The Proof – Justin Longoz — Vancouver Is Awesome

The Proof – Justin Longoz

POSTED June 28, 2011 BY Tina Ok

“If art can be artless, then Justin Longoz is that. I think the thing I love most about his work is how seemingly compulsive it is for him. Before I met him, I had this idea of art as being an afterthought to the goal of becoming an artist. Like a person might say, I want to be an artist; I better make some art then. Justin was the first person I ever knew who made great art, but never really talked about becoming famous, or making a living at it, or the usual aspirations young, artistic, people have when they’re toiling away in obscurity. He was too busy making stuff all the time to even consider why he was doing it. He would just create these beautiful pieces of art and tack them up on his wall, or give them to his friends, and then just sit back down and make more.

Justin Longoz is an illustrator, animator, filmmaker, graphic designer, and writer. That’s a lot of things, and he’s really, really good at all of them.”

-Patrick Beechinor

The Proof

01 Out of all of the illustrations that I’ve drawn, this one is my favorite. It’s also the biggest (if you don’t count wall murals – which I will do for you in your home or work if you contact me, because giant illustrations are awesome!)

The Proof

02 I love this tree stump. I see it on my walk to work from the skytrain every morning. It has a hole right through it, yet it continues to grow.

03 I saw this bird downtown one day and thought I should take a photo of it. It has this haunting effect on me. Makes me pensive. Part of me wishes I was the size of a mouse so I could strap those wings on and fly around.

04 This is Kingsley, king of the cats. He has his own tumblr and is my best buddy and muse.

05 Comics rule my life. Here are just a few of my favorites. I’m a huge Sammy Harkham fan and also really enjoy the works of Anders Nilsen, Jeffrey Brown and Helen Jo. Best place to shop for comics in Vancouver: Lucky’s Comic Shop on Main street. I want to cry every time I have to leave that place.

06 Homemade potato/sweet potato/beet/daikon chips. Surprisingly easy to make and delicious. The weirdest veggies end up tasting fantastic when you fry them. Weird!

07 This is me working on an stop-motion animated short film with the crew of 1998 Creative.

08 This is one of my favorite photos. I took this on a roadtrip to Portland last year. Pat (see above bio) and I had a film in the Northwest Film and Video Festival so we packed up the car and headed down the coast for what ended up being one of the great road trips of my life. This picture was taken on a stormy day at Cannon Beach. Off in the distance are my fiance Caroline and friend Jessie.

The Questions

What neighborhood do you live in?
I’m currently living just off No. 3 Rd in Richmond but am looking to move back into the city with some friends this July.

What do you do and where?
I am a creative director and animator/illustrator with 1998 Creative. In my free time I like to draw portraits, comics and animate my own short films. Right now I work out of the 1998 Creative office in the Little Mountain area and on my coffee table at home.

What are you working on?
I’m working on some animations for the Food Network of Canada show called Eat Street with 1998 Creative as well as a web promotion for the new record label Public Records. In my spare time I’ve been working on an animated short called “What Is It?” (no relation to the Crispin Glover film) which I’m hoping to show sometime this summer. I’m always illustrating something as well. Right now I’m putting together a digital comic called “Wut?” and pounding the pages of my sketch book for fun.

Where can we find your work?

http://www.1998creative.com/

http://justinlongozmadeanart.tumblr.com/

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