We’ve been getting a lot of inspiration from illustration these days for a number of our projects, so I though why not interview one of my favourites. Harvey Chan has been illustrating for a variety of prominent publications for many years. He is extremely busy, yet even on top of his crazy schedule he finds the time to teach students the tricks of the trade. The opportunity to interview Harvey seemed like the perfect chance to discover a little bit more about one of my greatest inspirations.
DB: You have a really diverse set of skills! You do everything from painting, digital colouring, and even sculpture! What does a typical work day involve for you and how often do you practice your skill sets?
HC: The truth is, there is no typical workday anymore for me. Being a teacher and independent artist, no one day is the same. On those days I have class to teach, by the time I have done teaching and grading, I’ll be lucky to have one or two hours to work on my commercial or personal projects. Weekends usually turned out to be opportunity for catch up on work. Because of the demonstrations in painting and media classes, I have the chance to get back to traditional drawing and painting. And a lot time I would finish up the demonstration after the class. I am constantly longing to spend more time to practice my skill as a painter.
DB: What are some of your favourite mediums and which do you find bring you the most reward in your execution?
HC: Don’t have a particular favourite medium. I tend to move from one medium to another, either because of a requirement from the job, or a curiosity to experiment. In those years of using Photoshop as my main medium for my commercial projects, I found myself shy away from traditional medium until I started teaching at ocad six years ago on a regular basis. These days, I have been painting more and more with water based oil. And I found oil seems to bring the most satisfaction due to it’s versatility. There are so much more to discover in term what it can do for me.
DB: You’ve been teaching for many years at a variety of schools. How has teaching affected your perspective on the business and how does it impact your work over all?
HC: Teaching definitely makes me see the future look of illustration. All the new ideas and energy among the students are always at high level! Teaching doesn’t really affect anything about my perspective on the business. It only takes away a lot of time to do my own work and focus on the business. Although many years of doing critique in teaching students also helps me to see solutions faster when I got into problems with my own work in general.
DB: Your sculpture seems to be more of a prominent and welcoming addition to your portfolio. Who are some of your favourite 3D illustrators and what inspires you differently between 2D and 3D mediums?
HC: Sculpture has been something I’ve had a passion for, for some time now. Maybe one day, I would do a children book with all sculpture. Meanwhile what I’d like to learn is to sculpt a crazy futuristic warrior in a digital 3D program. My favourite 3D illustrators … ? The characters in Rango looks awesome. Whoever did that is my hero.
DB: What kind of advice can you provide for new artists / designers with regards to the art industry and it’s future?
HC: Wish I’d know better… I heard doing the best of what you love to do seems right. I wish I had that crystal ball too. But then again it might not do any good for me either. On a serious note, I do believe the art industry is big enough for everyone if you do decent work.
Harvey’s work is incredible and his devotion to his work is unlike anyone I’ve ever known. It is rare to find an artist with such a fierce passion to the work he composes and the degree of quality in each piece of his artwork is truly unmatched. For more information and to view countless samples of his work, please visit his online portfolio at http://www.harveychan.ca/.
Lee says: