[bigtlt]

After Eelus's most successful print to date and after what looked like great adventure in Gambia, he has decided on a change in direction, meaning no more stencils for a while..
Hope he releases the Icarus print first.
Either way the best of luck from me
Taken from eelus's blog


On the last day of the Gambia project we sat around the fire pit and I silently watched my stencils burn as the fire cast shadows that seemed to dance around us in ritualistic celebration. Each one took hours to make, yet blackened and fell to ash in just minutes. And as I sat and watched this symbolic act, a silent decision was made. When I returned home, I would put the gears into motion that would lead my creative career away from the world of stencil art.

Stencils have been a good friend over the last 7 years, they’ve pulled me through financial problems, given me focus through difficult times in my life and allowed me to express myself in a way I didn’t know possible. When I painted my first stencil, it was the first thing I’d painted since college, and it felt good. The spray can took away the need to know how to mix colours, the stencil forgave me for having no technique or skills with a paintbrush. Back then stencils were perfect for me, they allowed me to become part of a scene that I was really into and get the ideas out of my head and seen by others as I painted them around East London. But it soon became more than just a hobby as painting quickly became my whole life.

Realising it was possible to make a living from my images, I set myself up with a studio and did what I needed to do to make sure I had time and space to paint stencils all day every day. I gave up painting on the streets, not that I ever did much to start with, and began to enjoy working slowly and patiently within the safety of my studio. I’m not very good at painting illegally. I panic, fluster, flap about and make mistakes. I rush and stumble and was never ever happy with anything I painted under the cover of night. So with that in mind, I often questioned why I was relying on stencils so much. Why paint using a technique and medium that was developed primarily to paint quickly outside without getting caught?

For over 3 years now, stencils have been responsible for 100% of my income. And don’t get me wrong, it’s been amazing and I’ve loved every minute, but my growing frustrations with the limitations you have with stencils have become too much. I’ve grown bored and realised that having all my stenciled eggs in one manilla basket is probably not a good idea for the longevity of my creative career. I’m tired of the days of preparation that goes into making 1 stencil. Frustrated over the complexity, precision and planning needed to paint one piece. It’s time to move forward with new ideas and techniques, and I’m excited, but terrified.

I’m not saying I’ll never paint a stencil again because I know that isn’t true, I just need a break, a long break. I have a few pieces I need to get out of my system first that I’ve been meaning to paint for a while, but after that, who knows. The plan is to branch out and learn as much as I can and develop my illustration style instead of using photography and computers as such a creative crutch. With a new found excitement and head full of ideas I feel ready to throw myself into this and see where it goes. All I know is that I don’t want to paint stencils for the rest of my life, and for some reason, painting out in The Gambia really made me realise that. Maybe it was watching the freeness of Lucy McLauchlan intuitively filling a wall with her organic and flowing brush strokes. Or was it watching Xenz fill a wall with incredible can control in the same time it’s taken me to flap around with 1 layer of a tiled stencil? Who knows. All I know now is that after calling myself an ‘artist’ for over 3 years, I feel like I should really know how to properly mix colours and have total control of a paintbrush instead of relying on colour from a can and cutting printed detail from a computer.

So here we go, wish me luck and watch this space.

[chablis]

I like stencils :-(

[fingerz]

me too ... but at least the flippers can call his last print the last every stencil by eelus

[MGK1]

good for him
im sure it takes a lot to make that sort of descision
i hope his style remains similar!

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2010 23:04:21 GMT 1 chablis said:

I like stencils :-(

Yeah, I know what you mean, but all artists are on a journey and I think it's great to get an insight into the moment that one artist's journey takes a new road.

[connecta1]

...sounds like he's been inspired, good news for all concerned I reckon.

Now... who's going to sell me their 'Not Everything...' print?

[Warm Gun]

It'll be interesting to see if this bloke can paint or not.

[angel41]

Fair play to Eelus. Takes a lot of courage to break out of the comfort zone.

Hope this flash of inspiration and change of direction goes well for him.

