We recently had the chance to chat with Seage. Seage is an illustrator from Toronto, Canada. His dynamic works range from Anime-inspired action comic books to stylish, energetic, fashion illustrations. His latest series “Black Women” features beautiful, original, portraits of the type of women Seage realized he is literally never asked to represent in his commissioned works.
SS What inspired you to begin this series?
SS Are there any notable/famous black women you would like to illustrate in the future?
SEAGE Hello, thank you for interviewing me! Well, to be honest, it was a mix of things. I work in the realm of fantasy (Whist slowly making the jump into Fashion). I create paintings for card games, and create characters as well. I really love what I do, but it feels very formulaic, and that side seemed to be leaking into my personal work as well. By default, I am a person that enjoys making mistakes and learning how to harness them. A set structure to my image making is extremely counter-intuitive, and thus, I began to get bored, unmotivated and frustrated. I started hating making art, and it just wasn’t fun. I asked around online to see what I could do to have fun again, and many people told me I needed to step away, do something different, and stop thinking so hard. So I looked inside, and realized I had trapped myself, then decided to go at a painting with no process, no formula. At the same time, I wanted to do something different from my day to day, something fresh, something I hadn’t done before, (but very much wanted to on my own terms). And thus began the series. Whew, that was a long answer.
SS Are there any artists whose work you admire?
SEAGE This list could go on and on. On a broad and global level, I could list the masters of now and masters of the past. But these days its my friends works that I admire the most, because I see it everyday, growing and getting better. The person and the story behind the works give them more meaning and makes each piece more special to me. I would have to say, Mattieau St. Cyr (Manikk) , Ben Moriconi, Ejiwa Ebenebe (Peppermint-Pinwheel), Caleb Thomas (CT). And then some of my guides and mentors like Stanley Lau (Artgerm), Zhuzhu, Chris Oatley. Winona Nelson to name a few.
SS Are there any notable/famous black women you would like to illustrate in the future?
SEAGE In my work I usually create my own characters, and have never actually painted a celebrity before. But on the list of people I would love to paint, it would have to be Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu, Halle Berry, Naomi Campbell and Lauren Hill.
SS What else inspires you in your personal work?
SEAGE Everything inspires me in my work. A cool look, a fancy song, the pattern of clouds, the feeling of snow or water. Sounds, languages, colors. Everything. But what really inspires me is making the first few strokes on a blank canvas. The moment that is down, I can start to see stories emerge. Patterns and shapes and ideas that I can now play with to create something. I am a digital explorer. The things I find are sometimes abstract, but I always try to tell a story. Story is probably my biggest inspiration. Not just hearing one, but telling one through whatever it is that I do.
To view the full series, visit Seage online at www.seageart.com.
