Originally from York, in the north of England, what are some of your favorite things about living and working in Brooklyn?

I came to New York because I found it exciting and I loved the energy here. Five years on I still find it exciting and still love the energy. You don't have to work hard to find inspiration here. From the graffiti, the billboards, overheard conversations, people busking on the subway… a trip to buy a stamp usually provides me with enough inspiration to last the week. 

How and when did you first become interested in art and illustration?

I have a perfectly vivid memory of painting a picture at the kitchen table when I was around three years old and Fleetwood Mac's 'Don't Stop' was on the radio and I was having a GREAT time. So then and there I guess.

What was your first commercial assignment?

A quarter page illustration for a UK cooking magazine called 'Good Food.' I was only one week out of art school and I couldn't believe I just got paid $300 to draw a picture. The picture was crap though. 



What is your favorite part of the creative process? 

The problem-solving bit I guess. I like getting a brief from a client who has no idea how they can illustrate the message they are trying to convey and coming up with something for them which (hopefully) works. I'm not a great illustrator but I think I'm fairly good at coming up with pictorial solutions.

Do you keep a sketchbook? What is the balance between art you create on paper versus In the computer?

I have a sketchbook but I'm ashamed to say it's woefully underused. I tend to work on loose paper at the desk in my studio and then I go home and sort of get lost in a haze of bathing my baby boy, eating dinner and then crawling into bed, weeping. I'm trying to tone down the amount I use my computer and I've got it down to around a 50/50 balance.

How do you spend the first hour of your work day? What is your favorite time of day for working?

The first hour is always spent on emails. By the time I get to the studio I've got a 5-hour backlog of emails from Europe to reply to. Then a quick check of the weather; I am obsessed with knowing what the weather will be doing, even if I know I won't be going anywhere. After that I get down to work. I get most of my work done in the morning, between 10am and lunchtime before I start getting distracted by procrastination.

What are you listening to? / What are you reading

My friends just bought me ‘Marquee Moon’ by Television for my birthday and I like it a lot. I've been meaning to get round to buying it for about ten years now. But mainly I'm an iTunes on shuffle kind of listener. And I've finally got around to readingSlaughterhouse Five after it's sat on my must read list forever. Newsflash: it's good.

Who and what are some of your strongest influences?

I always list the same names here: Keith Haring, Charles Schulz, Woody Allen, The Beatles, Neil Young, Alfred Wallis, Jean Michel Basquiet, Jim Henson and Bender Bending Rodriguez. 

Did your participating in the AI32 LIVE Cover Project have any spillover into your studio practice? Do you recommend marathon art projects for inspiration or redirection?

It certainly made me loosen up my style because I turned up without a plan. So no time for sketching or pencil outlining; just straight in there with a paintbrush, making marks. And I liked that because I'm trying really hard to loosen up. I am aware that that is an oxymoron.  

What was the last art exhibition you saw and what did you take away from it?

Mike Kelley at PS1. It was incredible – both in terms of his output and the diversity of his work. I took away from it a sense that I really must work harder...

Has social media been a boon for self-promotion? Or do you have methods you’ve always used that still work?

When I graduated you really had to put yourself out there and if you wanted work you had to physically go and meet people. I always enjoyed that aspect of being freelance – it was a bit nerve wracking and a physical chore but if you had the energy and the nerve to call people up – art directors, art buyers and so on, it would pay off.  Sometimes you'd even make a friend just by showing your portfolio. 

But now I think anyone can just be a really good tweeter or a prolific blogger and steamroll their way to the top and I think it's a shame – but only because I'm not very good at it. I still like putting a hand drawn note in the post which is probably why I've only got about 6 followers on twitter and very few 'likes' when I make a rare blog post. 

Have you ever had a creative block with a deadline looming? What do you do to get crackin’?

Put my pens down. Go for a walk. Drink with merry abandon. Anything but keep drawing. If the deadline is too tight to allow for any of the above, cheat. Re-use old work. Copy somebody else's. Whatever it takes.

Is there any particular new technology you’ve embraced as an avenue towards entrepreneurial adventures?

Erm… No.

Where do you teach—and what do you like best about teaching?

I used to teach at Liverpool School Of Art. I wasn't very good at it. I wanted all the students to like me so I told all of them that they were all great, even the ones that stood no chance. I regret that. But I liked setting briefs and seeing the results of young minds unbridled by the constraints of budget or having to please clients or anything like that. Often they'd come up with stuff I thought was really mind-blowing, that I'd never have thought of doing. Often they also came up with something just awful. And regardless I'd be all thumbs up and gold stars and 'it's great!'

What advice would you give a young artist on selecting an art school or college?

The school is important, but consider the experience as a whole. I was warned against picking an art school on the basis of it being in a hip town or the music scene or whatever else, which is an absolute nonsense. 

Art school shouldn't just be about painting pictures but the friends you make, going to see bands, starting bands, getting into poetry, hating poetry, writing poetry, not writing poetry, smoking drugs, having a really bad time on drugs, having a wonderful time on drugs, etc, etc, etc. 

So take the course seriously, consider it at length and do your research but feel no guilt about taking into account the superfluous, extraneous aspects of life as an art student. Because those superfluous, extraneous aspects have spawned a long list of wonderful authors, bands, musicians and actors.
 

Al Murphy was born in Wales and grew up in the north of England. He studied at Liverpool School Of Art before moving to London where he established himself as a commercial illustrator, working for clients including the BBC, The Guardian and MTV as well as exhibiting work in Los Angeles, New York, Berlin and Sydney.

After moving to Berlin in 2006 he relocated to Brooklyn, New York where he lives with his partner Annie and his son Casper. He is currently illustrating his first children's book, due for release in 2015. He’s represented by Agency|Rush.