits. Yeah. they
24:57
were very legible from what i've seen so yeah
25:00
i i think that we should definitely put it up
25:03
like a full little kind of bar and section because
25:05
i'd love for people to actually see how legible
25:08
it was for kids of the age of 10 to be able to
25:11
make something so legible and i think it's great
25:13
that like you're doing something with these guys
25:15
at such a pivotal age in their moment and like
25:18
this might have been their first taste of doing
25:20
something where they're like i'm good at this
25:22
this is cool so you could have woken up like
25:24
the future generations of like the next artist
25:27
yeah and i think that's so important for you
25:30
to be doing and they had an exhibition in the
25:33
other school of everybody came to see it because
25:37
it was during a black history month so yeah yeah
25:40
school got to see the the school the the dean
25:43
of the school and everybody was very impressed
25:45
by them nice yeah that's awesome yeah and at
25:49
such a pivotal age you know you mentioned you
25:51
had kind of stopped making art in your teenage
25:54
years and that is such a normal thing for most
25:57
artists young artists going to older artists
26:00
to stop making art because it's at that age where
26:03
they become aware that their peers can be very
26:06
critical of themselves. So a lot of people will
26:08
stop making art and a lot of people don't go
26:10
back to it. So for you to have found it again
26:13
is amazing. And then for you to be that mentor
26:17
for these younger people of like, Hey, I'm an
26:19
adult artist and you can make cool art. That's
26:22
so cool. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's a great full
26:26
circle moment. like i know when you you mentioned
26:29
to me you were like it's something that you would
26:31
want to pass on to like it's not just for you
26:34
to have and for people who do buy and collect
26:36
your art to have but like you can make something
26:38
that's so personal to like your your your your
26:42
children right your child yeah for sure yeah
26:44
yeah yeah it's a uh it's like he might pick out
26:48
like one that's their absolute favorite right
26:51
like yeah yeah yeah it's uh actually just to
26:56
add to that yeah when i paint i think about like
26:58
how am i going to be remembered right so i think
27:01
about my kids as well i have one son now yeah
27:04
yeah i think about uh like how it's like i'm
27:08
planting little messages in this painting so
27:10
they're like they're like little chambers of
27:12
ideas nice yeah so light layers layers into your
27:18
art the parfait yes absolutely okay yeah Who
27:26
have been some of your favorite artists or the
27:28
artists that have influenced you the most? You
27:30
kind of mentioned your mother. I don't know if
27:32
you were going to mention her in this answer.
27:34
So my mom was more into fashion. So I think she
27:38
influenced my sense of style. But when it comes
27:41
to artists, painters, I would say, especially
27:45
painting, the greats. Da Vinci and Michelangelo.
27:51
Those are definitely the first people I looked
27:52
at. But I found this guy called Jacques -Louis
27:56
David. Jacques -Louis David is a French painter,
28:00
I believe, of the neoclassical era. And I draw
28:05
a lot of inspiration from the way he paints,
28:08
but personalized. Like I make it, I still use
28:11
it as my own voice, but it's the way people are
28:14
positioned and the lighting. It's kind of like...
28:17
influenced heavily by that artist uh his name
28:20
is jack louis uh sorry jean louis jack david
28:25
or whatever in a different order but three first
28:29
names hey welcome to the club my name is josiah
28:32
jonathan hurley good you're the sometimes your
28:36
parents are a little regal that's fine yeah yeah
28:39
so it's that guy and it's another guy uh called
28:43
andrews zorn I believe he's from Sweden or somewhere
28:47
up there. And his paintings were just very, very
28:51
influential to me. And also William Bouguereau.
28:56
I think he's French. He's also a big, big influence.
