OLIVER HULL

Name: Oliver Hull
Age:18
Country: Australia
Website:www.oliverhull.com.au / www.hummachine.deviantart.com

At which age did you start creating art? And why do you feel compelled to create?
I started pretty young and drawing has been my best skill all my life really.
I first used drawing as a way to compete against my friends. You know boys pretty competitive. So we would go in competitions in the local newspaper and stuff , see who could win and also we would use it to fight against each other with force fields and lasers and robots and men with axes, but we would also do nice things like inventing computer game characters. That kind of thing happened pretty frequently until I was about 14 I drew zombies, then when I was 15 I started Illustrating posters and I discovered Graffitti artists like KRSN and I met Doug. Not until recently have really known why I draw, but i think its something like keeping a daily diary/ working things out from my life and my ideas about people and things, as I'm not eloquent enough to write them, but i dont think i would write them anyway i like drawing more.

What are you inspired by? And who do you look up to?
I was inspired by alot of popular artists such as graffiti artists and like soft drawn girlie pictures , but that seems boring now, but still evident in my work. I've been seeing things in my life which I find more beautiful more like my messy room and the layering of sticks in the Australian bush because the lines are awkward, Also over cropped photos and atmosphere and mannered things. Personal symbols which gain more meaning as you see them, when used in different contexts despite Munch having said that an artist who relies upon personal symbols is a bad one or something along those lines . Having said that I do look up to alot of artists particularly friends, as I guess I understand more because I know them, like Holly Coopers drawings and photos. they seem to reflect the relationship between emotion and history and how it creates nostalgia and beauty. thats pretty cool. I also like outsider artists like Daniel Johnston and Henry Darger, because there lives are so intense. the work seems to be far richer and because they are really dedicated.

Which influential artist would you like to ask for advice?
I would ask a Daniel Clowes because hes a brilliant draftsman and writer. i fucking love his comics fuck yes. I would ask him about brush techniques and for his essay on brush and ink and also on writing and illustration.

If you had to put up one piece of artwork on your wall and stare at it for a year, who would it be by and why?
I would put Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Angelo Bronzino because I love the duality between the themes and the beauty of the piece, also how croweded the compostions are and the girl in the background on the right is possibly my favourate thing i have seen in an artwork for a long time. its so twisted and awkward and her expression is like "so?" . its pretty good.

Tell us about your creative process.
well It depends if I have a Brief for an illustration or something. ill think for a while, make some notes, or ill get an idea and do the drawing and finish it as fast as i can. I will try to draw as many figures and as much line as i can when thats done i colour.

Do you ever find weird connections between life and art?
Yeah all the time. I think it seeps in and life and art become the same thing when you open up. i used to be all cagey and think no thats wrong, but yeah thats ebbing .

As an artist, are you Technical or passionate?
Im passionate. I can't be technical in anything. im the same in every area - messy and wiggly. i like the taste of my food like that i dress like that, and speak like that.

How do you determine when a work is finished? Or is it ever finished?
when i see it and go yeah thats good or you get that tingle in the middle of your head and it vibrates a bit and i can imagine if i was an animation it would have lines growing and shrinking and maybe a colour wheel and like other stuff maybe or you get the creative euphoric moment thats really good, but i could always do more on the drawing.

Do you think there are boundaries you would never cross in your art making?
Not pushing my own boundaries is one i think and like maybe doing stuff that doesn't feel honest to what i think I'm about.

What frightens you most about your art?
Stealing other peoples gardens and realising you have no garden and only slugs.

Do you have any magic cures for creative blocks?
I draw twice as much and get as frustrated as i can then i end up getting through it also going for walks and taking photos.

Do you dream about your artwork?
no I dream about weird stuff. last night i was living in a gym and i turned into harry potter and my girlfriend was hermione but she still looked the same and she saved me from some Slytherins and a chupacobra. I take alot of inspiration from dreams.

Which of your own works are you most proud of/ is most meaningful to you and why?
I don't really covet any of my drawings highly, but the collab I did with Holly Cooper has definitely the most meaning, as we did it on the way to the airport when she was going back home which was sad.

Which art mediums and brands do you prefer to use?
I dont really favour any brand but I like to use artline artist series fine liners and copic fine liners and any old pencils with varying shades and house paint and belton spraypaint.

What kind of art education do you have? Do you think it is important?
I have half of a semester of a diploma and like highschool and other not very much but yeah i really think it is the more i learn the more i understand i think its important for me and helps me organise my thoughts a bit more which are generally scattered but yeah I think its good to have, but not essential cos you know all the artists who don't have one who are fucking ace.

What kind of career do you ultimately want? And what kind of career do you think you'll end up having (or already have) realistically?
I want to have like multiple being a really good illustrator/fine artist would be great / owning a magazine/shop/gallery would be cool but realistically I probably will have a part time job for ages and spend my days off pushing my art goods on teh STREET!.

Is your family supportive of your art? Who influenced and nurtured your creativity most?
yeah they are really supportive there all "do what you love because i didn't so you should" which is really cool.

Which direction do you see your art heading in the future?
Larger and better painted i would like to have mad oil painting skills and combine all the binary opposites i can think off into a bit jumble piece of flotsam and jetsam and people and characters and more collabs and jewellery and t shirts.

Who are some of your heroes outside of the visual art stream?
Albert Camus, Milan Kundera,Moot, Rob Poulter and Daniel Johnston and David Bryne.