Describe your style in one sentence:
A bit of pop art mixed with some street influenced old school cartoon.
Tell us about your piece and how you conceived it:
Normally when I draw it is a very intuitive process. I try not to get stuck on a theme or specific idea and after drawing it, I just take a look at it and really think what the drawing has to tell me. I think luvbombs is all about sharing, something that people are not as good at these days.
What was the defining moment in your childhood when you thought – I want to become an artist when I grow up?
Staying home on rainy Sundays watching old cartoons.
What tools do you use in creating a piece of art?
Everything that I can get my hands on. From pens to computer, sketch, no sketch, project or freestyle. I personally think that it is always a process, and try always to learn from it. I really like to experiment and enjoy and suffer with the process of change and constant search in my personal work, and when I stop searching it won’t make sense to me anymore.
Could you talk about you inspirations and influences?
I grew up around skate/surf graphics and they have been a big influence in my work. I really like to mix street chaos with really calm environments (sea vs concrete). I like to work around these opposing themes and take as much positive energy as I can from them. Although I’m not a graffiti writer I have been influenced by it’s aesthetic. My work grabs from the street (I consider street art one of the most democratic galleries you can have), from old school cartoons, surreal and pop influences, calligraphy, tags and words mixing them all together in a doodling kinda way.
How did you get into skateboard design?
I started skateboarding when I was 10 in a swimming pool near my house and I was really into skateboard culture as a kid, amazed with all that color and graphics that people had on skateboards so… it was just a natural process.
If your art was music, what would it sound like?
A mixtape that is always changing between styles, volume and beat.
What music is rotating on your iPod?
I really like Trojan and Studio One stuff also Dubstep for loudness and some indie for quietness.
What’s the most unusual canvas you’ve painted on?
A girl’s back with a Posca pen.
What is your favorite color?
I like them all!
What’s the best compliment you’ve had to your art?
Someone once said “Your drawings look like Disney on acid”.
What art do you have on your walls?
It’s always changing, I really like to exchange works with my friends.
If you had to design yourself a tattoo what would it be and where?
If I had to design myself a tattoo, it would be like my work always evolving like me. I would need it to change so often that within one year I would have a fully tattooed body.
What are your vices/guilty pleasures?
Tees, books, music, movies and Lov.
If you had to change careers, what would be next?
Music, shiatsu and farming.
Are there any upcoming shows or projects you’d like to share?
I’m working at the moment in my next exhibition with the artist Leonor Morais called Encounters and that will take place here in Lisbon in January. I’m also planning to build up this year a screenprinting studio here in Portugal for experimental stuff between artists and friends.
YUP | Paulo.Arraiano
