Rohan Eason: Pen & Ink Master

From Rocker to Artist, how did that happen? And how did you progress?

But those days made me more interested in looking at life from a removed viewpoint, in a way there was no other way I could look at it, as I had removed myself. When i reached art school I had already decided that there were two ways to live your life, take part, or take notes, my artworks were my notes. A constant running dialogue, a description of what the other people did, but not what I did.

When I left University with an art degree, everything fell apart, life came flooding back in, and I couldn’t cope. The idea that I would go on just making art, came crashing down, when I couldn’t afford food or rent. Music got me through this time, companionship with my band mates helped me find a structure and drive again, and I was finally creating something that related to my life, while I took part in it.

It was around 2002, I was playing lead guitar in a band called Cyclones, having left University with a BA HONS in Fine Art, and having not really done much artistically for a while, other than I would sometimes do a quick sketch. The girlfriend of the lead singer, Rina, saw a drawing one day, and suggested I come see her boss, who owned a high end fashion boutique in Notting Hill. The owner Annette Olivieri, decided I had a little something, and chucked me a bag in white kid leather, “tattoo that” she said. So I found pens that would work on leather, and I tattooed the bag. The drawing was black and white, and involved very detailed flowers and hair. Annette was impressed and gave me a leather jacket to do, so I did, this time with a horned girl, feather wings and flowers centre back. From there I went on to create fabric prints and artworks for Annette’s label for the next 2 years. I did private commissions, one was sent to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and later created my own glove collection, with the first pair of dress leather gloves going to Yoko Ono. Two shoe collections followed and a spattering of other commissions, but I believed my career lay in fashion. This didn’t last long, fashion is not the nicest industry to work in, and I quickly felt like I was back in school, the bitchy back stabbing, the creative theft,

and the broken promises, left me a thoroughly broken man. The upside was the pens I used for the leather, Rotring Rapidograph became my pens of choice, and the style I developed in this period with it's intricacies and magical detail, and obsessive qualities became my illustrative style. My first children’s book came soon after I quit fashion, a collaboration with the great writer Geoff Cox, and music mogul Stuart Souter, saw a wonderful return to children’s books of old. Dark and frightening, with a psychedelic undertone that resonated with the peers around me, Anna and the Witch’s Bottle was critically acclaimed, released through Blackmaps Press, it was a beautiful cloth bound hardback, and it finally brought me attention for my artwork.

You do a lot of dark whimsical art work. How did that happen? Do you prefer workinging in B&W or color?

My Aunty had a wonderful treasure trove of house in deepest Sutton, Surrey. She had worked for Lord White, and entertained Frank Sinatra, Marylin Monroe, David Niven etc, so visiting her was like visiting an aladdin’s cave of wonder. In her downstairs bathroom were several black and white prints by Aubrey Beardsley. I was completely hooked on them, they were incredibly rude, giant penises and fucking, but they were also simply beautiful.

The quality of the line, the craftsmanship, the composition and balance were just mesmerising, and Iwas transfixed. During my A’levels I did my thesis on Aubrey’s Work and life, and visited the Victorian Albert Museum in London, where I was lucky enough to paw through hundreds of his original prints in giant cloth bound albums. The effect was deep and resounding, Black and white felt the purest way of describing an image. No dusty shading, or rainbow water-colour techniques, just simple beautiful crafted line. The effect on me was so great, when i first went to draw commercially for the fashion label, that aesthetic just tumbled out. Colour is something I have dabbled with in many different forms, I’m not sure I’ve found the right method yet. In a way its similar to how I always played my guitar, without effect, no pedals, just the pure sound of a beautiful instrument.

Has the computer affected your work?

For the majority of my professional career I held true to my artistic values. My aim was to be the very best

craftsman, that my line was the truth, and no augmentation was allowed. When a final piece went wrong, just a little, I would tear it up and start again. The computer was only ever a tool to get my work into a format for reproduction. But as I grew in popularity, and projects were coming thick and fast, my ability to keep up became less of a joy and more of a struggle. My work ethic began to hamper the depth of creativity in my work. Working to tight deadlines for tight budgets meant I could waste a weeks work on a simple slip of the nib. I am now willing to use the computer to correct mistakes and on occasion, depending on the value of the project, even move an element here or there to better exercise an aesthetic requirement. What the computer is incredible good at is at the sketch stage. I can create a drawing, and then play with it endlessly on the computer, until I’m really happy with how it looks, then print it, and use it as a base for a new sketch, before I go to final. This speeds the process up no end, when I first started I would sketch and re-sketch endlessly, and every time the new image would be very different, with its own merits and flaws, it was an infinite loop, which I would inevitably have to stop at some point.

What’s going on in your head when you work on a piece? Your fears, anticipation, confidence , etc. How do you know something is finished?

