End Of The Affair

Sam Francis

End of The Affair, Ink and acrylic paint pen on paper, 8.25 x 5.5 inches

Interview by C. VanWinkle
November 4, 2023

What was the prompt that you responded to? Can you describe it for me?

It was a photo from the point of view of someone looking up at some trees. I was quite drawn to the orange in the photo and to the autumnal-looking leaves. I'm not sure what season the photo was actually taken, but it struck me as something quite nostalgic.

What did it make you think of?

It reminded me quite a lot of going for a walk in the forest. I've quite nostalgic feelings towards autumn, going for walks and looking at the orange leaves as they all fall around you, taking the dogs for a walk and stuff. It reminds me quite a lot of my childhood, coming from a small town where it's just fields everywhere. That's what I quite enjoyed about it most, I think.

That's beautiful. How did you decide to start working on your own piece?

First, I started with writing the poem. I was quite keen on having this idea about the autumn leaves, and the way that the trees… died, I guess? You know, you go through the seasons and then you watch all the trees sort of fade away. And I find that quite sweet, quite beautiful really. I wanted to use my words to describe that with some imagery. So I started on the poem first. I guess it’s an homage to Autumn in a way.

Do you often find inspiration in nature?

Sometimes. I often listen to music, and I find lyrics quite inspiring when I'm writing something meaningful or making a meaningful illustration. I often have my headphones on and a cigarette or something. And that’s what initially starts my imagination going. Then I find a good, meaningful way of describing how I feel about whatever it is I want to write about.

So I wrote the poem first and then worked on the characters. I practiced it loads of times in my sketchbook, just sketched out that initial rough idea and kept refining it. Once I was happy with the image and the words, I did it on a bigger scale, which was the final piece.

How big is the final piece?

It’s from an A5 sketchbook. What's been nice is I changed my creative process. I would have referred to myself as a bedroom illustrator or something. I would never really refine a drawing as much. But this project gave me the opportunity to go about it differently. That's why I practiced it a lot more and got a bigger sketchbook and some nicer pens. But it's changed my creative process because now I want to do that for the rest of the drawings I do.

Ah, you’re upping your game. How does this piece relate to the rest of your work?

I feel like all my drawings come from a sincere place of being a 20-something-year-old trying to navigate friendships, relationships, work, and discovering who you are as a person. All these things that build into an existential crisis as you're trying to figure out your path through adulthood and learning this skill of being an adult. In my drawings, the words come out of the sincere voices of the characters in some sort of relatable way.

Are these characters you? Are these self-portraits?

Yeah, I think they are versions of me. It's definitely my thoughts and my feelings I'm expressing. I probably can’t really draw many other things. I'm not a much of a sketcher. It's funny, I didn't start illustrating until about two years ago. I've always been around the creative bubble, but initially I wanted to be a fireman. That's what I spent most of my life by working toward. I worked in a control center, which I think you'd call a 911 dispatcher in America. I worked in care and stuff as well. So I never really exercised illustrating until two years ago. I didn't do an art degree or anything either, so it's been quite a nice passion to discover really, and to finally be able to make something.

If you’re processing feelings through this, are you using art as a form of therapy?

Yeah, I think so. Definitely. I think I’ve found it helpful. I struggle to tell people how I feel, or just to be comfortable with these feelings about, as I said, this 20-something existential crisis. It gives a voice to this era of my life, I guess.

You said you just started making art a couple of years ago. Was it because of the pandemic?

I think I've always been creative. I tried music, but I never could pick up an instrument very well. I’ve always tried to write little poems and stuff. It's not really so much the pandemic. It was just after the pandemic because I was working doing the 911 job and I found it quite therapeutic expressing my feelings about how stressful that job was. It made me quite anxious toward the end and I was quite knackered. So it definitely gave me a voice toward the end of that career. And I guess that's what they are now, really: therapeutic, meaningful little thoughts and stuff. I quite enjoy writing.

Do you have other creative outlets as well?

