Jason Sho Green

Jason Sho Green lives in Seattle where he recently finished the visual campaign for this year's Seattle International Film Festival.  If that does nothing for you, check out his anti-valentine's day cards.

We talk with him about Dr. Seuss, self-improvement, shoe repair, and art school.


Chief Magazine: So I was looking on your blog and you were mentioning a show in Philadelphia and also how much you loved it there. Sorry…  know that’s a weird place to start [laughing] but I love Philly too! You mentioned you were thinking about moving there.

Jason Green: I think the second art show I’ve ever had was in Philly and there was another one recently that I had in September that I went out there for. I actually got a lot of people that came down from New York. My girlfriend and I are thinking about moving there in about a year. I’ve been in Seattle about 10 years and I love it here but the art scene is not so great. It’s kind of like a 3rd tier art scene and Philly is still growing and it’s so close to New York. I really liked it over there. Here the art scene is kind of snooty. In Philly it seems like it’s more laid back and I liked the people a lot.

Definitely. I love Philly! So where are you from originally then?

Well I was born in Japan, but I mainly grew up in Atlanta. Which is pretty unremarkable. [Laughs] I wasn’t really in the city. I was more out in the suburbs. And I wasn’t that into art so it wasn’t very interesting. Then I moved out to Seattle for college, which is pretty much where I’ve been for the last ten years. Traveling here and there… spent a little bit of time down in L.A. but pretty much have been in Seattle.

And you went to school for electrical engineering?

Yeah. I kind of had no idea what I wanted to do so I sort of fell into it.

Is that a field that one falls into?

Well I guess. I was really into math so I started taking some classes. I also really liked computer programming. Which is kind of weird. [Laughs] But I really liked it. I also got into computer science. Then I started taking robotics classes. That’s mostly how it happened. I liked the microcomputer programming. All the little circuits that you have in cell phones or toasters, all those little electronics. It’s about programming that sort of stuff but you can't really do anything with it. I mean when you graduate you have to be the top of the top and I wasn’t that great at it so I probably would’ve ended up doing pretty boring stuff.

Okay, well that sort of set you up then I guess for changing things up. When you graduated from college did you have a hard time finding a job?

The thing was, when I graduated it was 2002 and the economy was horrible, especially for tech jobs. None of my friends got jobs or anything so I figured I’d just hang out for a year and figure out what I wanted to do. My mom actually came up for my graduation and she gave me this Yoshitomo Nara book. I just started looking through it and I started doodling again. I got really inspired by that.

Started again? Were you always drawing your whole life? Did you turn to art because it was something that was always on the periphery for you?

Well, I would doodle a lot when I was a kid, but I had never taken any art classes. I would always doodle on my notes and stuff like that. But yeah, I started putting stuff up on illustrator websites and it sort of took off from there. I did that for a year. Then I came out with these valentines. I don’t know if you’ve seen those.

Yeah definitely.

Yeah those just spread on the web really fast. I got like 200,000 hits on my website on one day.

Whoa.

[Laughing] Yeah. So, that’s when everything started. From there I got a job offer in L.A. I hated that. [Laughing] After a few months, I basically came back up to Seattle. Now I've been trying to catch up on all that stuff I missed while I was playing on computers in college. Learning how to paint and draw and all that.

So do you think the reason those valentines were so popular was because they were so relatable? I was checking out all your work and these particular cards seem to expose a lot of raw, vulnerable thoughts that I would say probably most everyone has. Things that people would think, but more often than not would keep to themselves.

I think the thing with that is I sort of draw the same way I did when I was a kid. Kids go through art school, they start to change themselves. But I've kind of made an effort not to over think things. Just put stuff down and let people just sort of think what they will.

Now that you’re taking classes are you finding that it’s difficult to hold on to that way of working?

Not at all for me. I only go a few days a week. It’s also a school that only teaches classical drawing and painting and not so much abstract ideas. So I’m building up my skills and I think those are worlds better right now. But I think I've became stubborn enough, since I was learning on my own for a while, that I'm not going to change my whole way of doing things for some class. I’m pretty happy with where I am at this point. I’ve only been at it for 4 years but things are going pretty well. I can sort of see the general direction of where things are going so I'm just picking up things here and there. I’m trying to build the skills up so I can execute ideas when I want to.

