Splashing about with LomoAmigo Pete Fowler

Cardiff born Pete Fowler is a freelance illustrator who paints and draws animals, UFO’s, Moogs, monsters and mythical creatures. Sometimes turns these in to small model toys. He is best known for his artwork for welsh band Super Furry Animals. Pete is also a self-confessed music obsessive, collecting vinyl along the way, AND he makes beautiful music with his band The Seahawks. We gave our new LomoAmigo an LCA+ and took him away from his busy schedule to chat to him.

Hi Pete, so, tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m from Cardiff, living in London and I paint, draw, illustrate, print, sculpt, make music under the name Seahawks, buy records, DJ records, a keen owl enthusiast and recently, a cross stitch convert.

Where did your interest in drawing start?
I spent my time as a child mostly glued to cartoons on TV and reading comics so I think that had an influence on me in terms of drawing. Also 2000AD comic was hugely influential. The first drawings I did were either of fireworks or Star Wars characters!

You regularly use different mediums from painting, animation, ipad sketches, and recently cross stitching. Is there any method you haven’t used which you would one day like to try?
I’ve always wanted to design a hot air balloon, it used to be a jet plane but I think a balloon would be a greener option! I recently bought a chocolate Gruffalo easter figure and thought I’d love to make a chocolate toy figure! I really like the idea of eating a creature I’ve designed, maybe it could be psycho active, or maybe not!

Would it be fair to say that your love of music and your illustrations are closely related?
Definitely, I listen to music all the time when I create and in the last 3 or 4 years I’ve been making music with Jon as Seahawks so that’s brought my two main loves even closer. I get hugely inspired by music with my work and currently on a disco debris/smooth yacht rock binge!

Did you enjoy shooting with the LCA+?
I loved it! I’m always shooting on instagram but I really love film cameras, in fact anything analogue always gets me excited, be it music or artists mediums, analogue is king! I can’t wait to see how my photos develop, I think that’s part of the excitement.

If your photos could have a soundtrack, what would it be? (5 songs, title and artist please)

• Joe Walsh-Theme from Boat Weirdos
• Fern Kinney-Groove Me
• Tantra-The Hills of Katmandu (sic)
• Steely Dan-Hey Nineteen
• Seahawks-Soft Galaxies

What would be your advice to be to other budding illustrators?
Work hard, push your work out there through any available channels and be a nice person. They’re the basic ingredients I live my life by!

What exciting things to you have planned for this year?
I have whole load of projects on the go as I write, an exhibition at Outlaws Yacht Club in Leeds in May, a show of my cross stitch embroidery work at Beach London in August and a show of drawings in a gallery in upstate New York. Aside from that I have my ongoing work with the music group Seahawks that I do with my good friend Jon Tye. We have a remix LP of our previous LP coming out soon along with a new LP in the spring as well as remixes for other artists and DJ gigs. I’m also very proud to be working with the legendary Tim Burgess on his Tim Peaks coffee shop project that will be popping up at various festivals this year. Aside from those I have a whole load of projects on the go, too many to list! I like to keep myself busy on very different projects as keep me on my toes and the influence that can be transferred from one project and medium to another is important to me and the way I work.

If you want to see more work by Pete just click here.

You can also follow his movements on his twitter page too!

The Lomo LC-A+ is known worldwide for its amazing features: automatic exposure, extended ISO range, and multiple and long exposure capabilities. Get your own Lomo LC-A+ now!

written by hannah_brown on 2013-04-17 #people #art #super #music #diy #developing #events #soho #east #analogue-photography #photographer #drawing #m #lomo #london #tim #lomography-gallery-store #gallery-store #lca #features #news #exhibitions #lomoamigo #editorial-series #pete-fowler #monsterist