It's quite a feature we have for you now, the unstoppable force that is Mega, bags of attitude and a slogan straight from the street art revolution. Mega is instantly likeable, the street style and attitude infectious, his globe trotting lifestyle creates a unification of global counter-culture in his work which overflows with a panoply of colour, slick well chosen lines and a hawks eye for a good angle, I guess composition is something you master quickly at 2am in the arrondissement with a bag of spray cans and penchant for climbing. Mega is one of those that simultaneously breaks the mould but acts as a distillation of his genre, his work trades in alternative culture kudos, which like a precious currency, corporates try to co-opt to put some dents in their cold calculating exteriors and inject some life into their atrophied veins of style by committee, all the while they fund Mega, laughing from his tropical paradise knocking out work he couldn't help but do whether he was paid or not. He controls his style in this way creating slick and justified work that is skilled not only mechanically but works as an illustrator should by selling the message hard. This can be down to his street roots or more likely honed by editorial experience, either way he can put a point across with a tropical sense of glee and a palette rich with street colour. A true talent, it's Mega.
Who are you:
My name is Mega, I am an artist and illustrator. After a career as an art director for magazines in France (WAD) and abroad (Acclaim, Australia), I decided to devote myself exclusively to my love for art and illustration.
Masked warriors, wild girls, cult objects, swarming insects and other wild animals come straight out from the jungle in which my imagination leads his insatiable artistic struggle. From Nike to Volkswagen through Complex magazine, my images are found on all media. The invasion has begun, they are already among you. After living in Brazil, Argentina or Australia, my office is now located in Bali, the island of the gods.
What do you do:
Actions speaks louder than words so I draw all the time, and create new personal projects when my freelance schedule allows it. This is not my job, this is my life. I wake up and draw, drink a coffee and post an artist interview on my blog, have a lunch with a lot of chili then draw, prepare new projects, have a dinner with more chili, reply to my emails and draw again before getting laid and sleeping. This is what I do 7 days a week, 365 days a year, a little bit more every leap year.
How did you start:
As a kid I used to cut magazines all day long in order to arrange and paste new layouts for my music tapes. As a teenager I naturally became a writer, painting the walls of my city and the trains of my area in a really new school vibe. As a big boy I quickly turned to art direction for magazines, since I wanted my art to reach more people. I've had this love of drawing inside me for all my life. I guess I haven't been a really social animal, and always enjoyed to produce stuffs by myself, following my own path. No god, no master. I see art as a something serious I can play with, trying combinations that would give a new depth to things I draw.
A Personal statement about you or your work:
I inspire, you expire.
Links:
Hi, can i ask you something? I'm looking for children books with such "scary" illustrations like wolf (or fox) eating pigs (or seven kids or Red Riding hood or birds in Chicken Little) or being pictured with a fat stomach. Have you seen any book of this sort? Any sort of help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, by the way ;)
reese
Hi Reese thanks for the comment. Our Children's Book Rally would be a good place to find an illustrator with what you are looking for, all their details are included under the image so you can contact them, all work on here is copyright of the respective artist so you need to ask their permission if you want to source an image! :D
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