---

I know from other conversations I’ve had, this year has either been a really great year or a terrible one. How's 2007 treating you?

It’s been incredibly busy and I haven’t made a ton of money [laughing] but I’ve been doing a lot of awesome stuff. Right now I'm working on this huge job for the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). I’m doing their poster and they have a lot of banners that they put around town so I'm doing those. I’m also doing their hats and T-shirts. Right now I'm actually working on some animation spots that will play before the movies. But it’s all non-profit so it’s been largely pro bono. I'm kind of in between the professional illustrator and the student mind set, so I'm trying to do work that’s going to be fun and where I’ll learn something and that people are going to see. I’m trying to not worry about money so much.

And for extra cash you repair shoes?

Yeah. It’s a job that I had when I was in college and then I had for the year after when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do and I just held on to it. Right now I only work one or two days a week but it’s really cool. My boss is really cool. He was an artist when he was growing up. Then he started this business. Then he had two kids but they both turned into frat boys sort of, so I think he kind of lives vicariously through all the art that I'm doing. He’s cool though. A lot of times I had to go out of town for shows and he would let me go and still give me a full weeks pay…even though I would only work 1-2 days a week even if I was in town. It’s kind of the ideal situation. I figure it’s going to be my last “regular job” so I want to hold on to it until I feel like I'm ready…

...to let go?

[Laughing] Yeah. Until I’m ready to do that.

But it’s not really a regular job. Where did you even think to pick that up?

It just happened. I was walking down the street and there was a help sign up. That’s not what I was doing there originally. I was more of a retail kid on the sales floor and then I started going upstairs cause I hated dealing with all the retail stuff. I've been upstairs doing that for four years now. But it’s great cause I can go to work and sit and since its kind of mindless I can have my notebook out and think and write down all my ideas or sketches. So when I come home I can start on the art side. Going there is the least stressful part of my week by far. It’s the only time that I know I can just sit and think and not work on my other work.

Where does your inspiration come from? Do you hear people talking on the street? Does it come from your life?

It comes from pretty much everywhere. Walking down the street listening to people, listening to the radio, things that I read. I don’t really think about it too much, but things just kind of stick in your head. At some point if you draw enough and get in the habit of letting things out of you, it just sort of starts to come out naturally. So it’s not really a conscious thing. I’ve never felt pressed for ideas. But people do ask me that all the time.

Well it does seem very organic. It just seems like things strike you, or you take a certain phrase out of context, which may seem ridiculous, but at the same time poignant.

I think it has to be organic. If you press it too much people can tell. It just doesn’t feel natural.

Then how much of your work is textually driven or driven by these phrases or ideas, and how much is based on images?

About half and half. When I first started out I couldn’t draw very well, so everything was pretty idea driven. But now, the more and more I work on it and start to draw more and just see ideas pop out of that, the more comfortable I am with the fact that ideas will come out of the process of drawing.

Like I mentioned before, when you started you sky rocketed which brought you a lot of shows. It seems like you weren’t happy doing those shows. Was it the schedule? Was it running around? Or was it that world?

Yeah. It’s kind of like a big conglomeration of all of those things. I think the thing is that I have a group of friends and we all sort of took off at the same time. And when yore just starting out you get offered all these shows and you’re always wondering if every offer is going to be the last offer you ever get. [Laughing] So you wonder, do you accept all of them? And of course you do and then end up having a solo show every month of the year. So you have to come to a point where you realize that those offers are going to keep coming in and you can be more selective about how often you show. But I definitely jumped into it too fast. I mean it was kind of fun to go to openings. But I started realizing I wasn’t completely thrilled about a lot of the art I was seeing around me from my peers and I also realized I wasn’t crazy about my own stuff either. I just felt like it was a big group of people who jumped into showing their art who weren’t really ready to. We all really needed to work for a few more years; figure stuff out before doing that. Also, I'm not terribly social and it seems so much of the art scene is about parties and not so much about the artwork. So it was a culmination of all those things that drove me away from it. Now I'm just trying to hide out. I haven’t had an art show for maybe a year. So I'm just trying to hide out and work on my skills and really try to get to a point where I feel like I have something to offer up.