Not so much anymore. I live in quite a creative household; both my housemates and very close friends are musicians. We’re all quite creative together, but for me it's mainly the writing and the illustration.

Your work that you’ve posted on Instagram reminds me a little of street art, like stuff you would see in subway tunnels. Where does some of your artistic inspiration come from?

There’s this illustrator from England called Jessie Cave. When I began drawing, it was quite similar to her, making little jokes and characters having conversations about silly everyday things. Like when the waiter says, “Have a nice meal” and you say, “You too.” Stuff like that. She does similar, quite humorous drawings. That illustrator was my first inspiration, I think. I don't know as much about art or illustrators. Definitely makes me feel like I could do something with it, like these other illustrators who have a linktree so they can sell their prints and stuff. It’d be nice one day maybe.

Music seems to be a big part of your creative life. What are some musical influences on your artwork?

Two songs come to mind. One is called “As the World Caves In” by Matt Maltese. It's really beautiful. It describes spending your last day on earth with your best friend, just as the world's about to implode. And the other one, funny enough, was “Good Riddance” by Green Day, which is a bit more charming.

I know that you haven't been doing this for a long time, but you’re already amassing a sizable body of work. I assume you're just drawing all the time. How has your work evolved?

When I started drawing, I guess I just kept posting anything. That's probably why there’s such a big body of work there. Because I find it quite therapeutic to express my feelings and such, I have so many sketchbooks, and I can see how they've become so refined over the last two years. If you look at my first one compared to now, you can definitely see that I've developed a voice and a character arc. Even with the colors I choose. I quite like using purple and pink and turquoise, nice greens and stuff. They all go with my aesthetic, I guess. I had to just be a bit more refined learning to draw different shapes, like how to draw the leaves. I just went on YouTube, watched a video, and thought, “I'll just keep practicing how to draw a leaf until it looks like how I like it to look.”

And if you draw on a regular basis and make a lot of work, that is the best way to get to know who you are as an artist. It’s such a fun process, but it takes so much time.

It would be nice to find a mentor or something in Brighton, just to help me refine it a bit more and see where I can go next. But I'm lucky enough to know a lot of creative people. It’s quite a creative city, Brighton. It’s quite bohemian and there’s lots going on here. So I've no doubt I’ll find an illustrator somewhere in this city. Someone who can help me take it somewhere.

I’m sure you will. I didn't even know it's creative, but Brighton is certainly a sizable city; a lot of people to meet and schmooze.

That goes back to what you were saying about street art. I just remembered. We have these stickers that are train tickets, but they're blank. I did some illustrations on them, and my flatmates and I did actually go around the city and plaster them on lampposts and bus stops, all that kind of stuff. [laughs]

Oh perfect! I love it. And look how far you’ve come! [laughs]

Yeah, it's strange. I used to be the activities coordinator in a care home. I worked in care homes for seven years or something. It was quite fun job. It was putting on the activities for the residents and doing loads of creative things like painting and stuff. But now I work in a canteen, just chilling out at the university. I guess with the illustration, this [being published in Bait/Switch] is the biggest thing I’ve achieved so far. It's been quite nice to have this feeling that it's possible to take it further. Like I said, it would be nice to have a mentor and maybe have a website with prints on it or something. Favor the algorithm and try to get a following, I guess. Just getting people to see it would be nice. I don’t know how it all works, really.

It can be pretty hit or miss if you’re trying to sell your work that way, but you can certainly get it seen. Alright, now that you are on this side of this project, what is your advice to a new person getting their prompt today?

Definitely get involved with it. I really like community, like in my previous roles I've worked in. I guess I was always in the community, and I think community is for everyone. So I love a project like this. Being a part of something that benefits everybody is a really nice experience. It’s an honor to be here. I would say go for it and, you know, just take it easy and enjoy the process and have fun with it.

That's great. I think that's what you did.

Call Number: C109VA | C111VA.fraEnd

Sam Francis: Meaningful words, thoughts and poems told by the sincere voices of my illustrated characters.