Interview: Brent Black (Swart)
2018-10-17
Interview: Bianca De Jager
2018-10-17
Getting to Know Simone Le Roux
1. Tell DFO a little bit more about yourself
Okay, so I started drawing at a very young age, mostly creating comics about puppies, but I have no formal training.
Never stopped drawing, but comics turned a bit darker as I got older, because, you know… puberty. And anime.
I got into an accident in high school where I lost people I love but also got a bit crippled. I had to learn how to write and draw from scratch and that’s when I took art in school from grade 11 - 12 just to try and learn how to draw again.
I was never able to draw the way I used to, but I became more comfortable creating ‘doodles’ rather than creating big timely pieces.
Because of the accident–
I have epilepsy and some anxieties, and other “quirks” which I have to take a lot of medication for. So mental health awareness and trying to reduce the stigma of taking medication is a something that pops up in my doodles.
I’m studying child and adolescent psychology, working towards getting my doctorate in this field. I’ve been working at schools to learn more about kids and keeping busy. I used to do art therapy with troubled kids.
I worked in China for about 9 months as a teacher where I also designed curriculum and illustrated the work books. My teaching style was mostly illustration based.
I am not really that keen on travelling, I mostly went because people told me I shouldn’t. I’m stubborn. Met some great and horrible people, while also learning a few traditional techniques from the art department of the school. So it was great for the most part, but people are more or the same everywhere.
2. From an art perspective: What are your biggest weaknesses?
Honestly, I don’t think you can have weaknesses in doodles.
I do it for fun. If it’s not fun it’s not worth it. If it takes too long I just stop. Quick and easy.
One thing I do struggle with is that I can’t get myself to ask money for commissions. It feels like a doodle is worth nothing, but also at the same time worth too much, so I end up accepting the work to boost my ego, but not accepting money. So I stopped doodling for others, but I enjoy doodling for friends.
3. Be bold – tell us: "Where do you see yourself in five years?"
Nothing special or different.
Still doodling for fun but mostly I want to be a step closer to getting my doctorate. How much closer doesn’t really matter, life is tricky sometimes so I just want some progress, not an actual set goal.
4. Out of thousands of artists in SA, why should people appreciate your art?
Maybe it’s just another ego thing.
I’m kinda confused that I was even asked to participate in this ‘cause I don’t really see my doodles as more than that, doodles. But I like looking at other people’s work and draw some inspiration from that, so maybe others can do the same. Maybe it’s just another ego thing.
5. Why do you want to be an Artist?
I don’t want to be an artist.
It is an unforgiving industry. The love for art gets bit tangled up in the need for monies. People end up creating things they don’t believe in and forget why they started doing it in the beginning.
I see a lot of my friends go through this. When they do get to create the things they believe in, it’s very rewarding and definitely worth the risk. Just not for me.
I mean, sure, if I could doodle and people give me money to do what I want, sure, that’d be pretty cool. But I’m more focused on having fun with doodles with skew lines, bad proportion and whatever it ends up being.
6. What do you consider to be your biggest creative achievement??
I really enjoyed doing art therapy with kids but that’s it.
Maybe illustrating and designing curriculum for kids in China. Other than that I’ve never really, well, tried.
7. Tell us about the last time a client, family or friend questioned your art or creativity. Elaborate on what happened.
Nah, because I’m not putting myself out there.
I don’t get any real feedback, people are amused by my doodles. Commissions kinda make me feel bad about my work, because either they want to underpay which is an insult, or overpay which is also an insult, it’s weird because I can’t put any value to a doodle. So they never nitpick, I feel comfortable with what I doodle, but just the money thing.
8. When working on art "describe your definition of done."
Sometimes.
Sometimes I set a timer, I doodle for a few minutes, when the timer goes off, I’m done. So I don’t focus too much on mistakes and it kinda just works.
9. Define your creative/drawing style?
Quick and easy.
I have many artist that inspire me with different styles, I just know their instagram handles, I know, I’m horrible, but hey, it’s 2018. Maruti Bitamin - Koyamori is my favourite artist, but I know nothing about this person.
10. What can we expect from you in the near future?
I have no idea.
11. What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
Aspiring artist, please keep at it.
Don’t be too scared to put yourself out there, but keep a little bit of your soul. Set time apart to do the things that you love, even if it’s a doodle of nothing.
I have many friends in the industry and it’s tiring and scary, but you find your feet eventually. I don’t really think any of that is useful, and you’ve probably heard it all before.
