Unframed Artist Speaks #1: Sean Breasley

For the fourth annual Unframed competition, we’ve whittled down the competition to five amazingly talented artists.  We want to take a little time to get to know the semi-finalists a bit before we made the decision of who will make the next cut.

The first semi-finalist we interviewed is Sean Breasley.

Sean’s playful alien-inspired design spoke to our whole team.  It was immediately apparent that he is a talented, nutty artist and we wanted to know more about who he is and how his helmet design came to be.  Below is a transcript from a recent interview with Sean.

Tell us about the design you submitted.  What inspired it?

My design features a pattern of little spacemen/creatures floating around in space and was inspired by the film Interstellar. The night before I developed the concept, I was struggling to come up with a  strong idea for the helmet that would fit with wearing a helmet.  After watching the film I was like, “Wait, spacemen need helmets” and then I began feverishly sketching up rough concepts and ideas for these little spacemen floating in space who would go on the helmet.  Plus I’ve always been a fan of space and science fiction…

Did you have any other thoughts on designs that didn’t make the cut for this helmet?

I had one other theme I wanted to submit, but I never got the time to develop it beyond rough sketches. I was thinking of doing more of an aquatic theme with old school divers wearing those large diving suits with the crazy heavy brass helmets and gear. (I always was fascinated by these when I was a kid as they looked so strange and almost alien to me).

Where were you born/where did you grow up and how did that shape you in to an artist?

I was born in Lilydale which is about  an hour from Melbourne and grew up in Chirnside Park (little suburb near Lilydale ). It was a pretty quite area. I first got into drawing when I saw my mum draw a picture of a cartoon character I liked as a child of 6yrs old (I think it might have been Micky Mouse or maybe it was Mega Man…  I enjoyed video games and cartoons a lot as a kid). Seeing her create something so easily from just using a pencil made me want to be able to create something as well, so I picked up a pencil and started drawing. Initially, I was just trying to replicate what I saw, but eventually I started making up my own strange characters as I went along. It all slowly evolved into what I create today though now I do so more with computers than a pencil.

What is your goal as an artist?

My goal as an artist is to create work that anyone can enjoy/appreciate and draw something from it. Also I just find joy from just creating, there’s something special about taking a blank page and turning it into something that you weren’t expecting.

Can you tell us about any fun branding projects you’ve worked on?

I’ve done quite a few branding projects and have been very lucky to have a number of great clients to work with. My favorite branding job was for a mobile game prototype as I got to create a number of custom typefaces for the logo and concept art for the game. Sadly the project never made its way out of development. I also got the exciting opportunity this year to produce some artwork for a guitar pedal, where I got to make a cyborg illustration for the pedals faceplate. It was a lot of fun!

What’s your favorite thing about teaching at Tractor Design School?

Getting to be able to talk and share knowledge about something I love doing. The moment I started learning graphic design and illustration at uni I knew I wanted to both practice these skills but also help others learn these skills as well. It’s a great feeling to know that I have been able to help someone on their journey towards doing something they love as well.

Where can we find your art online?  

I post my artwork normally on my Instagram and Twitter (Instagram: @sean_breasley and Twitter: @SeanBreasley). But I also recently launched a design business with my friend James McKenzie called Danger Horse which you can check out at www.dangerhorse.com.au

What longboard will you pick when you’re ready?

Haha! I still haven’t decided, yet, but I have been doing a bit of research into which one a beginner should get (if anyone has any suggestion that would be great!). I am hoping to get one for Christmas. I’m just hoping that my balance has improved since I was a kid though… I fell off things a lot (play equipment, trees, bikes etc), and had the nickname at primary school of being the Rubber Man (I used to bounce off things a lot, mostly the ground haha).  So fingers crossed that buying a board is a good idea haha!

 

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We won’t know for several more weeks who makes it to the next round, but in the mean time, follow Sean’s art online and let us know what you think!