---

I mean a lot of artists that are making a lot of money, at least in Seattle. I don’t really know about the New York scene. But in Seattle, it's people that put a lot of time into self-promotion, and not so much into painting...  [Laughing] I'm sort of at odds with that. I’m trying to figure it all out. But I've decided that I'm not going to show too much for the next couple years. Try to get my skills up.

Well that seems like it’s how the process ought to be; making sure the community you’re contributing to is one that you want to… as well as making sure what you’re giving back is only going to raise that bar… You started out doing drawings and that lead to the cards. Then you’ve also done t-shirts and toys and paper dolls. Do you like working more in 3D or is it something you only think of case to case?

I don’t really think 3D unless it’s for a specific illustration job. For my own stuff it doesn’t really work out 'cause it just seems forced. I doodle all the time and from there I can pick stuff out and refine it and see where that goes. But I don’t really think, “Oh, I see this as a toy.” I just figure I’ll let them come instead of me trying to force it.

Are you finding school to be helping with your work or not… the social aspect of it?

For me school is not really a creative thing; it’s more like a technical place. I’m trying to learn how to produce what’s in my brain.  But I mean the school environment does affect what I do but not to the point of where it's stale or anything.

That’s interesting that you put it like that because there definitely is an issue about whether art school really helps artists... The theory being that you go to school to learn about the history of art so that you can move forward...

I feel personally that art school should be more about teaching you technique and working on your skills. I think instead it gets too much into the abstract creative stuff, which is something that should be inspired by you. I mean if you have some teacher pushing things on you before you’re ready, you’re not going to produce good work. I was always anti-art school. Even back in high school I thought art classes were kind of cheating. I figured you should always just make art on your own and if you’re good you’re good and if you’re not you’re not. [Laughing]

What is it you’re trying to focus on these days?

Well there are so many things that I want to do and I’ve resolved that I want to do all of them. [Laughing] I really love illustration because it's artistic, but I also get the sort of satisfaction I got when I was doing the computer programming, since you’re faced with this problem and you have to solve it. Its not necessarily that you’re finding an answer but it's more than just going into a painting and figuring out what you want to do with that without that outside influence. So I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing with illustration. I'd also like to go into cartoons. And I'd also like to become a good painter, but that’s probably further in the future. Eventually though after all of that, I’d like to get into toy design, making little interactive toys, trying to use my degree, making robotic things.

Is animation something you knew you wanted to get into or has this been brought about recently by the stuff that you’re doing for the SIFF spots?

I think it was always something that I wanted to do but I put it on the back burner for a while cause I needed to work on my actual drawing skills before I could make the pictures move.  But I’ve had a couple jobs call for that, so I'm really happy to be doing that now. I don’t do the actual animation part but I do all the drawings. I’m actually supposed to be doing a few animations for ESPN and I'm really excited about that. So yeah, if that takes off that’ll make me really happy. I definitely want to do more independent stuff on top of the commercial work but it’s always fun to see the characters that you draw moving around.

Of course. It’s a personality that you’ve created coming to life and living this story that you’ve come up with.

It’s also really cool to not be doing the whole process. I’ll do the drawings and then there’s the animator that puts his influence on top of it. Every time I've worked with someone I've always been really impressed with what they’ve added. So it’s definitely a good collaboration.

Aside from animation, do have any other mediums that are really exciting you right now? Are you constantly out there looking around trying new stuff or are you the type of person that finds something and generally just sticks with it?

For me, in the past I've used acrylics and dabbled in watercolor but not that well. Right now for my own stuff, I'm mainly just drawing on paper… with a pencil. [Laughing] So I'm trying to just get that down and slowly just start expanding; oil painting, maybe try to get into sculpture. Right now, I'm trying to tone down my use of the different mediums. I'd like to get one medium down really well. I mean, with illustration work you obviously can’t give them a pencil drawing so usually for that sort of stuff I’ll just work on my computer. I'm really comfortable on there. Usually I draw everything by hand first and ink it and then take it from there on the computer to work with the color. It’s an amazing tool, but I'd like to get away from that eventually.

---

You’re making a gigantic, quite detailed poster for SIFF. I read that you had wished that there had been a “how-to” guide for you, as it became sort of this monster project with obstacles that you didn’t anticipate. Have there been other times where you wished that you didn’t have to learn through so much trial and error?