29:00
Also, Jean -Michel Basquiat is also a very big
29:04
influence. I love him, even though I don't like
29:06
him, but just his vibe. The idea of not going
29:09
to art school, I feel like I'm very close to
29:11
him in that way. no that's that's great you got
29:15
seem to have the very strong to the french connection
29:17
yes yeah you kind of just get into like the grooves
29:22
and what you know and you see you're like this
29:24
is what i like you know that's cool like that
29:27
you can get those things and sort of recognize
29:29
and be like oh i see this style i like this style
29:32
but i'm not gonna you're not copying it but you're
29:34
basically making it truly your own like yeah
29:38
you know like i started off when i was drawing
29:40
um Two weeks ago. Yeah, exactly. Two weeks ago.
29:44
Like still, I'm still in that infancy stage of
29:47
basically when I like, I see an album cover.
29:49
i'm like i want to kind of just kind of do something
29:51
along those lines and go with it like at first
29:54
it was do exactly what the album cover is and
29:57
then after that you're like okay i'm gonna take
29:58
something from this album cover like i would
30:01
take things like a ufc fighter and then i would
30:03
make an alien and a monkey and just put those
30:05
guys and superimpose them in my mind to draw
30:08
over that type of stuff so like i think it's
30:10
it's cool to just sort of the more you look the
30:13
more you're going to find there And it's such
30:15
a good time to be an artist now because there
30:18
have been so many different styles to borrow
30:21
from and to be influenced by. And the internet.
30:24
You have the internet. And we can literally look
30:27
up almost every single painting in the world.
30:32
Totally. Exactly. The internet is a big thing.
30:37
It's really, especially when you are freestyle
30:41
or whatever, or you didn't go to art school,
30:43
the internet is the school. Big time. And I think,
30:50
and you know, I did end up going to art school,
30:52
but I'm not a huge advocate of art school. You
30:54
get to really cater your education and what you
30:57
want to learn when you're self -taught. So you
31:00
get to find out your own technique. Yes, you're,
31:02
you know, boring. information from youtube or
31:05
whatever but you're really sticking to your own
31:07
authenticity and i think that's so important
31:10
to have that authentic voice in your art and
31:14
maybe that's my art therapist biased opinion
31:16
but i think that's just what make art good maybe
31:20
i don't know yeah i think that's i agree yeah
31:23
that's what makes art unique you gotta have your
31:25
own fingerprint yeah um do you have any sort
31:30
of advice for artists who might be starting out
31:34
as artists or maybe struggling as an artist not
31:37
knowing what to make or um starting out well
31:41
i would say um first like it's good to to practice
31:46
a lot to get the technique down to understand
31:48
what you want to do and also to be free in that
31:52
understanding your own handwriting but in art
31:56
you gotta understand what's unique to you um
32:00
if you like drawing boxy characters get better
32:03
at genetic toxic characteristics. So like really
32:05
understanding that sense of originality. And
32:09
also it's important to know art history. I find
32:13
I did a lot of research on art history. I listened
32:15
to podcasts on art history. I find a lot of self
32:18
-taught artists don't know that. And it's very
32:20
important to know that because when you know
32:23
art history, you can position yourself in history,
32:26
right? You can understand what path you're taking.
32:30
what I live for because art is about when you
32:33
think about the cavemen we remember what they
32:35
used to be around them because you see those
32:37
drawings right that's what it's about it's about
32:40
like the people whenever you pass away whenever
32:42
we all pass away like we have to it's like art
32:46
has to represent whatever was happening in our
32:48
time that's why I think it's important to understand
32:51
the history of art to really know where you're
32:54
going with your art I think that made sense,
32:58
right? Yeah, no, that was beautiful. 100%. And
33:01
it almost sounds like you're talking about how
33:05
art can be this visual journal of like reflection
33:08
of self, but also this representation of the
33:11
world around you and what, you know, the vibe
33:14
check for everything around you, which is so
33:16
cool and so true in my experience. Yeah. with
33:21
your history like you know you started off as
33:23
a kid you were doing what was the most important
33:25
thing to you dragon ball z you get a little older
33:27
you're like okay the next thing that's important
33:29
to me i like you know it's like you got 50 cent
33:32
and uh you got 50 cent and uh who was it whatever's
33:40
important to you at the time it's it is writing
33:42
your own chapters it's a diary for those who
33:45
can't like yeah myself as a guy with dyslexia
33:48
I found it's nice to be able to kind of paint
33:50
or draw my own story. And it's something because
33:54
I've always, I've never been able to have a journal.
