Uh, my name is Ken Garduno, I am...
Kyle.
I've done stuff for LA Weekly.
I've done stuff for just different publications.
I kind of like being an illustrator for that reason
because it's different. Every job that I get is different.
I haven't gotten bored yet.
I mean, I've only been doing it for about five years professionally,
five or six years professionally,
but I'm always excited about the new project that comes up.
It's never the same.
I always knew that I wanted to do something art related,
but I didn't really know anything about illustration at all.
I went to art school still not knowing anything about illustration.
I just went there thinking that I was going to draw and somehow...
I don't know.
I started to learn a little bit more about illustration,
but I still don't think after I graduated
that I really knew what illustration was all about.
Like, it's just open, there's so much to do,
so so many different directions that you could go with it.
I remember first getting contacted by Sean,
who was with Friends United and eventually met Chris
and I think I did a couple shirts with him.
That piece was actually...
It was a pivotal piece in my artistic career, I think.
I just felt like that piece kind of pushed me off in the direction I am now
because prior to that piece I was...
After art school I was struggling to find a style.
I put a lot of pressure on myself
because I was going off in like two or three different directions
and I made that piece and I just...
I felt like something was right about it
and I've never looked back since.
I just kept going in a direction.
I don't know what that direction was,
but I just kept going in a direction.
I'm constantly changing the way I work,
even if it's just a little bit.
For this show, I always tend to work messy at first.
A lot of washes, a lot of experimentation,
letting the ink and the washes do what they're meant to do.
Then I usually come back in at the end
and tighten everything up with the line work,
which I guess gives that impression that everything looks really tight,
but I think lines will do that.
And mustaches on the guys will just make it look really tight.
I recently had somebody tell me
that they don't think that I can paint the upper lip
because I put mustaches on everybody.
I mean, it may not be obvious by looking at some of my works,
because they're a little abstracted in some ways, distorted,
but I do pay a lot of attention to...
I have a lot of interest in anatomy,
so I pay a lot of attention to people's faces and try to figure out...
If I'm looking at you a little bit too long,
chances are I'm probably studying your face
and trying to break things down into shapes and learn.
That's something that came along with graduating art school
and just having those skills that I learned along the way
just start to kick in naturally.
After a while, it wasn't something that I thought about anymore.
It's like those basic things, like anatomy and perspective.
You stop thinking about them as much,
and you just do it, you just go for it.
I look at the world a little bit differently now
because I came up with the idea of the golden structure.
I like the idea of this precious...
Relationships being this precious thing that we put so much pressure on,
and we build these things up.
We build them into this golden structure.
Something so precious.
I am happy to be back with Labasse.
I love the space.
I love just the area.
The outside court place is perfect for an opening.
The weather is...
I mean, a summertime opening in this gallery is just great,
but I got the perfect time for my shoe because of that.
Thank you for watching!
