Joshua Griffin is a 26-year-old self-taught 2D illustrator from the Western suburbs of Melbourne. He describes himself as a passionate art lover who aims to create images that capture the audience’s attention, and encourages them to look deeper. Joshua first began seriously pursuing his interest in art in 2014 after being inspired by watching speed painters on YouTube and seeing local artists sell prints of their work at expos. It was through watching these artists that Joshua realised he could turn a hobby into a career, and at the start of 2020 he did as he began treating his art as a business.
“I was learning about expertise and mastery and about what it takes to create a career you love. I just decided this is going to be it. I had no idea what I was doing but I knew that as I learnt more and as I got better I would grow to love it more and more,” he said.
Currently, Joshua primarily creates portrait commissions and book covers, such as the covers for ‘The Werewolf Community Center’ series written by Abigail Smith. He says he enjoys being involved in any type of project as it allows him to enter a “flow state” where he produces his best work.
“When I'm painting and creating art it’s a pastime that lends itself very well to getting into a flow state. I feel like it's a good way to spend time generally and at the end of the day when I when I've done work and I've been in that flow state for a bit, I just feel really good about myself,” he said.
Walking around the Victorian State Library with Joshua, his appreciation for art is unquestionable. Whilst staring at a landscape painting of Swan Street, he admires the brush strokes, shadowing, and perfect scale of the piece. He shares that the work of other artists motivates him to continue improving his art skills, as he hopes one day his pieces will impact others the way he is impacted by art.
“I feel like melting into a puddle because of how good these people are how much time they spent on a single painting and mastering their craft,” he said. “I think I see the extra layers, like every art form has so many layers of depth to it and master pieces have so much depth. The more you learn about the thing the more you can appreciate every nuance of that piece. I want to create that for other people and just connect.”
Joshua says one of his artworks he is particularly proud of is a piece titled ‘Facing the Nightmare’ which he produced for an illustration challenge in an online art forum. In total, Joshua spent over 150 hours working on this piece, which included conducting research, developing the back story, and then drawing and perfecting the characters.
“It’s an image of a guy with a staff in the rain facing this demon looking thing with a claw hand and he’s protecting this lady and a child behind him. I was very proud with what I was able to contribute, and I learned a lot through the process,” he said.
Joshua describes his work and artistic process as determined, scattered, and indecisive. Whilst he says being an illustrator can be difficult due to a lack of money, motivation, and confidence, he encourages people wanting to be illustrators to work hard and not give up.
“Anything you see, any art that you’ve seen done by somebody is possible. Everything is possible if you’re willing to put the work in,” he says.
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