33:56
And having the means to now kind of tell things
34:00
from my past in pen has been really cathartic
34:04
for myself. I'll take drawings from things from
34:07
the army or characters and people that I've met
34:09
throughout my life. And the more that I've been
34:12
drawing, the more interesting people I've been
34:14
meeting that have been just organically popping
34:17
in and out of my life. Like I find people just
34:20
sort of, they see you're writing in a cafe or
34:23
drawing. People kind of want to see what's going
34:25
on. And then that allows you and opens up doors
34:27
to like avenues of conversations that would just
34:30
generally never happen. So like, yes, I fully
34:34
am on board with that. drawing your own past
34:38
and history and it's cool to just sort of cap
34:40
it off and be able to say this is what happened
34:42
to me this is where i was and the fact that you
34:45
keep evolving it will eventually show like your
34:47
whole thing because we will go into the ground
34:49
eventually but it's a cool way to caption your
34:51
story yeah i also like hearing of the evolution
34:56
of your art process you know going from drawing
34:59
um getting some digital trying paint going back
35:03
and like switching back and forth and I'm curious
35:07
if you have any hopes for the future of new mediums
35:11
you want to try? Right now, I'm loving oil pastels.
35:18
I think I will try those. I will try that, but
35:23
I think it will be my primary medium. I will
35:28
try oil pastels because I like how it looks,
35:30
the texture of it. Also, I think it's quick to
35:36
make. I still have to kind of figure it out because
35:39
it's also confusing to understand how to make
35:42
a nice drawing with oil pastels. As of now, I'm
35:45
still trying to figure it out. I've tried a few
35:48
things that are just short. But painting is like,
35:54
I think now I'm so in love with painting that
35:59
I think it's gonna be my main for the next decade
36:03
at least. I can see that. This fashion book,
36:09
you were speaking of it. Were those drawings
36:12
or is that? Those are digital illustrations,
36:16
but I'm using a pastel pen thing. I mean, so
36:21
you select the kind of like a tool you want,
36:24
even though it's digital. So I'm using pastel
36:26
on the iPad. So it's like pastel on the lines
36:29
or pastels. Very cool. Do you have any of these
36:35
images posted on the internet? Or are we going
36:38
to have to wait? I posted a few on a secret page.
36:45
Because people know of it. But I don't think
36:50
John knows of it. I have a page. I decided to
36:52
post on this page that I started. It's called,
36:54
it's a French word. Sorry, it's too much French
36:58
in my life. Frito still. Pretty tall still. I'm
37:03
writing it in the chat now. Like that. And I
37:06
thought I was in that document, all of the drawings,
37:09
but then I changed my mind. So now I only have
37:11
four illustrations, I believe, posted on there,
37:13
on that page on Instagram. And it's just living
37:17
there. But I'm not posting much because I have
37:20
about 20 illustrations right now. Oh, wow. Yeah.
37:23
Sorry, 21 again? 22, yeah. Right now I have 22.
37:28
Okay. When did you start that? started it like
37:31
a year ago okay okay it's pretty solid you've
37:34
been busy yeah in one year to make 20 pieces
37:38
22 pieces yeah so when i have time i i draw one
37:43
and then maybe the next month i'll join another
37:45
one just to it's kind of like i'm thinking okay
37:50
let's let's uh stitch and out to dress. Those
37:55
who don't know, just to show what's out there,
37:59
what are the diverse styles you can try. I think
38:04
the fashion choices you choose are accessible
38:07
too. That's the thing that's important from what
38:10
I've seen from your drawings and examples. It's
38:13
not hard, but they're simple pieces, right? Yeah.
38:16
And it's basically like if you have that diagram
38:20
and you go to... I don't want like smirches.
