Richmond artist Tim Skirven is a graphic designer, illustrator, and painter mostly creating simple pen and ink drawings and illustrations which blend traditional and digital art.
Richmond artist Tim Skirven is a graphic designer, illustrator, and painter mostly creating simple pen and ink drawings and illustrations which blend traditional and digital art.
His drawings take elements from skate and surf culture, punk rock, and ska, to create light, fantasy-based work open to a wide variety of interpretations.
His work is scattered around Richmond in places such as 821, Chop Suey, Quirk, and even larger venues like Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News. However, Skirven’s work is about to be displayed in a different format, with the publication of his first book of drawings entitled Mellow Gold, which debuts Thursday, August 28th.
Skirven describes his work as, “Low concept, high idea.” Though it does not contain weighty, conceptual content, it is housed in an absurdity and fluidity to which personalized meaning can easily be applied.
His work is self-described as, “more about seeing people’s reactions to it, when you have a lower concept people can grab what they want from it.” This tension between low concept/high idea not only allows an incredible amount of accessibility in his work, but also outlines the emerging crossover between graphic design and traditional art, questioning whether or not pen drawings and graphics can be considered fine art.
Alongside artists such as Geoff McFetridge and Parra, his work pushes the boundaries of what is considered art versus what is deemed design. It rests in a challenging, newly emerging gray area between traditional art and new media, creating a solid basis for this division. Skirven says, “Some people devalue it because it’s not a painting or a piece on canvas. I’ve done a lot of graphics for bands, this that and the other, and I think a lot of people tend to not view that stuff as art. Like as soon as it becomes merch, it’s merch. As soon as it becomes a sticker, people see it as a sticker.”
However, it is difficult to view Skirven’s work as something so finite when he allows so much room for imposed meaning from the viewer.
Collections of his work can be found on his Tumblr and Instagram, but his work is now more accessible than ever with the upcoming release of Mellow Gold.
This collection of work, published by Sink/Swim, will be released August 28th at Quirk Gallery during the closing reception of his show, also entitled Mellow Gold. Though Skirven has a background in the production of zines, this will be his first book of drawings.
This is also new territory for independent publishing company Sink/Swim, as this will be the first art book they have published thus far. Sink/Swim has released ten books and four records to date, among them sequential comics, collections of short stories, and full-length novels.
Owner of Sink/Swim James Moffitt describes the goal of his company as a way of creating “a serious form for people who want to do a bit more than just talk about writing a book.”
It allows artists, writers, and illustrators to produce finished collections that can be taken a little more seriously than they otherwise might be. Because this book was new territory for both artist and publisher, Skirven was given free rein to create a mostly self-curated collection of work.
Why the title “Mellow Gold”, you might be asking? In fact, the book is not a nod to Beck’s Mellow Gold album, but a memorial to one of Skirven’s close friends who committed suicide in 2011. Prior to his death, he had wanted to start a coffee dyed clothing company called “Mellow Gold.” Skirven says, “Then the name just sort of stuck between all of our friends. In the process of laying out the book I was doodling that phrase one day and it ended up becoming the cover image.”
Additionally, there are three poems by his friend published in the book. “It’s kind of in memory of him,” says Skirven.
Mellow Gold is one-of-a-kind in that it has all the accessibility of a zine with the polish of a book. It is formatted in a similar way to that of a tattoo flash book in that it contains single, clean, black and white drawings on a page that are easy to look at and digest. However, his work is dynamic; different meanings can be applied to each image with each viewing.
Skirven says, “In the low concept attitude, I feel like I can have that conversation a lot easier with people because I don’t dig deep down into my heart to do this magic drawing, I’m doing something that makes me happy. It makes it a lot easier to have the more technical conversations with people. I’m a crusader for calling it art.” It is this accessibility that defines Skirven and sets him apart from other designers.
James Moffitt describes Skirven as an incessant ball of energy, who never stops producing quality work.
“He takes on art and design work and doesn’t ask for anyone’s permission with it. He just does it and it’s all self-generated,” said Moffitt.
Skirven’s volume of work increases daily as he pursues his drawing-a-day project, while simultaneously working on larger projects and commissions.
Branching out into a literary medium seems like it will be just the beginning for Tim Skirven.
