Artist Feature: Alec Phipps

Hi, I’m Alec and I’m an illustrator and aspiring children’s book author! I work mainly on large-scale gouache paintings and monochrome ink on paper pieces. I’m an advocate for the weird and hope to keep creating till I drop!

CPJ: The question that I always like to open up with is, when did you first begin to do art? Like, is there a strong memory of that first time? Or was it something that just kind of happened?

Alec: Yeah, I’ve been making art ever since I’ve been able to hold a pencil. Both my parents are artists, so it was kind of just natural, put upon me as something that like, you know, my parents are doing it, I might as well do it. And a lot of my childhood memories are going to art museums and local galleries and hanging out with their artist friends. I really liked the social aspect of that, and it was just very inspiring to be around them, so I wanted to stick with it.

CPJ: That’s really sweet. When did you first decide that you wanted to be an artist—like this was something that you wanted to pursue as a future, not just perhaps a hobby?

Alec: I guess probably middle school, and maybe sixth grade. I had a lot of very relatable aspirations that I think a lot of young artists do. I was really into Cartoon Network, and I was like, ‘I’m going to be an animator and I’m going to do all these things and like, make my own show.’ And I thought that was so cool, but I know that’s very unrealistic now. I eventually realized that that was unrealistic, and toned it down a little bit, but I kept on watching cartoons and reading comics and thinking about the future. I’m very much someone who is constantly thinking about, what am I going to do next? What’s my plan for the next three years or something? But I realized that I had the ability I had, and it was what I was good at, so I just kept going with it.

CPJ: Has being at Evergreen helped shape, or reshape at all, the idea that you have of yourself as an artist in the future? Has any kind of shift like you mentioned before happened now that you’ve been at Evergreen a couple of years?

Alec: I definitely have some plans for my senior year here. You know, I think it’s really cool that people like Lynda Barry and Matt Groening went here, and I just think that going here gives you so much potential and so many skills for the real world. Actually, my senior year of high school, we had to do thesis papers and I based mine off of creating children’s books to talk about things like self acceptance, and loving yourself, and appreciating others for who they are, and that really flicked a switch in my head. So, I think, actually, what I want to keep working on—just super different from the art that I do right now, which is kind of creepy, grotesque at times— but I would like to work on creating children’s books. Y’know, writing stories and poetry about things like, again, with self love and acceptance. Being at Evergreen made me realize how much opportunity I have to work on that. So, I think my senior year I want to plan on just keeping that whole year planned out to work on that book, and try to publish something.

CPJ: So now that we’ve got some background on what you want to do with your art, what is your favorite medium of art to work with?

Alec: I mainly work on a lot of Bristol board and just very giant pieces of paper with sumi ink. More specifically those brush pens and they’re really, really fun to draw with. They’re a bit of a challenge because it’s not like you can erase with them. Sometimes I would just go in, no pencil, and just draw whatever the hell I feel like.

CPJ: Brave!

Alec: Yeah! Exactly, right? I’m too much of a control freak to do that anymore. So I do really like just a classic mechanical pencil. I like the detail that you can get with that. But just working with pencil and then going over with that brush pen is like my all time favorite way to work.

CPJ: Is there a lot of attentiveness and good attention to details that has to go into that? I’ve never worked with brush pens before.

Alec: I get a lot of people telling me, ‘oh, you should be a tattoo artist’ because one of my main art traits is I have very neat line work, and you have to have a very still hand to do that. It does take a while to get used to because it’s not like the ink keeps flowing. You have to squeeze the pen, yeah, there’s a certain technique you have to use with it.

CPJ: That’s very cool! Is there anything that typically inspires your art or pushes you to create?

Alec: I am really inspired, right now, by old medieval illustrations and Victorian illustrations. And a Norwegian folk art painting style called rosemaling. And it’s these very intricate, floral—I don’t even know how you would describe them—they’re these very natural designs. Kind of like you’d see on some wallpaper at your grandma’s house or something, but they’re really pretty. I like old medieval illustrations the most because not everybody knew what the animals looked like yet. So, when they draw animals, they look really messed up sometimes! I admire how messed up they look, and a lot of what I draw relies on the grossness. They just look wrong— Also the flatness of them. A lot of medieval paintings or drawings are very flat and lack perspective. And I feature that a lot in my drawings. I just like the flatness of that, it feels like it gives you more room to create things for your eyes to latch on to. 

CPJ: Is there a certain piece that you’re most happy with right now? Like, either you’re proudest of it or you just really, really love it.

