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Getting in
’toon
Peter
Welleman, whose cartoons have been
featured in G&LH, is a very talented
master of illustration. He works as a
freelancer in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In
this interview – conducted by
Eric
Geers of the Amsterdam-based Gay &
Night magazine, Welleman tells us how
his dream of becoming a well-known
illustrator came true.
Eric Geers (EG):
First of all, we would like to thank you for
taking the time to give us this interview.
Please tell us more about your art and
design background and what made you become
an artist and designer.
Peter Welleman (PW):
I have an industrial design background,
studied at Delft University of Technology
[Netherlands], and did art and design
postgraduate. I was into product design,
especially car design. I used to be a huge
Ettore Bugatti fan. But my passion was
always art and painting, so after graduating
I started to get jobs on graphic design and
illustration, because I felt easier and
happier than creating car designs.
This industry is very
competitive and hard to get access to. And I
also fell in love with digital art since
it’s another cool way of expressing passion
as on traditional painting.
EG: Your work is
pretty unique and full of creativity. Where
does your inspiration come from?
PW: Thanks for
saying so. My inspiration comes from my
inner world, and how I see the outside world
with my sometimes satirical heart. Also from
all my talented friends, and people I have
met. And of course from different forms of
artworks, like traditional paintings, street
art, fashion. Also, music is the main
inspiration. I always play classical music,
either strong in melody or ambiance, to help
me with adding emotions and atmosphere to my
work.
EG: Could you
describe for us your typical start-to-finish
work flow when working on a design?
PW: When it comes
to illustration with more specific styles
with characters, I always spend lot of time
on the sketching. Usually, I will draw more
than one sketch, maybe three or four, and
then digitalize it on PC. Figuring out the
way of putting line art and colouring is the
hardest and most important part of the whole
process.
When it comes to abstract
freestyle or mixed-media works, mostly I
prepare a very rough sketch and then draw it
on the PC. It’s more enjoyable for me
because it’s a free and creative process,
just like painting on canvas, only with
Photoshop.
EG: What are your
tools of the trade, both hardware and
software?
PW: Hardware: a
very normal and kinda slow computer, Windows
2000, beautiful fifteen-inch, sharp, flat
screen, but also an iMac, which I use if I
want to have the colours just right.
Software: Photoshop, Corel Draw, and, when
it comes to web design, Flash.
EG: What for you
personally are the pros and cons of being a
designer?
PW: Pros are being
a more creative person and having more
freedom at work. Especially as a freelancer,
you have the control of your schedule. I
always go out with friends for a nice lunch
and sometimes afternoon coffee. Also, being
a designer or artist, you never would feel
bored or lonely because you can create art
any time, and have a rich inner world.
Cons are less
socialising, more time alone with the
computer, a less healthy lifestyle, maybe.
If this gets too much, I go out to some gay
bars I know in town, or go training with my
queer volleyball team.
EG: How does your
job as an artist and designer influence your
life? Do you feel that you see things around
you differently, for example?
PW: Most of the
time, it is the other way around: my life
influences my artwork. If I’m upset about
news in the media, I sometimes feel the very
strong need to make satire about this. And
sometimes, I’m in the mood for kinky gay
cartoons, which I create for queer magazines
and sites. I try to channel this energy into
the commissioned artwork as much as I can.
On the whole, I feel more
fulfilled mentally when I can create
illustrations, less vanity. I love to
observe things and details around me, more
critical, cynical sometimes, but I feel more
sensitive to trends, and artistic potential,
and getting into creative areas gives me
different points of view to life.
EG: What are your
up-coming projects?
PW: Creating
backgrounds for a web-game producer, so far
still a secret.
EG: What are your
favourite five websites, and why?
PW: (1)
Couchsurfing, a hospitality site, giving me
lots of interesting, international contacts,
good source of inspiration.
(2) deviantArt [dA],
which for me is where the digital art
begins, and it’s the most developed online
community in the world, and the best online
art community. I’ve made most of my designer
and artist friends from there; dA has
definitely helped enhancing my career a lot.
(3) Toonpool is a good
site to showcase your work. They allow also
more controversial material.
(4) Cartoonstock is a
good commercial agent.
(5) Twitter keeps me in
direct contact with all my friends.
EG: Once again ,
thank you very much for the interview. As a
final word, do you have any tips for
upcoming artists and designers?
PW: Keep searching
in yourself, be critical about social
developments, but don’t let that hinder the
spontaneous child within. And be grateful to
life.
Check out Peter
Welleman’s site by clicking
here to see his latest illustrations,
or, if you are more interested in his gay
artwork, click
here.
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