MEET THE ARTIST: IMMY PHILLIPS (CONCRETE WAVES DECK)
Introducing the artist behind "Concrete Waves Deck" design, the last winner of the competition we do every year to collaborate with different artists from the UK. You can find more about it in Instagram using the hashtag #tr7deckcomp.
We hope you enjoy reading this interview :)
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Where are you from and how long have you been doing art?
I’m from a TINY village called Hadlow Down where there’s nothing but a pub - not even a bus or a corner shop lol. (It’s in East Sussex near Brighton.)
I’ve always loved doing art since I was a kid, like I’ve always been into sketching and painting and would love getting new art supplies for Christmas. It’s always been my ‘thing’ I guess. I discovered digital art when I was like 19 I think - so that’s around 5 years ago.
What style best describes you?
Tricky question - I can visualise it but let’s see how I do at putting it in words haha! It’s obviously digital illustration, and usually my drawings consist of a person/people in a place - for example, a girl in a pool or a couple sat on a wall. I like focusing on my colour palettes to evoke an emotion (I know that sounds real GCSE art but it’s true!) Like, using warm shades of pink and orange for a cosy, happy piece of art. Or deep purples and pinks for a more melancholy evening vibe. I like making art that makes me feel something, and makes you wonder about the story behind the scene. I guess my style is quite ‘girly’, too.
Did you study? Where?
Nope. I didn’t fancy uni, I just don’t think its my thing. I also didn’t have anything in particular that I wanted to study. I wouldn’t want to study art because I think it would take out the enjoyment and freedom of it for me.
What inspires you to do art?
So many things! A conversation, a person, a house I drive past, a shape I can see in the clouds. A massive one is other people’s art - I definitely take a lot of inspiration from other art I see everywhere.
What inspired you to do the newest Concrete Waves deck?
To be honest, I owe the idea to Kai! (My boyfriend.) He’s a very creatively minded person and he comes up with a lot of good ideas for my art. He was like “it’s gotta be concrete waves”, and I immediately knew that had to be it. I only recently moved to Newquay, so I loved the challenge of drawing this completely new place and adding some funky made-up elements to it. It was definitely a fun challenge drawing the TR7 skaters too, and creating this scene where everyone’s doing different tricks.
Anything else you want to share with us?
I wanna say thank you to you guys for this opportunity! And thank you to anyone who reads this and/or buys a deck, or supports it in any way. It’s super exciting for me. Oh and follow me on Instagram hehe. Its @iiiiimmmssss (5 i’s, 3 m’s, 4 s’s).
