THE YOUNG EDITORS INTERVIEW BEN WINWOOD, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE POATINA, AUGUST 2022

 

Q. How many years have you been drawing?

A. He has been drawing since he was 3 or 4, so over 30 years.

Q. Have you always done cartooning or do you do other drawing styles as well?

A. He can draw realistically but prefers cartooning.

Q. have you ever written a book?

A. No but he has illustrated 2 books of his own and one for a friend.

Q. Why did you start drawing?

A. His mum encouraged him to draw from when he was young, because she was an artist. She does watercolour and also pastels, pencils and oils.

Q. What are your favourite cartoons to draw?

A. Not at the moment, but when he was younger his favourite to draw was Garfield.

Q. Where are some of the places you have set up places to draw for people?

A. Various markets, Launceston Night Market, Launceston C.B.D., Poatina Australia Day, and shows.

Q. What are some of the weirdest requests you have ever had?

A. A dog on a couch with a cat psychiatrist.

Q. What are you doing while you are here as an Artist in Residence?

A. A few different projects: Redemption’s face – He catches up with someone in the village and hears their story. Then when they go he draws a portrait of them, illustrating the redeeming features of their story.
He is also doing Little Miss and Mr. Men portraits with his friends being the Little Misses or Mr. Men.
He also illustrated the chalkboard for outside the General Store.

Q. What art materials do you prefer to use?

A. He likes Sharpies and uses them the most. They are cheaper than other markers and he likes the bright bold lines.

Q. Have you gone out of Tasmania to draw?

A. He’s done a bit of drawing overseas. He went to America and Thailand with Youth With A Mission and did drawing there.

Once Ben was in Launceston and there was a young boy who didn’t know how to speak English yet. He conveyed to his brother that he wanted a drawing of a monkey. While Ben was drawing it, before he had gotten to the tail, the boy suddenly shouted “Where’s the tail?” They were the first English words that he spoke.

Q. What was one of the first things that you can remember drawing?

A. Probably an emu that he copied from the cover of a book without tracing. Other than that, probably Garfield.

Q. What are some of your least favourite things to draw?

A. He says one of the most difficult things to draw are Disney princesses. Not his least favourite but one of the most difficult.

Q. Do you draw more close-ups or distance?

A. Usually just head and shoulders , but he can do both.

Q. What is your favourite food?

A. Chocolate (He as drawn it many times) His favourite type is milk chocolate.

Q. Have you ever drawn yourself?

A. Yes, a few times. He actually did one recently.

Q. How long are you in Poatina for?

A. The month of August.

For a homeschooling group Ben did a session on how to draw Baby Yoda.

Q. Do you enjoy teaching cartooning to people?

A. Yes, it is a passion of his.

One thing Ben would like to do is draw for Disney or illustrate more children’s books.