Matthew Craven is an illustrator and former street performer from Grimsby.

Can you explain what you did with the Earthbound Misfits? Were you a tumbler or the bloke who got fired from a cannon?

Nor a tumbler or the guy who gets fired from a cannon! I used to do ‘street performances’ with the Earthbound Misfits, the guys who taught me from the age of 12 in school. Predominantly we would perform circus skills workshops and street theatre. We’d often perform character based acts and interact with our audience sometimes using strange costumes designed and made by myself, such as ‘Mel’ a shy, ugly and reclusive creature that collected smells using a coconut powered machine (captured on film here by Mr & Mrs Swing).  I used to teach unicycling, tight-rope, globe-walking, club passing, fire breathing, diabolo etc in schools, festivals and sometimes at the strangest corporate bonding/teamwork sessions and one for the young British Olympic Team, that was different, in a really posh manor house with a “buffet” consisting of raw vegetables, raisins and bananas!

What made you go from being a magician to starting up in illustration?  Do you still perform?

I had no real desire to become a proper magician. It stemmed from a lack of income and people asking the Misfits if we knew any magicians. It was however a real childhood passion of mine, almost an obsession. I began to loose interest after I won Young Magician of the Year at our regional Magic Circle and as I began sixth form college, I thought it was a bit geeky, I was a bit geeky. Both juggling and magic always allowed creativity in my work but never satisfied me as art and design could. I knew jumping straight into uni after foundation would be a mistake, so I deliberately lived in shared flats in Grimsby allowed the entertainment work to fizzle out and worked shit jobs to thoroughly depress myself into the realisation that uncreative jobs are unsatisfying and a massive waste of time and in time, I’m sure, would affect my sanity. These days I only perform magic when I’m bored at the pub.

You work in quite a few different styles and media, is there any particular type you enjoy more?

I’m still in the exploratory stage of finding what media works best for me. I enjoy the realism and credibility oils offer, but I’ll always resort to the first medium that I fell in love with; ink. Recently I tried working in 3D which I found to be quite successful, it caters for my more conceptual work that wouldn’t necessarily work as a 2D image. I’m looking for a happy medium that’s beginning to form in my recent experiments in mono printing and collage, combining them with ink drawings to form dark, rich illustrations which deliver much more than my previous work.

You can see some grotesque influences in the illustration like Ralph Steadman, Gerald Scarfe and the like – who else do you look at for inspiration?

Well I absolutely love Steadman, and for better or for worse my drawings have always been compared to his. Recently I was lucky enough to see David Hockney’s dry-point etchings for the Brothers Grimm Fairy tales at the Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby. These illustrations are absolutely beautiful and influencing my work  for their simplicity, intelligence and fine technique. It’s hard to think of all the artists who’s work inspires me but one’s which pop into my head are Ronald Searle, Jenny Saville, Gerhard Richter, Takashi Murakami, films by Joe Magee, Yuri Norstein and the sculptural work of David Shrigley, Ron Mueck and Wilfred Wood’s wonderfully weird characters. I also find inspiration in comedy, music by Young Marble Giants, old amateur photographs, doodling and people watching.

Looking at something like The Hump (which reminds me of an eerie cross between a morris dancers horse and some outcast from the Henson Workshop), do you ever want to stick costume/stage design into your work?

In all honesty costume design is unfortunately very time consuming, sometimes expensive, sometimes requires far too much sewing which I’m no expert. For future three dimensional work I’ll just be sticking to sculpture but these creature/costume ideas will no doubt permeate my 2D work in some capacity. But then again, if someone was to commission me to design costumes I wouldn’t say no!

Whats your Monsters series about?  I get the Barry & Paul and Bellamy references, what’s the Marcus one?

Those Monsters are a response to a university brief called “Make Me A Monster” it was character development project developed, I think, to delve in to the darker regions of our imagination. Initially my ideas were 1:1 scale deformed humanoid blobs in antique glass domes. I began thinking about their personalities, so I gave them names based on people from I knew years ago and of course the Chuckle Brothers who I never found funny, just disturbing. The naming influenced the designs and working with old personal photos and those I collect from books and newspapers shaped them further into what they are now. There’s something reassuring and haunting about these photos/stills from the past be it funny, innocent or profoundly sad. I plan to make more of these with more emphasis on a scrapbook feel to them with more critical distance from situations and people from my past Informing my 2D work and vice versa.

