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The Mamba

About the artist

Geoff May

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jimiyo

Tell us about this design: Recently I had a bout of creative block so I started exploring new illustration styles and this is what came out.  I love sports and was recently inspired to create something relating to athletics.  Since basketball season is in full swing, I chose that sport.

Are you available for freelance?  I'm always available for cool projects.

How would a potential design client get ahold of you if they needed some artwork?  I'm pretty easy to get a hold of.  Any potential clients can hit me up at info@geoffmay.com and I'll get back to them as soon as possible.

What's a day in the life of Geoff like?  I get up, grab a little something to eat and then sit down and answer emails, check Facebook and a few other sites I frequent daily.  After messing around with that stuff for a bit I finally get down to work.  I got an XBox 360 for Christmas so I seem to be wasting a lot of time on that lately.  Gotta break that habit quick!  Once I hit that point where I'm forcing the creativity I stop for a while and do something else like go to the market, go to the gym or play guitar.  I like to feel fresh when I'm designing and when I hit the wall I just stop instead of forcing things.

First time I ever saw the name Geoff years ago, I was like Gee-Off? Is that foreign? Have you experienced ignorant people like me? (Im enlightened now, but... ).  Ha.  Ignorant is a pretty harsh word.  But still, it perplexes me when people say "Gee-off" when they read my name aloud for the first time.  I just always would assume it's pronounced like mine, which is probably more common in the US.  I blame my parents for my frustrations.  Why couldn't they just name me Ed or Bill?

Do you own alot of shirts? If so, what's your favorite?  I own a ton of shirts.  Way more than any person should have.  That said, my favorite tees are 2 Hook Ups shirts I've had for 10 years or a tee from Penn State football camp from when I was in high school.  They're so worn in and comfortable.  I couldn't bear being without them.

What inspires you?  Other artists mainly.  I love just looking around at people's portfolios and discovering new artists.  I get so many great ideas for my work, even from people who have a totally different style than my own.  I also like to keep an inspiration folder.  It just has tons of images that I like.  Some are other artists work and some are just pictures of objects and whatnot.  When I need a spark of creativity I'll peruse the folder and get the creative juices flowing.  I also get inspired by music.  A lot of times when I'm doing a design for a band I'll listen to their music to draw some inspiration.  Sometimes that inspiration comes from their lyrics and sometimes it just comes from the general mood of a song.

How did you get into art?  I've been drawing since I was old enough to hold a crayon.  I think it was just my natural direction to go in life, which is funny since no one else in my family is artistically inclined.  Initially I got into art because it was easy.  I was naturally good at it so it didn't seem like work.  I just figured if I have to have a job that it should be something I like doing.  So until the Cleveland Cavs have the need for a 5'11" power forward, I'll stick with my art gig.

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?  3 words.  Crack and hookers!  I kid, I kid.  I would pay off my parents houses, set up an account to pay for my nephew's college and then put the rest into savings and really focus on starting up a clothing line.  It would be tee shirts but it would also be other types of apparel that I would design, honest to goodness clothing design.  Knowing that I have a nest egg like that would really allow me the time to put 100% effort in getting it off the ground.

What advice would you offer to aspiring designers?  Practice, practice, practice.  You've really gotta immerse yourself in it.  Make sure you have the ability to discern what is garbage and what is good and be able to shelve the garbage even though you spent a lot of time on it.  Once you're done with a design, put it away for a day and then revisit it later and reevaluate what you've done.  Always try to put out the best work possible and don't cut corners.  Developing your own style is also very important.  I still don't think I'm at the point where I have a recognizable style, but it's getting there.  You definitely can't just force it to happen.  It just happens organically over time.

MAC or PC?  Macbook Pro and a Hackintosh I just built.  No more buying Macs for me.  WAY cheaper to build a Hackintosh with better specs.  Sorry, Steve Jobs.  Burn me once shame on you.  Burn me twice…well, you know.

Any shout outs?  If I name people individually, I know I'll omit someone.  Plus the list would be annoying long.  Let's just say there's a ton of artists out there who inspire me every day.  So thanks to all of them for making me push myself harder to keep up with them.