Something I learned, actually from being in a band for 15 years, was the moment of joy and clarity you get, when your connection between instrument and mind is fluid and seamless. When the hand has been so well taught, you no longer need to consciously move it, but instead free yourself to wander amongst the music, you become part of the music, intuitive, open and alive.

I know when I draw and that feeling happens, when the lines just flow from my pen without any intervention from my conscious brain, that I am creating something good. These days I can spend weeks at my desk on a single project, so I use audiobooks to occupy my mind, I listen to the same stories over and over, they become a comforting background babble. In a way the voice works to occupy my conscious brain, which allows my subconcious brain to take charge of the drawing.As a professional illustrator its important to have a very high level of quality control. Simply I know when its not good. I rarely believe its really good, but I always know when its not good enough, then its for others to judge, as long as I know its my best.

I’m not sure I’ve found the right method yet. In a way its similar to how I always played my guitar, without effect, no pedals, just the pure sound of a beautiful instrument.

Your work is reminiscent of Beardsley, Steadman & Silverstein to name a few. Is that intentional? Does their work influence your work?

As mentioned before, Beardsley is most responsible for my work, others being Arthur Rackham, Gustave Dore, William Wallace Denslow, W.H. Robinson, to name just a few. Inspiration lasts a lifetime, mine is a combination of so many things, not just other artists, but places, and times. My work now is quite different to how it was when I started, but the techniques and drive are the same, to make something beautiful and balanced, with a little magical wonder every now and again.

I’m curious about how you choose what to work on. What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step?

I’m represented by one of the largest agencies in the world, so the vast majority of my work comes through them. They send me an offer of a project, and generally speaking, unless it offends my moral code, or is simply a bad project, I will happily take it on. It is our job as illustrators to teeze out the extraordinary from every project we work on.

First and foremost is research, all projects start with looking, and learning, seeing everything and anything related to the subject, product, story etc. Its important to understand what you’re working on in as much detail as you can, so when it comes to the drawing, the brain is full of all the possibilities, letting the hand get on with doing the real work.

I like to spend a lot of time sketching, there are so many elements to a drawing and so many combinations, its rare I hit on the perfect solution immediately. Sketching is the most fun aspect of the job, because its how I started, drawing for fun, with no limits or expectations. Once I feel I have a framework to go on, I'll scan it into the computer and do any reworking needed. The computer provides a good a level of separation from the work, an almost dispassionate viewers eye, things that may have not been obvious on paper, suddenly scream out on the harsh reality of a computer screen.

I will then print off the sketch, and sketch it again

using a light box, this is a great method of freeing oneself back up, but having the confidence of a defined idea to work directly on.

When I first started I would redraw free hand everytime, and never really move forward in the work, as the new drawing could never quite reproduce the first's freedom and immediacy. Even the great Quentin Blake use this method, so I’m in great company.

This process is repeated as many times as it takes to get the composition and any characters just how I want them, before I scan it back into the computer. Next I print out a final black and white sketch of the final piece, before moving back to the light box with my final piece of paper ready to create the original artwork. Generally I will work straight on the paper with ink, on a good day, the new piece will almost disregard the sketch beneath, and the new work will feel like the first time all over again. On a bad day, or when working on something which doesn’t capture my heart completely, I may redraw in pencil, before taking the work to the desk, and inking under the desk light. When finished it goes back onto the computer, for the minimum retouch, and is made ready for whatever publication it was made for.

What do you do to promote yourself and get work? Have you worked for publishers in Western counties like America, England and France? If not would you want to?

Through my agency I’ve worked for projects in America, Germany, France, Italy, UK, China, Australia, Japan, and many more. The great thing about the job, is I can sit in my studio in London, and work for a brand in China, and my unique way of looking at things and my skill as a craftsman and artist are then just sent down the internet to the client. I can actually be anywhere in the world and work for someone anywhere else,...magic.

What’s the future hold for you? Any ultimate goal?

The wonderful thing about a profession in the arts, is I am always developing my practice It never remains still, if it did, I would bore, and my clients would dwindle. I don’t reinvent myself, but I try to get better at what I do, and bring new methods to my work, which can add to the aesthetics I have honed over the last 12 years of professional life. There are stilll a few books of my own I’d like to illustrate and publish, if I ever get time, and a few old classics I'd like to breathe new life into.

My main focus at the moment is the new studio I’m building myself in my garden, its been a long time in the planning, but I’m finally happy with the designs, and ready to build.

I am so blessed with this career, I get to draw all day if I choose, and produce work that makes people smile, its not a great service to the world, but at the least it makes people a little happier.

If you could meet anyone in the field you’re in who would it be and why?

I'd like to have lunch with Quentin Blake, I think he’s got a remarkable eye for movement and emotion.