Interview with Raewyn Haughton

Artist Raewyn Haughton shares with us a few of the wonderful things that go into the making of her delicate works

What is your name and where are you located
Raewyn Haughton, located in Melbourne Australia

Where did you learn your craft?
I studied applied design, graphic art and communication design. I tried to incorporate as much illustration in my design pieces as I could get away with during those design courses.

Tell us about the appeal of hand to pencil/pen and paper?
I love to draw, especially after being behind a computer screen all day at work. Paper smells nicer and doesn’t burn my eyes like the screen does. My favourite medium is a blue biro. I love that such a common pen can produce surprisingly successful results in shading while not being considered a proper art tool. Also in general I feel like I have created something special when I hand draw pictures which are one offs as oppose to when I create something solely from the computer which is easily reproducible and not so organically created.

From some of your early drawings there is sense of a retro gamer/samurai influence, what were some of your hobbies at this time?
Well I did replay Zelda Ocarina of Time a few years ago on the N64 during a break between courses over summer. I know for sure that some of my thoughts from that translated into my drawings because I love Zelda and nintendo 64 in general. I am not sure about the samurai influence, that may just come from my fascination with Asian food packing.

What part if any do film and music play in the creative process for you and can you name some of your favourite bands/filmmakers?
I love awkward and disturbing films so I am greatly inspired by John Waters and his filthy films like Pink Flamingoes and Desperate Living. I also love Todd Solondz films which fit into that category. Music is not a huge part of my life, I don’t listen to it anymore but I like it in films when it’s accompanied by visuals.

Whose work do you relate to most? Who inspires you?
Jeff Koons inspires me the most, I love his ‘puppy’ covered in flowers, that encourage me to buy a Chia Pet I think. I love his interest in food and fun times, his pieces are friendly and they don’t stress me out like most other art. In terms of Illustrators I relate to Kozyndan the most because their work is very heavy in line like mine and they draw busy cluttered scenes which is what I like to do also.

Do you enjoy collaboration work?
I love it, I have painted a couple of Murals with my friend Celeste Kininmonth who is great at painting, which is good because I am not. You have a really great sense of colour in your work, tell us how you go about choosing your palette. I like to use colour schemes from things like food packaging or shop signage, all the hard work is already done for you then since its already been considered professionally for another application. I will find a photo or a package and select a few colours from that to use. It’s awesome when you find a colour scheme from say a photo of a fishing tackle shop then get to apply it to a illustration of scarecrows having sex with clowns.

If you weren’t an artist/designer what would you be doing?
I actually don’t mind doing repetitive tasks so I would probably be doing data entry or packing in a factory. I‘d like a job where I could be left alone in my head, however sad that may seem.

Can you let us in on any trade secrets?
If you like to use a brush and ink, use a Pentel brush pen instead, they’re amazing, like drawing with a pen but it’s a paint brush that never needs redipping so you can draw uninterrupted lines. You can’t buy them in Australia though, only online.

related links

http://www.raewynhaughton.com/

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Tags: Celeste Kininmonth, Pentel brush pen, Raewyn Haughton