Richard Hogg lives in South London and works from his studio in Hackney, East London. He works as an illustrator.
We talked to him about working on a Small Press Book in July 2009 and apart from delivering some amazing artwork for the book he’s given us a rare insight into his thought and working process.
Richard has this to say about his Small Press book ‘Car Boot Sale’:
“Here are some sketchbook pages from around the time I was thinking about the car boot sale drawings. You can see the first go I had at the idea, a few pencils of different table tops, some drawings of star wars figures that I did and some random doodles of pots and stuff. I never normally show or publish my sketchbooks. A lot of car boot sales these days are pretty disappointing. Just loads of people selling the sort of trash that you find in pound shops. I’m more inclined towards flea markets and junk shops and the likes. I went to an amazing car boot sale in Poland a couple of years ago though. There were stalls selling kittens, Nazi uniforms, crazy art, you name it. I bought an amazing 1960s garden hose attachment. I use it too!”
When confronted by the slightly generic question of who and what influences his work, Richard has this to say (good answer to a boring question we say!):
“I find it really hard talking about influences. I am interested in everything and at the same time I try not to be too obsessed with illustration or art. I think these car boot sale images are a good example of that, they are just me getting excited about how amazing a load of old junk can look. I am really fascinated by situations where there is a play between complexity and simplicity, and where people try and control or arrange things These drawings are all about that. I love all the complex detail and I love drawing ‘stuff’ that is in varying levels of being random or arranged.”
Finally we asked Richard about why he likes the screenprint medium so much;
“God, where to start. I absolutely adore screen printing. I think most of all I love the way it forces a certain sensibility into your work. Silkscreen requires problem-solving, simplicity and economy. You can’t do whatever you want. Your images have to be robust and simple to work well. This has been a massive influence and I think I design everything as if it could be a screen print even if it is not. Screen printing drilled a discipline into me that is part of everything I design. hey, and I also love the smell”