I’m at a very fortunate position at the moment, it’s the end of my second year, and I have a whole summer to waste on my artistic whims before the stress-riddled third year and finally the outside world.

You can find more at:

http://facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Crav-Craven-Illustration/125770520794866

http://crav.co.uk/

What was it that originally inspired the ‘a love letter for you’ project?

Being on the train as a youth and seeing girls look at the graffiti on the rooftops facing the elevated. Even though they always looked at the graffiti, they weren’t all that interested in talking to me about it, so I thought about creating graffiti that girls would want to talk about, for the lovers who’d want to talk to them.

The murals are both romantic and inspirational, did you want the pieces to have a deeper message to society or were they more designed just to make people smile?

Yes to both

The pieces are more like the painted advertisements of the 50′s than conventional graffiti do you think that you would have had the same kind of acceptance for the project if you had gone down the route of conventional graffiti?

Graffiti is only graffiti if it’s non-conventional. Once graffiti coalesces into convention its just decoration. My graffiti defies convention, pretension and prevention. The guiding influence in Love Letter are two distinct schools of painted American letterforms, Sign Painting and Graffiti. I’ve painted graffiti that looks like signage and vice-versa. In Love Letter, we followed the basic rules of sign painting, but we used spraypaint and graffiti’s palette and speed in order to maximize the impact and fun.

Other graffiti artists such as Banksy have taken their artwork out of it’s original location and taken it to other cities around the world, would you ever try and recreate the love letter project somewhere else?

I started Love Letter in Dublin and Belfast. Letters like these overcome all distance. It might be the distance that gives them power

You have had some interesting comments about the murals one women commented ‘If someone did that for me I’d like it better than being taken to Red Lobster’ what is the most interesting comment you have heard about the project so far?

I don’t know, is busting out in tears a more interesting comment?

You can find out more about the ‘a love letter for you’ project on their website, I have picked a few of my favourites but essentially they are all awesome.

Reporter and former Green Beret Michael Yon is an unabashed supporter of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.  A divisive figure, he is openly critical of the management of the war but remains very popular with both servicemen and those at home in the US.

Where are you now and what’s happening with your embeds since your last one was cut off?

Today in Singapore but recently was covering the serious fighting in downtown Bangkok in which about 86 people were killed and about 1,900 wounded.  Insofar as embedding with the U.S. military in the future, I do not envision that happening again. I will go back to the war but unlikely to be embedded.

Is it likely you can get embedded with British forces again?  What about other different countries – does the attitude differ country to country towards embedded reporters?

The British invited me several times when news broke of my disembed with U.S.  I had planned to go with them this summer, but after what happened with U.S. (and disembed with U.K. last year), it makes more sense to go alone.  U.S./U.K. will not hesitate to waste your time and money.  No longer makes sense to embed.  Not with so much censorship creeping in under McChrystal and the unpredictable, moody nature of senior public affairs officers such as Admiral Gregory Smith.

What made you take up being a photographer?

Photography is fascinating.  Insofar as communications, I would argue that still photography is by far the most powerful and versatile communications vector for reaching large audiences quickly and powerfully.

You’ve previously said that you initially used the camera as a notepad for your writing – when did it start to kick in as a proper creative tool?

In the earliest days, I just liked taking photos so I bought a new Nikon FE2.  This might have been 1983.  I shot mostly plants, birds, weather, whatever interested me.  But for years I hardly picked up a camera.  Then I started writing in about 1996 and eventually bought a cheap digital as a note pad.  I shot thousands of images mostly as notes and finally photography started taking a life of its own.

What were you writing about when you first started out then?  How do you feel that has developed over the years alongside your photography?

My first book is called “Danger Close” and you can see it on Amazon.com.  My other writing projects are still somewhat confidential as have had to put them on hold during the war.  Insofar as the relationship between writing and photography, the more you do both, the more they meld into one.  Writing and photography used to seem like completely different art forms, and on some level they are, but on another level they are the same thing.

