He gets it just right when it comes to minimal colour choice and the gradients created through texture.

ⓒ Grant Coghill, 2009

MoonApe

Jon’s work has been exhibited in LA, London, Melbourne, Paris, Hong Kong and New York and he has had work featured in publications that include the Guardian, Computer Arts magazine, Creative Review and Design Week.

This post focuses on Jon’s incredible large-scale mural work, with Jon having been kind enough to explain the process and tools behind spilling a healthy portion of his active imagination on the walls of a building.

Jon studied fine art but was drawing and doodling a long time before that. ‘I’ve always fidgeted and needed a pen or pencil in my hand. It’s a nervous disease of sorts’.

For his mural work, Jon will occasionally make a rough sketch, but never actually pencils the drawing in first. ‘I always just start drawing it directly onto the wall and work out how it will work out as I go. It’s sort of like playing with a big puzzle where there are multiple solutions but no room for error’.

Here, Jon demonstrates his skills with a pen and a large canvas:

Below, one gets a sense of the scale of the mural work involved, showing Jon’s work at Pictoplasma in Peterborough and work in an Amsterdam showroom:

Although Jon uses all kinds of materials for some of his other work, including on his vinyl toys below, he uses Posca pens for the line work on the wall art and will apply acrylic paints or emulsion to fill in the larger areas. He will even use a heavy duty crane for some of those harder to reach areas!

Jon is currently in New York working on some pieces for a group show and a solo show happening in August. It’s best to check out his website for updates on where he’ll be and what he’s up to.

‘I’m also collaborating with a musician on some musical pieces, which might end up being very funny / embarrassing / shameful. But the process is fun, and maybe that’s the most important thing when trying out stuff for the first time’.

Thanks Jon!

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Originally from Paris, Christian describes museums as ‘dead places‘ with streets being ‘the best art galleries in the world‘. He says there is a ‘unique sensation‘ in doing artwork that is effectively illegal in most places. He doesn’t describe himself as a vandal, however, with his work attracting less and less trouble, as it becomes more accepted in society, particularly through the right placement of his pieces.

For subject matter, most stencils are based on local people; those people that represent the true culture of the locations he visits.

New Delhi:

Christian asserts that his technique is very basic with the use of a picture or photo as a reference simply for proportion for his stencils, which involve cutting into cardboard. The stencils are placed over ideal areas in urban locations like bins, peeling walls and other unassuming areas to be painted over. ‘For spray cans my two favourite brands are Montana Gold and Sabotaz‘.

Italy:

Morocco:

London:

ⓒ Christian Guémy

I asked Christian what his thoughts on Banksy, the UK street artist that I see a lot of in London:

‘Banksy is just the best street artist in the world according to me, not for his style, that I find sometimes weak, or even his messages, but for the perfect attitude of this dude. He’s straight, bold and sincere. His last fake pet shop in New York and the ‘Cans’ festival are both testimonies that he’s a genius’.

Next for Christian is a street art festival in Casablanca, Morocco, where he headlines, thanks to raised awareness through his work in the south of the country in 2008.

Thanks C215, and best of luck for the future.

Moon Ape