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After graduating from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Rich went to New York to show her book around. One of her first appointments was with Archie Ferguson at Pantheon Publishing. "I showed him my sketchbooks and he ended up hiring me on the spot for a book cover. It was a huge thrill, even though the job ended up being killed," she says. Still: "I was hooked." Rich's style, which she describes as "imperfect," has given her the opportunity to work on such publications as Atlanta Magazine, CosmoGirl, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, the Village Voice, and Smart Money, to name a handful. Her work has also been featured in Communication Arts July 2004 Illustration Annual, Design Annual 2003, Fresh Column in 2002, Step Inside Design Magazine in 2002 and American Illustration 21, 22, 23. Currently, Rich's work is on display in three group shows: New Image Art Gallery and Froden Gallery, both in Los Angeles and at the Riveria Gallery in Brooklyn. In November, she'll be featured in group show of Broken Wrist Project artists at Cassius King Gallery in San Diego. She spoke to altpick.com by phone from her studio in L.A.
They are all pretty exciting to me. It was really great being in a show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Hollywood for the first time. Usually they have a big group show each year with about 50 different artists and I've been in that one. Last year they asked me to be in a four-person show during the summer. What was that like? It was pretty cool. It's really nerve racking just because you don't know if people are going to buy your stuff. My work tends to stay in the gallery after the show is over. It often sells after people have come back and looked at it a couple of times and mulled it over. I sell more art after the opening than during the opening. I wish I could talk to some of the people who've bought my work to see what the scoop is. Did you decide to stay in New York after your meeting with Archie Ferguson? No, I'd just gone to New York to visit. I live in Los Angeles and love it. Being from the East Coast I wanted to live somewhere warm. For a while I did odd jobs in between illustrations. Right now, I teach illustration at Art Center, they have a program for high school students called Saturday High. I've gotten to a point now where I don't have to have a part-time job any more and it is really exciting. Everyone told me it would take about three to five years before you could just do straight art and I am about at four. It's working out really well.
Sometimes I can finish a painting in a day or two if I am on a roll; it sort of just happens. Then there are times where I will paint for a while and put the painting aside because it isn't working and I won't look at it for weeks. And then something will pop in my head that makes me go back to it and start painting again. I may cross something out or paint over something or add some great piece of found paper. So I can't put my finger on an actual time. When I am hired to do an illustration, there is a deadline, so that is a whole different process. When I am doing paintings for myself I work at them little by little and have a couple going at the same time. I bounce back and forth and suddenly I look at it and it's done. It's just sort of a knowing. When there is nothing about the painting that bothers me then I'll stop. Do you prefer to paint or draw? I actually really love both. They are the same to me. I love being an illustrator. I think it's fun to get a different job every time someone calls you up. Sometimes a job is exciting and easy and the ideas come naturally. Sometimes it is a challenge to make a job fun, but it is never boring. You have to realize, I worked in cubicles doing dull office jobs for 15 years before this. The fact that I get to paint and draw for a living is heaven. I especially like painting for myself and working in my sketch books. Do you use the computer for your illustrations? No, I do all my stuff by hand. The only time I use the computer is when I am sending a final illustration digitally or with sketches. I can manipulate and make changes to sketches a little bit easier so I'll use Photoshop to save time. I never use the computer for my actual art making.
I just do it. I don't think too much. I draw on personal experience and try to make each illustration fun. What do you do to keep yourself inspired? I share a studio space with Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson, Calef Brown, Souther Salazar, and Saelee Oh. All I have to do is walk around the studio and I am inspired. I also go to estate sales and buy other people's crazy stuff. What would be the ultimate job? Redoing the Frederick's of Hollywood catalog. I collect vintage Frederick's catalogs; they were so freaky and amazing back in the 50s and 60s. They should go back to that funky, sexy, illustrative style. Drawing underwear is an obsession for me. - Contributed by Mary-Beth Holland >> See more work from Martha Rich >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
