ART!ST: Wayne Snooze

Illustrator Wayne Snooze has an impressive way of exhibiting culture, people and places in his body of work. His raw talent, attentive eye and artistic way produces captivating, 'real-life' 'real-people'.

Wayne Snooze's art is refreshing, shining a bright light on people who are not portrayed in the media, or celebrated for their beauty. Culturally, Wayne breaks down social norms and stereotypical ideology.

He has wonderfully created a series of images that questions perception, which asks us to think about the judgements we make on someone before taking the time to understand them or the situation.

What inspires you to create?

That’s difficult, I think it’s a control thing, it’s something I like to do, I used to read a lot of comics when I was very young and I wanted to draw like those guys so I started drawing and haven’t stopped, I want to get better.

As far as themes go, I want to create pictures that are relatable, there’s a lot of stereotypes around which can be helpful when communicating an idea but generally they’re lazy.

What role does the artist have in society?

This is a big question, I think that’s up to the individual, for me it’s to offer a different narrative than what the mainstream is offering. Mainstream culture is often a watered down version of a section of reality, I don’t want to perpetuate that if possible.

If your artwork were music, what would it sound like?

That’s easy, Jazz fusion, some Funk laced with Jazz, like a late 70’s Sesame Street cartoon, or Fritz the cat, Ed Bogas, Roy Ayers, Vince Guaraldi. I suppose I grew up with that stuff.

What is your process to creating a piece of art/project?

I suppose it depends on the projects but generally I use photos’ as reference, I go out and take pics, sometimes I’ll use a magazine image for inspiration and jump off from there. I’ll do rough sketches from the photo and create a composition which is all done on paper, people forget that stuff exists. I scan it into my computer and sharpen it with Photoshop, then take it over to an illustrator to colour it. That's how I do the digital work, other times I may get an idea or an inspiration from a real life situation, observation, or maybe have a discussion that explores the idea further and decide on a medium that will get that idea across. Sometimes it’s a gag comic strip or a highly rendered pencil or Biro drawing.

Do you have a favourite medium?

Yeah, I like pencil and Indian ink on paper, that’s it.

What does your art represent? What are the messages you would like to express?

My Art represents regular people, our experiences have value but we spend so much time trying to align with celebrities which make us feel insecure and our lives seem inferior but what we do is enough, celebrities use the toilet, get sick, watch TV, like we do and if there is any message it’s a simple one, be yourself.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waynesnooze/