Interview: Thomas Slater



We came across Thomas after seeing a repost of his work on the MENTL instagram account.
 

Went on to take a deeper dive into his page and was immediately hooked to his style; colorful, quirky, tongue in cheek humor accompanied with this subtle style of consistent mannerisms from his subjects in the illustrations. We knew we had to reach out and have him featured. Check out his work and Q&A below.

Hit him up and give him a follow on his Instagram page.
@thomas_slater


 

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Where are you from and where do you currently reside?

I’m from the midlands of the UK and moved to London about 10 years ago for university. 

What made you start illustrating?
I wanted to figure out a way to make drawing my Job. When working for a night club during university, the guys that put on the club night gave me my first illustration jobs doing posters for them.

Anyone influence you?
A have a wealth of influences from all different fields but my crew of illustrator friends Pete Sharp, Kyle Platts, Charlotte Mei, Sam Taylor and Chris Harnan are definitely big influences.

How would you describe your work to someone who isn’t looking at it?

Colourful, fun, simplified and hopefully with ideas that make people think or satisfy the viewer.

What’s your creative process like?

Creative process differs hugely depending on the project but almost always starts with a discussion with an art director, pencil drawings and some experimentation before cracking out the graphics tablet or the paints.

What’s your environment like when illustrating?

My environment is filled with lots of equal part inspirations and distractions. I work from home which has its pros and cons.

I’ve seen some of your work on a few t-shirts. What’s the background of those projects? Which was the most well received?

The powered by Plants T-shirt was the best received from what I can tell. I think the vegan message without being restrictive to ONLY vegans and also designing a t shirt that I thought people would want to wear, not just slapping a drawing I think is cool in a shirt made that one do quite well and resonate with people. T shirts are always a fun challenge and a nice way to get your work out there and earn some beer money.



Love the set you did for the NY Times. How was it working with them?
Working for the New York Times has been a joy the few times I have had the opportunity to. Art directors that regularly commission illustrators are usually enjoyable to work with from my experience.

Any trips planned to visit New York?
I love NY and stayed in Brooklyn in 2017 but currently have no plans to return. Hoping to be back soon.

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We're planning on showcasing various individuals such as Thomas. Please send any recommendations to our contact page.
Thank you.