Meet Edgil, a modest yet incredibly talented 18 years old artist. He’s from Australia, so you can imagine he has a pretty gnarly accent. He designed for a huge number of bands and apparel clothing lines, and he managed to constantly improve his art while keeping his style consistent. I love talking to this guy. He is funny and has a very mature perspective on life, work, priorities, despite his young age. And I insist on his age because i am convinced that keeping this rhythm, by the time he hits his twenties he will be one of biggest names in this design industry. You can check out his Myspace here , and more of his designs here. On with the interview.
Edgil, what is your background in arts and how come apparel design?
Edgil: Well, I’ve been drawing all my life but only started taking it seriously these past couple of years when people told me i could make a living out of this. I’ve never had any art classes nor have i had any graphic design classes solely because I’m against the fact art now is a subject when it should be a form of self expression. I belive you can’t teach someone to be a good artist, it’s just something someone has to have. Being in the apparel designing industry actually came across me by chance when my mate was starting up a band and saw that i could draw and wanted me to do a shirt for them, ha ha, and from there I’ve just been building up my portfolio.
How does being an artist affect you everyday life? Besides making you look cool?
Edgil: Haha, well everyday i see things around me such as cars, slippery slides, dogs, poo etc and when your an artist, you look at things differently, you don’t look at something and just see the surface of it, you see the millions of possibilities you have that you could use to make a design. at least that’s how i think.
Ever thought of launching your own line?
Edgil: Many times mate, many times, but i’m just not organized enough to do it and i’m a really lazy person when it comes to getting off my ass to do things such as post shirts and whatnot, but maybe one day i’ll start it with someone .. maybe.
What’s your favorite aspect of working as a freelancer? Besides being able to work in your underwear?
Edgil: it would probably the fact that i now work with bands that I’ve grown to love over the past few years, and the fact that you know people appreciate your work enough to actually buy it, put it on a shirt, and sell it! It’s amazing.
You just graduated High School. Any plans for the future?
Edgil: Right now, its just having fun with my life, going out, partying, hanging out with friends, drawing and playing music. The future to me is something that should be kept in the future, i never was the type to really care about whats going to happen in 10 years or so, why start now?
What more can I say… thanks Edgil, and I hope you readers enjoyed the ride..ah, i mean read;)
I agree with all of it. Good interview, the both of you. Edgil Kills it every time. I’d be lucky to come up with just one great shirt. If he were to open a shop someday I would be camping in front of it for sure.
Mr. Pagaduan my name is Patrick Reilly, and it seems this is the second time I have run across one of my designs which YOU have taken credit for. The first time was at the Full Metal TShirt site (Which I have already contacted and have already removed the design from the site.)
The design in question is the “Closure in Moscow” design with the vintage dive suit and the octopus in the background. This design was concieved BY ME almost 2 years ago –
Here’s the image from my web gallery –
http://preilly.deviantart.com/art/Into-the-Depths-65405731
The image has also appeared in the international art magazine “ImagineFX” and Clarkesworld magazine and will be appearing in a fantasy art book to be released next year titled “Fantasy Art Now 2”.
I would appreciate it if you would please contact any sites which are currently featuring this design and have them removed.
I have already taken legal action twice this year against copyright infringement, and I can assure you that I will not hesitate to take a third action.
Despite the date, this was not a joke. The shirt was submitted to Full Metal Tshirt to be one the first designs featured on the site when it launched. In submitting the work, Mr. Pagaduan signed a released that specifically stated he was the artist of the design. When Full Metal Tshirt learned that Mr. Reilly was the actual artist, the image was immediately removed from the site. After much discussion on emptees.com, including several posting of other ripped designs, Mr. Pagaduan finally posted a statement. He later posted a list of other designs that he claimed were his.
You should be ashamed of yourself Pagaduan. Not only are you discrediting yourself but also any of the companies/websites who associate themselves with your plagarised material. Theres no point, this stuff will always catch up to you sooner or later and now you have a slandered reputation as an artist.
Good for you Mr. Pagaduan, you are now famous for being an art thief.
I don’t see how you could live everyday with a clear conscience of stealing other artists works and still claim it as your own.
Kudos to the blog author for retaining this post!