[fingerz]

imo i dont think it will do him any harm at all infact i think he will gain alot from it

[whl10]

he will also be releasing the raven haired he did in gambia (at least he had planned on it the last time i corresponded with him last week) within the new year...

should be interesting to see what he does next. i just purchased firestarter a couple days ago. although i do not own much of his work, i am an eelus fan and can only imagine opening up new mediums will be great in the long term. short term, might be a few passes on drops, etc. but he will evolve. stagnation is never good.

[twist65]

Fair play indeed.. Not only takes courage to push yourself into unfamiliar territory, it takes huge balls to announce it to the world before you have any idea where you're going or whether it will be successful or not!

E will pull this off though, I thought a lot of his work in his last show was kind of trying to break out of the limitations of a 'traditional' stencil. Sounds like he has many ideas just crying out to be realised in a new medium.

And on the flip side it's a great way of selling out your remaining stencil-based releases!!

[etched]

delightful-

[whl10]

Nov 6, 2010 1:47:01 GMT 1 twist65 said:

Fair play indeed.. Not only takes courage to push yourself into
And on the flip side it's a great way of selling out your remaining stencil-based releases!!

and here i was hoping the gambian version of raven haired would be easy...

[rinaceirde]

Can't wait to get my nice new original canvas freebie from the not everything print!

[securityman]

Nov 6, 2010 4:43:33 GMT 1 rinaceirde said:

Can't wait to get my nice new original canvas freebie from the not everything print!

Have you got your og freebie yet?
It must be in the post then.

[Daniel Silk]

Stencils are a bit limiting and if the piece isn't being done on the street anyway, then stencil isn't really necessary.

Lets hope this move free's him up creatively and we see some great new work from Eelus in 2011

[curiousgeorge]

Wonder if he reads streetartisdeadblog

Either way good luck with the new direction

[marie]

What I like is that he's honnest with himself and with all of us, he recognize his weaknesses…
I'm looking forward to seeing his new style.

[Scraffer]

Brand new interview with Eelus going up very shortly to Scraffer... Keep your eyes peeled..

[bullet]

what happened to the free stuff.

fingerz ears just popped up

[Argiebaji]

Nov 6, 2010 14:05:12 GMT 1 bullet said:

what happened to the free stuff.

fingerz ears just popped up

I'm Guessing the freebie will now be an original painting x120??? Cant wait!!

An Eelus OG would look great next to this!

[eastonpromise]

where is everyone getting this that canvases are being sent out?

[Ruggs]

Nov 6, 2010 14:19:56 GMT 1 Argiebaji said:

Nov 6, 2010 14:05:12 GMT 1 bullet said:

what happened to the free stuff.

fingerz ears just popped up

I'm Guessing the freebie will now be an original painting x120??? Cant wait!!

An Eelus OG would look great next to this!

Looks great Lee!

[Ruggs]

Some would say if its not broken, don't fix it. A brave decision indeed, but I believe if he knows and is focusing in what direction he wants to take then i'll look forward to some great new original and different style work and wish him all the very best. Looking forward to grabbing some drawings and photography from his website soon.

[Scraffer]

scraffer.com/blog/?p=624

Well, Interview up now! Mr. E got these done ultra quick. I emaild them to him around lunch time, and he replied about an hour later!

This gives a nice insight into the mind of a great artist, and hopefully answers the questions everyone wants answered! I didn't use as many standard interview questions in this one, as its a pretty special occasion...


Don't forget to become a fan of Scraffer on Facebook too! www.facebook.com/pages/Scraffer/152312068114864

[whl10]

Cheers for the article!
E is great with communication. I email him at US evening with my nonsense and he always gets back to me by the time i wake!

[Ruggs]

Great article! Would love a studio like this.

[Karl Read]

For everyone waiting for the free gift I promised, you'll get a free copy of my 1st zine which with screen printed cover, ready in 2011.
6:12 AM Nov 6th via Twitter for iPhone


It's a free gift so please hang in there and be patient. Big thanks.
6:12 AM Nov 6th via Twitter for iPhone