What sort of gear do you use – how much do you have to hump about?  How robust does equipment have to be to work in the desert?

For the first few years, I was a minimalist.  Not because I was truly a minimalist but because my skills were not sufficient to warrant buying top of the line gear.  I went to Iraq in December 2004 with a Nikon D70 and a cheap 50mm prime.  I made a readers’ choice Time photo of the year with that camera and lens. (Dispatch title: “Little Girl.”)  For probably the first couple years of work, nearly all of my images were made through 50mm prime.  In mid-2005, I bought a Canon Mark II 1ds and on nearly the first mission, shot some of my most well-known photos during a firefight.  (Title: “Gates of Fire.”)  These days I shoot with only the best bodies and lenses available, using everything from fisheye to 400mm f2.8.  The gear has no serious problems in the desert but often you need to bag it up from the dust.

I read an article recently which detailed other photographers using their iphone to get smaller, more intimate pictures in a war zone – is that anything you’ve been tempted by?  Are you also thinking about making more use of video?

Had planned to use more video this year until the disembed.  Have not heard of photographers using their iPhones for smaller, more intimate pictures, but I did buy a phone with a good camera.  When you walk in with a Canon Mark IV, everyone notices and it changes the situation which is bad for writing and for photography.  Few people pay attention to the small cameras.

Does your approach differ on reporting from a small, tightly compacted conflict like in Bangkok to one spread over a wider time and space in Afghan/Iraq?

The fighting I saw in Bangkok was very localized.  You could walk to everything or take a motorbike.  Fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is/was spread over vast distances and requires far more logistics.  In Thailand, the fighting was happening near the base of my hotel (which hotel was hit with a grenade while I was talking on the phone).  At times at night the fighting was so close that I could crawl onto the balcony or just walk downstairs and watch.  It was odd.  I would eat breakfast and walk straight out into the mix by walking across the street into the Red Shirt camp.

How do you find a balance when writing or shooting delicate moments?

Tough to do sometimes.  Especially with a big camera which changes the situation.  It’s all judgment.

Does people’s behaviour and attitude towards you in those moments vary between countries?

Yes, much.  Was just in heavy fighting in Thailand and they were letting people photograph anything under the sun.  U.S. or U.K. troops would never have allowed photographers to shoot some of the gore they were shooting.  I am not in for shock photos but some were and they were getting plenty of shock photos and nobody was stopping them.  Every culture is different.  Some are camera hams, some are the opposite, and there is everything in between.

Some of your best photography work is outside of the actual conflict, things like the Kopp-Etchells effect and the glowing star field pictures.  Apart from probably being relatively relaxing to shoot, what do you feel you get out of this particular aspect of photography?

That is pure enjoyment!  That’s why I love photography.  Photography can be like that box of chocolates.  You know there is a great shot, but are not sure what you are going to get.  This is especially true of low light shooting.

What other photographers, writers or artists do you like?

No particular favourites because there are so many great ones.  There is no shortage of outstanding photographers, writers and artists.  It’s like sampling food across Asia or Europe.  Don’t force me to pick a favourite because I don’t have one but get to enjoy widely.  That said — when I think of art, Italy often comes to mind.

Is this something you see yourself doing in 10/20 years time?  Could you see yourself reporting on a different area or subject?

Exploration has been a lifelong passion.  Writing and photography are also passions, and I like to combine these things with something worthwhile.  Something that benefits mankind and the planet.  Something that promotes peace while recognizing reality.

See more of Michael dispatches, go to http://www.michaelyon-online.com/

For more background on Michael, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Yon

My photographs of Alison, because of the nature of our relationship, are very much a father-daughter collaboration-Alison permitting me access to private moments of our life, which might, under different circumstances, be off-limits to a parent. The camera, early in her life, became part of our relationship, necessitating in me an acceptance, a quietness. We’ve never had long photographic sessions, but rather moments alone or with friends.

The images are overtly sexual, you can’t help but think that but draw the comparison between mouth and vagina. The fullness of the lips and the slick saliva on the tongue all add to the sexuality of the drawings.  Despite the fact that they display nothing like nudity they have an almost pornographic quality, the female mouth has always been synonymous with sexual images, the fullness of Angelina Jolie’s pout is undoubtedly what makes her the sex symbol she is, otherwise she is just a scrawny, scary lady.