Pretty much everything I've worked on has been like that. [Laughing] I mean when you start out working as an illustrator, you’re presumably good enough where people will hire you, but you don’t know what to charge them or how to build an image, stuff like that. I also didn’t go to art school, so I don’t have a whole bunch of friends who are doing commercial illustration. I sort of just have to figure things out on my own and embarrass myself sometimes… redo things sometimes. But there are a few artists who have posted their experiences on line after certain jobs and that info has been invaluable to me. I just want to help other kids that are starting out. I got this (SIFF) job and they told me, okay we’d like the poster to be 41” x 27”. I didn’t take out a sheet of paper to know how big that actually was, so I proposed this awesome idea to do a very detailed cityscape with all these scaled details and they were really into it…

And then you took out the paper and were like, oh god…

[Laughing] Yeah... so it just turned into this huge job. And it’s nobody’s fault but my own. In the end I put in something like 120 hours. I'm really happy with it, though.

I can’t wait to see it. It’s really great though that you want to give back. I mean, some might say that it would be helping the enemy, but really I think its more about giving back so you can help to create a more rich community to work within and eventually feed off yourself.

Yeah. I’ve had a lot of good experiences with artists that I admire being really really helpful so I try to continue that because I think the people that I help will continue that down the line. I think most artists who are really talented are secure enough in their work that they’re willing to help others make good work. There’s just so much room out there. I don’t really think there’s any reason to hate on people too much.

Not too much hating... [Laughing] Just a little bit. So, I touched on earlier that your early work that got a lot of that recognition sort of says things that most people probably think, but for the most part would keep to themselves. You’ve mentioned on your blog that comics are something you’ve been looking at a lot lately.

Lately I've been rediscovering all the stuff that I really loved when I was a kid; all the cartoons and stuff. My parents are moving so my mom keeps sending me all this old stuff... old Dr. Seuss books and different comic books I had when I was a kid. When she first sent them to me, I looked at them and was like, oh yeah these are cute. But when I sat down and actually looked through them I realized Dr. Seuss is brilliant. It’s something, that when you read it to a little kid, the adult enjoys it as much as them and that’s really amazing. It’s the same thing with a lot of what I'm looking at now, the Far Side, etc... It's something that’s easily accessible but also really honest and also not too forced. That’s really admirable when you can appeal to such a wide range.

Yeah it’s really interesting when you can play both those sides. On the surface be entertaining and fun and lighthearted, but then also be quite powerful and relevant.

Definitely. Comedy certainly utilizes that idea. There are a lot of comedians that are just universally funny. Like years ago, Jim Gaffigan decided to completely clean up his act. His stuff now is so funny but you could be a 10-year-old kid or you could be a 25-year-old guy or a 50-year-old woman and still relate to it. I admire that. People who can do that and not rely on shocking people or something like that, I think those are the most talented people.

So obviously that’s something that you strive for in your work. Do you find that using this idea is easy for you?

I can’t really force it. I just put down my work and hope that it gets there.
 
I think you’re doing pretty well with it.

[Laughing] Thanks. I’ve had times where dads have come up to me with their 13-year-old sons and have told me that they look at my site every week together. That’s awesome. That’s exactly what I want.

That’s excellent that you feel like you’re reaching who you want to. It’s great when things like that happen and they sort of urge you on, or even when awful things happen that change your course as well…which most times turn into blessings. You mentioned that you worked for a t-shirt company in L.A. that you hated. Was that an experience that had that effect? Where you were just like, yeah scratch this off. This is not for me.

---

Well it was funny cause it was a really whirlwind thing. They flew me out for an interview and I just got the job on the spot. They told me that I could basically do whatever I wanted but just make it t-shirt accessible. I thought that would be fun for a while. But then I got down there and 90% of work was for Hot Topic and I was doing all of those really crappy t-shirts [laughing] The day I quit, I was assigned a strawberry shortcake account in the morning and I was just like, fuck…That was my feeling just in the morning so by my lunch break, I was so frustrated I just went home and put my apartment on Craigslist [laughing]. I basically decided that I was getting out of there that weekend. So I came back and I was like 15 minuntes late. So my art director came up to me and mentioned my lunch was a little long. I just told her, yeah I don’t think I can do this anymore [laughing] She understood. She just said, "Ok, well... you probably don’t want to finish the day then." She knew exactly what was up.

Websites

www.jasonshogreen.com
youyesyoudotnet.livejournal.com

---