对话大咖丨带你读懂恋爱中的涂鸦先生
Part 1
涂鸦成长之路
Q: Could you describe your daily creation process? Is the content entirely improvised, or does it follow a specific theme and conceptual design?
A: I like to doodle every day for as long as possible. A day without doodling makes me feel unfulfilled, like there's something missing. I really don't mind what time I doodle. I am happy to doodle in the morning, during the day or in the evening. Sometimes I am lucky enough to start doodling in the morning and continue all day and into the evening.
The content of my doodles is mostly improvised, although I do often have a theme or subject in mind which influences the content too. For example, I may start a doodle with a plan to depict myself and Mrs Doodle travelling to DoodleLand. I will visualise this in my head or sometimes make a quick sketch, but in reality, many things will change spontaneously and all the small doodles I use to fill in spaces and in the background are entirely improvised.
问：你能描述一下你的日常创作过程吗？内容是完全即兴的，还是遵循一个特定的主题和概念而设计的？
答：我每天都会涂鸦，时间越长我越享受。只要一天不涂鸦，我就会觉得不太满足，好像少了点什么。我的创作不受时间限制，我喜欢在早上、白天或晚上涂鸦。有时候幸运的话，我可以从早上就开始涂鸦，然后一直画到晚上。
我涂鸦的内容大多是即兴的，但我脑海中常常会有一个主题或创作对象，这也会影响到我创作的内容。例如，我可能会开始一个涂鸦计划，描绘我和涂鸦夫人去 DoodleLand 旅行。我会在脑子里想象一下，有时也会画个草图，但实际上，很多东西会自然而然地发生变化，我用来填充空间和背景的所有小涂鸦都是即兴创作的。
Q: You have been doodling since you were about 2 years old, is your early doodles similar to your current style? What were your creations like at the time?
A: When I was very young, I used to draw cartoon characters a lot and things I would have seen in comics, computer games or on TV. As I got a little older, I started to develop my own style and my own characters rather than copying existing ones. At this time, my doodles were a lot more detailed, contained multiple layers and different line thicknesses, as well as containing areas of shading. Since then I have tried to further refine my style of doodling. I now tend to use one consistent line thickness, flat colours and much more even spacing between or around my doodles. I really like to look back at my past doodles and see how my style has evolved over time.
问：你从 2 岁左右就开始涂鸦，你早期的涂鸦与你现在的风格相似吗？当时的创作是怎么样的？
答：我很小的时候，经常画卡通人物，以及我在漫画、电脑游戏或电视上看到的东西。随着年龄的增长，我开始形成属于自己的风格和角色，而不是照搬现成的。在这个时候，我的涂鸦变得更加细致，包含多层和不同的线条粗细，以及阴影区域。从那以后，我试着进一步完善我的涂鸦风格。我现在倾向于使用粗细一致的线条和单色块，以及在涂鸦之间或周围保持更均匀的间距。我真的很喜欢回顾我过去的涂鸦，看看我的风格是如何随着时间的推移而演变的。
Q: Do you make mistakes while painting? How do you deal with these 'minor flaws’?
A: I try not to think of anything as a mistake. I never paint over anything or rub anything out and re-do it. Whatever doodles appear stay that way and simply become absorbed into the overall composition. There are occasions when I finish a piece of work and wish I had done this or that differently but the process of doodling really allows me to just go with the flow in that moment which I love. I suppose it helps that I don't have too fixed an idea as to how it will look before I start. I think if I did plan it before hand I would probably find myself wanting to make changes or feeling that I hadn’t achieved my goal more often.
Sometimes people notice drips in my doodles and think it was a mistake. I don't see drips in the same way. Instead, I see them as a natural and inevitable part of the process that add a sense of authenticity to my doodles in the same way a brush mark can provide an insight into the way a painting was created.
