q)What is your name?a)My name is Gerard Armengol
q) Where do you live and work?
a)I am living in Mallorca (Balearic islands), but i think it’s gonna be only for a temporarily period of time. I have lived in Barcelona for eight years and i also spent 6 months in Baltimore. So i am one of those who like changes and my work depends on where i’m living. I think it’s very interesting when the place you’re living in takes a part of you and influence your work.
q)What is your creative process like?
a)I use to go around with a little sketchbook where i make drawings. Some of them are rough and just quick ideas, but others are more delicated and maybe later i’ll be able to use them directly from the sketchbook or as a point where i can start something. Under my point of view, this kind of drawings means no other thing but reflections. Some of them will be the beginning of a project, but some others will be just there in the sketchbook and you never know if you’ll use them anymore.
Other times, i have a quick and fresh idea and i go straightly with the job.
So this sketching exercise provides my work with my own experiences and i find it very important. I mean you can use your sketchbook in a party or you can use it in a boat. Whatever.
q)What is your favorite medium?
a)I like colour pencils a lot, but i don’t have any favourite medium cause i am opened to the experimentation. I also like to work with acrylic, but like i said, i believe in the experimentation in practically all the fields as a beginning of a line.
q)What is your current favorite subject?
a)Well, i don’t have a “favourite”one, i just like to reflect about daily stuff. You know, the things that have always been thought by people who reflect. I try not to separate my live experience from my drawings and sometimes it gives them a surrealistic nature cause my real live interacts with a fiction live. I think it’s very important to have a good sense of humor to understand my work.
q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?
a)It depends. Sometimes I go really fast but other times I am slower…
q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?
a)I don’t know. Probably when i decided to go to Baltimore and then just let it flow, cause it opened my mind and it was a graphic liberation for me. Since that i make desicions faster when i work.
I ‘ve been awarded a few times, so i think that’s important too.
q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?
a)Yes, there’s a lot of them. Too many to write it down… They come from different disciplines too…
q)Can we buy your art anywhere?
a)I am thinking on do that in my blog. I will give it a new face pretty soon so I’ll probably add a section to buy stuff like original paintings on wood or canvas, reproductions of my work as postcards for example, t-shirts, independent zines...
Now, you can do it if you mail me.
q)Anything that people should know about that we don’t??
a)mmm…no. Well, about what?
q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
a)I think to work. Even if you’re not in a good mood, just keep on something. Nobody has to wait for inmediate results in their work.
q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?
a)I don’t know. Probably just hang out with friends or take a look to their new work. I can buy a comic and enjoy it. I also enjoy talking about interesting things and reading. Listening music...Or just working again on something...Some of these things can launch you.
q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?
a)Well, i am working on lots of projects right now and i’ve got to make my blogsite a better place, with recent works and all that stuff, but if a have to describe it, i would say people will notice i have different ways to communicate things. It depends on the assignment. And as i said, it’s basic to have a good sense of humor to understand my work. Not to take live too seriously.
q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
a)People who gave me the most important advices were Arnal Ballester (Escola Massana, Barcelona) and Alain corbel ( M.I.C.A., Baltimore MD ) . So I think that’s why I consider them my menthors. There was a time when I was in the Architecture School of Barcelona (E.T.S.A.B.) and I learned a lot there. I learned how to look at things, to tune my eyes.
I also had this kind of self-taught training in some ways…
q)Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
a)I wouldn’t be able to imagine a world without something to draw.
q)Who are your influences?
a)Too many
q)What inspires you to create?
a)It depends. Could be a movie, a book or just an idea that you spend time reflecting on…
Inspiration it’s fanciful.
q)…your contacts…
a) http://gerardarmengol.blogspot.com
+34 661 814 878
