- The Design View: Owen, how and when did you first get into illustration?
- Owen Freeman: Aside from drawing all the time as a kid, I think I made the first conscious effort to try to become a better draftsman after I got my first X-Men comic in elementary school. Illustration outside of comics wasn't even on my radar until probably my early twenties after working as a graphic designer and then really became my entire focus after leaving graphic design to study illustration full time at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.
- The Design View: How you would best describe your style of work?
- Owen Freeman: I've always found style to be a tricky term to self-anoint, but I've been told my body of work to date is filmic and dark. My approach to visual solutions in my work owes everything to the cinematic/melodramatic narratives in the comics, paintings, and movies that still continue to inspire me.
- The Design View: Please tell us a bit about your personal studio?
- Owen Freeman: I've been traveling a lot so my studio is fairly modular at the moment. The mainstays are a Macbook Pro laptop, a Moleskine sketchbook, several brushes and brush-pens and paper, a USB powered scanner, and a Cintiq.
- The Design View: Do you feel you get 100% freedom when creating work for clients, or do you have restrictions on what you can and can not do?
- Owen Freeman: It varies from project to project, but in general I still feel an exhilarating amount of freedom on most assignments, especially in the rough thumbnail/sketch phase when the sky is really the limit. It also helps for me to remember that we're really collaborating towards the same goals (the Art Director/Editor and myself) and what could be called "restrictions" are really more about best serving the job at hand than anyone trying to impede my freedom.
- The Design View: Where do you mostly get your inspirations from?
- Owen Freeman: As I mentioned above, comics and films have both been a constant source of narrative inspiration. Other illustrators and designers are always huge influences, traveling to new places can be inspiring, and mainly just keeping a sketchbook of drawings and ideas for drawings has become one of my biggest reservoirs of inspiration.
- The Design View: Do you have any advice to aspiring illustrators?
- Owen Freeman: Draw something every day, keep yourself excited about your own work and it will show.
- The Design View: What tools do you use for your work?
- Owen Freeman: Lately it's been a lot of brush and ink, I use a Kamei brushpen while traveling and Winsor Newton Series 7 brushes with FW Acrylic inks around the studio. Digitally I mainly work in Corel Painter for rougher work and Photoshop for finishes.
- The Design View: Favorite website(s)?
- Owen Freeman: Today's Inspiration - Illustration Mundo - Drawn - Learn Something Every Day - Grooveshark
- The Design View: Any words of wisdom you would like to share with us?
- Owen Freeman: One of the most important things I picked up in school was the importance of learning from finished pieces rather than laboring over their unfinished potential. In the words of the great Paul Rogers "Done is beautiful."
- For more information about Owen Freeman, please visit:
- http://www.owenfreeman.com/
Please note: The Design View would like to thank Owen Freeman for this interview. All work featured within this interview is copyrighted by Owen Freeman. The Design View has written permission from Owen Freeman to use the selected pieces for this interview. You may NOT copy or redistribute any of images within this interview without the written permission from Owen Freeman. For more information please contact: Owen Freeman