问：你创作时会出现画错的情况吗？你是如何处理这些 「小瑕疵」 的？
答：我尽量不把它们看作是瑕疵。我从不会把任何东西涂掉或擦掉，然后重做。无论出现怎么样的涂鸦，都保持原样，并让它融入到整体构图之中。有时候，当我完成一幅作品时，我也会希望自己刚刚采取了不一样的画法，但涂鸦的过程让我在那一刻顺其自然，我很喜欢这种感觉。在开始涂鸦之前，我对作品的外观没有太固定的想法是件好事。如果事先做了计划，我可能会发现自己想要做出改变，或者经常感觉没有实现自己的目标。
有时人们会注意到我的涂鸦上有水滴，并认为这是一个瑕疵，而我的想法不一样。相反，我认为它们是创作过程中自然而不可避免的一部分，为我的涂鸦增添了一种真实感，就像画笔标记可以让人深入了解一幅画的创作方式一样。
Q: There are many cute elves in your works, some of which look like one-eyed aliens, where do you get your inspiration for these various images?
A: I get my inspiration for characters from many different sources. Characters I have seen in computer games or comic books often inspire me but I’m also influenced by real people in my life too. I have always had a vivid imagination and love to dream up new characters that I can imagine existing in Doodle World. I love to not only think about how they look, but also how they behave, move and sound too. There are so many different weird and wonderful creatures that exist in the real world, studying them and looking and listening to what exists around us and how they have been represented by indigenous artists throughout time is another great source of inspiration for me.
问：在你的作品中，有很多可爱的精灵，其中一些看起来像独眼外星人，你从哪里得到这些不同形象的灵感？
答：我的角色灵感来源非常多，电脑游戏或漫画书中的人物经常激励我，但我也受到生活中真实人物的影响。我的想象力非常丰富，喜欢幻想出我能想象到的存在于涂鸦世界中的新角色。我不仅喜欢思考它们的样子，还喜欢思考它们的行为、动作和声音。现实世界中存在着许多不同的奇怪而奇妙的生物，研究它们，观察和倾听我们周围存在的东西，以及看当地艺术家如何表现它们，这对我来说是另一个巨大的灵感来源。
Q: When people see your works, they often feel very healed, in your opinion, what exactly gives everyone the power to heal?
A: I always aim to make my doodles as happy as possible and hope that some of this rubs off on the people who see them. Doodling makes me happy, so I like to express this in the work I create. DoodleLand is a happy place and all the characters get along and help one another, accept that they are all different and celebrate it. I am lucky that I get to do something that I love and hope that my doodles make people smile and inspire them to do something that they love and that makes them smile too. I just want my doodles to spread a little happiness.
问：当人们看到你的作品时，往往会觉得很治愈，在你看来，到底是什么给了大家治愈的力量？
答：我一直致力于创作让人开心的涂鸦，并希望看到它们的人也能受到一些影响。涂鸦让我快乐，所以我喜欢在我创作的作品中表达这一点。DoodleLand 是一个快乐的地方，所有的角色都相处融洽，互相帮助，接受彼此的不同，并为此庆祝。我很幸运，可以做自己喜欢的事情，希望我的涂鸦能让人们微笑，激励他们做自己喜欢的事情，希望我的涂鸦能为他人带来一点快乐。
Q: When I watch your videos, I often get the impression that you are energetic and have boundless energy, Is this true in real life? If so, how do you keep your passion alive and apply it to your work?
A: I wouldn’t say that I am an overly energetic in my daily life but I am certainly enthusiastic about doodling and creating my art. When I am doodling I definitely lose myself in the act and block out everything else that is going on around me. I lose track of time and become rather fixated on the line I am creating and the area of the doodle right in front of me. I imagine it's much the same for lots of people when they are passionate about creating or performing.
I think that some of the videos I post make me look more energetic because when I create a time-lapse of my working it is always sped-up so makes me look like I am going faster than I really am, although in my head my thoughts are often am going as quickly as I am in time-lapse!
