This Month WHACK is featuring the acclaimed artist Matt Hebermehl. We sat down with Matt to find out about his inspiration, creative process, and influences.

Do you ever deal with clients that restrict your creative process? -In any situation where someone hires me to create an image, whether it’s commercial or a private commission, there’s a reason why they’re coming to me, so on some level they trust me to create the image they want. That being said, I’ve found that most clients have a preconceived idea of what they want so there’s that balance of taking my vision and there’s and creating a successful image.

How do you deal with criticism from your peers? -I’ve gotten better over the years taking criticism. I guess that comes from time and gaining self confidence. If it’s criticism from someone who’s opinion I respect then I’ll take their ideas and build on it.  Criticism can be a good thing, it can be a wake up call. Art is subjective anyway, so I don’t get to bent out of shape if someone has something negative to say. Most people are full of shit anyway and don’t know what they’re talking about.

What personal projects are you pursuing at the moment? -I’ve been painting lately. It’s been nice, I hadn’t painted in a long time. I’ve also had some commissions and I’ve been working on some t – shirt designs for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. I’ve also been working on a new zine, “Down and Out in the Dirty South Volume 2″.

What inspires your series of brightly colored paintings vs. your black and white pen drawings? -I approach each medium with a different objective. With paint it’s all about color, with pen it’s about line. With both though, I’m still making work based on patterns, relationships, cycles.

What visual references do you call upon for inspiration and influence? -I only work from reference when doing representational work for someone else.  I’ll find a generic image off the Internet, I’ll do a bunch of sketches, get used to drawing the image without a photo reference, and come come up with something that’s mine, move beyond the reference.

I can’t really explain why things influence or inspire me. My best work usually comes out when I’m not thinking about it. Drawing for me has always been an escape, it’s just zoning out, autopilot. so whatever comes out is my subconscious. I always find my best work comes  when I almost just give up and let it just happen, get my mind out of the way. Then my inner mythology and life experiences come out and you get loops and lines, birds and bulls.

Beverage of choice? -Yes Please.

You can view more of Matt Hebermehl’s work on his altpick page, personal website at hebermehl.com, become a fan of his facebook, and BUY some of his work @shopscad online store.

Thanks Matt for your time and tagging our wall with your artwork.

At the core we are all artists here at WHACK media design. The need for creative ideas is constant. We want to help support spontaneous creations, by tagging our back wall. It’s our way to feature your art, creation, sketch, painting, whatever the medium. We encourage you to tag our wall and we’ll feature your artwork for the month, link to your site, facebook, twitter, etc., to help promote you as an artist, as well as keep our wall fresh with ideas. Find out how to be a WHACK featured artist.