Behind the scenes with Meep

We asked Meep some questions...

• How would you define your style?

I'd define my style as a mix of pop-art and surrealism. I'd say 95% of my work is derivative of some cartoon, some horror movie, some actor, musician/band, etc.

I like to take fun nostalgic feels and flip them, either through some kind of mash-up, or some silly, oftentimes immature, reimagining of the subject. 

• What’s your favorite technique?

My favorite technique? Wow... um... everything? Haha! Most of my work is digital, and with digital art I kind of switch up stuff when I get bored (I get bored a lot). With digital, lately, I've really been enjoying editing/manipulating images. I'll use Procreate to add color, repaint/draw in images, it's generally the same idea of most of my digital drawings (mash-ups, etc.) but attempting to play with a more photorealistic look to my work. Two of my favorite pieces I've made with this technique is recreating an Animorphs book cover with my Corgi, Billy, slowly turning him into a loaf of bread/a hotdog. 

• Who or what is your biggest inspiration/s?

My biggest inspiration is my little sister. When she was young she had the wildest imagination, I try to channel that level of imagination into what I do. Growing up, she was really into art, and so every chance I had to get her a present, I'd get her art supplies. I remember I got these huge rolls of paper from my old job, and gave them to her to sketch/paint on, and when I came back a few weeks later she had used up an entire roll! It was crazy stuff too! Sharkplanes ("It's a plane but it's a shark!"), weird scenes with so much going on in them (think Bosch's Triptych but done by a 6 year old), reimaginings of cartoons she liked. I could go off on a list that'd include Warhol, Basquiat, Ray Johnson, etc. but none of them hold a candle to my little sis.

• How did it all start?

Hmm... It all "started" as soon as I could hold a crayon. I've always loved drawing, making things. Meep (the name is actually inspired by my little sister), came about after a long hiatus from art, where I just felt there was something lacking in my life. I wanted to get back into art, and I chose one day to start throwing up handmade stickers, wheat pastes etc. around Madison, WI. Back then it was all physical art. Mostly street art. It wasn't until a few years later that my friend, Nathan, showed me an Ipad Pro for the first time and everything changed! That was about 7 years ago.

• Do you have a tip for those who are starting out?

My number one tip for artists is inspired by a Charles Bukowski quote, it's actually on his tombstone as well, haha, it simply reads "don't try". Now I think he meant something slightly different from what I've adopted it to mean. What "don't try" means to ME, as an artist, is, art is something you NEED to do to live. Breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping, ____ing, and "arting". You don't "try" to do those things. You just do them to live. You don't do those things in hopes of recognition, at least that shouldn't be the reason you do art. If you're doing art for money/recognition, you would probably have a better chance if you tried out for the NFL. I do art to work through the crazy messed up stuff in this world, it's therapy, and I simply hope that it can be a little therapy for the viewer. An escape, even for a second, from reality.

A less deep answer would be to get an Ipad Pro with 256 gb of space! Work your full-time job if you have one and then come home and stay up until 3 am creating, and repeat, because you have to. Ope! I got deep again.

• Favorite app/program? 

My favorite app for art is Procreate. I use it for 99% of my work (I use Adobe Draw for that other 1%). Unless this was a trick question, then obviously my favorite "app" is STICKERAPP!!! :P

Thank you Meep for your kind words and interesting interview, we will surely have more interesting conversations in the future. We at StickerApp will continue to provide intriguing small interviews here in the blog