The fact that the mouth is the focus independently without makes these images have an oddly surreal, and fantastical.
Randall makes great use of the subtle range of pinks and reds around the mouth, the layers of the skin on the lips are thinner than elsewhere which makes the skin oddly translucent, the delicate shading and pigments in these drawings perfectly captures that element. The are reminiscent of the softly coloured photographs of Victorian pornography with the subtle rose and sepia tones. Everything about these images is feminine and sexy. I think there are amazing.

Oh they are glorious, so pretty, shiny and dainty, they may bend my toes into unnatural shapes and give me posture issues that will ensure that as a forty year old woman I will require some sort of a back brace.  But what is the point of all that logic when I can dress my feet up and trip around town.

My particular weakness is Irregular Choice, they take decorating your feet to a whole other level (admittedly Manolo Blanik can probably do it  bit better but I just ain’t got that sort of money)

That’s why the latest escapade of Jimmy Choo has made me so happy, it has combined two of my favourite things social media and shoes. Finally the chance to use my geekery to get me free shoes. Oh yes baby free shoes, not half price, not 20% off from the ridiculous high price so that they still cost the same amount as your months rent. Free!

Jimmy Choo have started a Foursquare treasure hunt; catch a Choo, now if you don’t know what foursquare is I can’t possible help you, go read mashable come back once your educated. Basically some Jimmy Choo employee is wandering around London town checking into places, all you need to do is to check into the same place at the same time, and you get free shoes.  See all that time spent wandering round the internet, playing on twitter, checking in on Foursquare might actually result in a beautiful pair of shoes.

It’s renewed my love of Foursquare, I really want those shoes, I need them. Social media for social good, I mean how much more good can it get to give me a pair of shoes that will surely cripple my feet. I know I shouldn’t like it my  principles tell me that I shouldn’t want the designer shoes I should want some made out  vegan materials  but I can’t help it, it’s like a primal urge.

Now you will have to excuse me I need to go stare a my iphone until I see that catch a choo has moved within an easily reachable distance….

Squidge Magazine: Can you tell us a little about how you started in Illustration?
Simon Wild: I completed an MA in Children’s Book Illustration in 2007 from Cambridge School of Art, and since then I have been propelled forward and been busy ever since.

SM: Your work is very psychedelic and bold. What are your major inspirations?
SW: Travel, film soundtracks, Space, science, The Yellow Submarine, colour and the desire to make a better more colourful world. I like contrast, shape and form. I am inspired by nature’s ability to adapt. I love to tell little stories in my work even if they do not make sense. I love the novels of Douglas Coupland, they are so visual and emotive. Maurice Sendak once said ‘Most illustrators are frustrated writers’ I am also both frustrated and influenced by the fact that I fall into this category.

SM: Which artists are you watching at the moment? Who’s work do you admire?
SW: I am a big fan of Swedish illustrator Linn Olofsdotter. Her use of colour and the real world to tell imaginative stories is wonderful. I also love the colourful compositions of Maya Hayuk, the iconic work of Margaret Kilgallen, and the beautiful universe that belongs to Wilson Hsu.

SM: Can you run through a typical work day for us?
SW: Starts with a cup of tea, quick whizz round the social networks, emailing invoices, replies, etc. If I am working on a commission I need to go into town where there is lots of visual and audio stimulation. Then I come back and begin work. If it’s personal work then I pick from around 5 or so different projects I have running at the same time and continue work on it. Somewhere in the day I always create a piece of work inspired by an album I listen to, and I work on it for no longer than the album’s length.

When the music is finished, so is the work. Most of my time is spent in my studio either making a complete mess or moving the mess from one side of the room to another. And then the cat jumps on the keyboard and I email complete nonsense to people I don’t know very well. In the summer I rescue flies from the studio, and pull faces at the neighbours. When work is quiet in the studio I arrange my memory sticks in the order of purchase, and re-arrange my collection of vintage transformer toys. I have an original Bumblebee I am very proud of. I love my work so my typical work day has been going on for about 3 years now.