38:23
I love value village because you have every style
38:26
thing there. You still don't thrifting it. You
38:29
could either do absolute high end if you got
38:31
the budget for it. But if you know you're balling
38:33
on a budget, like most of us, times are tough
38:35
and you could take that and you can really be
38:38
like. help yourself fit with that sort of style
38:41
and that mold and i think it's it's yeah it's
38:44
a great way to represent yourself you can even
38:46
just buy fabric i bought some this is a blanket
38:49
that i got from the thrift and i'm cutting it
38:52
up and i made shorts and i sent nice josiah john
38:55
a picture earlier but like four dollars for the
38:59
fabric yeah i do yeah you so you know how to
39:03
make clothes you make clothes yeah that was I've
39:07
been sewing for maybe like 20 years now. That's
39:09
kind of how we met because I got the space parachute
39:13
job because I knew how to sew. Yes. And I did
39:17
next to no sewing. I think there were two days
39:20
where I sewed and they're like, ah, we don't
39:22
want you to do this anymore. What am I doing
39:24
here then? Yeah. They lied to you. They kind
39:27
of bait and switched you. They're like, yeah,
39:29
it's a sewing job. And then Linnea and I ended
39:32
up, yeah, taking it. making space parachutes
39:35
for a better part of a year and uh yeah it was
39:38
it was good times it was making space parachutes
39:42
the same way you make a table from ikea like
39:44
yeah we got the parts and we put them together
39:48
yeah yeah that's nice yeah it was definitely
39:53
fun and interesting spot yeah made for some good
39:55
stories yeah 100 that's really that's really
39:59
good yeah so um so As our podcast is kind of
40:04
about art and healing, do you have any, you know,
40:08
have you made the connection between art and
40:10
healing? Do you find making art healing for you?
40:13
I don't know. You can say no, it's okay. No,
40:19
I just, let me, sorry, what am I saying? I just
40:23
need to think about it because I never recognized
40:27
the healing properties of art, right? I understand
40:29
that expressing that can be healing. But I haven't
40:33
really experienced with that. My experience with
40:36
art, I guess when I paint, I kind of like I'm
40:41
able to zone out. So I think that that's that's
40:45
an ailing tool that can be used because when
40:48
I so I like I've never done any drugs. Right.
40:53
But I know of the experience of doing drugs and
40:57
when people talk about it and I kind of like
40:58
feel like when I paint, it's the same. Because
41:01
I'm really like spaced out, right? I'm really
41:04
like in a different place. I don't even see the
41:07
time taken. And I finish up and I'm like, five
41:09
hours passed. So I think that's healing, but
41:13
I haven't experienced this myself to say for
41:15
sure, but I think that could be the healing factor
41:18
there. What do you think? Yeah, we talk about
41:23
that in almost every other episode, that flow
41:25
state that we get into when we're making art
41:27
and how time just... time, the world, like, you
41:31
know, there's so much stuff going on, but when
41:34
you're painting, nothing else matters. Nothing
41:36
else is real. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. I think,
41:41
yeah, I think that would be it. I think it's
41:44
definitely part of a, it's for sure a healing
41:47
property and it's helped me in that, in that
41:51
sort of regards. But I like the fact like, like
41:53
Linnea just said, the flow state, just such an
41:55
important and cool zone to get into. to just
41:58
give yourself that time to recharge and just
42:00
do something like that. So, yeah. Yeah. And also
42:03
the ability to process emotions while painting,
42:07
I think would be a really good thing for healing.
42:11
I may have healed passively without knowing,
42:13
but I think that when you paint, you really get
42:17
to think about what you paint, like you really
42:19
get to break it down. And I'm learning that it's
42:22
kind of the same process as healing. I think
42:26
it's definitely a great way to, it is a great
42:28
way to just naturally, you've just naturally
42:30
been healing or, you know, just recharging like
42:32
that. I didn't realize that some of my coping
42:36
mechanisms were lifting weights. That was something
42:39
that I used to use to de -stress or debunk myself.
42:42
And then I found out later on that cold plunging
42:44
was also along the same lines. And then, so I
42:46
do cold plunging, lift weights. And with that,
42:49
it's a really good way to keep yourself on track.
