When someone shows me a new artist, it feels like the universe arranged it to make up for the horrid clothes, crappy CDs of terrible bands, and gift cards to places I will never shop, that my family gives me for my birthday and christmas each year.  That being said, I was super pleased when Mike introduced me to the work of Wesley Eggebrecht.  After being stunned by his creativity and technical ability we went on a hunt to find out more about the man responsible for our dropped jaws. Rummaging through the internet and scouring his blog told us very little, so we decided to email him to see if he would answer a couple quick questions.  Luckily for us, he is as nice as his work is awesome, and he quickly agreed to participate in an interview.

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What effects do you think growing up in a small town has had on your art?

Growing up in a small town didn’t really have an effect on my art. If anything, it gave my confidence a boost. I was able to stand out as an artist from my fellow classmates. People might think that living in a small town would be stifling, but in high school I had a lot of great opportunities. I had a Visual Imaging class that taught me about Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Final Cut. In my senior year, I went to another high school in the area for a class that focused on video editing and motion graphic. My high school art teacher, Ms Hughes, gave me special privileges in the art room and was always encouraged me to find my own style.

How did having an artistic family effect your art? Was it competitive between siblings?

I wouldn’t be an artist today if it wasn’t for my family, especially my Mom. My Mom always told me that she regretted not majoring in art. So, she never let an opportunity for art to slip away from her kids. She made sure we had all the best art supplies, always bought us sketchbooks, planning art days, and entering our work into contests. Pretty much the best Mom ever! My older brother also played a big role. I really looked up to him. There was definitively a competition between us, even though he was 4 years older. Quite possibly a competition to this day. However, my brother and I are currently working together on a clothing line that brings artists together, Savant Wear. Also, we self published an illustration book called Botobit.

Do you feel that your family has a similar artistic aesthetic or does each member have a completely different style and taste?

My brother and I are pretty much on the same level, but the rest of my family definitely not. I remember my freshmen year in college. I was nothing like I am now; I was painting…. like happy dog portraits. Then one day during a critique my professor told me to stop drawing cute shit that Mom would want to hang on her fridge and start drawing for myself. After my professor told me that, I think it really clicked that I wasn’t drawing my passions. My passions are whacked out creepy guys with no eye balls, haha. My mom didn’t take it well!

What artists inspired you growing up as well as recently?

I never really looked at artists till my senior year in high school when this kid did a presentation on concept art. He showed the class Feng Zhu, an insane concept artist. That is when I realized people actually made money doing just illustrations. So all through my senior year and freshman year of college, I wanted to do concept art. I slowly lost interest as my own personal style immerged. I was influenced by Andrew Hem, McBess, Wesley Burt, James Jean, Zach Johnsen, Tomer Hanuka, 123Klan, Ilk, and the list can go on.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

Definitely, Andrew Hem, a traditional illustrator, every time I see his work I have to start drawing. He has such an amazing style!

After Detroit lost all of its lunch money, has the art scene there changed?

I don’t think I could tell you. During school, I was way to busy working on projects or trying to start projects to be available to take in the art scene.

Is there a medium (oils, sculpture, music, film, etc) that you would like to get more involved with?

I really want to start painting again, or any traditional medium. I spend a lot of time with digital illustrations. One of my goals for 2010 is to start getting into the gallery scenes.

Feel free to give us any more info about you, your past work, or upcoming projects that these questions didn’t dive into.

Currently, I’m putting all my free time and hours that I should be sleeping into kicking off Savant Wear. We are heading to Mega Con this March to sell: shirts, books, and prints. Savant Wear is trying to make the brand all about artists and bringing artists together through collaborations and what not. After Mega Con, we are really going to focus on a gallery show. Head over to the website and sign up for the newsletter and get the latest information.

For more of his work check out his site.