interview with Yanick Blanchet!

I've been following Yanick's work for just a short while but within just a few images, I was caught up in pirate ships, giant squid and clever slogans. Yanick's work really speaks to the animal lover, oceanic, skateboarding and detail oriented side of me and all the aspects I really love about art. I have huge respect for Yanick's perspecitve and this crossovers between the classic illustrations and modern terms of weirdness.  I was recently fortunate enough to have a 'chat' with Yanick and discuss this multi-faceted art career and dig around his brain a little.

Wlfmrs: Can you give me some background on yourself? Where are you from? Where do you live now?

Yanick: I was born in Montreal, when I was a couple of months old my parents move to northern Québec, about 9h drive from Montreal to this little town called Rouyn. When I was 4 we move to Drummondville, a mid-size town 1h from Montreal where I spend the next 13 years... then at 17, I moved out from my parents place back to Montreal to study graphic design.

Spent most of my youth skateboarding, drawing and listening to punk rock!

Wlfmrs: What was your ultimate goal when you went to school for graphic design? Was there a certain company or niche in the industry that was most appealing to you?

Yanick: The thing that brought me to graphic design was that, for me, I would be the most easy way to make a living with "art". Unfortunately, the program I started was super basic and all the teachers knew nothing about computers, it actually took about 1 month before we even got the actual computers and I had the feeling I was kinda wasting my time. So I started working in restaurants for a while, the only thing I had experience in at the time and then decided to go back to school and go to art school.

After I've finished art school, I kinda was board with the whole art scene, nothing was really talking to me, so I went back to another school in graphic design from which I graduated and then started working in that field, been doing it for 12 years now!

Wlfmrs: Were there specific artists that you would consider an influence when you were younger? And how about present day?

Yanick: Times weren't always super easy, but I think I was one of the lucky ones that never had too much of a hard time!

When I was younger I was really influenced by the French punk rock scene and the guys doing the posters and flyers, like in any punk scene, most of these guys remained anonymous, but I could recognize a few of the styles in there. Later on, after art school, while designing a website for a friend's boardshop I stumbled upon some of Dalek's work... it really hit something, I told myself wow, that's something I've never seen before and I just wanted to discover more about that kind of art. Then I got into (Jeff) Soto and all these other guys that were about the same age as I was and come from skateboarding, graffiti and tattoo. From that point on I just wanted to learn more about lowbrow art

Today, I'm super inspired by the local scene, guys like Jonathan Bergeron, Omen and Turf One, probably 'cause I started hanging out with them and they're big influences on me. And though I've always been into tattoos, and I don't know why but the past 2 years it just exploded for me!

Wlfmrs: Do you think you would ever want to become a tattoo artist?

Yanick: Nah... not confident enough about my drawing skills! To draw one straight line I have to start over like 12 times! Hehe

Wlfmrs: hah... you would never know it on this end. What field of graphic design are you in at the moment? Are you independent? Do you work for a company/corporation?

Yanick: Right now I work for David's tea as a graphic/web designer. Before that I took 6 months off to go to San Francisco and before I was at MusiquePlus (French MuchMusic ! ;)) and before that at CBC French radio... and while doing all that I did some freelance job plus in the past 3 I was involved in a designer toy blog and organized a couple of art shows

*Designer toy/art.

 Wlfmrs: Montreal Vinyl, right?

 Yanick: Yep!

Wlfmrs: Are you still involved with that?

Yanick: Nah, I've stopped 'cause I didn't had any time left to work on it, plus circumstances were that I couldn't take care of the blog as much I as would've like too.

Well the whole thing started with 2 of my best buddies, we all collect toys and we went to the SDCC, while over there we realized that there's basically no French blog dedicated to designer toys, so we decided to start one when we'd get back. The whole thing ended being me doing all the posts and one of the other guys posting a few pics once in a while! :)

Wlfmrs: Oh, I thought you guys were making them as well

 Yanick: I did this one thing, customized a toy of Argonauts resins but it was the closest I got from producing a toy!

Nah I wish we would, we were actually suppose to start doing it, the first one planned was one with 123 Klan, but the whole project died before we got to actually produce the toy.

Wlfmrs: Oh, that's too bad... a collab with 123 Klan would have been rad! For the one toy you did customize, how was that process for you? Would that be something you would ever want to dive into full force or more of a side thing?

Yanick: I did it for a while, was in a couple of shows here and there but I haven't customized a toy in a while, I kinda miss it.

It's kind of weird to check out blogs now and see some guys that are still super involved in the toy scene and that you were in the same show as them and now they have solo toy shows and some of their toys are produce...

Wlfmrs: I'm getting side tracked... I really dig some of the vinyl toys that have been coming out over the past few years so it's easy for me to want to talk about it but back to present day... you have been posting a lot of art that seems to be 'spare time' work... is this for fun or are you working something specific?

Yanick: I know what you're talking about! I've been so involved in that scene and still am watching everything that's coming out of there! Could talk about it for hours!

As far as my recent work, it's mostly for fun, which makes it a bit weird 'cause I've never had so much attention on my art! I blame the interwebs! Hehe

Wlfmrs: Hah.. no doubt. Your art has a very classic feel to it for me. Maybe it's all the mariner scenes you've been doing but it brings to mind a connection with tattoo flash and some east coast style. Is that on par at all or am I way off? Maybe I should be asking about what influences your current work...?

Yanick: The tattoo scene has something to do with it for sure, there's just something about the mariner scene that talk and has always been talking to me a lot and that seems to be talking to a lot more people too. Might have to do with the big old school tattoo trend that's going on right now. But to be totally honest I just been trying a whole lot of things in the last year or 2 years and what I've been doing lately has just felt right, I just feel comfortable doing it and I seem not to get bored with it.

Wlfmrs: Well it's working huge for me. Also being on the west coast, having a love of the sea and old stuffs, I'm definitely drawn to it. And speaking of attention on your art, are you hooked up with any upcoming shows?

Yanick: At the moment we're preparing a show with some artist from Quebec City, artist that have collaborated with Avive, an awesome artist and friend of mine who has his own line of t-shirt and with whom I collaborated on his last collection. Other than that, no plans in an near future.

Wlfmrs: When you say 'we', you mean....?

Yanick: The whole project is in relation with the shirt collection Flexib, the guys that will organize the Quebec venue, Me that will do it for Montreal and talking with a friend of mine in San Francisco to ship the show over there after the Montreal and Quebec dates

Wlfmrs: Ahh, nice! When is the show?

 Yanick: we still have to come up with dates, I'll come back to you once the whole thing is set... probably next summer, but I'll let you know

Wlfmrs: Sweet!  Switching gears … What is a day in the life of Yanick like?

Yanick: Hehe! 1st coffee... can't start a day without it! Then work on the week days, and after work I usually come home, spend some time with my girlfriend, dinner and then I'm off to sketch or to paint. Weekends are never the same... friends, dinners, family... but I usually start every morning making a coffee and drawing 'till my girlfriend wakes up. Other activities would include, biking around town, snowboarding, longboarding and the once in a while sketch night with a bunch of friends were we end up doing more hockey watching, talking and beer drinking than actual drawing!

It's a little quiet life... my party day are way behind me! :D I'm getting to old! Hehe

continued in part two...