问：看你的视频时，你给人的印象总是精力充沛，有无穷的能量，你在现实生活中是这样吗？如果是的话，你是如何保持你的激情并将其应用到工作中的？
答：我在日常生活中不算精力非常充沛，但我确实热衷于涂鸦和艺术创作。在涂鸦的时候，我会沉浸其中，把周围发生的一切都屏蔽掉。我会忘了时间，专注于我正在创造的线条和我面前的涂鸦区域。我想对于很多人来说，对创作或表演充满热情时，也是一样的情况。
这些视频让我看起来更有活力，因为我用了延时来拍摄创作过程，它的加速效果让我看起来比我实际的速度更快，尽管我的脑海中的思维也经常像我在延时视频中看起来一样快!
Part 2
涂鸦恋爱之旅
Q: What is the daily creative process of you two? Will you give each other's opinions?
A: For the Mr Doodle In Love exhibition, we began by listing all the things we enjoy doing together such as taking the dog for a walk, going out for coffee or watching television together. Once we had created this list, I began to doodle each scene, and then Mrs Doodle selected and added the colour to them.
Mrs Doodle and myself always share our thoughts, ideas and opinions. She has her favourite characters which she often encourages me to use and we always encourage each other to doodle as much as possible. It's really good that we both trust and respect each other's opinions entirely. We work well as a doodle team for sure.
问：你们两个人的日常创作过程是怎样的？你们会给对方提出意见吗？
答：为了《恋爱中的涂鸦先生》展览，我们首先列出了我们喜欢一起做的所有事情，比如遛狗、出去喝咖啡或一起看电视。一旦我们创建了这个列表，我开始涂鸦每个场景，然后涂鸦夫人选择并添加颜色。
我们总是互相分享想法和意见。她有自己最喜欢的角色，并经常鼓励我使用，我们总是鼓励彼此尽可能多地涂鸦。我们都完全信任和尊重彼此的意见，这真的很好。作为一个涂鸦团队，我们的工作配合得很好。
Q: Apart from the richer colours, are there any other changes in the work after the relationship? How do you think about these changes?
A: Since completing the works together for Mr Doodle in Love, the greatest lasting change in my work has been the decision to continue to create paintings which depict Mr and Mrs Doodle having fun together. Some of these still represent factual activities like gardening or going to the beach but many of my latest pieces depict Mr and Mrs Doodle in more imaginary situations such as flying to DoodleLand for example.
问：除了更丰富的色彩之外，你的作品在你恋爱之后，还有其他变化吗？你是如何看待这些变化的？
答：自从我们一起完成了《恋爱中的涂鸦先生》的作品以来，我在工作中最大的持久变化就是决定继续创作描绘涂鸦先生和涂鸦夫人在一起快乐的画作。其中一些仍然是真实的活动，如园艺或去海滩，但我的许多最新作品描绘了更多想象中场景，如飞往涂鸦乐园。
Q: You've previously created a "Mrs. Doodle" in the graffiti world, will the real Doodle Lady look the same as you imagined?
A: Yes, Alena, my wife, is exactly how I imagined Mrs Doodle. I am so lucky to have met Mrs Doodle in real life as I had only ever imagined her before and didn't really know that she truly existed.
问：你之前已经在涂鸦世界里创造了一个「涂鸦夫人」，真正的涂鸦夫人会和你想象的一样吗？
答：是的，我的妻子阿莱娜，就是我想象中的涂鸦夫人。我很幸运能在现实生活中遇到涂鸦夫人，因为我以前只是想象过她，并不知道她真的存在。
Q: Why is Mr. Doodle's world filled with vibrant colours after he falls in love, and how can we discuss the power of colour?
A: Before meeting Mrs Doodle, most of my work was black and white. This wasn't because I was depressed or miserable all the time, it’s just that I had no interest in using much colour and was happy to just use black and white all the time without ever questioning it, a bit like a habit I guess. However after meeting Mrs Doodle, adding colour to my work seemed like a very natural thing to do. It may sound a little cliched but it's true, my world did suddenly seem more colourful and it was very natural that my own doodles started to reflect this. I haven't completely stopped using black and white on their own, my entire Doodle House is entirely black and white, but it would be true to say that most of my paintings and prints over the past 2 years have more colourful and that meeting Mrs Doodle is definitely the reason for this.
