"Ambush," which is Charlie Bink's favorite among his illustrations. Courtesy Charlie Bink
So I was surfing Tumblr last week, as I am prone to do all day every day every once in a while, when I came across an Arizona artist named Charlie Bink, 29. I really enjoyed the art on his blog so I sat down with Charlie last Thursday to find out more about him.
“I’ve just always loved art,” Charlie said when I asked him why he started in the field.
Charlie Bink hopes to one day make a living full time from his art. Photo courtesy Charlie BinkHe has been interested in art for years and even attended the Art Institute of Phoenix as a Media Arts and Animation major.
“I liked it. It’s probably not in the same caliber as some of the really good art schools, but you get as much as you put into it so … I had a good time there."
Charlie told me he gets his drive and inspiration from friends, the Internet and a Japanese comic he reads, which I unfortunately didn’t catch the name of.
“Me and one of my best friends, Dave, have been doing this artistic marathon kind of thing where every week we try to post … We’ve had other friends notice and try it as well, so that’s where a lot of the drive comes from to be honest," Charlie said. "It’s a great support system.”
As far as other projects, Charlie said he has worked on a few comic books with friends, and done a few collaborative works.
“Me and like nine other friends did an anthology book a couple years ago called Cake. We brought that to Comic-Con and sold it,” he said. But he ultimately wishes to leave his day job and work as a solo artist, “The thing that every artist ever wants,” he said.
“Adventure around every corner…” Illustration courtesy Charlie Bink“I’ve done comics in the past, and I’d like to do comics, they just take so much time.
So I’ve been trying to work on just doing art and build up a following if I can.”
Charlie walked me through the process of creation for one of his illustrations. He said he sometimes sketches, but does most of his work digitally. He used to use a Wacom, but has since upgraded to a Cintiq, or a device that allows you to sketch directly onto the monitor.
To start an illustration, Charlie said he will either scan a drawing from his sketchbook, or start a digital sketch and work from there.
He does much of his work in Illustrator, where he will work with the shapes of the illustrations, and Photoshop, where he colors and shades.
Charlie Bink’s style is rather unique.
“I’ve always liked cartoons the most, so I’ve always leaned towards that style. Although I am a big proponent of classical training in art so I do a lot of like figure drawing and I do a lot of studies and whatnot,“ he said.
Untitled. Illustration courtesy Charlie BinkCharlie recently started an account with Etsy to sell his artwork. He said the store has gotten off to a slow start, but he’s excited to see where it goes.
“I’ve only had two sales so far and both of them were out of the country. One of them was Canada, the other was UK.”
If you’d like to find out more on Charlie Bink, you can find him on Tumblr, Twitter or Etsy. He also said he would like to “do a First Friday thing” in the future … his words. So check him out!
If you’d like to contact me with comments, concerns or suggestions, you can email me at anconrad13@gmail.com or tweet me at @alliectersely
