• Full name: Simon Goinard Phelipot
• Age: 26
• Country: France (Orsay)
• Profession: Illustrator | Art director
• Website: Resonance-Art.com

It’s taken some time for you to feature in our interview series seeing the enormous amount of work you’ve been facing lately. Can you show us some recent works and the story behind each of them?

Sure, I’d love to. The painting below represents Amon, a character from an animated short which is currently under production. The story is based on the idea of ‘travel through matter’ and consists of a series of portraits like this one.

This is the cover for the second episode of the Ma’at comic book series published in France.

Chrestomathy, a cover done for a book collective of some really nice artists.

What are the 3 key words or themes which you want to express through your art?

Sensualism, Matter and Tension between abstraction and figuratism.

If not an artist, what job would you have?

It could have been nice to have Socrates or Epikuros‘ job in the Agora.

What should every beginning artist definitely (not) do?

You should try to know who you are, and should not try to get a style, you are your style, just be yourself.

How long does it take to create one piece of art?

A good piece of Art : a life.

Is there anything bizarre or weird which helps you to be creative? e.g. mud baths?

Chateau Figeac or Chateau la Tour (all good St-Emilion wines in fact…)

If you had to choose: color or form?

You know this question is just as masochistic as choosing to cut your arms or your legs,right?

Which art tools would you take with you when moving to the moon?

My mind i think.

Favourite book?

On the Nature of Things by Lucretius.

Who’s been a great inspiration to you and your work?

Kandinsky, for his visionary mind and for the lucidity of his work.

• Full name: Guy Sargent
• Age: 43
• Country: England
• Profession: Photographer
• Website: portfolio at re-title.com

Let’s start with an image which is strikingly beautiful.

Yes, this image was taken in Venice and is simply called ‘Venice in fog’ (2007). It is currently on show in the 2009 ‘Summer Exhibition’ at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

A man of few words, let’s dive into some random questions. What are the 3 key words or themes which you want to express through your art?

Time, Peace and Contemplation.

If not an artist, what job would you have?

Carpenter.

What should every beginning artist definitely (not) do?

Don’t believe in other peoples opinions or thoughts – go your own way, trust yourself!

How long does it take to create one piece of art?

A lifetime or one second, this cannot be defined.

Is there anything bizarre or weird which helps you to be creative? e.g. mud baths?

Driving hundreds of miles staring into space …

If you had to choose: color or form?

Form.

Which art tools would you take with you when moving to the moon?

A stick to draw in the dust, you could cover the surface in drawings and they would never blow away! Imagine that…

Favourite book?

The Little Book Of Inner Space by Stafford Whiteaker.

Who’s been a great inspiration to you and your work?

Diego Velazquez

More info about Guy Sargent can be found here.

• Full name: Pomme Chan
• Age: 28
• Country: Originally from Bangkok, Thailand. Now live and work in London, UK.
• Profession: Illustrator / Typographer
• Website: www.pommepomme.com

Before we dive into some cheesier questions … You’ve recently made name with a project for Volkswagen. Can you tell us a little more?

Sure. You can find the animated versions of my work here. The brief and concept were pretty concrete so I knew what I had to do. It was great fun doing these designs as all of them are 100% hand-drawn. I just scanned them in and put them together on the computer. All the colors are real paint. We’ve done many revisons over time which means I had to redraw everything quite a few times. But that was a challenge I was glad to face to make the client happy.

They also printed these designs on the vans themselves. To be honest , I’ve never been a fan of putting stickers on cars but this turned out better than I thought it would. This project was a great merge of qualitative design with a commercial goal, I learned a lot from it.

Okay, let’s dive into some random questions. Which dead artist who has greatly inspired you would you want to meet if you could?

Salvador Dalí. His imagination has always amazed me. If I could meet him I’d like to hang out with him for a day.

What are the 3 key words or themes which you want to express through your art?

Secret, Geometric and Fun Fare. These 3 are all interesting themes for me. Sstrangely I’ve never used them just yet. I should really start doing some drawings with these words in mind.

If not an artist, what job would you have?

Hm … interesting question. Maybe the Interior Designer for which I graduated 7 years ago. Definitely something that’s got at least a little to do with Arts. I couldn’t imagine myself being an accountant or lawyer. I just hate text book and numbers …

What should every beginning artist definitely (not) do?

I always tell students that they shouldn’t rely too much on their computer. The problem with computers is that everyone has the same program and can use the same technique.

How long does it take to create one piece of art?

Depending on how much detail is required and on my mood. Some works can be beautifully finished within 2 days. Others take a week if I’m not really into it. But for commercial work it’s important to get it done before the deadline. I’ve never missed one, luckily!

Is there anything bizarre or weird which helps you to be creative? e.g. mud baths?

Dreaming. I know a guy who sleeps with a special small pillow and he draws or writes down what he dreamt right after he wakes up. This is how he developed a complete TV commercial once! My inspiration comes from dreaming.

If you had to choose: color or form?

Definitely Form. For me, once you get the form right, color is just the icing on top. Some works are even nicer just plain black and white.

Which art tools would you take with you when moving to the moon?

I’m obsessed with black ink and nice paper. So I take that everywhere with me. If I had to move to the moon , could I bring some water color, too?

Favourite book?

One and only: The Red Tree by Shaun Tan. Amazing children’s book that always makes me smile at the end. (YOU have to read it!)

Can you tell us the story behind some of your pieces?

Hide and Seek – Originally  Hide and Seek was commissioned by Topshop as a T-shirt design but they found it a little too dark for the concept. We ended up using other images which were totally different from this. Hide and Seek is my first of a few typography designs which I plan to do more of this year. About the concept – basically I was thinking of a game, Hide and Seek in a scary way (cf. Saw movie ). It’s a grown-up game that we all play in terms of man seeks woman, career, money, etc. But somehow we don’t always get what we want.

Let’s Fly Away – This was for an exhibition in San Francisco curated by a friend. It had to be something about ‘Escape’. For me, I think if I could escape I would fly away somewhere. I created each character with the shape of a bird in mind and gave them wings. I really enjoy doing this kind of pieces.

Queen Tree – I used to do typo A-Z experiments a long time ago but one day lost all my original artworks. I redrew this Q for my mailout (some time next week)  and my Art-Director (Darren Firth at www.madebysix.com) and I both agree that this is one of our favourites.  If you have a closer look at the Q, you’ll see there are some tree elements and wood textures.

For more info about Pomme Chan and her latest work, visit www.pommepomme.com.