Tom J Newell X Broke & Famous (Interview)

I posted some designs from the UK artist Tom J Newell a while back..He makes music and does drawings for bands and club nights. I got in touch with him and had a little chit-chat…here it is for you guys.

Alright Tom. How are things Tom? What’s new? How did you spend your bank holiday weekend?

I’m good thanks.. really busy though. I spent most of the weekend decorating plates for an upcoming exhibition, but managed to look up now and again to see the skeleton scene in Jason & The Argonauts and Li-Lo in stereo in The Parent Trap.. proper Easter telly!

So how long have you been drawing?

Since as far back as I can remember. My mum and dad really supported and encouraged my love of drawing right from the start.

Are there particular things you like to draw?

Skulls with eyes are a recurring thing for me. I think the Crimson Ghost that The Misfits adopted for their logo is probably one of my favorite images ever. If I ever succeed in capturing something even half as striking as that I’ll be really chuffed with myself for a day or two.. then I’ll move onto whatever’s next.

Do you ever have dreams about things/scenes or faces to draw?

When I’m in the middle of a piece it’ll be pretty much the only thing on my mind until it’s done. I don’t remember too much from my dreams, but I often wake up with very specific new ideas about finishing a picture off in a different way to I had thought I would before I’d fell to sleep.

How long do you generally spend on a drawing?
It really depends on the type of thing I’m doing. I can usually get a gig poster done in the same day, but when I set myself up for ridiculously time consuming detailed stuff it can easily run into a few days.

I saw the work you did recently at Chimney House, How long did the planning & execution take?

There’s rarely too much planning or preparation in most of the stuff I do. There’s a general idea that kind of evolves on the page or the wall or whatever as I go along. I spoke with the owners of The Chimney House about featuring a picture of an elephant because they’d discovered that one used to live in the building, then I got the painting done in about three days.

I didn’t realise you did murals too. Which do you prefer flyer/artwork design or hitting the walls?

I’m definitely more comfortable sat at home with a pen and paper, but I’ve always been hugely inspired by Graffiti and Hip-Hop culture in general, so it’s great to be able to switch up to that kind of scale when I get the chance.
Where can people see/buy your work? (physical places/ or online)

There’s a print works called Archipelago up in Sheffield who’ve knocked up a few prints for me and really helped me out with bits and bobs. They’ve got an online shop with some of my stuff on there that you can get a link to from my website. I’ll be selling all the new work I’ve been working on for my exhibition, both from the bar up in Sheffield where it’ll be and from my website, so people can keep their eyes out for that. There are a few links to places you can get t-shirts and stuff too.. it’s all up on tomjnewell.com.

What about music. Are you still making any? Where can we hear some?

You can hear my old band The Carol-Anne Showband on MySpace. I’m trying to find time to play around with some stuff with a mate in a band called Wooden Bolts and I play percussion for another band called Double No No when I get chance, but drawing is taking priority at the moment.

What’s for lunch?

Cous Cous.. so good they named it twice.

Thanks for your time Tom…keep up the great work

Check out more of Tom’s work.