Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Shepherd.
Joshua, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
When I was a young lad I had a pencil and a pad of paper. I always had an affinity to doodle on that pad. My Grandfather helped facilitate this desire as he worked with graphics. He would constantly bring in new toys for our Mac workstations and I was able to experience Adobe in its infancy. He also gifted me a drafting table a set of pencils and an array of papers from his shop. This was the start of a hobby and passion I would never put down.
As I grew older I had fondness to animation and illustrated medias and I aspired to create to a level of whimsey and escape to mirror my favorite medias. It was a passion of mine to put entertaining imagery together and let people tug at their nostalgia and childhood freeness. I aim to bring back that feeling of youth in the art I create.
I have had quite the journey as a standalone independent artist, I have shown in dark rooms at in the corners of bustling cities and I have shown my works in various galleries and clubs around San Diego as well traveling with groups of other local artists here and there. However, I have never been full time in this craft, I do work within a graphics shop myself now and still create on a regular basis with no regular touring schedule. I will not make art to earn a buck I make art to have people appreciate it, so if I am not into it won’t happen.
I also work with a group of long-time friends in what we call NonPlussed Comics. We aim to create the comics that we aren’t seeing out there in the wild. We are a group of rebels bringing it back to the vision of what it once was.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I create in the sense of childhood whimsey. I want to bring people back to their happy place or face their worst childhood fears. I illustrate in the style of the feelings and fears I saw as a child and hope to capture that in the viewer’s eye. I tend to start with a hand illustration using traditional pencils and inks, I will then scan that in and go at it on the digital level with colors and finishing touches. I do also however color by hand on occasion using watercolor pencils and illustrative markers as those are my favorite for blending. Most every piece of mine as well is themed after a song which helps invoke the feeling I am trying to stage, as music has always been a very influential part of my life. Also, with a traditional illustration background I also create short comics from time to time with my friends at NonPlussed.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I wouldn’t say the roll of an artist has changed. I would say the rolls of an artist have been more diversified and evolved in a way that gives us many more avenues to explore and ways to convey our message. Fundamentally I would consider our role the same as it ever was.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can check out my group collective at Nonplussedcomics.com this is where you can look forward in supporting our future comic endeavors (however that website is a work in progress)
You can follow me in Instagram where I post fresh new content at least once a month
https://www.instagram.com/polecatsrock/
I also have a Facebook Art Page where you can see my Raccon in a Bottle artwork (that is the name of my collective) https://www.facebook.com/polecatsrock/
You can contact me with inquiries directly via email
artofjoshuastoneshepherd@gmail.com
Contact Info:
- Website: nonplussedcomics.com
- Email: artofjoshuastoneshepherd@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polecatsrock/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polecatsrock/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/polecatsrock
Scanned Document
Image Credit:
Joshua Stone Shepherd
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