1. Tell us something about your Background and Journey?
I am Yeye Weller. I work and live as an Illustrator in Munster, Germany. I like Colors, Soccer and the Sidecar Cocktail. Münster is famous for rain and churches, but I love living here.
On the one hand we got a historical city and on the other hand their is a big young student scene (fun fact: we got twice as much bicycles as population}. If you come here you have to taste Pinkus Beer and a westphalian "Schlachtplatte" at Gasthaus Leve. A plate with mashed Potatoes, Sauerkraut and many different Sausages.
2. What inspired you to become an Illustrator?
I wasn't the typical stay-at-home kid, who drew pictures for hours in his room. I grew up in a small village in Germany and most of the time we stay outside and do classic childhood things like playing football and roaming through the woods. But there was always a special interest for nice things.
Since my early childhood I collected stickers and beermats and I love them until today. Later I started to collect all the ad's of my favorite skate brands and this was also the starting point of beeing creative. It started very simple with filming our akward teenage skateboard skills but it got more and more every day.
When I was about 14 I got a cracked version of Adobe Photoshop and I became immediately addicted. A short time later we sold our own produced shirts to friends and classmates and things took their course.
3. What is your Design Process?
The creative process is nearly always the same. It always starts with listining to music and doodling on the paper and if I got something nice I digitze it with a wacom tablet and photoshop.
Of course it would be more sensible to use Illustrator instead of Photoshop, but I'm too lazy to teach myself a new program, so I'm still down with Photoshop. The most important part of my work is the coloring process, because I always want to create a nice overall picture, which is flashy and harmonic at the same time. So sometimes it take me hours to get a end result with a nice color balance which satisfies my standard.
But I am not really sophisticated in my working conditions. I just sit infront of the window at the desk of my studio, listining to music or some podcasts and drinking soft drinks. To make the scenario perfect, their would be some rain outside. I don't know why, but I love nothing more than working in my studio on rainy days.
4. What are the Challenges faced by you as an Illustrator?
For me it is important to stay true to myself and to go my own way, but I'm not really rebellious in the classic way. I love Colours, Humor and Balance. These are the three necessities for my work. I don’t have a smart message or a device for freedom, my illustrations comes as they are: Colorful, Happy and Stupid.
A few weeks ago, I saw an interview with Niki de Saint Phalle and she doesn't care what most of the other artists say about here work, she just want to make the observer happy for a while. It sounds a little bit hackneyed, but that is what it's all about.
5. How do you overcome a Creative Block?
Luckily, I never had a creative block. Rather the opposite is the truth. I don't have enough time, to fullfil all my plans and projects. Maybe this is because I work most of the time for clients and they usually have a clear briefing for the artwork.
6. Who is your favorite Illustrator and Why?
I don't like all those phrase like "I am inspired by the Nature" or "All my works are inspired by Music". I think that is totally rubbish. The only thing that keeps me really inspired and where I find my motivation is the work of other Illustrators. Obviously my style is based on the 1930s cartoons by Max Fleischer or Walt Disney.
But I can not say, that I read a lot of comics in my childhood. Of course I love to watch cartoons like the Simpsons or the Gummi Bears. But the only animations that really impressed me was the Beatles film Yellow Submarine by German illustrator Heinz Edelmann.
This film is full of nice Colors, Crazy Characters and Awesome Styles. I watched it more then a hundred times but it is still great and one of my favorites.
7. What tips do you have for people who want to work in this Industry?
I think it is always a little bit of Luck and Talent. But the most important thing is Hard Work and Having Fun. In the beginning you have to motivate yourself every day, working on own projects or bad payed jobs.
Even if all your friends are hanging in the park and enjoying the sun or having a drink, don't get me wrong you should enjoy your life, but being disciplined and working hard is the base of this job.
8. Which is your favourite Book & Why?
F.K. Waechter - Wahrscheinlich Guckt Wieder Kein Schwein, 1978.
F.K. Waechter is the hero of my childhood and this is one of my favourite books. Simple black pen drawings, very short stories and a great sense of humor for all ages. He was such a great inspiration for me and I always want to draw like him, but luckily I failed.
Interviewed By - Serene Ingle
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