Awesome Artists We've Found Around The Net: Andrew Swainson

Awesome Artists We’ve Found Around The Net: Andrew Swainson

December 3rd 2022, 12:00pm

Last Updated on December 6, 2022

For years, Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net has been about two things only – awesome art and the artists that create it. With that in mind, we thought why not take the first week of the month to showcase these awesome artists even more? Welcome to “Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net.” In this column, we are focusing on one artist and the awesome art that they create, whether they be amateur, up and coming, or well established. The goal is to uncover these artists so even more people become familiar with them. We ask these artists a few questions to see their origins, influences, and more. If you are an awesome artist or know someone that should be featured, feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected].This month we are very pleased to bring you the awesome art of…

Andrew Swainson

Andrew Swainson is an illustrator and graphic designer based in the UK. Having spent most of his professional life in the music industry he turned his hand to illustration as a hobby in 2012. He has gone on to become an illustrator full-time and is a member of California-based agency, Poster Posse, with whom he has produced official artwork for the likes of Disney, Sony, Warner Bros, Coca-Cola, 20th Century Fox and Netflix for films such as The Book of Boba Fett, Toy Story 4, Alien, Justice League, Kong: Skull Island and Big Hero Six. He has also produced limited edition art prints for Vice Press, Bottleneck Gallery, and Sideshow for films such as Jaws, Halloween, and the Universal Monsters series.

JOBLO: What got you started as an artist?
ANDREW: I was always drawing as a kid. All the way through school it was pretty much all I was interested in but I had no idea what I could do with it in terms of a career. It was when I started getting into music in my late teens that I began to realize that there was potentially something I could do with my life, creating artwork for the music industry, though I was drawn more towards graphic design than illustration. But after doing that for more than 20 years I stumbled into the world of alternative movie posters and began collecting. It wasn’t too long afterwards that I thought I could probably have a go at doing that type of thing myself. A decade later illustration is almost all I do now.

Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?
In terms of pop culture, I think my first exposure to artists and recognizing their styles were people like Brian Bolland and Massimo Bellardinelli and their work in 2000AD comic. Also, Tom Chantrell’s film poster and book jacket work was a big influence – I had several pieces of his work in my life for a long time and it wasn’t until much later that I realized they were all by the same artist. Later it was people like Peter Saville and particularly Vaughan Oliver whose work gave me a greater appreciation of how image and typography can work together. When I found the world of alt-movie posters it was Ken Taylor’s work that really caught my attention first.

Who do you really dig these days, follow on Instagram?
I follow a few people but I have to pay tribute to my Poster Posse colleagues… mentioning no one in particular so as not to leave anyone out. Suffice to say I’m incredibly lucky to have fallen in with such a bunch of talented and supportive people. You can find them all at the Poster Posse website.
Beyond the PP I also follow Jemma Klein, Garydadd, Hannah Gillingham, Nada Maktari – they all do great work. Also people like Matt Ferguson and Murugiah… it’s another long list.

What advice would you have for budding artists today?
I’m not sure I’m the right person to give advice beyond just do what you feel works for you and makes you happy. Personally, I don’t think you can overstate the importance of sheer luck in any career but at the same time that doesn’t mean sit back and wait for things to come to you. Don’t be shy of reaching out to people. The best decision I’ve made in my illustration career was to email Poster Posse to see how I could get involved. That one email changed my life and changed what was a hobby into a career.

What should we be looking out for from you in the future?
Well you never really know what is going to come in from day to day but I have several ongoing print projects with Vice Press that will hopefully be completed and released next year.

Being a fansite, we have to ask you… What are some of your favorite movies/TV shows of all time?
That’s a big question I like quite a range of movies but then I guess most people do. The obvious choices are things like Jaws, Star Wars etc but I do love a “good” horror movie whether it’s something like the Universal Monster movies of the 30s, the Hammer films of the 50s and 60s, Japanese movies like Onibaba or more modern films like The VVitch and Midsommar (if indeed you can classify that as horror). I usually pick The Big Lebowski as my favorite film but it could easily be Monty Python and the Holy Grail… depends on the day.

TV wise I do love British Comedy so some of my favourites there are Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dad’s Army, Father Ted, The Young Ones, The Day Today, Nighty Night, Vic Reeves Big Night Out and Toast of London. Andor has just finished on Disney+ and I thought that was terrifically good. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul were both amazing. There’s way too much to list!

Scroll down to check out some of our favorite art pieces from Andrew as we continue to follow his journey across his Website and social media hubs: Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Behance / Store / Vice Press

Alien