42:54
I agree. I think I may not be aware of my coping
42:58
mechanisms. You're just naturally healthy. That's
43:02
awesome. When I listen to music, especially sad
43:11
songs, they really get me into painting mode.
43:17
Expressing sadness through art is really a thing
43:19
that I was doing for a very long time. I think
43:24
they said the same thing last time we were on
43:27
the episode with each other. A sad song can really
43:29
help you do a lot of good stuff on the campus,
43:32
I guess. yeah and really like lock into that
43:34
feeling and hold on to it yeah and one thing
43:37
that i admire about josiah john is that john
43:42
sire there we go he is such a move through things
43:46
he's such a fighter and i can be a little avoidant
43:50
but whatever um but just his like no we're gonna
43:54
go through this head on i was like whoa calm
43:56
down sir but it's like oh maybe i have something
43:59
to learn from this guy So yeah, respect. Definitely,
44:04
I remember we made some t -shirts where we screen
44:07
printed them, right? And John was like, yeah,
44:11
let's go, let's do it. I was like, no, I don't
44:14
know what we're doing. He was like, okay, let's
44:16
just do it. And I was like, okay, let's go for
44:18
it. Yeah, I love those shirts. I still rock them
44:21
out. They're beauty. Which shirts are they? It's
44:25
comfy tees. They were a little line. Yeah, they
44:28
were a line that we... i gave you i guess so
44:31
for when you were um putting out your art they
44:34
could just kind of sit along there and people
44:36
could kind of help and support with uh with a
44:38
t -shirt that you basically designed and i screen
44:41
printed oh collaboration yeah it was yeah it
44:45
was a real beauty and i i that's one of my top
44:48
tier favorite shirts by far we definitely will
44:53
get a pick of that we got some great stuff yeah
44:56
yeah and those shirts really they really look
44:58
good they're really up to up to standards of
45:01
good choice thank you thank you i uh i look forward
45:05
to doing some more we can just yeah sure always
45:08
i'd always love to do another collab and just
45:10
make something fun and fresh um how do you find
45:14
time to paint i feel like you have a busy life
45:17
you've got a job a son that's a lot you know
45:24
it's yeah my life is super busy right now uh
45:27
i don't know i'm doing it but So I would say
45:31
it started with painting, drawing after school,
45:33
and then painting or drawing after class at university.
45:37
Now, after work, I'm with a kid. Whenever I find
45:42
time, really, after work or on the weekends,
45:45
because I'm also doing a master's right now online
45:48
and part -time. Do you live in a different timeline
45:53
where you have multiple hours in a day? What
45:56
are you doing for your master's? I'm doing a
45:59
master's in data science. Okay, that sounds...
46:02
Not even related, but awesome. Ooh, I get so
46:05
many visuals when you say that, because there's
46:07
a way to visually represent data as well. I can
46:11
see that. I can see you doing that well. There's
46:14
a lot of connection to creativity. So there's
46:18
a lot of... Data science is big on problem solving,
46:21
and creativity is big on problem solving. So
46:25
creativity is problem solving. bam and that's
46:28
the way the connection is and you can also represent
46:31
data through visuals and that's the best way
46:33
to understand it um i realized it over the years
46:37
and i was like wow okay so creativity is really
46:40
just problem solving i like that oh 110 i think
46:45
when you're in new spaces and you're like oh
46:47
we have this problem you're like okay i i guess
46:50
we got to kind of try and get over this one uh
46:53
yeah i think through the silk screening process
46:56
of like making t -shirts there were i had no
46:58
idea what i was doing when i first stepped into
47:00
that world and i didn't realize how many hurdles
47:03
i was going to have to go over i was like yeah
47:04
you just put paint through the screen it goes
47:06
on the shirt and that's the end of it i was like
47:08
no i had no idea i'd have to learn about photo
47:10
emulsion uh like learning how to cast and make
47:13
molds and like how to properly line these things
47:16
up everything from lining a t -shirt up to a
47:18
scraping of the paint it just all takes thousands
47:21
of hours of effort just to make these one moment
47:24
or t -shirt or something in line. So I can, creativity
47:28
is hard and it's not for the faint of heart.
