Big Heads | Rob Hodgson

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We had a big heads talk today with Rob Hodgson. An illustration man who has a load of different and varied projects to his name.

• He balances his time between freelancing and working with a publishing company called U Studios.

• His practice is drawn together by various themes and ideas that crop up time after time. (He didn't say what these were, but I think it's characters, fun, playful, making, imaginary and make believe and things from real life.)

• Projects are a good way of exploring a certain material, idea, or technique. But once a project is completed, it doesn't have to stop there. You can continue exploring these things, sometimes ideas span across different pieces of work and are there until you solve them or move on to something else.

• Rob said he thinks about where illustration meets products. (What can be illustrated? Packaging? Figurines and toys? Paper-based products? Stationary? Books and published material?)

• Although he does create a lot of commercial work which is readily turned into products, or applied on to existing items (like clothing, for example), he said he teeters on the line between worrying about being too commercial, and then reacting against that by making personal work.

• He also said that maybe he just has a commercial sensibility. This made me think that maybe some people's work is just more suited to be things that people buy. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. I guess it depends what appeals to you...

(makes me think about creative responsibility, about what illustration is and where it's going -- maybe just empty stuff that people fill their houses with? doesn't have to be?)

His professional and personal practices differ, but feed into one another.

I'm interested in this idea and how it could potentially apply to my own practice.