“My artistic style really hasn’t changed since I was seven years old… I still see it as the same stuff I was drawing in the third grade.” – Illustrator Jordan Sernik
When I dream it’s rarely pleasant. That’s why I’m thankful that I don’t dream often. This past summer, however, I started getting some regular and extremely intense nightmares – probably due to the lack of sleep during peak wedding season.
I started writing some of these crazy ideas down in my spiral bound notebook. And then I attempted to draw them. I was unsatisfied. My drawings were unfulfilling. This inspired me to search for illustrators who might be able to help me bring my ghastly modvigil visions to life.
And that’s what got me connected with Jordan Sernik, an Australian/American illustrator. I was drawn (no pun intended) to a series of dark illustrations in his portfolio that he produced for a dental practice. I liked his style and I felt confident about using him for my first illustration experiment.
While he was still living in New York in the fall of 2014 (he has since moved back to Australia) we met over Skype to have a chat about a wide range of topics: travel, 2D vs. 3D animation, his approach to animation, comedy, and a bit about wedding culture.
You can listen to our conversation in the Soundcloud app below:
If you’d like to jump to a specific point in our conversation, here’s a quick guide:
00:45 – How did we get connected again?
01:40 – You’ve done a lot of traveling?
02:00 – Has it contributed to your development as an artist?
02:30 – If you don’t describe yourself as an artist, what is your label?
03:25 – Have you designed buildings?
05:37 – What were you like growing up as a kid, were you artistic?
07:25 – What kind of comedy do you like?
07:30 – Discussing comedians such as Louis CK and Sarah Silverman.
09:05 – What is your earliest memory?
11:15 – What is your process for the Bongopix Nightmares?
12:55 – Discussing 3D vs. 2D illustration.
13:15 – What do you think about the prevalence of 3D animation?
14:45 – Do you play video games?
15:50 – What’s your favourite Bongopix Nightmare – so far?
17:28 – Previously you were doing illustrations for a dentist company?
19:05 – Do you do photography?
21:15 – Have you attended many weddings?
21:50 – How do you interpret wedding culture?
Special thanks to Jordan for the imagination and hard work. Be sure to swing by his website and portfolio at: www.jordansernik.com
After a short hiatus Bongopix Nightmares will return on December 19th, 2014, and will feature a new artist. Be sure to stalk the Bongopix Facebook page and Instagram account to get your weekly fix.
To listen to the previous Bongopix Podcast you can check that out here. Thanks for listening and happy haunting!