Alec: Actually, what I was thinking about when I was talking about the flatness of old medieval illustrations is, I did, I think my largest piece yet. It’s 30 inches by 20 inches. It’s huge, which I worked on for a week. Like really, really trying to make every detail possible there. To me, you can’t have too much empty space on the paper. So I always felt like I have to fill up this random spot with something and it kind of forces you to, I guess, go a step forward than you normally could. A lot of the comments I get about my work are that people tell me they admire that they can look at one part of the drawing and another part and notice like, ‘Oh, I haven’t noticed this small detail yet.’ So, I like to capture that kind of claustrophobic feeling with my drawings.

CPJ: That’s very awesome. How long did a big piece like that take you?

Alec: I think it was a week. It might have been more or less than that. I don’t know, it was kind of a blur. I get very into working on drawing sometimes. Time flies, I just lose myself and it’s awesome. 

CPJ: With your art, or just you as an artist, does that cause you to find yourself rooted in a sense of place? Whether that be like, where you’re coming from, or where you currently are now, or where you find yourself, wherever you are.

Alec: I guess on a more literal scale, the current style that I’m working on right now is fairly new to me. I started working on these creature-imaginary-friend-looking things my junior year of high school when we first started zoom class, and I think it’s based on a sense of isolation and the need to create things to keep me company. I think it’d be interesting if it changed depending on where I am, but I think because I have such a hard time putting myself out there it’s easier to just keep creating that little ecosystem in my head. I just thought about those old Polly Pocket keychains with the little dolls and houses inside. It’s kind of like that in my brain.

CPJ: I love that analogy. I think that’s beautiful, though. Like, maybe you’re not necessarily influenced by the places you find yourself around, but you kind of bring your own influence to the places you find yourself in. I think that’s great, especially in a place like Evergreen. As an artist, what has your experience at Evergreen been like thus far? You said that you kind of keep a little more to yourself, but what has it been like finding or creating a community for yourself here at Evergreen?

Alec: So last year, my freshman year, it’s a little bit difficult getting used to the way that the classes work here, mainly because all I want to do is art. I don’t want to do anything else— which is kind of difficult. I got placed in a printmaking class for one quarter last year that I really liked and I want to experiment more with, since I haven’t been able to do printmaking in such a long time. I enjoyed that, but I’ve mainly really wanted to do drawing and painting classes. But I guess with the way that the classes are set up, it’s not like I’m going to find a class and the right amount of credits that I want to do. Right now I’m in a pottery class for the whole year. It’s cool doing something new. It’s not really my thing, but I think it’s a good opportunity to learn to work with another medium that I might have not had the opportunity to work on. For my final project last quarter, I didn’t really want to make anything like, ‘this is pottery’ or like, ‘I’m gonna make a jar or a bowl’ or something. I made these very flat, platter-plate things, and I just painted on them like the drawings that I normally do, because I just didn’t have any imagination to create something else, apparently, to work on something that could have been more connected to I guess what pottery is? In my head? I don’t know.

CPJ: Yeah, I remember seeing your plates. They’re gorgeous, first of all. I don’t know, I don’t think you should feel a pressure to connect to what pottery is. You did it. You did pottery. You put a little bit of yourself in it, and I think that’s what creation is, no matter what type of art form it is. I just like it when you’re able to fully see the artist and themselves, and when they take the art form and they do something a little different with it, something a little new that maybe isn’t what would be the traditional way or the best way.

Alec: You know, now that I’m thinking about it, when I did make things, it’s just, you know, no illustration, no painting on it—just the form in itself, maybe these forms are part of that ecosystem or little world that I’ve created in my head. One of my favorite pieces I made was this vase with these tubes that were shooting off the side of it. It’s kind of like an abstract tree. Then I put this bowl on top that had these drips on it. The texture of it is just really nice. So I think it is connected because it’s kind of hard not to keep all of that connected if you’re working with your style.

CPJ: That’s awesome. Do you view your art or like your art pieces as kind of an extension of you? You’re saying it’s like an ecosystem you’re building. Even the pottery and stuff, is it like little bits of you that get scattered out into the world?

Alec: Yeah. The contrast is interesting with just plain illustration and pottery because a lot of my pieces and pottery are very imperfect and bumpy. I try to smooth things out but they always end up kind of lumpy and goofy looking, as opposed to the very neat lines and very specific way that I draw things. So, I don’t know.

CPJ: That’s awesome. Okay, so, my favorite wrap up question. I do it every time. What does art mean to you? And you can take that however you want to take it.

Alec: That’s a really hard one! I have a very basic, kind of typical thought about what art is. I think art is emotion and the human experience or, I guess, living experience. Because people make things that aren’t just about people, like causes and nature. I guess identity too. It’s basic, but you know, people say these things because of how true they are. Art is a warm hug.

To check out more of Alec’s art, follow them on Instagram @smittysmudge