Inside Sam Weber’s studio
by We caught up with New York-based artist Sam Weber recently to get the inside word on where most of his creativity is unleashed: his studio space. In regards to your workspace, what are the props for your daily inspiration? ‘I wouldn’t say there is anything specific, although I am fairly particular about where I like to work, and what sort of stuff I like to have around me. There are things that I look at often, a book of Max Ernst collages, one on Yoshitaka Amano, and a big stack of clippings from magazines and the Internet that I will periodically leaf through to get inspired’.
‘I do like to work with some music in the background. I don’t really have all that much artwork hanging up, mainly because of scarce wall space. Just having my materials lying around and some drawings underway is usually enough to get me motivated and working. Having a studio is a nice luxury’.
Are you usually working on a series of paintings or illustrations at a time, or do you work on one until it’s finished and then move on?
‘I wish I could work on only one thing at a time, but inevitably projects overlap and I find myself juggling many things at once. It’s unfortunately something that comes with being an illustrator. It’s less frustrating when it comes to my own work, as for the most part a deadline isn’t hanging over my head. I fantasize regularly about one day only working on one picture at a time, from start to finish. C’est la guerre’.
Is there a time of day in your studio when you generally feel most productive and creative?
‘I love early mornings, that is definitely my favourite time to work. I love starting early and getting into a project before the phone starts ringing and other things begin to demand my attention. I used to work a lot at night, but the early morning suits me much better I think’.
What’s your studio missing that it could do with right now?
‘A ping pong table and more plants’.
[photos by Reynard Li]
Tagged: New York artists, sam weber
- 9
- 3
RELATED
Random collaborations always come as a pleasant surprise. This time New York-based graffiti artist KAWS (aka Brian Donnelly) has joined forces with lavish beauty product manufacturer, Kiehl’s, in a bid to raise money for non-profit art initiative RxArt. KAWS’ design adorns an exclusive line of Kiehl’s skin moisturizers, with all proceeds benefiting RxArt’s mission to install art pieces in US hospitals.
Sam Weber’s Illustrated Lord of the Flies
Brooklyn-based artist Sam Weber recently collaborated with the Folio Society and the William Golding estate to create an illustrated edition of Golding’s classic novel, Lord of the Flies. Copies are currently available to Folio Society members only, but they’re still sure to sell quick. Read more
Illest of Ill illustration book
Those amazing illustration seniors from The Ringling School have outdone themselves with their beautifully designed book, Illest of Ill. The book was created with the intention of selling it to raise funds for their senior show. They contacted various illustrators and asked them to contribute an illustration based on the classic Gibson Girl or Arrow Shirt Man (myself included). The book includes some fantastic work from illustrators Sam Weber, Nathan Fox, George Pratt and Sterling Hundley, among so, so many others. Read more
Also by ZOLTON
Crimea X is the coming together of two offbeat, disparate characters, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Super Sonic Lovers, Maffia Sound System) and Jukka Reverberi from 90s Italian glam cult rockers, Giardini di Mirò, who have often have been compared with the sound of Mogwai, Arab Strap, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We asked them about their favourite music and they started with The Smiths song, Ask [listen below] ‘I saw them playing live on Italian TV. It was during the 80s when I was extremely young, and I’ve never stopped listening to this song’. Read the rest of Crimea X’s Secret Playlist.
I love the curated selection of abandoned swimming pool photos on Feature Shoot today, featuring work by Carlo Van de Roer and Albert Jodar, amongst others.
Win a set of Sony personal audio prizes
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (3)
JT said | 29 August, 2008
Your link to the photographer’s website is broken.
His name is Reynard Li, and the website is reynardli.com
Sam Weber — Lost At E Minor: For creative people said | 20 November, 2008
[...] some awesome new work up on New York-based illustrator, Sam Weber’s website, including this one above which is did for the Soulpepper Theatre. We asked him a little while back [...]
HAVE YOUR SAY
Miss Miza is a fine example of that breed of illustrator who lives as fully immersed in the world of graphic design as she does in illustration proper. It’s nice to see her taking her own approach to this camp, an exceedingly fresh way of utilizing the same familiar digital illustration tricks that, more often than not, leads to a heck of a lot of redundant illustration. Read more
Along with the greening of brown sites, this has to be one of the answers for a more eco future. To take a large piece of land, to maintain the bulk of it as it is naturally, and then to design a highly dense yet attractive living environment. Read more
I received a Kobe Beefcake t-shirt today and I’m already in meat-lover’s heaven. Who’d have thought all those funky shapes are actually cuts of meat? This new label from Kobe Japan is an insider’s (and meat-lover’s) treasure.
California-based artist Andrew Brandou draws from the children’s books, as well as the tripped-out, cult obsessed, disillusioned zeitgeist of the 70s when his early consciousness took shape. The storybook-ish quality of his works creates a sort of narrative of the tectonic shifts that have taken place in the psyche of an entire generation — anthropomorphic animals frolic in subtly Japanese-lacquer-inspired landscapes as gas-mask-wearing cops creep, grinning skulls loom, elevated freeways overwhelm the rising sun, and bloody murder scenes remain hidden just beyond the view of the paintings’ innocent subjects. Read more
Print Liberation is an exceptional Philadelphia-based creative visual agency whose website showcases a variety of deisgn styles, each immaculately executed. Read more
The very talented Jess Snow, the first video artist to be featured by Female Persuasion — the original site for provocative and political female artists — has created this ethereal short video for Lost At E Minor. We feel it. We love it. [see also the promo video Lifelongfriendshipsociety created for us]
Driven by a wide spectrum of influences, the music of Brass Bed moves easily through an eclectic mix of genres: from alt-country ballads and progressive rock hooks, to sticky-sweet, heart-felt lyrics, and dissonant experimental freak-outs. As some wise folk have noted, it’s kinda like a cross between The Beach Boys and The Flaming Lips. Now, how could that be a bad thing? We have two of their songs — Olivia [listen below] and Polar Bird — available for free download in the Music Download section in the third column of Lost At E Minor.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Karen Caldicott’s clay head models
British born, New York-based model maker Karen Caldicott has been making clay heads for all major US publications over the last decade. Read more
Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
Based around the iconic album cover, With the Beatles, this tee from Klaus Industries suggests that ‘the Beatles were not only ahead of their time, they were ahead of ours.’ Printed on American Apparel, we’re selling the t-shirt in our online store for just $30. Read more
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
Melissa Kojima - Artist in LA LA Land said | 8 August, 2008
I love Sam Weber’s work. It’s great to see some photos of his work space and to hear a little about his creative process. Thank you for sharing this.