For years, Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net has been about two things only – awesome art and the artists that create it. With that in mind, we thought why not take the first week of the month to showcase these awesome artists even more? Welcome to “Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net.” In this column, we are focusing on one artist and the awesome art that they create, whether they be amateur, up-and-coming, or well-established. The goal is to uncover these artists so even more people become familiar with them. We ask these artists a few questions to see their origins, influences, and more. If you are an awesome artist or know someone that should be featured, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.This month we are very pleased to bring you the awesome art of…
Tom Coupland aka BoyThirty is a graphic designer, illustrator, and keen poster collector based in Newcastle, UK. Working in digital paint, he primarily creates complex landscape scenes and detailed portraiture pieces with a focus on harmonious colours, bold compositions, and texture.
Tom’s art reflects his interest in movies and popular culture, which has led him toward the world of alternative movie posters and limited-edition prints. From an early age, he demonstrated an innate artistic talent and was heavily inspired watching his Mother’s pursuits in fine art.
Tom holds a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Arts and Design from Leeds Metropolitan University, and has been creating art as a freelance illustrator since 2014 after working as a brand designer in the retail and hospitality industry.
JOBLO: What got you started as an artist?
TOM: My mum. As a child, her consistent response to my incessant moaning of “I’m boooored” was “why don’t you draw something” (usually a piece of fruit was suggested to which I’d protest). She studied fine art herself and I (probably unknowingly at the time) took inspiration watching her draw. There were also a couple of encouraging teachers along the way. It was always the subject I was most interested in and being distinctly average at everything else certainly helped me to focus my attention on art.
Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?
I’d say Pop artists, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Haring, Hockney
Who do you really dig these days, follow on Instagram?
Sunday Salon, Marc Aspinall, Chris Lee, Grzegorz Domaradzki ,Krzysztof Domaradzki, Andrew Rowland, Adam Stothard, Bella Grace, Tomasz Majewski, Eileen Steinbach, Ben Turner, Liza Shumska, Andy Fairhurst, Steve Berry, Aurelio Lorenzo, Courtney Autumn Martin, Kevin Wilson, Thomas Walker, Ignacio RC, Freya Betts, Jake Kontou, Rico Jr, Nicky Barkla, Chris Thornley, Sara Deck, Tracie Ching, Ben Terdik, PosterSpy, Mr Bingo.
What advice would you have for budding artists today?
Don’t spend too much time listening to ‘advice’. Draw something, how about some fruit?
What should we be looking out for from you in the future?
I don’t tend to try think too far ahead, you never know what’s round the corner so who knows, more posters hopefully!
Being a fansite, we have to ask you… What are some of your favorite movies/TV shows of all time?
Jurassic Park / Tremors / Teen Wolf / The Goonies / Point Break / The Great Outdoors / Star Wars / Scream / Alien / Jaws / Total Recall / Gremlins / Seinfeld / anything Sir David Attenborough is involved in / Sopranos / Mindhunter / True Detective / Fargo / Curb / Succession / Fleabag / Peep Show / The Jinx, the ending, wow. One of those where you can only really watch it once. Wild. / Spaced / WWDITS / Partridge / Schitt’s Creek
Scroll down to check out some of our favorite art pieces from Tom as we continue to follow his journey across his Website and social media hubs: Instagram / Twitter / PosterSpy / Store