SM: And what are your essential ‘tools of the trade’?
SW: Good old paper and pens to start, with some inks thrown in. I jump around a lot in my practice, from drawing, to collage, to digital and screenprint when I can get studio time. My biggest tool is colour, I always seem to be drawn to duck egg blue, orange and hot pink a lot of the time. And of course my Mac, gawd bless Apple!!

SM: So what are you working on at the moment? Any projects we should be
watching out for?
SW: I am just putting together some location work for a trip to NY which will involve visible tweets on giant post it notes. I am currently developing new ideas for children’s books. My first book ‘Fantastical Flying Machines’ is published later this year by Macmillan. I am also working on the Nike 78 project, where 78 creatives have been invited to challenge the function of a pair of Nike’s, for a book and show at the London Design fair in September. I have also been commissioned to create an audio visual piece for this years Big Chill festival, which will include a full 360 degree projection. I am also preparing for some joint and group showswhich will be happening at various points of this year.

SM: You’ve worked for a fair few clients and publications. Which ones stand out the most for you/were most enjoyable?
SW: I would have to say working with Macmillan was a rich and rewarding experience. I was lucky enough to work with a brilliant team, and I think we have created a book which I hope children will really like! I have also enjoyed the projects I created for YCN. I was asked to write a travel blog to document a working trip to Iceland, where I created work for a show called ‘Quiet Voices’ for Tate Britain earlier this year.

You can see more of Simons work at his website, and catch up with him on Twitter.

Photography below from Wayne Levin.

Spike Jonze is now artistic director of VBS TV, funded by MTV. Jonze’s music videos were also unique and pleasing to watch; Buddy Holly by Weezer being the one that comes to mind instantly. His collaborations with Charlie Kauffman; twin surreal composition with chopped up narratives resulting in two of Jonze’s most critically acclaimed films; “Adaptation” (2002) and “Being John Malkovich” (1999).

After spending five years adapting Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things (released late last year), a difficult project in which Jonze kept surprisingly true to the children’s book whilst creating a unique, vivid aesthetic but still capturing the innocence of the book, Jonze has collaborated with ABSOLUT to direct short film “I’m’ Here”.

“I’m Here” is a 30-minute love story about the relationship between two robots living in L.A. Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory are in the lead roles, and the soundtrack includes original music by Sam Spiegel and original songs by L.A. based art musician Aska Matsumiya and other emerging musicians. The independent film showcases up and coming actors and musicians, the whole project is very culturally and creatively progressive.

ABSOLUT have previously collaborated with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Helmut Newton. This current collaboration came about when ABSOLUT reached out to Jonze to make a film, and gave him the creative control that allowed him to create the film he wanted. On the official website for I’m Here, Anna Malmhake, Vice President Global Marketing at Absolut says “Spike Jonze is one of the most important influencers of modern popular culture, and this 30-minute film subtly and artfully expresses our enduring commitment to collaborations and creativity.”

I’m Here was originally shown at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the first-ever Opening Night’s Shorts Program at the festival. It was also screened at the Berlin Film Festival on the 20th of February, and Squidge have managed to score tickets to the London screening on the 25th of this month, whoop! The global release will be online in March. To find out more about the film check out the official website.

Scott Meyer is the writer of Basic Instructions, a handy guide to living a more fulfilled life.

You started out as a standup and met or worked with people like Weird Al, Mitch Herberg, Doug Stanhope and Patton Oswalt.  What was the comedy scene in the US like at the time?

In the 80s, stand-up enjoyed what they refer to in the industry as “the boom.” It was a magical time when you could make a really comfortable living with nothing but twenty minutes’ worth of material and a willingness to travel. It lasted until 1991. I started in 1992.

It was like someone took the movies “Punchline” and “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” and put them in a blender together. There was an ever-dwindling number of clubs, housing ever-smaller and surlier audiences and an ever more desperate and hostile group of comics fighting for the same jobs. People who had been making six-figure incomes and squandered them were struggling to eke out a living and us new guys were left wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into. Over time the industry found an equilibrium, but it was a much smaller and more low-rent affair than I had anticipated.