47:31
You will fail a million times to just get that
47:33
smallest of successes. And you're going to be
47:36
okay with failing. Oh yeah. Failure is a big
47:40
part of it. Just check the ego and be like, yep,
47:42
this is, this is going to kind of suck. All right.
47:44
And then we just kind of roll on through. It's
47:46
growing pains. It's learning. It's icky, but
47:49
the reward is there. If you're willing to sit
47:53
through the ick. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I feel like
47:56
we talked about that in another podcast, but
47:58
it's all blending into one now. Sorry. It's a
48:07
recap. Yeah. Yeah. It's a running theme, but
48:12
it's needed. It's needed if you're going to keep
48:15
growing as an artist. You will have to fail and
48:19
trip up and start again. I love that. Any other
48:26
points of your story that you want to share?
48:30
I would say that once I kind of felt comfortable
48:35
painting, I decided to pursue it professionally.
48:40
in a way yeah i'm trying to see what i can accomplish
48:44
how far i can go and if i can do the things that
48:48
the people that inspire me have done those artists
48:52
that i mentioned earlier so i've been exhibiting
48:56
i had a show last year my first show in a non
49:00
-profit gallery downtown i i got to have a painting
49:06
at the garden of scotia as well That's a great
49:09
thing, by the way. Yeah. Right now, one of the
49:13
biggest, I'm attending the Toronto Art Doors
49:16
Art Fair this July. And that's the biggest art
49:19
thing I've ever done with real art people. Art
49:24
person, but art people. And that just feels like,
49:29
it feels so great because I'm near, like, I'm
49:32
going to be around some artists that are really
49:34
good, that take this seriously. And just like
49:39
feeling like I've reached that level makes me
49:43
feel really good. Nice. You've crossed another
49:47
threshold to basically be in that arena. Yes,
49:50
exactly. So is this a space to sell your art?
49:56
Yes. So that's where we're going to be meeting
50:00
sellers, collectors. and anybody who is interested
50:04
in art. So people come to fairs to just buy art.
50:07
And that's part of learning how to paint, draw.
50:11
I had to figure out how to make money in art.
50:13
And that's how we make money in art. You have
50:16
to go to the fair because that's where the collectors
50:19
are coming. And art is a thing. It's kind of
50:23
like a luxury in a bit because people don't need
50:25
it to survive physically, right? They don't need
50:28
it. It's not like food. It's not like food, right?
50:33
If you don't have food, you're going to die.
50:34
If you don't see a painting, you may live. But
50:37
art is very ingrained in our humanity. So it's
50:43
hard to find people who want to buy art and pay
50:45
for it at the price that you are suggesting.
50:48
But when you come to the fair, everybody that
50:51
loves art comes together in a group. And girls
50:53
are like, we're going to buy art all together.
50:55
So that's cool. That's where you make the right
50:59
connections. That's where you meet the collectors.
51:01
That's where you meet the creators. So that's
51:04
where the art market thing happens. Oh, wow.
51:07
Very cool. So what's it called? When is it? And
51:11
where is it located? It's called the Toronto
51:14
Outdoor Art Fair. It's going to be on Nathan
51:18
Phillips Square. Yes. Right in the middle of
51:22
Toronto. And it's going to be over three days
51:28
from the 11th to the 13th. So I'll be out there
51:32
in a booth selling my paintings. That would be
51:35
great if any of our Toronto listeners could get
51:37
in there and be able to see and say hi to Mikey
51:39
and just help support Lopi. That would be just
51:43
wonderful. So you never know. That would be amazing.
51:46
How many paintings are you bringing? How are
51:49
you getting them there? So I'm bringing six paintings
51:54
and I'm shipping them to my sister who lives
51:57
in Toronto. Okay. And I'm just going to fly in
52:01
and let the painting show them because she's
52:03
a student there. And also I got a bursary from
52:06
them, a travel bursary that I give to select
52:09
artists. So they want to pay me back for my traveling.