I believe that all colours can be powerful in different ways and for different reasons but I also believe that a lack of colour can be a powerful thing too. I strongly believe that colour can effect our emotions but I also think that our emotions can affect our choice of colour. I don't really select my colours with emotion in mind, I tend to let me instincts take over. I have learnt to trust my instincts over time and don't question them too much any more. They are a very useful thing to have.
问：为什么涂鸦先生恋爱后，他的世界充满了鲜艳的色彩，如何看待色彩的力量？
答：在遇到涂鸦夫人之前，我的大部分作品都是黑白的。这并不是因为我一直都很沮丧或痛苦，只是我对使用太多颜色没有兴趣，而且很喜欢一直只使用黑色和白色，从来没有质疑过，这对我来说，大概像一个习惯。然而，在遇到涂鸦夫人之后，我很自然地为作品加上了色彩。这听起来可能有点老套，但这是真的，我的世界突然变得更加丰富多彩，自然而然地我的涂鸦也开始反映出这一点。同时，我并没有完全停止使用黑白，我的整个涂鸦屋都是黑白的，但可以肯定的是，在过去的两年里，我的大部分绘画和版画都更加丰富多彩，遇到涂鸦夫人绝对是其中一个原因。
我相信所有的颜色都可以以不同的方式和不同的原因具有强大的力量，但我也相信缺乏颜色也可以是一件强大的事情。我坚信颜色会影响我们的情绪，但我们的情绪也会影响我们对颜色的选择。我在选择颜色时并没有刻意地考虑到情绪，我倾向于让直觉占据主导。随着时间的推移，我学会了相信自己的直觉，不再过多地质疑它们，它们是非常有用的东西。
Q: Which is your favourite piece in the exhibition? Why do you like it? Which one does Mrs. Doodle like the most?
A: My favourite piece is Hometown, just because I like how big and how detailed it is but mostly because it represents where I grew up and where we and our families live.
Mrs Doodle's favourite piece is Shmug. She likes how cheeky and mischievous he looks. She thinks he has a playful character captured through his spiky shape and yellow colour.
问：展览中你最喜欢哪件作品？你为什么喜欢它？涂鸦夫人呢？
答：我最喜欢的作品是《故乡》，只是因为我喜欢它的大小和细节，以及它代表了我长大的地方，我们和家人生活的地方。
涂鸦夫人最喜欢的作品是《Shmug》。她喜欢他的厚脸皮和淘气的样子。她认为他尖尖的形状和黄色透露了他顽皮的性格。
Part 3
对中国的印象
Q: What is your impression of China? Have you ever been to or learned about Wuhan?
A: Unfortunately I have never been lucky enough to travel to the Chinese Mainland before. I have been to both Hong Kong and Taiwan and I am really excited about the exhibition opening in Wuhan and hope that the people who visit enjoy and like seeing my doodles there.
问：你对中国的印象如何？你曾经去过或了解过武汉吗？
答：我以前从未有幸去过中国内地。我去过中国香港和台湾省，我对展览在武汉开幕感到非常兴奋，希望观众喜欢我的涂鸦。
Q: What are your expectations for this exhibition in Wuhan? Is it different from the exhibition in Shanghai?
A: Unfortunately, not so many people got to see the exhibition in Shanghai as it wasn't open for as long as we hoped. For this very reason, I really hope the exhibition in Wuhan is open for a long time and attracts lots of people from China to visit so that as many people as possible can see my work. I hope it makes everyone who visits happy and that they all leave with a smile and enjoy the rest of their day.
问：你对这次在武汉的展览有什么期望？它与上海的展览不同吗？
答：在上海参观展览的人并不多，因为它的开放时间没有我们预期中那么长。正因为如此，我非常希望武汉展览的展期更长，吸引更多的中国人来参观，让尽可能多的人看到我的作品。我希望它能让每一个到访的人都开心，他们都带着笑容离开，享受接下来的时光。