There was some great comedy going on, though. You mentioned three of the best: Mitch Hedberg, Doug Stanhope, and Patton Oswalt. First time I worked with Stanhope, I watched his set and couldn’t believe how easy he made it look.

Do you think you could go back to doing standup after doing BI for so long?

No. I’ve considered giving it a shot, but it’d have to be for the right reasons, i.e. that I have something to say that I can’t say in the comic, and I just don’t see that happening. Frankly, the comic is a much better vehicle for my style of humour than stand-up ever was. I just did a strip about a superhero who’s everywhere at once. That’s not an idea I’d be able to make work on stage.

Are your benevolent overlords at Disneyworld aware of BI? [Scott works as a cast member at Disney World Florida]

My immediate supervisors are.  If they’ve told Mickey or not, I don’t know.

What’s your approach to writing a strip?

Good question. I hadn’t really given it much thought until recently.

I had a bout of writer’s block that lasted a few weeks. I’d struggle to come up with anything I thought was good until the last minute, then I’d just go with the best idea I had, and it’d end up being pretty good. I realized that I’d been censoring ideas before they were fully formed for questionable reasons.

There’s a great documentary called “Gigantic” about one of my favourite bands, They Might Be Giants. Towards the end, one of the two guys named John who make up the band says that They Might Be Giants needs to be “a world of endless musical possibilities” in order for them to continue. At the time I didn’t get it, but now I do. BI has to be a reflection of whatever I find funny this week or it’s doomed. Nothing’s worse than someone writing something they don’t think is funny, but they think you will.

You seem to have come across a great way of stuffing plenty of jokes into one strip with the minimal amount of artworking.  Did that style come straight away from being a comedy writer or take a while to get right?

In the first few BI’s, I averaged about one joke every other panel. Then I started putting at least one attempt at humour in each panel, and that’s when I started being proud of my work. I’ve referred to it as “The Iron-Body style of cartooning” because I’ve seen too many kung-fu movies. Others have called it the “death by a thousand cuts” approach. That’s probably more accurate.

Often I’ll have an idea I love, and three good jokes, but I’ll be stuck on the fourth. It’s always tempting to just go with three, but it’s much more satisfying when I come up with that fourth joke.

Your wife Missy and friend Ric feature a lot.  Have you ever written something, then thought ‘This might earn me a clip round the ear’?

Yes, but not from Missy. If you look, she’s the only person in the strip who consistently comes off well. I haven’t been married thirteen years because I don’t know what I’m doing.

Many times I have written something about Ric and thought, “This time I’ve gone too far.” Invariably, those are Ric’s favorite strips. I don’t know if he’s a masochist, or just super vain. I like to think it’s a little of both.

I wrote a strip in which I suggest he look for a woman like him. He recoils in horror at the idea of dating a self-absorbed asthmatic. I thought that was going too far, but his parents clipped that comic out and hung it on their fridge. You never know.

Actually, that’s just Ric’s and my sense of humour. To listen to our conversations, you’d think we were both wretched failures and horrible human beings. We take self-effacing humour to an illogical extreme. I stood for Ric at his third wedding. He and his bride walked down the aisle to the fight music from Star Trek, the original series. That’s just what he finds funny.

What’s the future for Basic Instructions?  A Rocket Hat offshoot perhaps, or More Advanced Instructions?

My friend Ray Freisen (a much better artist than I am) talked about doing a spin-off of Rocket Hat, but it didn’t work out. My part of that project is going to be in my second book.

I’ve thought about a side project, but I’m busy enough right now just juggling a day job and BI.

Any particular favourite web comics of your own?

(This question can be read two different ways, so I’ll answer both.)

“Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal” is awfully good, and “Penny Arcade” continues to be one of my favourites.

OR

I was very proud of “How to Write a Superhero Story.” Also the series I did about applying the laws of physics to your personal relationship was quite satisfying.

The best single joke I’ve ever written was in “How to Express Condolences,” when I told someone I was sorry to hear that their pet had died by texting them “ROFG” (rolling on floor, grieving).

Help Is On The Way: A collection of Basic Instructions Volume 1 is available from Amazon, Vol 2 is out in May.

You can also get BI collections on yer iphone.