52:12
Oh, hell yeah. Yeah, for my hotel. Shipping and
52:18
hotel shipping. Perfect, my man. Rightfully so.
52:23
We need to see more stuff like this out there.
52:27
Yeah. That's one of the most exciting things
52:31
I've ever done in art. I'm excited to see it,
52:34
man. There might be some of our listeners who
52:38
might not be able to afford your paintings. Do
52:40
you ever do prints or is it just paintings or
52:43
bust? I plan to do prints in the future. Right
52:48
now, I don't have any prints. And it's also because
52:54
I have a degree in economics. I understand demand
52:56
and supply. And I will only supply more if there's
53:01
more demand. And I understand the position of
53:06
art in the market, just the economy overall.
53:10
I understand that people buy car and buy food
53:13
and art after. the supply is based on all those
53:17
factors yeah so we could we could help people
53:21
could help supply if we make more t -shirts for
53:24
you you know i mean that way it's people are
53:28
walking around with your art on their back and
53:30
they can kind of see it so We still have a few
53:33
left for sure that we can just wrangle up and
53:35
throw your way and just do anything with it,
53:38
any colors, what you want. And it could be really,
53:40
really neat to see some people walk around with
53:42
your live art on their backs. We could do that,
53:45
them online. But I will be making limited edition
53:50
prints because I want people to have my work
53:53
as well. I want them to be able to collect it.
53:57
But I don't want to oversaturate the market because...
54:02
that one the more that may decrease the value
54:06
of the paintings i love that you're thinking
54:09
i have not taken any economics so you're really
54:13
thinking as an artist as an economic economist
54:17
economist yeah oh i love hearing that perspective
54:23
yeah yeah no no you're worth and know that like
54:27
you've put in thousands of hours to hit this
54:30
moment so i i'm glad keep keep the prices at
54:33
what they're at you're completely worth it so
54:35
somebody will come along thanks yeah yes so yeah
54:42
that's why that's what i've been up to is up
54:44
late absolutely perfect cool so yeah we'll Share
54:49
a link to your Instagram and we'll probably want
54:52
to share the info about the outdoor art fair.
54:55
We have 20 listeners in Toronto. So I hope all
54:59
20 of them go and see you and say hi. That would
55:03
be sweet. Yeah. It was so nice talking to you
55:06
today. I loved everything you mentioned and I
55:10
took notes and I'm stumbling to remember my favorite
55:12
parts. So yeah. Thanks for coming on. One last
55:18
question. One last little quick question. Just
55:20
because on the show, we have a playlist and we'd
55:24
love to add one cool song for sure. If you got
55:28
one. I sent a song to Linnea and it was a song,
55:35
I Love This Feeling by Nas. Okay. It's from his
55:39
album, Magic 3. And that song is like, when I
55:44
heard it, it just had everything I was thinking.
55:47
That's why I love that song. That's awesome.
55:50
Yeah, perfect. Last episode, we were suggesting
55:57
homework for our listeners. I want to give homework
56:01
to Josiah. Okay, let's do it. What's the homework?
56:04
I want you to draw one of our listeners as inspired
56:08
by... Oh, 100%. I think that would be so sweet.
56:11
But anyways, I don't know. We'll have to ask
56:14
them who wants to be drawn. Okay. So we'll figure
56:18
that out maybe how we're going to do that. You
56:19
can contact us on our Instagram page and we'll
56:21
try and figure it out who I can draw. Yeah. And
56:24
he'll do such a great job. Yeah. Have thick skin.
56:27
I'm not that great. You just have a unique style.
56:32
Yeah. Yeah. We love it. Right on. Okay. So thanks
56:36
everyone for joining us. Thank you so much, Mikey.
56:39
This is great. Thank you guys. And thanks for
56:42
having me. Very happy to have this conversation
56:45
with you guys. Yeah, it was great hearing your
56:48
story. Until next time, peace out. Bye -bye.