Each year, the Big Chill venues hunt down a contemporary illustrator or artist to highlight and profile throughout our promotions and activities.

We're therefore hugely proud to announce that our illustrator-in-residence for 2012/2013, is the magnificent Andrew Wightman, carbon-scribbling troubadour and sometime ice-cream salesman

Andrew has taken on the mantle of Big Chill Illustrator In Residence and, with a delicate twist of the hand, pushed things in an enticing new direction. Keep an eye out for each installment via our monthly promotions in what promises to be a real keeper of a series....

Andrew's Biography
Andrew Wightman is an illustrator and printmaker who combines draughtsmanship with a sense of fun. He works with a range of media including pen and ink, digital, linocuts, and etching. Born in Scotland in 1978, Andrew studied Illustration at Liverpool Art School and the Royal College of Art in London.
 
As an illustrator Andrew has worked for many clients including Penguin, The Guardian, Mercedes, Pan MacMillan and Laurence King Publishing.
 
To see further examples of his work, please visit his website here and or his work on the Etsy website here

Andrew Wightman Q&A

Did you always draw this good?
Well, I've recently stopped trying to be better technically, since thousands of people will always be a hundred times better than me at that side of things. I'm trying to work more on the scribbly aspect of my work. Not least because it gets results a million times quicker and a five second scrawl is often much more interesting than a three day epic.

Do you have any recurring themes in your work - who are they and what are they to you?
I like themes of travel and adventure. Especially mountains and polar scenes. And outer space. It's quite a good substitute for the real thing and allows me to draw huts, coats of arms, maps, tents, cars and aeroplanes. Like a nine year old.

You’ve very kindly drawn all this for us to help us peddle sweet music all year, what’s your soundtrack to illustrate or animate to?
The sweeping nature of this task has required help from both Turbonegro and The Commodores, but in less extreme circumstances I generally turn to the Bowie/Stones/country rock side of things. In particular the tragic cocaine sports car cowboy misery of Gene Clark.

Following on from the above, what was the name of that dubby melodica chap you mentioned to us recently?
Augustus Pablo - Master of minor key melodica.

Is it hard to make a living out of your illustrative work alone?
Pretty hard, which is why I also spend the Summer working in an old ice cream van. This way I make extra money by sitting at the beach, balancing drawing, surfing and sales. Can't complain.

What advice would you give to little 15 yr old Andrew Wightman in getting started in the big wide world of illustration?
It won't be easy, but you're not cut out for much else so just get on with it. I don't think I've made any massive booboos, but you can always work harder at getting jobs. That's the bit they don't really hammer home enough at college. Even if you're rubbish you can still find work if you're good at self promotion - the evidence is all around us.  Meanwhile, forgotten geniuses toil in timid obscurity.

Do you feel your style might change significantly in future or do you feel you’ve found your artistic ‘voice’ now?
Funny you should ask that, as this project has been a bit of a watershed for me in combining the technical and the scribbly in a way I've never quite managed before, so at the moment, I'm happy with it. I think I'll always rely on the same kind of line drawing, but sometimes I try new things like lino printing which force a slightly different style upon you. Hopefully though, they are all part of a whole.

Given unlimited budget, what would you spend your time on?
I should really have a well prepared answer to this as I have a recurring dream about finding an overturned lorry full of scratchcards with a skeleton in the driver's seat. However, I haven't really thought beyond the immediate thrill of frenzied scratching. I would definitely go skiing though - that requires an almost unlimited budget.

Were you a graphic novel/comic-loving kid growing up or was it something else that got you into all this?
I've always liked Tintin, but mainly for the colours and the wisdom of Captain Haddock. I've read a few of the major graphic novels which are billed as triumphs of storytelling and characterisation but I thought they were a bit shit. If you think they're good, you need to read more Dickens. I like drawing things that look like a scene from a bigger story. I just can't be bothered telling it. I've never drawn a comic strip longer than 3 frames in my life.

Are there any other illustrators and artists that inspire you now?
I find the internet has made me suspect that there are far more talented artists around than you could ever keep track of, and to dig too deeply would probably be intimidating and depressing. Therefore my inspirations are pretty well established figures like Edward Bawden, Richard Scarry, Saul Steinberg and Will Sweeney, although he is contemporary enough to still be alive. I am also inspired by my friend Al Murphy's ability to make a proper living from his illustration alone, even if it is a bit rude.

Big-Chill-2012-Illustrator-in-Residence aside, what have been your most memorable or enjoyable commissions over the years?
The first Guardian cover I did felt quite special. So special I bought the biggest bag of crisps I've ever seen to celebrate and ate while I drew at top speed. Another Guardian cover was a drawing of Heather Mills looking as ridiculous and nasty as possible - I thought I might go to jail for that one. I also enjoyed doing a badly drawn erotic comic as a prop for a tv programme. I kept being told I wasn't drawing badly enough which was flattering.

If you could sketch a picture of yourself as you’d like to be in 20 yrs time, what would it look like?
Even though I'll probably still dress like Neil Young's janitor, I'm looking forward to the later stage in life where options such as wearing a proper hat like Don Draper and perhaps growing a moustache like Gaugin become sartorially viable. So yeah... extravagantly whiskered, in tweed and trilby, skiing past the frozen corpses of rival illustrators to my mountain top lifetime achievement presentation with the crowned heads of Europe, Hulk Hogan and the Commodores.