Feature Friday: Defining Shadow with James Hackett

Pepper from James Hackett's new book: Maljo

James Hackett and I have been friends for many years (more than I care to remember because I feel creaky), through gaming, art and collaboration. He has not only dubbed me the "MissIah", designed an avatar for me, and has been a great art buddy, but we've also done various collaborations together. Not only is he is a fabulously talented illustrator, and a lifelong experimenter, but also a musician in his own right. Another powerhouse. I must say that I love my bunch of amazing friends.

James is currently doing his degree in Fashion Design at UTT (University of Trinidad and Tobago) and has several other projects going on including We Does Draw (WDD) and a graphic novel. I mentioned this in detnator's feature last week so you may have a head's up. If not look at the video below.

This was the seventh We Does Draw event at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain. I've been talking to James about the evolution of this event, which brings folks together to draw. It's brilliant really. Simple concept and a big development in the local art scene. 

About We Does Draw
Tell us a little about the WDD story.
One of the WDD members, Nabeel Mohammed had an idea for an artist meetup in 2010 and I took the initiative to create a group and then an event after a couple weeks. I had no idea what would happen but I just decided to go for it and see who would show up. It's meant to be a place for artists, the illustrators and graphic designers, to connect with each other in real life, find support and encouragement to keep on making work.

What are your thoughts about these events as they evolve?
It is evolving as I had hoped; it's about the art and for artists to just have some fun. Some people came as friends or groups on their own already but I notice new friendships forming which is absolutely awesome.

What's the general format of a WDD meet-up?
We keep it simple: we decide on a date, post it on the facebook group and then meet in a public space with our sketchbooks. We draw based on what is around usand share it with one another. We have also started giving ourselves themes, choosing random people walking around and finding a fun way to interpret them. As you saw in the video, the last WDD saw us foregoing sketchbooks and drawing on 2x4 feet ply boards.

What about special WDD group events?

WDD7 was the detnator collab and before that we were at Trinidad Street Fest where we drew on ply boards. 

What happens with the boards afterwards? Are you planning an exhibition or anything eventually?

Hopefully. We are still working it out, but we want to have an exhibition at some point. That planning will come after some.

I see there may be plans for a magazine. Care to give us deets?
The magazine is still an idea, but I think the group is still trying to figure out the best way to go about it. Right now we would like to create a downloadable online magazine showcasing the members' works.

Where do you see WDD going? What are your hopes for it?
I am not sure where WDD will go next as it depends on upon the members of the group. They suggest ideas and are the ones truly dictating the pace of it, (with some nudging from the vocal members of course). We hope that we continue to make the public aware of drawing. We also want to educate and encourage a lot of younger artists to pick up pencil, markers, computer and create some art as opposed to all the other negative things that distract youths from achieving great things.

Let's talk about drawing as a skill. Do you think drawing is properly taught in schools/university?
I think there are some good teachers out there, but there are some bad ones. Increasingly though I think a lot of the younger ones who want to learn have been using the internet a lot and finding what they need to improve their skills. WDD can only help us go forward.

On Creativity
How do you deal with your creative down time? What do you do?
I always find a way to relax and enjoy myself. Some people may find it hard to understand but a lot of people always find me to be that guy that never is angry. I watch a lot of TV shows and movies. I like storytelling so I enjoy it in all its forms. I also play a lot of video games but of late I have had little time or have not played any good ones because my computer is like 5 years old. I keep trying to read more, but I blame the internet since I do all my reading there; blogs, movie sites fan sites, forums and Wikipedia. My friends have tons of books they have urged me to get into and I really must since I used to read a lot when I am younger. 

What's your favourite drawing tool/technique and why?
The pencil, although of plate I have been using cheap ballpoint pens, nothing like that drive to not having an erase options to get you going!

What's been your favourite drawing experiment?
Scanning my sketches and converting it to vectors in Illustrator and finishing it in Photoshop. Most of what I do now is some form of that. I like playing with the lines of the drawing and making it appear like a resist batik looking image. In Photoshop I layer textures and paints brush samples to make it seem like this painted mess over structured lines.


As for personal projects Hackett has gathered inspiration from WDD and felt the positive energy from the artists he meets.
He has started working on follow up to his daaknite stories.
About it he says, "At the heart of it is going to be a graphic novel but I am going to attach a number of other things onto it such as collaborative music with Detnator and some other things."

The new book is called Maljo and he will be blogging about his experiences and process at shizzies.com. You'll definitely want to follow his journey especially if you're an artist.

Any last words of advice for your fellow artists?

Never stop working and don’t be afraid to experiment and evolve.
The light is a lie, the shadow defines.


I could have not said it better myself! Thanks James! As an extra bit of goodies I shall feature a small snippet of conversation between us, as we talk about our creative lives.